A community of one

I haven't written in a while, and I apologize. The reason, however, is that I've been feeling a bit disconnected from Judaism these days. Living in Madrid for the last year and a half, the only Jewish types of things I've done have been Yom Kippur services (where I had twenty euro stolen from me) and a Rosh Hashanah dinner in my apartment.

When my grandmother was alive, and I lived closer to home, I felt a strong sense of Jewish identity. Now, living far away, and not having a Jewish community, I'm feeling, well, less Jewish every day. I'll be honest, and I hate to admit it, but I didn't even remember when Passover was this year.

I've already felt like a different kind of Jew because of dating outside my religion, and now I'm feeling like a lazy one because I'm no longer involved, even on a very traditional level. This is the farthest I've ever felt from being Jewish.

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Little White Lies

Is it okay to tell a lie to repair a relationship? This is a question I have been struggling with for a couple months now. Where does the question come from? Well, as you may have gathered in my previous posts,  my grandmother and I have different views on what it means to be Jewish.

Although we both feel it necessary to preserve the Jewish faith, the way in which we go about it is different.

At the moment, I am dating a non-Jew. Because I am dating a non-Jew, my grandmother is not a happy camper. Don't get me wrong; I definitely understand where my grandmother is coming from. If I do not date a Jew it is more likely that I won't marry a Jew. And if I don't marry a Jew my children are less likely to remain Jewish.

Statistically, this is true. The National Jewish Population Survey found that only a third of interfaith couples raise their children Jewish and are less likely to involve themselves in Jewish activities.

"Have you met any nice Jewish boys over in Spain?" she asks me over the phone.

"No, grandma. I haven't met anyone."

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