September 28, 2005
SISTER SPIRIT JESSICA
Jessica
Cultural diffusion has been occurring for many years and continues to this day. I myself have an interest in many cultures and their religions.
The Sister Spirit program at the Lower Eastside Girls Club has allowed me to go into depth on the religions we have been introduced to.
I am Jessica and I was raised a Catholic. About two years after my communion I decided that I’m not going to belong to any religion, but I do believe that there is something out there.
However, I am interested in how other religions work and contribute to the daily lives of the people who study them. Out of all the religions we have been introduced to this week, I had the strongest interest in Judaism.
When the guest speaker, Rabbi Alice, came to talk to us about being a woman Rabbi in Jewish community and about her religion, the things she told us were different from what I’ve learned at school. Rabbi Alice is a young woman reform Rabbi who is trying to use her knowledge to bring social justice to any community and to fight for the underdog.
I was surprised that a Rabbi could look so different. She was a young woman dressed in casual clothing. Usually you would expect an older man with a beard and curls down the side of his ears, and dressed in a suit, but those are just some of the assumptions that everyone makes.
I came to learn that within Judaism there are different ways to express the religion, such as being a conservative, orthodox or reform Jew. If I were to convert to Judaism, I would be a reform Jew, for the reason that it “flows” with the changes of the century, as Rabbi Alice describes it.
Rabbi Alice gave us a sheet of quotes on social justice from Jewish texts. The one that stuck in my mind was: “The tongue can be as murderous as the hand.” What this meant to me was that you don’t only harm people physically, your tongue can also be a weapon.
The other thing that stuck in my mind was when Rabbi Alice said that we have the responsibility to make the world better for the next generation. That God put us on this earth to contribute to this.