Juicy

Add a Comment

Comment by Sheri Marsh on April 10, 2009 at 8:23am

Hi my name is Sheri. I was raised jewish, and married a Christian man in 1992. My life really changed from that point forward. I ended up becoming Christian in 1993, and it did feel right back then, but I could never really become comfortable with all of the beliefs. My husband is christian and very religious, and I have never been a religious person. Even being raised jewish, we went to temple twice a year and thought if you were good, you went to heaven, we believed it G-D, were a bit liberal and I was good. I never knew marring my husband would be so difficult on our marriage. I am much more comfortable with my jewish heritage and at temple(the few times I have gone) then at church. We adopted our daughter from China a few years ago, and my husband is very angry that I haven't taken her to church yet, taught her about christ, etc. The problem is I do not know if that is what I believe anymore. My husband is not open to the Jewish religion at all. He is does not want to go to temple really ever and is even uncomfortable to just go with me once a year on my dads yortsite (anniversary of this death, not sure if I am spelling it correctly). Im not sure what we will do, even in the marriage at this point. We went to my brothers for passover and it was wonderful. The children did a little play and we had a great time, however my husband did not. Even after 16 years of marriage, he is never comfortable at passover or hanukkah. He doesn't mind too much for her to learn some Judaism, as long as if she has a found basis in christianity, and I am not sure that if for me. My husbands risings were obviously very strict, which I did not know when I married him, and I cant understand why he would of married a Jewish girl. I know we were," In Love." but my Jewish heritage would never go away from me and I think he thought It would. I am probably a moderate person and my husband is very conservative, so that is it is very difficult as well. I think I want to stay Jewish, and raise my daughter jewish, which may ruin my marriage. Sorry to just get on and blob all of this. I haven't had anyone to talk to about this and I have been so upset for years, not knowing what to do. It is amazing that I just thought to join twitter and saw this group. I am glad to be here. I do not remember a lot of my Judaism, and would love to learn more.

Thanks

Comment by Diamond Emory on March 19, 2009 at 7:48am

Hello All,
Ruth last year I attended my very first seder which lead me to Beth Messiah to study hebraic roots. Since then as I mentioned the children and I have been honoring the Sabbath and worshiping at Beth Messiah, a messianic Jewish Temple. This year Beth Messiah will hold their Passover Seder on Thursday April 9 at a local banquet style party house. It's formal and a little expensive but worth it. The children are welcome to attend this seder but Beth Messiah has a special childrens seder that will take place at temple that weekend. We are all very excited. I'm sure no matter what you decide to do you will have a wonderful time as the spirit of G-d abides with you. The focus is not how or where Passover is celebrated, but that it is celebrated. May the blessings of the L-rd overtake you.

Diamond

Comment by Ruth on March 19, 2009 at 7:16am

I see that I am not the only one that doesn't really have a place close to fellowship and learn. How are you all celebrating passover? We have done it with feinds for 15 years now and it changes a little every year. This year one of our friends is doing it and it starts at 3pm and will be over at 9pm. We ussally meet and light the candles, follow a haggada of the day ( this has changed most years, It's like trying to find the best one) and then eat and talk about passover and what it is and what it means to us.

Also what day do you celebrate on? We have discussions every year of the day and time because different calendars can vary up to 3 days.

lol having a source to tap in all of you gives me a place to ask questions. :)

Comment by Teresa on March 18, 2009 at 5:55am

Dijea & Melissa, Thanks for your tips and thoughts. I have looked for a Jewish community centre around where I live. It seems most of the activity is run through a temple. There is also a Jewish brigade a bit like scouts for kids.
Being Jewish means strong cultual identity and associations for me. It's important for me to pass on heritage and knowledge especially because my father's parents are Holocaust survivors.
I know my children will always know where they come from, it's great to find new ways to teach them and pass on the 'Jewish experience' for the next generation. =)

Comment by Ruth on March 16, 2009 at 9:19pm

Hi Everyone,
Wow what a group. Maybe I will fit here too. I see that many of us don't consider ourselves religous. I have a great big faith but it is not about tradition and symbol, though they play a part for me. Like Diamond, I grew up in a Baptist church but I have been lead on a round robin trip. After few flavors of Baptist, were I learned to do Passover, we then attended an Assembly of God Church, then Episcopal, and now a Menenite Brothern Church. We also attend a Sabbath group when they meet near us.

