At JBC.org: Why I Am a Reform Jew

Last night I posted over at JBC.org on why I am a Reform Jew. Per the rules of the blog, I'm not going to cross-post here, but I am going to link to it because I'm pretty proud of what I wrote.

So, if you are interested: Why I Am a Reform Jew.

Surrey w/ the fringe(s) on top...

This past Saturday marked a new chapter in my journey into observance: I began wearing tzitzit. It is something that I have been considering taking on for quite awhile (case in point: I actually purchased the tzitzit more than 2 years ago), but just came to the decision to do it last week. Part of why I chose now to do it is that I have been wearing a kippah at all times for over a year now; I've grown comfortable with being outwardly Jewish in all aspects of my public life. I felt it was time to be outwardly Jewish in a commanded way. The other reason is that wearing my tallit on Shabbat or when I pray is very special to me; it reminds me of who I am as a Jew and where I am going. Having this physical reminder every day, all day long, is something that I wanted (incidentally that was one of the reasons I initially began to wear my kippah at all times). Why should I only be reminded of my journey while I am praying and not all the time. Am I not a Jew all of the time?

So far it has been very positive for me. I've gotten a few questions about what they were at work (someone asked me if it was some kind of belt) and a couple of friends have congratulated me on taking this step. I saw my rabbi for the first time last night and he was kind of frazzled so I don't know if he noticed; I specifically picked a weekend that I wouldn't see him (there was a youth group trip) so that I could achieve a comfort level before he commented--which isn't to say he will comment negatively, or even at all. It's an odd quirk of mine; this is the rabbi I converted under and part of me will always be his student and looking for his approval in some way; it's not necessarily logical.

Beyond that, the only problem I've run into is purely practical: going to the bathroom. It may sound crude, but how does one sit down without risking getting the fringes wet? My initial solution is to tuck everything under my shirt and kind of roll it up. It has worked so far. The other practical problem is that I dislike it when a shirt rides up and reveals any skin. If I am wearing a polo shirt or a t-shirt that does this, I'll wear an undershirt that can be tucked in. I've noticed that the tzitzit tend to make this happen even on shirts that don't normall ride up, so I've been wearing an undershirt under the tzitzit, which in turn is under my outer shirt. This is all fine and good in the winter when one more layer is just going to be better anyway, but Cincinnati gets hot during the summer, so I'm going to need to figure something out. I know I could just tuck the fringes in, but then I feel like the point of wearing them, my own visual reminder, is moot.

b'reishit

My only secular-year resolution is to attempt to make my life outside of my job more meaningful. It's an over-arching resolution that will likely involve a number of smaller changes. One of these is that I'm going to really try and post more thoughts here. I've felt fairly disconnected to my spirituality of late, though I think that has more to do with the insane number of hours I've spent at work, or thinking about work, or dreaming about work, rather than focusing on things like Torah and studying Hebrew and reading. I took a class in December that was on God, the creation stories and evolution, and I really enjoyed it. I felt like I was using a part of my brain that has been somewhat dormant for a few months. And then it took another break as things ramped up at work and went into winter hibernation mode at my temple. I haven't been to a normal Saturday service in so long, due to youth group things, or b'nei mitzvot, or not having it, and I really miss it. While Friday night is always there, I've come to view Saturday as the anchor of my week.

So, in the attempt to make my life outside of work more meaningful spiritually, I plan on trying to do the following:
• Study Hebrew 30 minutes a day. Some days this won't work, but it's a goal.
• Read part of some book on Torah or Judaism each day for at least 30 minutes. Since I have a large stack of books in general, I'm going to try and juggle a few at a time, not just Jewish ones.
• Get into the habit of saying morning prayers at least, evening prayers when possible. I need a way to ground myself daily in what is important to me, especially when my work life becomes more and more of a challenge.

I think that is a good start.