Please enjoy. Also, please remember I didn't write this blog. I just found it very interesting and goes along with what I am writing about on here.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
One "harvest party" experience
I am about 16 years old and we have just moved to Albany, Oregon. We are still attending church at this time. Mom is trying to get me involved with the youth group but I am not really wanting too attend. So for my birthday we invite 2 of my best friends over to spend the weekend. Mom thinks this would be a great time for me to get to know the kids in the youth group (by taking my friends to the youth harvest party at the pastor's house). I give in and we all agree to go.
Dad drops us off at the front of the house. We walked into the pastor's house only to find girls sitting on guys laps making out and loud secular rap music playing. All three of us thought this was strange. No pastor or youth leader was in sight. We decide to go back out front and talk (by this time my dad had left and would be back for us later). I then spot a bunch of goolish looking decorations out in the yard (that I didn't notice when we arrived). At this time one friend (non-believing) asked me "What is this thing called again? Isn't supposed to be a church thing?" I explained to her what I thought and knew harvest parties to be. This party didn't fit that description. She then asked "Do we have to stay?" I told her no, but we would have to walk and find a phone. At that time, we all agreed to walk 5 blocks to the movie theater and call my dad.
I was concerned that my parents were going to be mad at us for leaving and walking in the dark to the movie theater. But we still decided we would rather them be mad, then for us to have to stay at the party. When we got to the movie theater I called my dad and told him that he needed to come get us. Of course he wanted to know why we were at the movie theater and not at the party. I told him I would explain it to him later, but I just needed him to come get us. He was there in about 5 minutes.
On our drive home we explained what had happened and to my relief he was not agree with us, but actually very proud. He was, however, extremely angry with the pastor and youth leader of the church. He even made a call that night to the pastor to fill him in on what had happened. The pastor was very sorry and said he would look into what went wrong. We later found out that no one at the party even remembered us leaving. And these were the people my mom wanted me to associate with???? I never attended another youth activity (or the youth group itself for that matter).
I truly believe this was the start of my separation from the church. And the beginning of my own soul searching to figure out what it is I truly believed.
Dad drops us off at the front of the house. We walked into the pastor's house only to find girls sitting on guys laps making out and loud secular rap music playing. All three of us thought this was strange. No pastor or youth leader was in sight. We decide to go back out front and talk (by this time my dad had left and would be back for us later). I then spot a bunch of goolish looking decorations out in the yard (that I didn't notice when we arrived). At this time one friend (non-believing) asked me "What is this thing called again? Isn't supposed to be a church thing?" I explained to her what I thought and knew harvest parties to be. This party didn't fit that description. She then asked "Do we have to stay?" I told her no, but we would have to walk and find a phone. At that time, we all agreed to walk 5 blocks to the movie theater and call my dad.
I was concerned that my parents were going to be mad at us for leaving and walking in the dark to the movie theater. But we still decided we would rather them be mad, then for us to have to stay at the party. When we got to the movie theater I called my dad and told him that he needed to come get us. Of course he wanted to know why we were at the movie theater and not at the party. I told him I would explain it to him later, but I just needed him to come get us. He was there in about 5 minutes.
On our drive home we explained what had happened and to my relief he was not agree with us, but actually very proud. He was, however, extremely angry with the pastor and youth leader of the church. He even made a call that night to the pastor to fill him in on what had happened. The pastor was very sorry and said he would look into what went wrong. We later found out that no one at the party even remembered us leaving. And these were the people my mom wanted me to associate with???? I never attended another youth activity (or the youth group itself for that matter).
I truly believe this was the start of my separation from the church. And the beginning of my own soul searching to figure out what it is I truly believed.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Christianity vs. Judaism
Let's take a deeper look at the church vs. Judaism.
The church focuses on the New Testament only. They feel as though Jesus' death on the cross has done away with the Torah and therefore we are no longer under the Law. I disagree with this because Torah is the guidelines and the rules in which we were given to live by. The Torah as gives us the consequences if we do not abide by those rules. If you do away with the Torah and the laws then all you are left with is chaos. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in chaos.
The church also has no structure or order to their services. You walk in, sit down, sing some songs, say a prayer or two, and listen to the pastor preach. But not all churches have the same format. So you could do any of those things in any whatever order they decide to do. A lot of the churches I have been to have their format as, sing, pray, and preach. They also have to get you in and out in 1 hour so you are limited to how much singing and praying and preaching actually takes place. Most attendants also don't hang around and fellowship with one another and become part of a community. Too many of them have too many other things to do that day to take the time and fellowship.
