Molly Behan - What/Why/How
The
identity that I am choosing to delve into for this project is my Jewish
identity. I chose this identity because it is something that has been a part of
my life literally since the day I was born and given my Hebrew name. There have
been so many events in my life that have resulted from my identification with
this religion and community, for example, my completion of Hebrew school, my
Bat Mitzvah, and countless holiday celebrations with my family. All of these
events are special ones, ones that do not happen every day, but Judaism is also
important to me for the daily and weekly reminders that it offers me, for
example, the hand of god necklace that I make sure to put on every morning and
the weekly Shabbat services and dinners that I attend at the campus Hillel. My
Jewish identity is so important to me because of the ways in which it rewards
me in both special and every day occurrences.
Another
interesting aspect to the story that I want to tell is how my appreciation for
my Jewish identity grew as I got older. When I was a child, even though I was
very aware of my Jewishness, I did not necessarily appreciate it; I never
looked forward to going to Hebrew school or going to services on Saturday
mornings. As I got older and became more integrated into the Jewish community
(through things such as the completion of my Bat Mitzvah and my involvement in
synagogue youth groups) I began to realize the importance of my Jewish
identity. It was definitely my collaboration with my peers and also religious
advisors that made me become more appreciative of my religion.
As the
factors that contributed to my growing appreciation of my religion indicate,
Judaism is important to me primarily to me because of the community that it
provides me, both physically and spiritually. Physically, I know that I always
have a home in my synagogue or Hillel; I know that I can always go and find a
place to sit and study, or find people whom I can talk with and feel
comfortable with. Spiritually, I know that I have a community to go to if I
ever need guidance in my spiritual endeavors, whether that is in prayer or just
in my every day ruminations.
It is this
community aspect of my Jewish identity and growth that I think relates most to
Arendt; especially because of her ideas on natality and plurality. Arendt sees
plurality as when humans come together and face each other as equals, and she
also comments on how our differences give us something to talk about. I see
this happening both within my Jewish community and between my Jewish community
and other religious groups. Within the community, there are many different
levels of belief and involvement, some of my closest friends are much more
observant and involved than I am. But when we come together in the Jewish community,
for example at Hillel on Friday nights, we can talk about these differences and
learn about them. Outside of the community, we face disputes with other
religious communities, but it is the conversations that we have that bring us
closer together as humans.
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