r/Judaism

Curious if anyone else relates to this.

I’m Jewish and work in a professional environment, and I’ve noticed I actually prefer wearing my hat at work because it removes ambiguity.

Is that a normal feeling? Do any of you feel more comfortable being visibly Jewish in your own community and not at work for that reason, or the opposite? Curious how others have handled this, especially in professional settings.

I was raised Jewish in my early childhood, but my mom lost her faith when my dad left and she stopped teaching me about Judaism. My boyfriend has become much more dedicated to his faith since finding out I was pregnant and he wants me to start attending services with him, but I'm scared we'll be judged for being young parents. For context, we will be attending a Reform temple in Austin. We are 16 and 17 with a two week old son.

Do you have at least one full dairy meal or do you just make a dairy kiddush then move on to fleishigs? If you have a dairy meal do you have a specific meal that you typically designate as dairy? Like first night dinner or second night lunch? If you do a dairy kiddush do you do that both days or just first days? Does anyone have BOTH a dairy meal the first night then a dairy kiddush followed by a fleishig meal for lunch the next day?

F/25. I live in an Eastern EU country with a rich Jewish history but a tiny (and very conservative) Jewish population, shrinking organized Jewish community and no synagogue in my small city. I've considered participating in community events but since I come from a mixed family background (Polish/Lithuanian/Litvak) and don't exactly "look" Jewish, I'm a bit hesitant on how to go about it. I actually get strange looks from coworkers when they learn I'm Jewish and I even got some very offensive comments in the past, despite having a quite common Jewish name given to me by my grandmother.

I was raised atheist with a small Christian influence from that part of the family, like celebrating Christmas some years as a child. I've never really "fit in" in school/university/jobs due to my mixed background. I began questioning atheism in 2020-2023, then started reading more about Hebrew language and Judaism and practicing some traditions on my own. This brought a great amount of depth and peace into my life, but I feel quite isolated at the same time as I have no one to talk about these things.

I don't have access to information about my mom's family, because so much information was destroyed when they had to flee the country during the war. Although my mom comes from a Jewish family line, it's been really hard to talk to her about these issues due to her personal beliefs. It's also quite sad since I'll probably never get to study in Israel in the future as I would most likely have to present documents which I'm still trying to retrieve.

I wonder whether there are people who can relate to these experiences of coming from a mixed family background and could share their own or any resources or reading materials.

(Sorry for any mistakes as English is not my first language.)

היי כולם 😄

אז האמת שאני יחסית בקיא בחלקים מסוימים בדת, אבל מרגיש לי שיש הרבה שאני לא יודע, בעיקר תשובות לשאלות בסיסיות כמו "למה אוכלים כשר?".

אז החלטתי שאני מחפש ספר ש"יעגל לי את הפינות" בנוגע לדת.

פשוט ספר טוב ומקיף על האמונה והמנהגים ולמה עושים אותם.

הכי חשוב שיהיה בשפה פשוטה וישירה (לא משנה עברית או אנגלית).

נ.ב אני רואה סרטונים ביוטיוב, אבל מרגיש לי שספר טוב נוגע יותר עמוק.

המלצות?

Hi everyone 😄

So the truth is that I'm relatively knowledgeable about certain parts of religion, but I feel like there's a lot I don't know, especially answers to basic questions like "Why do we eat kosher?"

So I decided I was looking for a book that would "round the corners" for me regarding religion.

Just a good, comprehensive book about faith and customs and why they are done.

The most important thing is that it be in simple, direct language (doesn't matter if it's Hebrew or English).

P.S. I watch videos on YouTube, but I feel like a good book touches me more deeply.

Recommendations?

I've been learning hebrew once a week with a really great teacher from my shul. We're at a point where we spend half the lesson learning grammar and vocabulary then the other half reading from the chumash in hebrew. I have a Koren chumash that has no translation that I'm reading from which is awesome and feels like a big accomplishment.

We just finished lech lecha (my choice). I need to pick another parsha to start for next week's lesson. I still can't fully read and understand everything (but a good amount I can) so I try to read things that have a lot of narrative and not much obscure vocabulary if possible. Joshua is really good for this, but is not in my chumash obviously. What would be a good parsha to read in hebrew for a beginner/intermediate student?

I’ve been through a lot of turmoil with my identity as a Patrilineal Jew but I’ve learned to accept the fact I’m not halachically Jewish and make terms with it. Regardless I just want to say that I’ll always be a friend to the Jewish nation and I support a Jewish state with all of my heart. Sending my love to all of you :).

Hi friends, I’ve had a question about something I’ve found myself experiencing during Tanakh group studies with young Jewish friends. I have only been identifying as Jewish for the past 4ish years due to my embrace of my father’s side after much neglect in my upbringing. With this being said, even in my relative inexperience at the age of 21, I find myself taking lead during studies. I have incredible anxiety and imposter syndrome regarding studies and just wondering what your thoughts on how I should proceed. Thanks again.

Having grown up in a Jewish environment, I tend to have a poor sense of when a ritual is more or less a "standard" religious practice, versus when there's a ritual that's really completely unique to Judaism. What's your favorite example of a completely unique Jewish ritual?

Is there a difference between the two? As far as my understanding goes, they both refer to the monotheistic God. Does one suggest a different aspect of said Being? Is it based on the sect of Judaism?

Thanks.

Hi all!! I am a young person who was raised christian but has found comfort and peace in knowing Hashem and his truth. I have been so blessed to learn about the torah and am looking for more ways to grow my relationship with G-d. if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t bother replying! bless you all!

DNA testing recently revealed Jane Doe, murdered in remote Arizona in 1989, was Jewish. Now Chabad Rabbi Super is on a quest to find her identity and help bring her to a proper Jewish burial.

(For context: my country doesn’t have a very large Jewish community, and especially in rural areas you tend to stand out quite a lot. I already had to move to a bigger city just to be able to speak with a rabbi and participate in Jewish life more seriously.
I also know that this is not the worst problem in the world and that many people have it far worse, so I’m sorry if this comes across as insensitive in any way and in that case I will delete it.
Also, I didn’t add the “antisemitism” tag myself, Reddit added it automatically.)

I don’t know if this is the appropriate place to ask this (if not I sincerely apologize), but I just wanted a few opinions.
I’m currently finishing my first semester studying Jewish Studies and History at university. My original plan was to go into journalism, but with the current antisemitic climate, I’ve started worrying about whether people will see what I studied and single me out or choose not to hire me because of it.
I’m also worried that continuing down this path might make it even harder to find a job, especially considering how difficult the current job market already is.
I’m not Jewish, by the way, but I am in the process of becoming Jewish, so in a sense this will likely become part of my identity anyway.
I just don’t know what to do, and I thought this sub might be a place where I could find people who studied something similar or have experience with this.
English is not my first language, but I hope my meaning comes across clearly.