Most christians believe that they are able to eat whatever they want. There are no dietary laws for them to follow and therefore make it difficult for Torah observant people to hang out with them. But in the same vein they believe they are supposed to bring the Jews to the messiah. How are they to do that with a pork chop in their mouth?
One other thing I would like to touch on before looking at the Jewish side of this is... story telling. In the church I got told lots of stories that where supposed to be based in scripture, but yet a lot of them were elaborated to sound better and be more interesting to a child. The thing I find interesting is that now I find myself reading or listening to biblical stories in a jewish setting and actually get more out of them and find them to be way more detailed and educational. Why can't the church just tell the child the story like it is? No need to sugar coat it or add details that never happened, just put a picture with it for them to look at and what-do-ya-know the child actually learned the story as it was meant to be told.
In Judaism the Torah is the most important part of their focus. Everything that Jews do is centered around the Torah and therefore centered around G-d. They devote a whole 24 hours to doing nothing other then worshiping G-d not just 1 hour. They build up communities and get to know everyone in the synagogue. Therefore when they pray for one another it is truly heartfelt and meaningful. They also do not buy, sell, or work on the Shabbat, so they have no need to hurry through services and run away from everyone.
Jews use liturgy as a way of having an order of service that keeps everyone focused and mentally set on G-d. Liturgy is prayers put to music and/or action (meaning standing for some prayers, dancing during others.) I know, for me personally, I prefer this type of structure because without it my mind would tend to wander and I would then lose my focus on G-d(which happened to me a lot in church), which is the reason for being in any sort of religious service. They also allow the children to be apart of the service and don't mind the occasional disruptions made by the smaller children (in church this never happened. You were made to be quiet and/or placed in a nursery/sunday school room to be entertained and taught by someone else.)
I have chosen to make a choice between being a church goer or a synagogue goer. I chose the synagogue because I want to be more in line with what the scriptures say other then what 1 man says from a pulpit and not having to be accountable for what I am being taught. Trust me it has not been easy to get rid of all the things the church as embedded into my brain. I still say things that make people ask where I got that from. I then have to figure out if it was actually scriptural or church theology. But if you have been raised like me, you are also probably having to do the same thing. Please consider making a choice. Pick one or the other but don't try to do both. And if you are married and raising your children in both worlds... my advise is to stop! You are only confusing your child/children.
The church focuses on the New Testament only. They feel as though Jesus' death on the cross has done away with the Torah and therefore we are no longer under the Law. I disagree with this because Torah is the guidelines and the rules in which we were given to live by. The Torah as gives us the consequences if we do not abide by those rules. If you do away with the Torah and the laws then all you are left with is chaos. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in chaos.
The church also has no structure or order to their services. You walk in, sit down, sing some songs, say a prayer or two, and listen to the pastor preach. But not all churches have the same format. So you could do any of those things in any whatever order they decide to do. A lot of the churches I have been to have their format as, sing, pray, and preach. They also have to get you in and out in 1 hour so you are limited to how much singing and praying and preaching actually takes place. Most attendants also don't hang around and fellowship with one another and become part of a community. Too many of them have too many other things to do that day to take the time and fellowship.
Most christians believe that they are able to eat whatever they want. There are no dietary laws for them to follow and therefore make it difficult for Torah observant people to hang out with them. But in the same vein they believe they are supposed to bring the Jews to the messiah. How are they to do that with a pork chop in their mouth?
One other thing I would like to touch on before looking at the Jewish side of this is... story telling. In the church I got told lots of stories that where supposed to be based in scripture, but yet a lot of them were elaborated to sound better and be more interesting to a child. The thing I find interesting is that now I find myself reading or listening to biblical stories in a jewish setting and actually get more out of them and find them to be way more detailed and educational. Why can't the church just tell the child the story like it is? No need to sugar coat it or add details that never happened, just put a picture with it for them to look at and what-do-ya-know the child actually learned the story as it was meant to be told.
In Judaism the Torah is the most important part of their focus. Everything that Jews do is centered around the Torah and therefore centered around G-d. They devote a whole 24 hours to doing nothing other then worshiping G-d not just 1 hour. They build up communities and get to know everyone in the synagogue. Therefore when they pray for one another it is truly heartfelt and meaningful. They also do not buy, sell, or work on the Shabbat, so they have no need to hurry through services and run away from everyone.
