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REPUBLIC BANK
DIAMOND INVESTMENT ACCOUNT
Why Be Jewish?
Two leading rabbis have some answers.
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Minimum to open is 55,000 Annual percentage yields are effective 829/95 and are subject to change after opening. Interest is tiered
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El
y the time she was 12,
Maryanne already was
questioning her faith. She
turned to her minister at
the Presbyterian church and
asked, "What proof do you have
that this was the immaculate
conception?"
The pastor was not pleased.
In college, Maryanne took a
course called "New Testament."
It was here, she says, she real-
ized, "I do not believe in Chris-
tianity."
Then she met Gary, who was
Jewish.
"We began talking about the
possibility of spending our lives
together. I told him, There is not
going to be a problem as far as re-
ligion is concerned because I want
to convert to Judaism.' "
Why and how people choose to
become Jewish is the subject of a
compelling new book, Finding a
Home for the Soul (Jason Aron-
son), a collection of interviews
with 42 men and women.
Written by Catherine Hall My-
rowitz, it contains stories of Jews
by Choice who have become Or-
thodox, and those who remain
only marginally religious, but
nonetheless continue to identify
as Jews. There also are stories of
those raised in another faith who
found themselves inextricably
drawn to Judaism, only to dis-
cover that many of their ances-
tors were Jewish.
Predictably, converts' paths to
Judaism often start when they
meet someone Jewish. But the
notion that they must join the
faith if they want to marry a Jew
is hardly a motivating factor in
their decision to convert.
One woman explains:
"When Joel started telling me
about Judaism, a light went on
for me and I said, 'My God, I'm
Jewish.' I just felt like everything
he said to me fit with my percep-
tion of the world and with what
I wanted religion to do for me,
and the way I felt about God."
Those interviewed also discuss
their own family's reactions when
they announced their decision to
convert, how they felt about var-
ious conversion programs, and
what it's like to give up Christ-
mas.
The author is a convert to
Judaism and clinical social work-
er active in an egalitarian minyan
in Baltimore.
I
t's Shabbat and it's raining
and it's only 11 a.m. and your
children absolutely do not
want to play the same old
games.
Jewish Holiday Games For
Little Hands (Kar-Ben Copies,
Inc.), by Ruth Esrig Brinn and
Sally Springer, has more than
four dozen games for Shabbat
and other Jewish holidays. It in-
cludes card, word and board
games, ideas for large and small
groups, and even some that a
child can play by himself.
Each section begins with an ex-
planation of the holiday and a
page of playing cards to color and
cut out. And check out these great
game names: Tzedakah Toss,
Shake the Lulav, Ha Ha
"(At the beach) When a wave
hits, the hem of my skirt gets wet.
I want to dip and splash into the
water, all the way, over my head.
But I don't have a change of
clothes with me. I lift my skirt
higher and go in deeper. A wave
comes, and the bottom of my un-
derpants gets cold and wet like a
warning. The water sways high-
er and lower, teasing. I take an-
other step and a wave comes, and
I have to lift up my skirt to keep
Learning all about Shabbat with Jewish Holiday Games for Little Hands.
Hanukkah, Building for Pharaoh
and Climbing Mt. Sinai.
Ms. Brinn also is the author
of Jewish Holiday Crafts for Little
Hands, and Ms. Springer illus-
trated the Kar-BenNoah series.
Also new from Kar-Ben: Sim-
chat Torah: A Family Celebration
by Judith Abrams and Kather-
ine Janus Kahn. The book in-
cludes brief introductory prayers
and Torah readings, along with
words and music for seven cre-
ative songsto accompany Torah
processions.
R
achel Benjamin is about to
begin a new life. She is the
eldest daughter of a New
York rabbi. Her life is her
faith, her family, her communi-
ty.
But she longs for something
else. At night, she reads the ro-
mantic works of Barbara Cart-
land and Victoria Holt. Then she
begins buying the sheer stockings
her parents forbid.
She agrees to marry the man
her parents have chosen for her,
but as the wedding date draws
near, Rachel begins to have her
doubts.
Rachel Benjamin's story is told
in the new The Romance
Reader (Riverhead Books) by
Pearl Abraham. It is the tale of a
woman torn between choosing
the familiar and the dependable,
and the exciting and forbidden.
it dry. My underpants are wet
and heavy, weighted, pulling
down to the ocean floor. The wa-
ter, too, pulls hard, calling, but
from the top of the dune, Ma's
face disapproves. I have a choice:
I have to say yes to one and no to
the other.
R
abbi David Wolpe finds
beauty in saying a bless-
ing, in listening, in the
chance "to grow in soul," in
being part of a people, in Torah.
And all, he says, are part of what
it means to be Jewish.
In Why Be Jewish (Henry
Holt), Rabbi Wolpe, a graduate
of the Jewish Theological Semi-
nary of America, offers a kind of
love song to Judaism. It also is an
introduction and a brief outline
for those who ask, "What is
Judaism all about, anyway?"
Rabbi Wolpe writes of history
— of the miracle of a people who
could survive for so long, against
so many odds — and of God, "the
great creative force of the uni-
verse...(who also) is ready to enter
into a relationship with each
human being."
"Why should one be Jewish?"
he concludes. "Because Judaism
can teach us how to deepen our
lives, to improve the world, to join
with others who have the same
lofty aims. Judaism can teach us
spiritual and moral mindfulness,
a way of living in this world that