My top 10 things about being Jewish: #1!

August 4, 2009 My top 10 things about being Jewish: #1!

Quite a long time ago, at least in blog years, I started a countdown of my favourite things about being Jewish. I never finished because I couldn’t think of the top two. I wanted them to be things that really rock the house and anything less than that didn’t feel like they deserved places one or two.

Now I have found my number one thing.

My favourite thing about Judaism/being Jewish is our attitude towards life. Our belief that there is something inherently sacred in life itself. Our attitude probably towards everything in life is affected by our belief in life as an ideal in and of itself. Just think how much technology is put into warfare just so that we can target the “bad guy” as much as possible. In other words, even when it comes to our enemies who might be very dangerous, we care about their lives and minimizing death.

Throughout my countdown, I didn’t compare Judaism to other religions. But I must point something out here. Last night I was thinking that this will be the #1 on my countdown. This morning I looked at the front page of the paper and saw that Hamas has made a movie about their holy war with the Jews and the world. The favourite line of this movie – the line that apparently got applause in the Gaza theatre – was “To kill Israeli soldiers is to worship God.”

It’s a horrible thing to think that someone believes that killing anyone is a holy endeavour. Yes, we sometimes must kill, but a Jew, ideally and, I believe, usually, is not happy about it. It is a necessity, not a good thing in itself.

I truly believe that if everyone took care of their own, really cared about the lives of their loved ones, there would be peace. I think that the root of wars is people caring more about some kind of ideology or idea or just good ol’ stuff (wealth, etc.) than caring about their loved ones.

If the whole world could instill in itself the idea that life is the most sacred thing, the world would be a very different place.

So, that is my number one. I went out of order. Now I still need a #2.

Here is the list so far.

Tags: being Jewish, favourite things about being jewish, hamas, jewish, jews, judaism, life, sanctity of life, the best thing about being jewish

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• Posted under Deena Levenstein, israel, Spirituality