Note received: “I have to admit, I am angry. I was brought up Jewish, attended a Jewish school, and have only known Judaism as my religion. Now I am told I have to convert, because my mother never formally became Jewish. Isn't it a little unfair that all my life I was more Jewish than my friends, was subjected to anti-Semitism, and then I am told I need to convert?!”
Here's a thought... I completely understand your frustration. It can't be easy to hear that you need to convert to your own religion. But please don't take it personally. This is not a reflection on you. The entire Jewish nation went through exactly what you are going through now. After leaving Egypt, where they suffered as slaves and were tormented for being Jewish, the Israelites reached Mount Sinai. There they were told they had to formally accept the Torah, and convert to Judaism by immersing in a mikvah. They could've had the same complaint as yours. We've always been Jewish, we have even suffered for it, and now we're told we need to become Jewish. Indeed they were already Jewish in the ethnic sense, but they had not yet become Jewish in the religious sense. They were born into the Jewish clan, but they had not yet committed to the Jewish mission. Only by sincerely accepting the Torah did they take on the complete Jewish identity in body and soul. The Israelites of old had a moment of truth. Am I ready to stand before G-d and commit myself to being Jewish? Not just for a day or a week or a year. Not just for my lifetime. For generations. And they said yes. That power of that moment still reverberates to this day. All Jews alive today are descended from a mother who converted to Judaism, who took that plunge, either at Mount Sinai or sometime since then. Now you have your moment of truth. You can be culturally and ethnically Jewish, as you already are. Or you can stand at your own Sinai and say yes to G-d. Take this decision seriously. If you don't go ahead, you leave things hanging for your children and theirs. But if you do it, your commitment is forever, for all generations, once and for all. Mendel (Menachem) Bluming and RA”M
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The realities of Chanukah exactly 2159 years ago forced the Jews to find a way to light the menorah with one seemingly inadequate cruse of oil. Amazingly it lasted not only for that Chanukah but to this day.
In 2020 the realities forced us to somehow make one measly cruse of oil work. We had to find ways to make Chanukah joyous despite not being able to congregate and celebrate together. In 2020 YOU found a way to make one small jug work. You expressed love and care despite physical distance. You supported and sustained the community despite the hardships of this year. Yes I have seen many marriages strained by the pandemic yet I have also seen so many marriages strengthened. When we spend so much time together we realize how much we need each other and how worthwhile it is to invest in relationships with family that are all too often neglected. Finding the good in 2020 starts with Chanukah. That one small cruse of oil looked measly but now in hindsight it was a powerhouse of energy. This year may have looked like we just would not have enough... In hindsight we've grown deeper and overcome barriers that we may have never thought imaginable. Happy Hanukkah! Mendel (Menachem) Bluming Take a dreidel and spin it. Let everyone watch. It's fascinating. You never know which side it will land on. It could fall on the Gimmel, which means you win all, or the Shin, which means you lose all. It may land on Heh, and you win half the pot. And sometimes it ends up on Nun, and nothing happens.
It all seems totally random. But really it isn't. Every spin has an exact amount of kinetic energy to cause a measured number of turns. The table surface provides an exact amount of friction, and the air pushes the dreidel in a certain way, so it falls exactly as it is supposed to. Nothing is left to chance. There is an exact science to the spin. We just don't get it. Life is like that. It may seem random sometimes. Things just happen, you win or you lose, it falls this way or that for no apparent reason. But that is just how it seems. There is a divine hand spinning the world. Every turn is deliberate, every experience you have is supposed to happen, and whether you win or lose, there is a reason behind it. There are no self-spinning dreidels. There is always a hand behind the spin. Whatever life deals you, whether a nothing Nun, a gainful Gimmel, and halfway Heh or a shameful Shin, that's exactly where you are meant to be. When you put the four letters of the dreidel together, they stand for "Nes Gadol Haya Sham" - a great miracle happened there. Because when you piece together all the ups and downs of your life into one whole picture, you must admit, it is a miracle that you are here! Mendel (Menachem) Bluming and RA”M A foundation of Chassidic teaching is that, as taught in Tanya chapter 12, we can control our behavior, which includes our thoughts, speech and action.
We can usually control what we do, and also what we say. But can we really control what we think? Can I control what will pop into my head? I got this response from a ‘friend’ some time ago: “Apologies for not responding sooner to your emailed message. I actually did receive it the first time. But I ignored it. I didn't even open it. And it was deliberate. I decide which messages I open, and which I don't. Just because an alert pops up on my screen does not mean that I have to react to it. I may not be able to control the messages that arrive in my inbox, but I can certainly control whether or not I open them. And I didn't open yours.” You may not be able to control the thoughts that pop into your head. But you most certainly can control your reaction to them. If an inappropriate thought enters your mind, you have the choice to entertain it or reject it. And that is the challenge we are given, to take the reins of our brains and push away negative thinking. When you reject a bad thought, you don't allow it to become yours, it knocks loudly and you do not allow entry. And each time you do, you become the master of your inbox. Unless you are a very holy person, you will experience bad thoughts on a regular basis. Sometimes they will be about yourself - "I am a loser, I will never accomplish anything." Sometimes they will be about others - "I could kill that guy". Some of those thoughts may be pretty ugly. You have no power to stop them flashing through your mind. But you do have the choice to leave those thoughts unopened. Bad thoughts popping up into your head? That's normal. Delete and go to next message. Try it! Mendel (Menachem) Bluming and RAM Many people from all different walks of life have reported feeling an affinity to Jews and Judaism. Some leave it at that. Others take it further. For them, it is more than just a curiosity with Jewish things or a taste for Jewish cooking. It is in their soul.
The first Jewish couple, Abraham and Sarah, were married for decades before they were blessed with a child. But the Kabbalists in Shelah HaKadosh, Sha’ar HaOsios, Kedushas Hazivug 402 say that although no physical children had been born to them, they had given birth to many spiritual children. Every time husband and wife are together, a soul is born. Sometimes that soul comes down into a body, and is born as their child. Other times, the soul remains in the heavens. Abraham and Sarah for all those years were in fact giving birth to souls without bodies. Those souls were then distributed among the nations of the world and spread over history. These are the souls of converts to Judaism throughout the ages. When a non-Jew feels within them a pull towards the Jewish faith and the Jewish people, it may be a latent Jewish soul wanting to return to its community, a long lost child of Abraham and Sarah reuniting with its family. This is why when a convert to Judaism chooses a Hebrew name, they are called the son or daughter of Abraham and Sarah. This is describing a true fact, their Jewish soul came directly from the first Jewish couple. While a born Jew is a distant descendant of Abraham and Sarah, a convert is their actual child. Now there are plenty of non-Jews who have Jewish taste. Just because you like Jewish humor and enjoy bagels and lox, doesn't mean that you have a hidden Jewish soul. But someone who studies Judaism and is enthralled by it, explores the laws of Torah and just wants to do more, feels a deep calling to join the Jewish people and embarks on the long and hard journey to do just that with no ulterior motive - it must be Abraham and Sarah calling them home. Mendel (Menachem) Bluming and R”M |
AuthorRabbi Mendel Bluming also dedicated six years to serving on the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, where he received the Matthew H. Simon Rabbinical Award for exceptional communal leadership. Archives
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