Judaism Top 10

It's the secular New Year, and the Internet is full of Top 10 lists, many of questionable value to anybody but who wrote them, but they abound all the same. So, in that spirit, I offer my list of the top 10 ways in which Judaism has pleasantly surprised me so far this year. 

In no particular order, they are...

1. A one-point statement of belief

"Hear, O Israel, Adonai our god, Adonai is one". This is all the theology you are asked to agree to during a Jewish prayer service – and to be honest, there are plenty of agnostic Jews who don't firmly believe that much. But no holy trinity, no virgin birth, none of the many other "I believes" that I couldn't bring myself to believe growing up. One God, that's it. Love it!

2. It's not all about one guy

Growing up I remember getting fed up with the fact that the answer to every question in Sunday School was "Jesus." Our liturgical calendar traced the life of that same guy. Every week we heard a "gospel" story about you know who. Coming from this background, I expected Judaism to have its own "one guy" of sorts, maybe Abraham, or Moses, or Elijah, or Hillel or Akiva. But it doesn't. In one prayer service, we mention 3 patriarchs and 4 matriarchs. Elijah comes up once in a while, as does Miriam and her brother Moses. Many different prophets, warriors, priests, kings/queens, sages, rabbis, and average mensches get air time. So, no worries if you don't connect with one guy or gal that much – we'll move on. It's refreshing! 

3. Those "teachings of Christ"? They're (mostly) all here

But what about that Jesus fellow? What about all of those great sayings and teachings of Christ I learned growing up? Doesn't it suck to leave all of those behind? Surprise! Seems like way more than half of what Jesus said was either quoting Torah (love your neighbor as yourself? Leviticus!) or echoing discussions that were going on in the emerging world of rabbinical Judaism at that time (google Hillel the Elder) or re-stating themes that have been present in Judaism for a long, long time (heal the sick, clothe the naked, forgive each other before asking God to forgive you, etc, etc). There are a few differences: while Jews are supposed to love the stranger in their midst, "turning the other cheek" to their enemies seems to have never won a place as a mainstream Jewish value. 

4. "Blessed are you, Adonai our God…"

The basic prayer I learned growing up began "Dear God, please…" and ended with a list of people we wanted blessed or healed, wishes we wanted granted, that sort of thing. We thanked God for "daily bread" but that was often about it. I didn't realize it at the time, but this prayer taught me to look at life as a series of unfulfilled desires and blessings-yet-to-be-conferred. Jewish prayer seems to spend way more time thanking God – blessing God, to be precise – for the amazing number of blessings God has already bestowed upon us, from waking us up each morning alive to creating plants on earth that produce nourishment to giving us eyes that close at night so we can get some rest! Some people talk about counting your blessings, but Jews practice it, daily, until the message sinks in that no matter how much life seems to suck at any particular time, we are still deeply blessed. To life!

5. Hebrew rocks (or klezmers?)

I came into Judaism already loving the Hebrew language – the simple beauty of it, the compact expressiveness, the way simple phrases can have many meanings that go deeper and deeper – but all I had ever done with it out loud was stumble through. Who knew it would sound so good when you sing it? 

6. When Jews do bread and wine, they mean it

For years – ever since my seminary days actually – I've been annoyed at how so many Christian preachers build up to their celebration of Communion as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, an exemplar of God's extravagant hospitality, a celebratory feast of one sort or another…and then hand everyone a pinch of bread or a tasteless wafer and a dip-in-the-cup of wine or grape juice. It surprised me, though I suppose it shouldn't have, to find that Jews also celebrate their holy day by blessing wine and bread. In this case, however, there is no big build-up, the bread is incredibly tasty challah, and there is often an actual feast (known as an oneg) to accompany. Gentiles do score one point here, however: communion wine can easily hold its own against Manischewitz. ;-)

7. Friday afternoon kinda sucks, but Shabbat is worth it

Ever spent a harried afternoon preparing for an important guest to arrive at your house? Try spending every Friday afternoon like that. Not the best ad for Judaism? Maybe not, but the weekly guest – Shabbat – is well worth it. Imagine getting one day to turn off the outside world, put away the to-do lists, say no to commercialism, and actually spend time on what ought to be (and over time becomes!) most important to you: God, family, your own sanity. And Jews get that one day every week. What a gift!

8. Fall has a lot of holidays

I used to think of fall as a long expanse of not much going on until Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the start of the 60-day Christmas shopping season fall upon us. Now I have twice as many holidays to look forward to: a new year for my soul, a "Jewish Thanksgiving" that gets my family out in our backyard, and a reset button on my attempt to read the entire Torah in a year. To tell the truth, it's a bit exhausting! But for ADD folks like me and my family, who need an external sense of the passage of time and life, the Jewish fall holidays are a godsend. 

9. Hanukkah is so not Christmas

Don't get me wrong, Christmas is a great holiday. Used to be my favorite. But it doesn't hold a candle (hah!) to Hanukkah in terms of focusing my attention on my family and my faith. Christmas is a beautiful holiday that has unfortunately been seriously oversold. Back when I was Christian we celebrated light in the darkness and love and peace coming into a broken world through an endless (and frankly somewhat obnoxious) series of parties in every office and school and retail establishment throughout the land. By the time the real Christmas Eve/Day showed up, while I was excited to finally celebrate "for real," I was honestly also somewhat relieved to finally get the whole season done with. Hanukkah is a beautiful holiday celebrating our freedom and ability to still be Jewish after so many have tried to stop us. It's understated celebrations – lighting candles each night and then playing games or exchanging gifts or otherwise bonding as a family while the lights burn – focus one's attention on what matters: being a Jew, being a family, being loved. By the time the eighth day of Hanukkah rolled around, I felt a sadness about having to give that hour of every night up for another year. 

10. Synagogues are not just Jewish versions of churches

Some of the differences are semantic: you go to a church to worship, a synagogue for prayer and study. One calls itself "XYZ Church" and the other "Congregation RST" (or Temple, in the Reform movement). But there are other differences. Churches want to be the center of your religious life, while synagogues know that much of Judaism happens in the home. Churches offer free child care to welcome young families, in my experience synagogues don't – but some make up by being far more accepting of children in worship, so your kids start to learn the Hebrew prayers and songs and what not. Churches often ask you to join right away, synagogues tend to leave that decision up to you (unless you want your children in the religious school, of course). Churches ask you for money during worship and during yearly pledge drives, synagogues ask for money when you "affiliate" with them. Churches tend to want to be your one-stop-shop for religion, synagogues seem to be okay with being part of a larger Jewish ecosystem. Biggest difference: people in my experience tend to come to churches for one event or another and then want to leave right away, while people seem darned reluctant to leave synagogue. It is, after all, your chance to be with your people. Why would you want to leave?