PHOTO BY LARRY LEVANTI
A 'Tie To The Past
Jewish Book Fair author Judy Petsonk finds a link to the present
with biblical stories.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
F
or Judy Petsonk, a step in her spir-
itual journey came while folding
laundry in the back yard.
As her baby slept peacefully nearby,
Ms. Petsonk wrapped herself in a sheet,
said the prayer for putting on a prayer
shawl and danced about the yard read-
ing a prayer book. For her, it was a mo-
ment in which she felt bathed in the
presence of God at the same time she felt
freed from her everyday concerns.
"I grew up thinking Judaism was like
a platter filled with stories, with ethnic
food, with holidays and traditions," she
said. "And you took what you needed to
fill you up, sampling something from each
part of the platter.
"So you can imagine my surprise when
I found God in a basket of laundry," she
told the Book Fair audience of 30 who at-
tended the Friday morning lecture at the
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield.
Ms. Petsonk, author of Taking Ju-
daism Personally, said that hers is one
of many such journeys being embarked
upon by ordinary, everyday American
Jews.
"I am not a scholar; I'm not a rabbi,"
she said. "So why did I write a book? I
wanted to show that one can grow spir-
itually as a Jewish person."
Compiling stories from other Jews who
have begun their search for deeper mean-
ing in Judaism, Ms. Petsonk discovered
that many people have found new mean-
ing in Bible stories. Instead of finding
that Jewish life was anchored on a self-
defense-based ideology of the post-World
War II era, she found Jews looking to find
a connection to the past
and, through the stories,
Judy Petsonk:
locating a meaning for the Author of Taking
here and now.
Judaism
More important, she
Personally.
was able to relate her life
struggles with biblical stories and find
meaning in their messages. For example,
when dealing with sibling rivalry, she
was able to draw certain parallels be-
tween her children and Jacob and Esau.
She used the way Rebecca and Isaac re-
lated to their children as a way to resolve
her children's conflicts.
"It never occurred to me that these
stories were about journeys, about
growth, about change," she said. "I found,
through this [examination of the texts],
that we are even more the people of
the book, the people of the story."
Beginning her life as a Reform Jew in
a small town, she later moved to a small-
er town where she was one of a handful
of Jews. Consequently, she felt very alone
in her observance and spiritual life.
"In school, the empha-
sis was on history or He-
brew and the mastery of
certain prayers," she said.
"You didn't get a feeling
for prayer and its mean-
ing or establishing a rela-
tionship with God and
sustaining that relation-
ship."
To feel more connected,
she moved to Dayton,
Ohio, where she began to
understand the impor-
tance of community.
"Our community is our
sanctuary. It is our tem-
ple today," she said. "We
have to be aware of its ho-
liness and its spirituality
and respect that."
Now touring the country to promote
her book, she says she has viewed the
spiritual renewal in American Jewry. At
each stop, many people ask for her phone
number.
"It is amazing. People are so thirsty
for this spiritual connection," she
said.
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