Dear all,
(The attached photo is from my bris)
I was thinking about where we are in our Torah cycle – as Moses goes head to head with Pharaoh. At no point, did Pharaoh ask Moses, “What kind of a Hebrew (Jew) are you?”
It didn’t matter to Pharaoh.
It didn’t matter to Hitler.
It didn’t matter to those who murdered Daniel Pearl.
And it doesn’t matter in this moment in time to those who oppose Judaism today.
And so it got me thinking. How should I define myself Jewishly? Here is what I discovered?
I am a Jew, and I shouldn’t need a further “distinction.”
I’m not a “religious” Jew.
I’m not a “cultural” Jew.
I’m not an “ethnic” Jew.
I am a Jew.
I’m not a “Reform” Jew.
I’m not an “Orthodox” Jew.
I’m not “secular” Jew.
I’m not a “Bu-Jew.”
I’m not “post-denomination” Jew.
I am a “Jew.”
I’m not a “Jewish-American.”
I’m not an “American Jew.”
I am a Jew.
I’m not a “Mizrachi” Jew.
I’m not “Sephardic” Jew
(nor am I a “Sephardic on Passover” Jew!)
I’m not an “Ashkenazi” Jew.
I am a Jew.
I’m not a “Social Justice” Jew.
I’m not a “practicing” Jew.
I’m not a “twice-a-year” Jew.
I am a Jew.
I’m not a “half” Jew.
I’m not a “patrilineal” Jew.
I’m not a “matrilineal” Jew.
I am a Jew.
My belonging does not depend on labels.
My covenant does not require categories.
My name does not change with context.
Wherever I go,
in any country,
in any language,
under any flag,
I am a Jew.
Sent with love and Shalom,
Rabbi Zachary R. Shapiro
