On Being a Bad Jew

[forestofglory]

I'm a only sometimes observant, uneducated, intermairried, agnostic Jew. My mother's mother was Jewish. (My mother is Jewish-Buddhist-Spiritual.) I've been trying to learn about Jews practice more as an adult, but it is hard. Living in a small town in the midwest doesn't help.

This year for the high holy days I ate some apples and honey. That's about it. Most years I make round challah, but I've been so busy this year that I didn't. I could go to services, but I'm intimated by the local community. So many people I don't know, and I feel like they expect me to know more about Judaism than I do.

Meanwhile I'm trying to pull together something for Sukkot, which is a more minor holiday, but one that I really enjoy. (It's harvest festival were you get to build a fort -- so very awesome!) We don't currently have any outdoor space, so we may build an indoor sukkah, even though it not really legit.

Anyways while my non-jewish friends have been teasing me about being a bad Jew, I've never gotten that line from anyone Jewish.

Comments

[lethargic_man]

That depends on whether you're coming from a halachic denomination (Orthodox, Masorti/Conservative) or not. My rabbi says if you can't build a succah, you should put some twigs on your table לְזֵכֶר סֻכָּה (in memory of a succah), and building on on a balcony strikes me as being comparable: it gets you into the feel of it, but does not discharge your halachic obligation (unless it's directly beneath an openable skylight!).

FWIW, the Samaritans have for a thousand years and more been building their succahs inside; this is because of living through a period in which they faced persecution from their Muslim compatriots.