A Real Pain

Unsurprisingly, we never went to shul. That could be the name of our collective, family biography. Truly, it sums up the entirety of the Schwartz Jewish experience over the course of my married life. We just didn't quite manage to get our shit together. It was a crazy, busy June. There was Max's family reunion mid-month, and Lyra's dance trip to Disney World at the end of the month, which meant we were on vacation for nearly half of the month. (Can't complain about that!)

However, Max's family reunion DID provide some great Jewish learning opportunities for the family, as we were interfacing with the more devout side of Max's family- the East Coast Jews. We met a rabbi- who happened to be a long-lost cousin of Max's father, who we only discovered recently through ancestry.com. (There was an entire branch of the family unbeknownst to Ralph because apparently his mom just ran away from home and created an entirely new identity, then died without ever telling anyone her true background story...) So anyway, he's recently reunited with these cousins, and we got to meet the New Jersey contingent.

It was a riveting affair, as these things tend to be- (like watching paint dry;) as we viewed old footage of Grandpa Sid touring Auschwitz and Poland in search of his roots. It was the real life version of "A Real Pain," minus the drama and the funny bits. Everyone was pretty delighted to get to see their deceased zayde again, even if it was through the lens of raw, unedited, hand camera footage from the 90s. I had personally never met the guy, so for me, it was like suffering through an old photo album show and tell, for a full 1 hr and 17 minutes. 

Afterwards we got to enjoy a full-on Shabbat family dinner. Candles, blessings, yarmulkes, challah; the works. I was glad the kids got to experience that. Because while I may have fallen down on my duties during Judaism month- next month I've decided to tentatively dip my toes back into Christian waters. Y'all already know how I feel about Catholicism due to my upbringing- so because of that I've decided to go "Christian Light" with Unitarianism. 

It appeals to me because it's liberal and inclusive- and it rejects the concept of the holy trinity. Although it springs from Protestantism and a belief in God- Unitarian Universalism goes as far as to say you can be a member of the church and believe whatever you want, with members identifying as agnostic or atheist. (Well, well, well, what do we have here!? Color me intrigued!) It seems to be a "church" that's much more about social justice issues, and that's super interesting to me, to say the least. Could this be what I've been looking for this entire time? A religion that says I don't have to believe in God, but I can still be part of the community? Stay invested, readers, we shall see how this one shakes out!