Quick Thoughts from my Recent Trip

It’s been an eventful month for me. almost 3 weeks with the religious side of my family and then a week with my “secular” family. Both were nice but stressful in their own ways.

In Yiddish, we call seriously religious Jews “froom.” After almost 3 weeks, I was all froomed out! It was almost like living in a synagogue. I know the rules, though each family observes them differently. For now, I’ll focus on the separation between milk and meat, which extends to utensils and (sometimes) surfaces. Passover adds another level of complexity, which I won’t get into here – and don’t worry; this isn’t going to be a lesson on the laws of kosher.

It was a bar mitzvah, and there were a few non-Jews in attendance. For reasons that will remain private, I chose to congratulate a fine-looking young Jewish couple on finding each other, and how fortunate they are to be part of a Jewish community. I told them how great it is to be part of a tribe, and to cherish this, because this sense of belonging is more valuable than Earthly possessions.

I was approached later by a relative. I was told that since there were non-Jews present, this was inappropriate, that I might have offended them. As it so happens, I’m rather fond of those non-Jews; they’re good, God-fearing red-blooded White Americans. A bit later, I sat with them and we had some drinks. I hung out with them a bit, and announced, rather loudly so that everybody could hear: It’s OKAY to be White!. The relative who rebuked me earlier didn’t seem happy about this. I didn’t care. We separate between milk and meat, not because one is necessarily better than the other, but because separations are an integral part of Judaism. We even have a ritual called “Separation,” which we perform at the end of the Sabbath. Sabbath is separate from the other days. Here’s the crucial text:

Blessed are You, Lord Our God, King of the universe, who has made a distinction between the holy and the ordinary,
between light and darkness, between the people of Israel and the heathens, between the seventh day and the six ordinary
days of the week. Blessed are You O Lord, who has made a distinction between the holy and the ordinary.

… except that My Jewish Learning mistranslated part of it. The Hebrew text says nothing about “heathens;” It says, “between the people of Israel and the other nations…” So maybe I was too hasty in implying that Jews are no better than non-Jews – but EVERY NATION should think this way about itself. I’ve written about this previously.

We make distinctions because we all must do so to survive. All animals must do so. As we advanced from beasts to savages to civilized humans, our distinctions became more refined.

When I arrived at my “secular” family’s house, distinctions were just as important; I had to remember which refuse goes into the compost, which goes into recycling and which into landfill trash. At the grocery store, the big distinctions are between organic and non-organic, free-range and not free-range. My “secular” family is every bit as strict about these things as my religious family is about milk and meat.

My “secular” family does not make broad distinctions when it comes to humanity; they live in an area that’s well over 90% White. They don’t have to.

To end on a positive note, I got to hold my newest grandson, and he was the source of much joy for me during that visit.