name: Levite will do (I don't give out my name online).
age: 41
where you're from: California, but living in Illinois
religion: Jewish
1) What are the basic principles that your religion is made up of?
There is one God, creator of all things, eternal and infinite and all-capable; the Jewish People have a unique relationship with that God through the covenant of Torah (which is not to imply that other peoples may not have their own unique relationships with God, or that they may not have their own covenants with Him). We try to live lives using the framework that Torah gives us, in order to be just, compassionate, and full of lovingkindness, like God, and to create more just and compassionate societies, which we believe will please Him. In doing this, we follow the 613 commandments in the Torah, according to various interpretations of how to do so.
2) Did you choose this religion later in your life, or was it how you were raised?
I was raised Orthodox Jewish, became an agnostic secularist for a while, then returned to Jewish observance and practice; I am now a Conservative rabbi.
3) What do you find most rewarding about your religion?
Its richness in history, art, literature, philosophy, theology, music, etc. Its elegant and complex laws, customs, and practices. Its beautiful rituals and liturgies. Quite a lot, really.
4) What does your religion believe about life after death?
A lot of different things. We're actually pretty focused on how to live life here in this world; we have room for a number of different possibilities about what might come before and after it.
5) How has this religion impacted your life?
Well, it made me the person I am in a lot of ways, even down to my career. It gave me a way to make meaning in a difficult world; a way to find spiritual awareness and discipline, to help me become closer to God; a framework for how to be a better person, and how to help others; a way to shape the chaos of life into harmony; and a way to be deeply connected to my predecessors for thousands of years in the past, and to those who will come after me for thousands of years to come.
6) What do you think the most common misconceptions about your religion are?
That Judaism is just Jesusless Christianity. That we don't eat pork because we're afraid of trichinosis. That Jews are exclusivist and supremacist, or racist or bigoted. That we are either inevitable victims or inevitable aggressors. That we are part of some great conspiracy to control everything. That we are all rich, or money-grubbing, or both. Good Lord, take your pick. Heinous misconceptions, stereotypes, and derogatory images or descriptions of Jews are everywhere. You can even find them on this very website.
7) Does your religion have a holy book? If so, what is it called?
Technically, our holy book is a collection of books called the Tanach (which is an abbreviation for the three major parts of it: Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim, which is to say, the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings). We sometimes call the whole thing "Torah," though, since that's sort of the most important part of it.
But we also have a set of books called the Talmud, without which one cannot properly understand the Torah, or how to read and interpret the Torah. Along with Talmud are a large body of related works we call Rabbinic Literature. They represent part of the tradition of the Oral Torah, which is essentially the other half of the Written Torah that is in the Tanach: reading the latter without knowledge and context of the former is like reading chapter headings without actually reading the chapters.
8) Who are some key figures in your religion?
The Patriarchs and Matriarchs, Avraham (Abraham), Yitzchak (Isaac), Yakov (Jacob), Sarah, Rivkah (Rebecca), Rachel, and Leah. Moshe (Moses), Aharon (Aaron), and Miriam. We have a lot of important prophets: pretty much anyone who's got a book named for them in the Tanach is important. David the King. But also post-Biblical figures are extremely important: the Maccabees, the Rabbis of the Talmud, the great rabbinic leaders of the past 1500 years.
9) Have you ever had to deal with any others who challenged your faith?
Incredibly frequently. That's (unfortunately) part of being a Jew. Everything from being checked for horns by non-Jewish kids growing up in Minnesota, to being told at various times that Jews were servants of Satan and/or were damned to Hell; to confrontations with neo-Nazis and other violent anti-Semites; to having to put up with anti-Semitic bigotry and hatred in words all the time, especially online, even at this very site.
10) Are there any extremists in your religious group?
Sure. I'm not sure I can think of a religion that doesn't have its extremists. You get the bad apples in with the good no matter where you go. Yeah, the Charedim (or Haredim or ultra-Orthodox) are our extremists, for the most part. You get a few extremists on the ultra left wing fringe, too, but they mostly tend to be a scattering of kooks, rather than large, well-organized and well-funded communities. Most of our Charedi extremists are largely non-violent: not completely so, but mostly. But even we have our dangerous radicals. Still, overall I think most Jews are neither extremists nor radicals.
11) Where is your religious place of worship?
In general, they are called synagogues or temples; the proper term for them in Hebrew is bet kenesset, which means something along the lines of "gathering place," or more literally "house of assembling." Sometimes we Ashkenazim (Jews of German/Eastern European descent) use the Yiddish word shul instead, which actually is related to the word "school," and means a place of learning or study.
Personally, I have a part-time congregation for which I'm the rabbi most Shabbatot (Sabbaths), and there are a few minyanim (independent, often lay-led informal congregations) that I go to from time to time. But I also often pray at home.
12) What god or gods does your religion believe in?
Just the one. We don't actually believe there are any others. Just one God, with infinite presence and aspects, but sometimes people can mistakenly conclude there are more than one god, or that He is somehow more than one, or is split in pieces, or suchlike. Doesn't matter. Still one God.
13) What religious holidays do you celebrate?
Lots of them. We have the High Holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the early autumn (these focus on repentance, introspection, self-betterment, and seeking forgiveness and patient tolerance from God), followed by Sukkot (the Feast of Shelters or Booths or Tabernacles) just a short time later (originally a harvest festival, this focuses on joy and celebration) and Shmini Atzeret (the Eighth Day of Ceasing or Assembly) tacked on to the end of Sukkot (this one is all about the blessings of rain and prosperity). Then we have Chanukah (the Feast of Rededication) in winter, a minor holiday that celebrates the unprecedented military defeat of the Greek overlords of ancient Israel and the rejection of Hellenist assimilation. Tu bi'Shvat (15th of the month of Shvat) in late winter/early Spring, which connects the revitalization of the trees with various mystical cycles of renewal. Purim (the Feast of Lots), in early Spring, which celebrates the unlooked-for triumph of our ancestors in exile in Persia over an anti-Semitic Prime Minister of the Persian Empire. Pesach (Passover) in Spring, which celebrates the Exodus from Egypt; and Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost), which celebrates the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Those are just the major ones. There are minor ones, fast days, and so forth, also.
14) If you were to have children, would you raise them with your religious beliefs?
I have children, and I am doing so. I would never think to do otherwise.
15) What are some reactions you receive when expressing your religion to others?
Mostly positive, or neutral. Jews are not proselytizers, so I seldom express my religion to non-Jews unless in a situation explicitly contexted by interfaith dialogue or debate.
16) How would you confront someone who offended or looked down upon your religion?
Sometimes with debate. Sometimes with firm words of correction and education-- quite a lot of anti-Semitism is just ignorance, and once the individual in question has been taught better, they cease holding anti-Semitic views. Sometimes with sharp or angry words-- we do not teach pacifism, and we do teach the value of defending ourselves and what we hold dear. Only once in my life did I actually get into a fight over an anti-Semitic slur, and I was young then. But I won the fight.
17) Does your religion welcome new individuals?
