Monday, August 31, 2009

On being Jewish

Sam threw a curve ball at Daddy and I tonight. Kenzie was at daycare today and was talking to her about Jesus and she was very excitedly telling me about how there are angels in heaven and that's where you go when you die and Jesus is there. Oy! I was stunned, wondering how to explain to my wonderful daughter that we don't believe in Jesus because we're Jewish. So that's what Daddy and I did. We explained that it's okay that we're Jewish and that other people aren't and that is okay too.
I was completely overwhelmed. How do I explain the relevance of religion to her? In practice, religion can bring out the best and the worst of people. We have seen it happen throughout history over and over again, so it's reasonable for the cycle continue. All we can do is hope that the reasonable people triumph because progress is a good thing.

In any case, religious school will start soon and that will help us since I'm sure we're not the only ones who deal with these types of situations!

Here is a shot of us taken before the girl's naming ceremony at our synagogue:


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