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rebecca_in_blueAs of today, Rebecca's been officially Jewish for one month... and I'm beginning to think my Star of David necklace might as well be a sign that says, "Hello, random stranger, please approach me and make ignorant and/or offensive comments about Judaism." Here's a small sample of the things I've heard since I started wearing it:
"But aren't there... uh... Jews for Jesus? See, you could love Jesus and still be a Jew!" I think I'm finally starting to understand how Messianic "Jews" cause trouble for the rest of us.
Old lady: "You're Jewish?" Me: "Yes." Her: [happy as can be] "Well, I just want to say thank you, because it was only through the Jews that the rest of us could be blessed with knowing Jesus!" Me: "Mam, if I weren't so mild-mannered, I would be probably be offended by that." I'm beginning to think J-Man might be a problem for me.
Suspiciously similar old lady: "The enemy doesn't want you to know this, but you can have a relationship with Jesus too!" Um... okay. Honestly, what do you say to that?
Two completely different people who asked me "So, does that mean you're Muslim?" and "Is being Jewish, like, Catholic?" Yet more questions that I didn't know how to reply to.
A middle-aged woman who said, "I have a Christian friend who wears a Star of David too, because she represents her religion originally," and an old man who told me he has a mezuzah on his door, even though he's Christian. Oh yeah, that's not offensive at all. How would you like it if I wore a cross just for the heck of it even though I don't worship Jesus?
"So, are you from Israel?" No, not all Jewish people are from Israel. Jews live all over the world, and lo and behold, there are even Jews right here in Louisiana, and we even have our own temple right here in this city!
Middle-aged black man: "So, do Jews worship Jesus?" Me: "No." Him: [horrified] "They don't? Well, who do they worship?" Me: "They just worship God! Remember God?" Actually, I had almost this exact same conversation with Uncle John once.
And my favorite, from a college-aged boy: "Hey, is that a pentagram? Do you worship Satan?" I just rolled my eyes, but now I sure wish I had high-fived him and answered, "Sure do! I just love that dark lord Lucifer!"
I also heard my cousin give a long, confusing speech about how "in the Old Testament, God and the devil are basically two in one... but, like, in Christianity, we have a more loving, merciful God." Me: "Yeah, that's what we have."
And I've lost count of how many times I've had someone tell me something along the lines of, "Yeah, I hate Muslims too! High five!" Which always makes me think of a very beautiful speech our rabbi once gave, about how we should do whatever we can to support the Muslim community right now, since Jews understand what it's like to be a minority, to be hated/feared because of your faith, and to be blamed for all of society's problems.
On a somewhat similar note, X-Men: First Class was released on DVD yesterday, and Sara, Adam, Sable, and I all watched it last night. Some funnies, mostly courtesy of Sara:
This was the conversation over the film's squirm-inducing opening scene, which takes place in a Nazi concentration camp.
Rebecca: Hell, you'd just have to show me a needle and I'd crack.
Sara: And you swore to cast your lot in with them come what may.
Adam: What?
Sara: When you convert to Judaism, you have to swear you'll cast your lot in with the Jews come what may. So if another Holocaust happens, Rebecca has to go down with the Jews. She promised.
Adam: But if another Holocaust happens, would the Nazis even want someone who converted? If they look at Jewish as more of an ethnic thing, then -
Sara: No, no, they'd want someone who converted. They'd want Rebecca. Don't you think I'm going to hide you in my closet.
Rebecca: I'm not really comfortable with this conversation...
Emma Frost: [about Magneto, approaching Shaw with a knife in his hand] He's here to kill you.
Sara: Oh, well thank you for stating the obvious, Counselor Troi!
Shaw [played by Kevin Bacon]: Hello, I'm Sebastian Shaw.
Sara: I'm Kevin Bacon. You are now one degree away.
Riding my bike home from services yesterday, I saw an awful sight: an estate sale in progress at Grandma's old house! It kinda drove it all home. Everything left in the hosue that wasn't nailed down was for sale, and even though most of it was stuff I didn't care about, I hated to see strangers buying it. I snuck in andstole took the "Bless Our Home" plague that'd been above Grandma's mantle for as long as I could remember. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I just did not want to see it sold. (Update: You can see the plaque in our new apartment here.) We've also got the old, no-longer-functiong clock from her kitchen. I wish we could take more of Grandma's stuff, but we just don't have room for anything in this shoebox of an apartment. Besides, I have to remind myself that those things are just things.