We had a pastor 25 years ago that introduced us to Passover and a book by Elizabeth Zimmerman called "Celebrating the Feasts". We moved from Seattle, WA back to my very small town in California and started Celebrating he fall feasts and Sabbath. When our 2nd son was in 2nd grade and our eldest in 4th we started to home school idependantly and our first history lesson was on Israel becoming a nation again. We just found out that there is a synagoge in the town 20 miles away that allows non- Hebrews to attend. (There is another one that does not allow non-Hebrews to attend.) I am not sure if we will do that or not.

As Diamond says, for us it's about having a relationship with Yaweh (God) not about how to kneel or pray or doing something you don't believe. To me that is religion.

It is a spot and opinion of my own and I don't want to force it on anyone, just be allowed to believe it and learn all I can.

Comment by Diamond Emory on March 11, 2009 at 11:32am

Hi everyone, I'm Diamond. I was born and raised Baptist. I am saved. Several months ago a friend of mine invited me to her home for a sedar. Not being Jewish I had never experienced a sedar. She was also raised Christian but had been attending a Messianic Jewish temple for quite some time. It caused quite a disturbance in her family as you can imagine. To help her family understand that Messianic Judaism are Jews who believe that Jesus Christ is the messiah, she held a sedar. It changed my life. I wanted to know more so I went to temple, Beth Messiah here in Columbus. I felt as if soooo many questions I had were answered. I truly enjoyed the style of worship, the manner of teaching, studying Hebrew and understanding the importance of the Torah. So I started taking my children. Not only did they love it, but when my oldest came to me and explained she liked attending temple, she didn't care for our family church well that did it for me.

My husband is another story. He thought we were converting, we're not. He thinks I'm weird but respects that I am being obedient to the spirit of God for MY life. The children and I have been attending temple and honoring the sabbath for months now. We still attend Sunday morning service, well, when hubby goes that is.

I understand that ones relationship with God is just that, THEIR relationship. It's important for each of us to seek out our souls salvation. No one can do that for you, not a church, not a temple, not tradition, you must develop your own relationship. Relationships have to be cultivated. You have to spend time with that person, get to know ALL about them to sustain the relationship. Trust and believe them. God is no different.

I don't know everything. But one thing I do know and I tell my children all the time, God is real. But they can't make it on what I know. They have to know God for themselves.

Comment by Dijea on March 6, 2009 at 6:47pm

Teresa, we joined the local Jewish Community Center which offers lots of camps and community opportunites to learn. They are curious, so I guess that's a start.

Comment by Melissa Mulligan on March 6, 2009 at 6:20pm

Teresa - I am in a similar situation. Raised conservative by Russian Jews. Married a nice Irish Catholic boy (who's brother is a priest - what a wedding). Still trying to figure out how to raise our 3 kids with the traditions and culture minus the guilt. If I figure it out, I'll let you know. I did find a synagogue that welcome interfaith marriages and families of all shapes and sizes. Maybe that's a start?

Comment by Teresa on March 5, 2009 at 3:56am

Hi Everyone,
Nice to be here! I'm a Jewish non observant mom of two fabulous kids. I am interested in finding ways to pass on our rich culture without the guilt. =)
I wish my children to have Jewish identity, my Grandparents on my father's side are Hollocaust surviors & so I feel strongly about not loosing the connection to our Jewish roots.

I definitely plan to send both my children on the birthright trip to Israel once they are old enough so I know that will give them a wonderful experience of all things Jewish.

Any one here with similar experience, stories, ideas? Look forward to some great discussions here!

Comment by BonnieSue Rosenwald on March 4, 2009 at 3:28pm

What are you all doing for Purim?

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last