My First Seder
I went to my first Seder on Wednesday. It was with Liz and some of her family members.
It was an interesting experience, and I liked it.
I was raised Christian. Lutheran Church Missouri Synod to be exact. You know the Lutherans described on "Prairie Home Companion" on NPR? They're ELCE Lutherans. They're the wild and crazy live wires. They ordain women! (Insert shocked gasp here)
Anyway, I was raised to believe that practicing the Jewish Faith was a railway ride to Hell. Fortunately I was spared the Catholic anti Semitism so many others were attacked with. My Mother is a gentile member of Jews for Jesus,a nd always reminded me that the Jews were God's Chosen people. Of course according to her, my pastors and a number of other people I was told were authorities, the Christens were now God's Chosen People, as we'd inherited it from the Jews who refused to convert. (I disagree with this assessment a bit, but I won't go there now)
When I was in High School, I found out I might have some Jewish blood in my family tree. Seems there is some doubt if one of my ancestors was fathered by his mother's husband, or her Jewish lover.
When I started dating Liz, my mother revealed something I hadn't known before. My Grandfather, (As in my Mother's Father) may qualify for Citizenship in Israel. Seems his mother was Jewish as you can get.
I've known this new tidbit about my own ancestry for a few months now, and attending a Seder was a bit of a mind trip.
Liz and I had watched part of "The Ten Commandments" the night before, and as I'd watched it, my mind had seen it the way it had while I was growing up. These were the people about whom the Bible is written, and it is from their faith that my own religion came.
Last night at the Seder something clicked in my head that hadn't quite settled in before. The enslavement, the misery and the suffering were experienced by my ancestors.
It feels strange. I feel like I don't have a right to type the line above. I grew up seeing myself as a Gentile, and according to many interpretations of lineage, I still am. My mother got her Jewish ancestry form her Father. I'm told that Jewish Heritage is traditionally traced through the mother, so this would mean she wasn't Jewish.
My head's a mess at the moment. Religion used to be a major component of my life, and the knowledge that I have a biological tie to the people of my beliefs is a big deal to me. If you'd asked me what I thought of this a week ago, I would have said it's interesting, but now...
It was an interesting experience, and I liked it.
I was raised Christian. Lutheran Church Missouri Synod to be exact. You know the Lutherans described on "Prairie Home Companion" on NPR? They're ELCE Lutherans. They're the wild and crazy live wires. They ordain women! (Insert shocked gasp here)
Anyway, I was raised to believe that practicing the Jewish Faith was a railway ride to Hell. Fortunately I was spared the Catholic anti Semitism so many others were attacked with. My Mother is a gentile member of Jews for Jesus,a nd always reminded me that the Jews were God's Chosen people. Of course according to her, my pastors and a number of other people I was told were authorities, the Christens were now God's Chosen People, as we'd inherited it from the Jews who refused to convert. (I disagree with this assessment a bit, but I won't go there now)
When I was in High School, I found out I might have some Jewish blood in my family tree. Seems there is some doubt if one of my ancestors was fathered by his mother's husband, or her Jewish lover.
When I started dating Liz, my mother revealed something I hadn't known before. My Grandfather, (As in my Mother's Father) may qualify for Citizenship in Israel. Seems his mother was Jewish as you can get.
I've known this new tidbit about my own ancestry for a few months now, and attending a Seder was a bit of a mind trip.
Liz and I had watched part of "The Ten Commandments" the night before, and as I'd watched it, my mind had seen it the way it had while I was growing up. These were the people about whom the Bible is written, and it is from their faith that my own religion came.
Last night at the Seder something clicked in my head that hadn't quite settled in before. The enslavement, the misery and the suffering were experienced by my ancestors.
It feels strange. I feel like I don't have a right to type the line above. I grew up seeing myself as a Gentile, and according to many interpretations of lineage, I still am. My mother got her Jewish ancestry form her Father. I'm told that Jewish Heritage is traditionally traced through the mother, so this would mean she wasn't Jewish.
My head's a mess at the moment. Religion used to be a major component of my life, and the knowledge that I have a biological tie to the people of my beliefs is a big deal to me. If you'd asked me what I thought of this a week ago, I would have said it's interesting, but now...