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I grew up in Squirrel
Hill, a very Jewish neighborhood in Pittsburgh. I was fascinated by
Judaism and religion from about age 3. I was raised in a home that was
not kosher or observant in any Orthodox sense of the word, but very
strongly Jewish all the same. We lit candles, said kiddish (one-line
version) and had challah Friday nights, along with a special dessert
that the kids fought over. My mother made traditional foods for the
holidays (Latkes and Hamentaschen). My parents belonged to an Orthodox
congregation because their friends did, but in no way was I "raised"
Orthodox. (My parents switched to a Reform congregation about 10-15
years ago, and are getting much more out of synagogue life).
My high school Hebrew
School program was Reconstructionist. I belonged to BBG (B'nai Brith
Girls youth group) & NFTY, a reform youth group.
I went to public schools
and had friends from across the Jewish spectrum as well as Christians.
What I got out of my broad Jewish background, was a level of comfort in
diverse Jewish settings and a feeling that we are all one family. I
don't see Orthodox Jews as "other" or "weird" as some do. I am committed
to building bridges of friendship and understanding among all Jews. But
as a young woman coming of age in the feminist 70's, I was not
interested in being Orthodox. As a young adult, I joined a conservative
congregation, the only one in town.
When I was graduating from
college (BA Psychology after studying engineering & physics, but that's
another story), I looked at the things I love to study and do, such as
Judaism, counseling, teaching, art, music, writing, etc., and thought
that a Rabbi could conceivably do all those things. It crossed my mind
earlier, in the 70's, but there were only a couple women Rabbis at the
time and didn't seem at all realistic. I hadn't thought about it again
for eight years.
I had always resisted
choosing a label, preferring "Recon-form-odox-ative," but choosing a
Rabbinical school meant choosing a movement. The more I read, the more I
felt I was a Reconstructionist. Here was a movement that taught what I
believed:
- Judaism is a vast civilization,
not just a religion. It includes arts, music, literature, drama,
three languages, nationality and ethnicities, numerous cuisines and
a land.
- Jews are not "chosen". God does
not play favorites.
- God isn't a person-like being
sitting on a cloud and zapping/blessing people at whim.
- Even if not divinely revealed,
Torah and other Jewish texts are holy because we give them that
sacredness by our devotion, as our ancestors always have.
- If tradition is problematic, we
seek to reinterpret it and keep it, rather than tossing out the
whole idea.
- "The past has a Vote, not a
Veto."
- Even if a Jew can't believe in
a supernatural concept of God, there are other ways to understand
God and maintain both spirituality and intellectual honesty.
- Judaism must enhance the lives
of Jews if it is to flourish.
- Judaism belongs to and must
serve the Jewish people even more than the Jewish people belong to
Judaism and "owe Judaism" (such as the idea that you owe it to the
past to keep kosher, keep Shabbat, keep whatever because your
ancestors did. Remember, our ancestors had a reason too. There must
be intrinsic value in the tradition, and guilt is not a valid
reason, in my opinion, to live a Jewish life.)
- Reconstructionism was and is
completely egalitarian.
- Reconstructionists define
Judaism as the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people.
- There was room for diversity in
belief and practices among reconstructionist Jews, but
- Communal decisions (such as
whether the synagogue would be kosher, for example) were to be made
democratically by the community, after study.
- Serious contemporary American
Jews are trying to walk a path that includes the best of two
civilizations, American and Jewish.
- Wisdom is in finding the
balance and the creative tension in this situation.
I found that all of this
rang true for me and thus enthusiastically joined the Reconstructionist
movement in 1983. Shortly thereafter, I was accepted into their
Rabbinical College and moved from California to Philadelphia to attend
RRC.
Since graduation in 1989,
I have served Conservative, Reform and Unaffiliated congregations. I've
been a contract Rabbi in the Federal Prison system, for the VA and for a
nursing home. I was also involved in Jewish acculturation for New
Americans from the former USSR. While I've worked continually in a
variety of rabbinic capacities, I haven't held a full-time pulpit in
years, as I am the mother of three young children. I particularly love
teaching adults about things they may have missed in their earlier
Jewish education (or lack of education), so feel free to ask me anything
about Judaism. I believe our heritage sits for many of us like a
beautifully wrapped present. We gaze at it, but hesitate to open the
wrapping paper and see what's really inside. I assure you it's not all
spring-loaded snakes and confetti. There's lots of great stuff in there
- it's ours, and we cheat ourselves when we fail to take full possession
of it.
Rabbi Joanne Heiligman |