Why I Am A Jew
From the Heart
Rabbi Gary S. Creditor
Despite all my classes in my Seminary years, all the classes that I have taught, and all the groups that I have hosted, I was not prepared for the following scenario and its question:
A local Christian day school brings me their third and fifth grades every year to acquaint them with Judaism and the synagogue. There is a set curriculum for me to fulfill. I always enjoy these opportunities. I firmly believe that we make a better world by more and deeper understanding and appreciation of every faith. At one point I mentioned that we also had two representatives of current Jewish history as part of the synagogue artifacts, the six light candelabra and the Holocaust Torah, representing the murder of the six million Jews in the Shoah. These were fifth graders. After a basic explanation of history, that this was but the latest event but that there were earlier ones, one child asked:
Why did everybody hate the Jews?
What would you have answered?
This was mine.
The most important teaching of Judaism is: everybody is holy. This means that everyone, of every faith, of every age, of every ability, of every position, of every ethnicity is holy. Everyone. Jew, Christian, Muslim, young, old, abled and disabled, of every country, of every faith, are holy. We are all God's children. It doesn't matter what we believe differently, we are still, all of us, are holy. Being holy means to somehow, in a mysterious way, reflect God in us. Being holy means that everyone is deserving of respect. Being holy means that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. Living in a holy way means that we don't hurt each other; that we don't attack each other; that we care for each other; that we try to do the best for each other. The most important sentence in the Torah is: Love thy neighbor as thyself.
As Jews, no matter how observant we are or aren't, just by being Jews, wherever we are, we proclaim this message to the world. The world has not wanted to hear this message and live by this message. Nevertheless, we continue to represent it and embody it. God gave the Jewish people a tough job to do in the world, and we are still doing it. It is counter to the way the world runs. Check the daily newspaper. People have not liked us – hated us – for this message, every dictator, every despot knew that if they wanted to extinguish the message they had to extinguish us. We are still here. We still declare this message to the world. As Helen Zimm says: "Forever and ever."
That's why I am a Jew.
Rabbi Gary S. Creditor
Temple Beth-El
3330 Grove Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Phone 804-355-3564
Fax 804-257-7152
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