Misconceptions of Judiasm

Misconceptions of Judaism

Michael Mays Sr.

Religion 212 - Assignment 2 - Field Research

Professor Dell Belew

June 14, 2013

Judaism Misconceptions

Having grown up in the southern United States with a racist stepfather skewed my views and lead me to have many misconceptions about the Jews and their faith. With no Jewish families in the area for me to learn from and no internet, my family, especially my step-father and his friends shaped many of my early views. I grew up thinking that Jews were a money hungry people that controlled Wall-Street and were the cause of many of the country's financial problems. Whenever someone charged my stepdad too much money for something he would often say they were being Jewish; or when haggling he would say he Jewed them down then laugh about it. All I truly knew about Judaism was what I saw on television and most of that material is very stereotypical; as I got older my misconceptions grew also.

For the longest time I thought the Jews were an ethnicity, like Caucasian, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic. A lot of the time when hearing people refer to Jews; I would hear them referred to as Jewish community or Jewish culture. When seeing Jewish males on television I would see them with dark hair, the curly hair coming down from their temples, wearing a dark colored hat, often with a stern look on their face. To me they seemed to have a look that was all their own.

Being brought up in a Christian household I would often hear how the Jews were responsible for the killing of Jesus Christ. My belief system led me to believe the Jews were responsible for the persecution, capture, torture, and execution of Jesus of Nazareth. I was also taught in church that the Jews had a chance to save the life of Jesus, to have him banished for the crime of calling himself the king of kings. At this the Jews hissed and called for the immediate execution of the Jesus.

I also believed that is was not possible to convert to Judaism. It seemed to me that the Jewish faith was similar to a cult, that they had meeting behind closed doors, spoke in Hebrew so outsiders could not understand the proceedings if listening in, and were only allowed to marry their own kind, another Jew. It seemed they had something to hide from the outside world, that they had the attitude that they were better than everyone else; so everyone else would be excluded.

When I was a young boy my cousin who was considerably older than I told me that Jewish married couples were not allowed to use birth control and had to have marital relations through a hole in a bed sheet. Being a young man I found this fascinating that their religious beliefs dictated how they performed sexual acts with their partners. I came to the conclusion that Jewish husbands and their wives were only allowed to have sexual intercourse for procreation purposes, thusly explaining why their religious leaders forbid the use of birth control. I also concluded that their religious views may look down on sexuality for pleasure; so the husband or wife would lie down covered by the sheet with the hole exposing the genitals only. The act would then take place for procreation then be finished. Since most Jewish families I knew later in life had such large families I thought it based on a kernel of truth.

In the late 1830's in the town of Louisville, KY the communal life of Jews began. A few years later in the mid to late 1850's other communal groups were developed in Owensboro and Paducah, KY; Lexington, KY followed shortly after the end of the Civil War. In the 1870's there were B'nai B'rith lodges in Paducah, Owensboro, Louisville, and Lexington, KY; this was followed by four synagogues being built in Louisville, KY, one in Henderson, another in Owens-boro, and one more in Paducah 1880's. Around the turn of the 19th century Jewish immigrants arriving from Eastern Europe came to Kentucky which reinforced the Jewish population and lead to the establishment of other Jewish centers in the area. (Weissbach)

Today there are no synagogues in Richmond, KY where I currently reside. The closest Temple or Synagogue resides in Lexington, KY. As of June 15th, 2013 there are four places of worship in Lexington, KY: Temple Adath-Israel; Ohavay Zion Synagogue; Messianic Congregation; and Beit Yeshua Messianic Synagogue.

Since there is no synagogues in my hometown I decided my best option would be to view an online service. I found a website that looked very promising, ourjewishcommunity.org. They consider themselves a progressive online synagogue that offers streaming Shabbat services every Friday evening at 6pm as well as streaming live services on High Holidays and other significant events. Their online services have reached people in 60 countries around the world and over 40 states here in the USA. These services are delivered by Rabbi Laura A. Baum and Rabbi Robert B. Barr.

As the service started the first thing that caught my attention was that Rabbi Robert Barr was not wearing a black hat, did not have a beard or the long curls on the corner of his brow, nor did he wear a kippah; he simply wore a light