Treyfland

I was going to wait until the end of the school year, but decided not to. We're not keeping the house kosher (or anything close to kosher) anymore.

It's not a matter of inconvenience. We tried it for the sake of experimentation, and because I thought it might make me "feel more Jewish" during the week. I was seeking a connection to Judaism outside of Shabbat services, especially a connection I could take with me when I move away from the Santa Cruz Jewish community. But this wasn't it.

And because I don't believe in following the laws just because they are laws - because in my heart I am truly of the Reform movement - it is silly to continue separating and labeling dishes and Tupperware. I follow laws that are meaningful to me. I decided I wanted a kosher house when I was living in the Jewish Co-Op over the summer, when it was not Jewish or a co-op or anything I loved. The Co-Op was meaningful to me, and the Co-Op was kosher. I wanted to recreate that space somehow, but this wasn't it. That's ok. I'm glad I gave it a shot.

I'm going to keep this blog, in which I seldom write, because Jewish living still merits a space for discussion, and because I still need a space where I can discuss it. As the time draws nearer when I will be forced - by adulthood and by moving away - to leave one Jewish community behind and seek a new one, I will probably need this space even more than I do now.

Next quarter - my last quarter as a graduate student here - I am TA'ing a course called "History of Sin," I am taking a course in Global Jewish Literature, and possibly taking an independent readings on Jewish immigration history, 1850-1950. I'm sure there will be plenty to say, as always.