"Jew-ography"

If you are Jewish then you're never far from home…

Right now, there is nothing that could make me happier. I love the community I am building for myself here and I'm learning so much! Since I only have a short time I'm trying to explore everything and as overwhelming as that might be, I'm loving learning and celebrating and being Jewish all possible ways (which in SA mostly means Orthodox and Progressive, Netzer or Ha'bonim). I also can't get enough of sharing American Judaism with my new South African community and watching and listening as they try to comprehend my association with "Just Jewish". Practicing Judaism in South Africa is so great but I'm learning the distinctions that help to guide our practices often divide people more here. I've observed an unspoken animosity toward the Progressive movement from those who identify as Orthodox and a disdain for those of higher observances from the Progressive community. This is a generalization but from my understanding this observation is valid. The ideology that "we are all Jewish regardless of our affiliation"  is something that I'm gathering people struggle with here and they are shocked by my diverse, privileged, well-rounded Jewish upbringing (thanks mom!) . While I'm learning I'm mostly just enjoying and sometimes I am enjoying myself too much, it makes me miss home.

Starting with the first time I went to Temple Israel, a Progressive Synagogue in Cape Town, I was able to make surprising connections. For Starter's the rabbi's granddaughter is a friend of mine, Dalit, from American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Once I learned this I contacted Dalit the next chance I had. The following Shabbat I met Dalit and her friends for a community Shabbat dinner at her home in town. We enjoyed our meal for hours making connections and friends! There I met Marianne,from California, who is close friends with Aaron Leven who traveled with me to Uganda this past summer. This connection brought us to the typical "who knows who" of USY and it was fun to remember old friends and events! This past Shabbat has been my favorite one of all.  After weeks of anticipation I finally met Nancy who is from Connecticut, West Hartford, but now is living in Cape Town. Nancy knows Benzi Miller and his family as well as Judy Green and a whole bunch of other people from educators to rabbis and friends from the North East. We enjoyed a beautiful service with singing and music that felt just like camp, just like home. Singing the familiar melodies and absorbing the outstanding music that surrounded me I felt just right. There it hit me that I could not need anything else to make me thrive in that moment. I was totally at peace and so appreciative. The service ended and after Kiddush we went to Nancy's home for a wonderful, colorful dinner! After a while of "Jew-ography" we got to chatting about  other things and it was great to sit around the Shabbat table bouncing around conversations taking the time to appreciate my surroundings. I'm loving how easy it is to find connections in this world just by being Jewish. It's something I never really cherished until I was in Uganda and I met a friend of a friend who was practically family with my synagogue president. People say that it's a small world but for Jews it's even smaller. I could not be more appreciative of the hospitality I have been shown and the instant family that has been created for me in Cape Town after only a few emails. This morning I returned to Temple Israel for their Super Shabbat Saturday morning program. I listened to seven, seven minute talks about Judaism, participated in a family service with more music, and observed what a real community Torah service looks like! During the morning, I met Rabbi Lisa who is a visiting Rabbi from London who studied at Hebrew College in Newton and taught at Prozdor Hebrew High School in 2006-2009, my 9th-11th grade years. I also met a boy from Haifa, Israel who is close with Meir Sherer who is a good friend of my mom's and took me to Ukraine when I was sixteen. I was once again reminded that this community has ties so tight that the six degrees of separation is too generous. These connections withstand challenges and animosity and beam community and faith making it impossible not to enjoy every moment of shir (song) and happiness together.  This is what Shabbat and being Jewish is all about.