Question of the Week:
You are obviously very passionate about the Jewish religion. But that is because you were born into it. Had you been born a Hindu, a Muslim, a Catholic or a Zoroastrian, you would be equally as passionate. So how can you take your beliefs seriously, or see them as truth, when really they are no more than an accident of birth?
Answer:
There are some big assumptions behind your question.
You are assuming that I was born. That is a fair assumption. But you also assume that I am Jewish by accident. That is false. There is no such thing. The very premise makes no sense.
The postulation "what if I would be born someone else" is as absurd as asking what if a tomato was actually a carrot, or an apple was a Samsung. I am what I am and I can be no one else. My family, my birthplace, my heritage - this is me. If I would be born someone else, I would be them, not me.
My soul was chosen to be born into a Jewish family. This means that I am the product of thousands of years of Jewishness. I may question it. But it is who I am. All the questions in the world can't change that fact.
Sometimes a question is a question. And sometimes a question is a cop out. Asking "what if I were someone else?" is an example of the latter.
And even that probably comes from your Jewishness. Questioning everything is an age old Jewish practice you inherited from your forebears. You are born Jewish and you are born questioning. And with all the questions and all the challenges over all the generations, Judaism is still standing strong.
You'll never be someone else. Neither will they. So stop worrying about who you aren't. Celebrate who you are.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss