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I was born in Los Angeles, and we moved to San
Francisco when I was five, so that my father could get a
better job in the state university system. My parents
both came from pretty assimilated families, and in San
Francisco they started becoming more interested in
Judaism. One of my first Jewish memories is walking to
shul with my father, and my father pointing out Rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach walking on the opposite sidewalk. My
mother told me of a discussion she had with my elementary
school teacher about the suitability of Christmas hymn
singing for Jewish children. The Six Day War was very
significant for my parents, and they helped people go to
Israel to work as volunteers around that time. When I was
about eight we moved to San Diego, where my brother and I
were enrolled in the local Jewish day school. My parents
became very involved in the functioning of the day
school, and were becoming increasingly religious. When I
was about eleven, the family moved to Bnei Brak. I found
Bnei Brak interesting, but I think the changes in culture
were a bit too extreme for me to cope with extremely
well. At the end of our year in Israel my father died,
and we moved to Bayit Vegan. This again was a very
religious neighbourhood, but I could get to libraries and
bookstores which did not specialise in theology.
My family returned later to the States for two years,
and when we came back to Israel I was drafted. My three
years were educational. I spent them on the West Bank.
After the army I studied at the Hebrew University on
Mount Scopus for two years. At the end of my second year,
I went to Edinburgh for the theatre festival. I
auditioned for, and was accepted by, a touring drama
school. They were based in Exeter. I met my wife, who is
not Jewish, in the drama school. I became involved with
the Jewish community here in Exeter. I marry people, and
bury people, and take Friday night services, and explain
our faith and practices to school groups. I have been
President of the congregation for the past year.
Being Jewish means caring about a lot of things for a
lot of reasons. The reasons seem to derive from the kind
of Jewish upbringing I had. I care about keeping my
community of Jews here in Exeter together. I feel that
being Jewish means fostering a sense of community, a
sense that there is a group that Jewish people can feel
connected to. I find that for me this comes from my
peripatetic childhood. I find that I have a need to work
against racism and fascism. This comes out of a liberal
family background, and the Passover Seder, telling us to
take care of the stranger, and to my father having
escaped Vienna with his immediate family before the
German annexation. I think deciding what commandments to
carry out is part of being Jewish to me. For me being
Jewish is about thinking for yourself and seeking the
truth that works in your life. Taking steps to change
things that are wrong is part of it. Perfect faith is not
enough. The actions must be correct also.
[EW]
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