SHUVOO NEWSLETTER
Issue No. 27 – February 14, 2007
In the weeks and months ahead, God-permitting, Shuvoo articles will
frequently feature personal accounts and stories. Some of these stories
will be my own; some accounts will be those other individuals.
It is the desire of Shuvoo to awaken within all people the
importance of mankind turning to the Torah at this time in history. For
Jews, there is a specific responsibility to Torah, but also for Gentiles.
The nations of the world are accountable to the Universal Laws of Torah.
In recent years, many 100’s of thousands of God-fearing and Torah-loving
Gentiles have been struggling with their spiritual identities and seeking to
find answers in the midst of much religious confusion. These groups have
created, been given, and co-opted various names of identification. Shuvoo
wishes to simply speak to the God-fearers of the nations, and to speak
especially to our own people, the Jewish nation, of our unique responsibility
in sharing the Light of Torah at a time when confusion and darkness increase
with each passing day.
The desert as seen from
the lookout at Mispeh Yericho east of
(© Ashirah Yosefah Photo
2007)
TO BE A JEW – PART II
Thoughts on Deserts & Distractions
In To Be a Jew – Part I
(http://www.shuvoo.com/articles/AY-to-be-a-jew-or-not.php),
I took a candid look at conversion, a momentous event in my own life and a
topic on which I frequently receive inquiries and referrals. In this next
segment, I would like to reflect on what it means to be a Jew … a massive
question with more possible answers, all credible, that one could even begin to
imagine. So, I can only speak for myself … in search of my Jewish
self.
Over the past three months,
events that transpired in my life gave me opportunity to question the strength
of my identity as a Jew, to ask myself “what should I be doing as a Jew?”
There were times during those three months that I felt very distant from God as
I struggled to define “what is a Jew” in relation to my own life. This
struggle became especially intense when it came to my teaching the Seven Laws
of Noach and my empathy for those struggling with various religious doctrines
or trying to decide between converting to Judaism and living a life of Torah as
encompassed by the Universal Torah Laws. In actuality, the appropriateness
of my work with Shuvoo had been questioned. I had been told that
maintaining these contacts with “my old world” was detrimental to my
development as an Orthodox Jewish woman and that I needed to stop any and all
outreach to the non-Jewish world. As I wrestled to accommodate this
advice, the resulting struggle within nearly tore me in two. I actually
became physically ill.
It is not by coincidence
that the weekly Torah and Haftorah portion usually contain a stunning parallel
to contemporary world events. Even more, they contain a chord of internal
resonance unique to each one of us if we are willing to receive it.
Not long ago the Torah
portion was Beshalach. My name, Ashirah (“I will sing” –
future tense), first appears in the Torah in this Parsha where it can be
found in the opening line of Shirat haYam, the Song of the Sea that
celebrates Hashem’s mighty deliverance of Israel from the constraints of Mitzrayim.
Torah teacher
For the rest of this essay,
go to http://www.shuvoo.com/articles/AY-to-be-a-jew-II.php
Ashirah
Yosefah
Ad Matai
/ Shuvoo
Rehov
Cremieux 6A/1