Jews use liturgy as a way of having an order of service that keeps everyone focused and mentally set on G-d. Liturgy is prayers put to music and/or action (meaning standing for some prayers, dancing during others.) I know, for me personally, I prefer this type of structure because without it my mind would tend to wander and I would then lose my focus on G-d(which happened to me a lot in church), which is the reason for being in any sort of religious service. They also allow the children to be apart of the service and don't mind the occasional disruptions made by the smaller children (in church this never happened. You were made to be quiet and/or placed in a nursery/sunday school room to be entertained and taught by someone else.)
I have chosen to make a choice between being a church goer or a synagogue goer. I chose the synagogue because I want to be more in line with what the scriptures say other then what 1 man says from a pulpit and not having to be accountable for what I am being taught. Trust me it has not been easy to get rid of all the things the church as embedded into my brain. I still say things that make people ask where I got that from. I then have to figure out if it was actually scriptural or church theology. But if you have been raised like me, you are also probably having to do the same thing. Please consider making a choice. Pick one or the other but don't try to do both. And if you are married and raising your children in both worlds... my advise is to stop! You are only confusing your child/children.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Living in two worlds
My name is Maija-Lisa Weinberg. My father is Jewish. My mother is gentile. So growing up was very interesting.
My mom was raised christian. She even went to bible college. While she was in college the group Lamb did a concert on campus. Like most of the other students, mom attended the concert. It was this concert that sparked her interest in Judaism.
My dad was not raised with any sort of religious upbringing. He knew he was/ is Jewish because my grandfather (his dad) would play a game with him when he was young. He would cover his nose and ask "guess what nationality I am". But as far as celebrating holidays and going to synagogue was concerned, my dad had no clue what they were.
Once my parents met and got married they both started studying and trying to figure things out for themselves. The problem was they hadn't quite figured it all out before I was born.
They knew that we needed to go to synagogue but mom wasn't ready to give up church yet. So for years we went to erev shabbat service on Fridays, Torah service on Saturday mornings, and church on Sundays. We also celebrated both Jewish and Christian holidays. We celebrated them all.... Christmas, Hannukkah, Easter, Passover, Purim, Halloween, Sukkot, and all the others. Out of all the holidays, my parents didn't really care for Halloween but they sent my to Harvest parties at Church instead. I still got candy and I still got to dress up, but it was easier on them to know I wasn't out on the streets.
As you are starting to see I was getting mixed messages from every side. I grew up with a belief in G-d and a Messiah. Only in the church we would call him G-d and Jesus, but in Jewish setting we used other words such as Hashem and Yeshua. I had no clue that they were interchangeable for the same person. So truly who was I worshipping. As I got older it became easier to separate the names and understand why Jews say it one way and Christians say it another. However, it wasn't quite as easy to separate christian theology vs. the truth in Torah. (This is a subject for another blog, so stay tuned.)
So my goal of blogging all of this is to hopefully reach out to people like me. People who were raised in two worlds and may find comfort knowing they are not alone in their journey to discover who they really are.
My mom was raised christian. She even went to bible college. While she was in college the group Lamb did a concert on campus. Like most of the other students, mom attended the concert. It was this concert that sparked her interest in Judaism.
My dad was not raised with any sort of religious upbringing. He knew he was/ is Jewish because my grandfather (his dad) would play a game with him when he was young. He would cover his nose and ask "guess what nationality I am". But as far as celebrating holidays and going to synagogue was concerned, my dad had no clue what they were.
Once my parents met and got married they both started studying and trying to figure things out for themselves. The problem was they hadn't quite figured it all out before I was born.
They knew that we needed to go to synagogue but mom wasn't ready to give up church yet. So for years we went to erev shabbat service on Fridays, Torah service on Saturday mornings, and church on Sundays. We also celebrated both Jewish and Christian holidays. We celebrated them all.... Christmas, Hannukkah, Easter, Passover, Purim, Halloween, Sukkot, and all the others. Out of all the holidays, my parents didn't really care for Halloween but they sent my to Harvest parties at Church instead. I still got candy and I still got to dress up, but it was easier on them to know I wasn't out on the streets.
As you are starting to see I was getting mixed messages from every side. I grew up with a belief in G-d and a Messiah. Only in the church we would call him G-d and Jesus, but in Jewish setting we used other words such as Hashem and Yeshua. I had no clue that they were interchangeable for the same person. So truly who was I worshipping. As I got older it became easier to separate the names and understand why Jews say it one way and Christians say it another. However, it wasn't quite as easy to separate christian theology vs. the truth in Torah. (This is a subject for another blog, so stay tuned.)
So my goal of blogging all of this is to hopefully reach out to people like me. People who were raised in two worlds and may find comfort knowing they are not alone in their journey to discover who they really are.
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