By Susan Diamond
 

The two boys could not be more different. Yet they are alike. One tall, energetic like a clumsy puppy on spindly legs. That’s Matt. The other is average height for a young man of twenty, not heavy in weight but soft in the way you can tell immediately he doesn’t work out. His name is Dovid – not a misspelling.

Dovid is smart. He is in his second year at the Yeshiva (college of Jewish studies) where he studies Torah (Hebrew Bible) from early morning until late at night. It’s a grueling schedule. He and the other boys are required to be in the Beit Midrash (chapel) for  Shacharit (morning prayers) by 6:30 am. They daven (pray) together for thirty minutes and learn after for thirty minutes more until breakfast, where they say the bracha (blessing) before they eat.

There are rules to be followed as to the exact wording of the blessing depending on the food groups served on any particular morning. It takes pause and thought to pray properly before Dovid eats even one morsel of food.

The kitchen staff too has spent careful time in the proper selection of the food and it’s preparation according to specific guidelines to ensure Dovid’s meal is strictly kosher.

The life of an Orthodox Jew is about following the rules.

And so it is with Matt, who is also a student. He attends the local Christian college. While Matt’s routine is less rigid in practice his commitment to an orthodox belief system is equal to Dovid’s.

I met Dovid at a friend’s house where we were both guests for dinner on a very cold December night. Dovid was one of three Yeshiva boys at the Rosenblatt’s dining table that night. I was there with my wife Janet.

Janet and I are Reform Jews, not Orthodox. That means we are on the progressive end of the Jewish spectrum where Dovid is on the most traditional end. The Rosenblatts are right of us and left of Dovid. Does that make sense? To explain it another way, if Dovid were a Christian he would choose an Evangelical church, The Rosenblatts might be at a Catholic church, and I would be sitting in a pew at a UCC church.

Back to that Friday night at the Rosenblatts.

It was Hanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights celebrating the miracle of a small portion of oil that burned in the temple for eight nights instead of one. Hanukah also celebrates the Maccabees, Jewish war heroes who defied all odds, defeated the Assyrians and restored law and order to the Jewish community threatened by assimilation.

Hanukah is technically a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar made major by its seasonal status as a Jewish companion to Christmas. No relation whatsoever, but try telling that to a child whose school holiday program includes Hanukah and Christmas songs.

I am the Hanukah Scrooge. I say “bah humbug!” to excessive celebration of Hanukah. As a Reform Jew assimilated into American life, I can’t help but think how I would feel if my Orthodox Jewish brethren attacked me by claiming I was not following my religion properly.

This was the argument I presented at the dinner table that night. Dovid was shocked. He said, “You’re kidding, right?”

No, I’m not kidding.

“I never met a Reform Jew before.”

He had questions about that before we even tackled the Hanukah story.

“How did you know the brachah?”...READ MORE