Archives

“Growing up, I was aware of my identity as a Jewish person of color, but I didn’t see that aspect of myself represented in the Jewish community around me. It was a sensitive topic for me, and there were times when people expressed surprise that I was Jewish because I didn’t fit the stereotypical image… read more

“My view on Judaism has completely changed since coming to college, in that I finally came into contact with and fully understood what American Judaism is. I grew up in Sunnyvale, California, where American Judaism hardly exists. Silicon Valley is a total immigrant town and the Jewish immigrants are Israeli, and they either practice in… read more

“I have struggled to find my Jewish identity, but my pathway has been like a rollercoaster-type, and I have changed a lot. I started at a modern Orthodox school in LA, which was a lot to handle, and then transitioned to a super-secular school in the middle of suburbia. This transition was difficult for me… read more

“I always like to talk about being Argentine, just because I’ve met so many people who, you know, find out I’m Argentine, and they immediately say, ‘Oh, there are Jews in Argentina? I never knew that.’ And yes, it is a Catholic-majority country, but Argentina has a very tight-knit Jewish community. I’m cognizant that Jews… read more

“I was very involved in the Jewish community in Reno prior to the pandemic, but the congregation I was part of began to dissolve, and I lost a lot of that connection. The same year the synagogue dissolved, I started transitioning. I had to figure out how Judaism would play out in my life, and… read more

  “My mom is Jewish, and my dad is Baha’i, so they didn’t raise me in one particular religion, and before college, I didn’t identify with specific cultural or religious aspects. My Jewish roots connect to my family’s immigration story: my mom and grandparents left the Soviet Union in the early ‘80s due to anti-Semitism…. read more

“I converted in college. It was a big process that required a lot of time becoming acquainted with a lot of different rituals. I had to think critically about what it means to live halachically as an adult with control over my life in a way that I didn’t have to before.  There’s so much… read more

“When I walk into a room, I’m very aware of how my gender and religion influence each other because aspects of identity intersect in ways that can be both beautiful and complicated. For example, as a Jewish woman, showing up in more religious spaces makes me anxious. Since fourth grade, I’ve felt the need to… read more

“I grew up in a very small Jewish community in Costa Rica – around 2,500 people – where my Jewish identity was always present. I went to Jewish high school and was always surrounded by Jewish friends, so I didn’t really have to think about my Jewish identity that much. My mom’s Israeli, so I… read more

“Judaism has played a really massive role for me. It has helped shape me in terms of who I am, life’s questions, learning, community, and friendship. It’s part of who I am; it’s central. It’s hard to say what role it has played because it is just me and mine.   I talk about Judaism a… read more