P.S. LiveJournal has been a real pain lately. Making the cut in this post was damn near impossible, creating a bulleted list actually was impossible, and I still can't edit my old entries! I've been with LJ since 2007, but their editors are such a mess that I've seriously considered abandoning this journal.
TEN DAYS LEFT until the Season 9 premiere of NCIS!
"But aren't there... uh... Jews for Jesus? See, you could love Jesus and still be a Jew!" I think I'm finally starting to understand how Messianic "Jews" cause trouble for the rest of us.
Old lady: "You're Jewish?" Me: "Yes." Her: [happy as can be] "Well, I just want to say thank you, because it was only through the Jews that the rest of us could be blessed with knowing Jesus!" Me: "Mam, if I weren't so mild-mannered, I would be probably be offended by that." I'm beginning to think J-Man might be a problem for me.
Suspiciously similar old lady: "The enemy doesn't want you to know this, but you can have a relationship with Jesus too!" Um... okay. Honestly, what do you say to that?
Two completely different people who asked me "So, does that mean you're Muslim?" and "Is being Jewish, like, Catholic?" Yet more questions that I didn't know how to reply to.
A middle-aged woman who said, "I have a Christian friend who wears a Star of David too, because she represents her religion originally," and an old man who told me he has a mezuzah on his door, even though he's Christian. Oh yeah, that's not offensive at all. How would you like it if I wore a cross just for the heck of it even though I don't worship Jesus?
"So, are you from Israel?" No, not all Jewish people are from Israel. Jews live all over the world, and lo and behold, there are even Jews right here in Louisiana, and we even have our own temple right here in this city!
Middle-aged black man: "So, do Jews worship Jesus?" Me: "No." Him: [horrified] "They don't? Well, who do they worship?" Me: "They just worship God! Remember God?" Actually, I had almost this exact same conversation with Uncle John once.
And my favorite, from a college-aged boy: "Hey, is that a pentagram? Do you worship Satan?" I just rolled my eyes, but now I sure wish I had high-fived him and answered, "Sure do! I just love that dark lord Lucifer!"
I also heard my cousin give a long, confusing speech about how "in the Old Testament, God and the devil are basically two in one... but, like, in Christianity, we have a more loving, merciful God." Me: "Yeah, that's what we have."
And I've lost count of how many times I've had someone tell me something along the lines of, "Yeah, I hate Muslims too! High five!" Which always makes me think of a very beautiful speech our rabbi once gave, about how we should do whatever we can to support the Muslim community right now, since Jews understand what it's like to be a minority, to be hated/feared because of your faith, and to be blamed for all of society's problems.
On a somewhat similar note, X-Men: First Class was released on DVD yesterday, and Sara, Adam, Sable, and I all watched it last night. Some funnies, mostly courtesy of Sara:
This was the conversation over the film's squirm-inducing opening scene, which takes place in a Nazi concentration camp.
Rebecca: Hell, you'd just have to show me a needle and I'd crack.
Sara: And you swore to cast your lot in with them come what may.
Adam: What?
Sara: When you convert to Judaism, you have to swear you'll cast your lot in with the Jews come what may. So if another Holocaust happens, Rebecca has to go down with the Jews. She promised.
Adam: But if another Holocaust happens, would the Nazis even want someone who converted? If they look at Jewish as more of an ethnic thing, then -
Sara: No, no, they'd want someone who converted. They'd want Rebecca. Don't you think I'm going to hide you in my closet.
Rebecca: I'm not really comfortable with this conversation...
Emma Frost: [about Magneto, approaching Shaw with a knife in his hand] He's here to kill you.
Sara: Oh, well thank you for stating the obvious, Counselor Troi!
Shaw [played by Kevin Bacon]: Hello, I'm Sebastian Shaw.
Sara: I'm Kevin Bacon. You are now one degree away.
Riding my bike home from services yesterday, I saw an awful sight: an estate sale in progress at Grandma's old house! It kinda drove it all home. Everything left in the hosue that wasn't nailed down was for sale, and even though most of it was stuff I didn't care about, I hated to see strangers buying it. I snuck in and
P.S. LiveJournal has been a real pain lately. Making the cut in this post was damn near impossible, creating a bulleted list actually was impossible, and I still can't edit my old entries! I've been with LJ since 2007, but their editors are such a mess that I've seriously considered abandoning this journal.
TEN DAYS LEFT until the Season 9 premiere of NCIS!
