even a secret agent can't lie to a Jewish mother.

The conversation goes something like this:

Them: Your skin is so pretty, what ethnicity are you?

Me: (Because I get my olive complexion from my Dad, I usually respond with,) I’m ½ Jewish.

Them: But that’s a religion, not an ethnicity.

Me: Oh, yeah...

Ever since I was little, I’ve never really known how to answer this question about myself. It always ended in confusion for everyone involved. The question, as it applies to me and my ethnicity, does not seem very straightforward. It is complicated by the fact that my father is of full Jewish ancestry.

I’ve decided to write out my thoughts on the subject as an effort to a) explain why I claim to be Jewish and b) figure out if I am justified in making such a claim.

I was not raised Jewish, nor do I practice it. I don’t consider myself super knowledgeable or anything like that. However, I still enjoy learning about it. And I consider it a strong part of my background and genealogy.

In an attempt to make this easier for everyone, I think it is very important to recognize that Judaism does not fit easily into the conventional Western categories of religion, ethnicity, or culture that we were brought up with. This in part reflects the fact that most of Judaism's 4,000-year history predates the rise of Western culture. So, for the time being, let us view Jewish-ness from a more universal lens and forgo our culturally constructed views about it, shall we?

As I understand it, Jew is a term used to denote both followers of a religion and members of an ethnicity. In a religious sense, the term refers to followers of Judaism whether they are ethnically Jewish or not. That is, a person can be white, black, Asian, Hispanic and be Jewish.

In an ethnic sense, though, it refers to those who trace their ancestry from the ancient patriarch Abraham through his son Isaac. Ethnic Jews include those who identify themselves as Jews in a cultural or ethnic sense. The bottom line is that part of my family descended from ethnic Jews, so I'm Jewish whether or not I practice Judaism.

So, the way I see it is this: Judaism/Jewish is very ambiguous, because there isn't a separate word to differentiate between religion and one's culture/background. Some Jews do not see themselves as ethnic Jews, but do follow Judaism. Others see themselves as ethnic Jews, but don't follow Judaism. They each hold water. Neither is more or less legitimized than the others. It just depends.

I feel incredibly lucky that I was raised to appreciate my Jewish ancestry. My dad was born and raised an Ashkenazic Jew. He always made a point to have us celebrate Hannukah and learn about his heritage. And let me tell you, my dad is such a Jew. Not only does he sport a Borat moustache, he can read in Hebrew from the Torrah (though he’s a bit rusty… his Bat Mitzvah was quite some time ago). I’ve seen videos of him celebrating Passover as a teen. And when I was a kid, he’d even sing the candle lighting song to us while we stood around the table and lit the menorah. It went something like this, Borukh Ato Adoynoy la la la. One of my favorite memories of my childhood was receiving the huge parcel from my grandparents in Chicago. They’d send all of our gifts individually wrapped within a huge box. It was awesome.

So... in conclusion, even though I don't practice the religion, I don't believe in the principles of Judaism and I don't obey the laws of the Torrah, I am Jewish.

all the world's a stage*

I feel like an eternity has passed since I last posted, even though it’s been less than a month. A lot has happened in the past few weeks, though. I left Astoria and returned to the sparkling hills of Parkland. I moved off campus and into a house. I started my job at the concierge desk and have been concierging (does anyone even know what that means?) non-stop. Classes have started and are in motion. Fall softball has begun and never ceases to exhaust me. I can tell it’s going to be a busy, but awesome, semester.

I've always been one to consider the beginning of a new school year as a big deal. Whether it's the first day of junior high, college, law school, I consider it a milestone. Time for a fresh start. A new year, new faces, new pencils, new notes... everything starts anew and the future lays before you a blank slate. Tabula rasa style. So, I encourage everyone starting school this fall, or starting a new job, or whathaveyou, to adopt this ideology and give yourself a fresh start, too.

I have discovered that I quite like school! It's weird, I admit. But so far I am enjoying my classes. Knock on wood, please, because I have this incredibly irrational fear that talking about my liking for them will suddenly make it disappear. Coming into this year, I was afraid that becoming an upper-classman would be a tough transition. But so far it seems pretty doable. I’m not saying—or even suggesting for that matter—that my classes are going to be a walk in the park, but it just seems if I stay on task and organized, then I’ll survive.

Living on my own has been pretty cool. Aside from an (entirely avoidable and freaking annoying) altercation involving one of my roommates and an army ranger that resulted in broken dishes, lacerations on our wall, paramedics (don’t let this fool you—no one was remotely close to being injured), police, angry neighbors and strike 1, my experience has been great. It’s certainly nice not having to eat in the UC every night for dinner, refreshing not having to share a germ infested bathroom, and liberating to have more than 144 square feet of space.

Today my coach told me I was a celebrity! Over the summer I was asked for a quote to be featured in the 'PLU Softball Recruiting Brochure' and they had finally arrived. Thinking I had finally made it to the top, I was rather discouraged. Needless to say, I told her that until my mug shot appeared on TMZ that I was still in the minor leagues.

*The title is my favorite line from a Shakespeare play (As You Like It) that I just finished reading. I love it because it reminds me not to take life too seriously, as life is a theatrical performance and I am merely a player in the world's wide and universal theater.