Yesterday I wrote about Jews all over the world assimilating into secular culture. Today, as I watched the Super Bowl half-time show I considered whether or not Roger Daltrey and The Who weren't singing to Jews all over the United States and asking them an extremely important question: Who are you?
Now I'm not a big Who fan. (I'm also not a football fan, but my son and husband were watching and I was eating chips and onion dip nearby as I worked; might as well enjoy a bit of the hoopla, I figured.) As I listened to the medley of Who songs and watched the great light show (I did appreciate that...), I thought, "Could it be that Peter Townshend, the band's songwriter, wrote lyrics that apply to Jews today?
Indeed, if Jews all over the world have assimilated into secular culture--or even into the religious culture of the community around them, maybe they should stop for a moment and ask themselves: Who are you?
We should each ask ourselves this question or some semblance of it: Who am I? Am I really a Jew? Do I think like a Jew? Do I behave like a Jew? Do I do Jewish things? Do I observe Jewish holidays and customs? Do I raise my children as Jews? Do I follow Jewish laws?
If you can't answer "yes" to a good portion of these questions, are you really a Jew?
Can you simply be a secular Jew, a Jew by birth a Jew due to your heritage and upbringing? Does supporting Israel make you a Jew?
Today, let The Who's singing of one of their most famous songs during the Super Bowl half-time show remind you to ask yourself, "Who am I? As a Jew, who am I...really?" You might be surprised at your answer.
Comments
I think that is a question is jew will answer and have the right answer based on their own cultural and religious sense of identity
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