Blog

"I’ve chosen the name, Shoshana. Shoshana means lily or rose. This is a kind of homage to my confirmation name, Rose. The thing that intimidated me the most about this process was admitting to myself that I could be religious. I was raised Catholic but over time felt like it wasn’t the best fit for me. I separated myself from the church and as a result never really thought of myself as religious. Growing up, the thought of converting to another religion never crossed my mind. I just kind of assumed that all regions were, more or less, the same. Not in that they believe the same things, we know they don’t (or do they?). But how they practice, what they preach, who they pray and show up for was the same.

"So why am I here tonight?

"Did you know that you don’t have to have it all figured out? You don’t have to have a definite answer to who or what God or spirituality is? I didn’t know that. I thought it was this magical mystical idea that everyone agreed on like 99% of the time and if you didn’t then you were wrong. And if you didn’t agree you were “different”, but not in a cool quirky way, instead, in a way that made you an outsider. Which is, once again, why I did not think religion had a place for me.

"It turns out you don’t have to know it all or have all of the answers. Frankly, we probably shouldn’t.

"Judaism has this concept of debate. It encourages everyone to question what they are reading and hearing. To take it down one path to then only turn around and say “but what if” and take it down another path. And to me, that’s pretty cool. Honestly, it’s what I’ve been doing my entire life. My parents, who are here, can probably attest that I ask a lot of questions.

"My friend Colleen let me know that the Federation was hosting an interfaith couples trip to Israel. Fast forward to the summer of 2019. We stood in the remains of a temple in the city of Magdala. Having grown up in the St. Mary Magdalen Parish I am all too familiar with the stories that took place here. It may have been Rabbi Michael or maybe it was our guide Gadi, but someone made a comment that Jesus probably debated with his Rabbis in this very temple. And wow, what an image that painted for me. Maybe after a good debate, he would leave the temple and carry on the conversation with Mary. Of course, there’s no way of knowing that that really happened, but it was just a reminder that Judaism is ancient and so is its culture.

"That trip to Israel was just one of the many times over the years that I have found myself a part of the Jewish community. About 11 years ago my friend Lindsay let me know about a job opening at the Shaare Zedek Early Childhood Center. I was happy to have the opportunity but I wasn’t sure how I’d feel working in a religious institution. It ended up being a very rewarding experience. I genuinely enjoyed Shabbat every Friday, learning about the holidays, I liked how the religion was gently taught, and the community was everything. I remember working in the office with Marty and she said “Baruch HaShem” in response to something. I asked her what it meant and then proceeded to repeat it in my head over and over all day. I mean all day. Why did I feel the need to do this? I couldn’t tell you.

"After leaving Shaare Zedek I found myself drawn to Jewish events just out of interest with no real goal but to learn. There is a local band called Brothers Lazaroff which puts on a Hanukkah concert every year. The first time I saw this show I was amazed. The place was packed and the energy was something else... I have to admit though, that sometimes I felt a little uncomfortable not being Jewish at those events. I remember going to a book signing event at MaTovu a few years ago and thinking to myself, what if they ask me something I won’t understand because I’m not Jewish? Of course, no one cared and I never had to answer a riddle that only Jews would know the answer to.

"Over the last year, I decided to take my interest in Judaism further. I took an intro to Judaism course hosted by several rabbis in the community, did some text study with Rabbi Michael, and joined Rabbi Amy’s book club for a couple of books. My husband, Ben, used to joke that I’m more Jewish than he is because I go to those events and attend those classes. I met Ben in 2013 through improv and mutual friends, not through these Jewish experiences. And wouldn’t you know it, he is Jewish! After all of that, I had somehow joined a Jewish family. They were very welcoming and genuinely excited to include me in their traditions.

"These stories are just some of why I am here tonight.

"My earliest Jewish experience was in middle school when I visited a friend on a Friday night. The house was dark with the exception of lit candles. I didn’t understand at the time that they were observing Shabbat. Fast forward to high school and I had a similar experience at a friend of a friend’s house. Both times I remember sitting in the dark with these people and thinking that this is something special. And now here we are, sharing this Shabbat together. Baruch HaShem."
 

Mazel Tov to Julia on joining the Jewish faith at Temple Israel on Friday, August 20, 2021!