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I have noticed recently, not by a casual observation, but one analyzed and modified periodically, that the Jewish population I have been apart of my entire life is expanding. Over the last decade, I have run the gamut from being immersed in doubt, no longer sheltered by the warmth and sustenance of the Jewish community, to a new discovery, which is twofold: my foundation of strength, and my new found position of social crusader.<\/p>\n
Initially, trying to find access to the community I was once so nurtured by was suddenly new to me. Over night, my position of comfort, one that I had taken for granted,was no longer my reality. I become conscious of my new found position. I was on the outside looking in, feeling shunned and rejected, I wanted to flee, but where would I go? I am a Jew that has always had the familial affection that that position entitled me too all my life. Disillusioned and dazed, by this new perspective, I felt lost, and had nowhere to turn, so I turned inward.<\/p>\n
It is ironic that the events in one\u2019s lifetime can evolve into a force more powerful and remarkable than the individual, or is it the other way around?<\/p>\n
My epic saga began 13 years ago as an adolescent. The man of my dreams came into my life; he had changed my course forever. My beshert (soulmate), was encapsulated into a non-Jewish, African American. Not the ideal match, at least in my mother\u2019s eyes. My mother and I had to resolve the conflict, the confusion and the intolerance we had brought to the table. We had to evolve, and since we were as close as a mother and daughter could possibly be, that meant, we had to accomplish this together, and ultimately, we did.<\/p>\n
After my children were born my new family progressively, with a great sense of in trepidation, began to resurface. The faces in the community were familiar, but their stares and whispers were not intelligible I didn\u2019t understand how they could express their views so open and so often! Eventually, we did \u201creintroduce\u201d ourselves. I was no longer one individual, but an integral part of the whole, of my diverse Jewish family. Overcoming the resistance was far from over. Albeit, things had changed for us, as the years progressed, but outwardly, in the Jewish community, I still had no resources. I was interested in finding Jewish things that represented my family.<\/p>\n
Growing up, my house was covered with what I like to refer to as Jewish paraphernalia. Paintings of Great rabbi\u2019s covered our walls; books lined the shelves all related to the mysteries of my world. As much as I loved those heirlooms, they didn\u2019t adequately portray my evolved vision of Jewish existence. I wanted to amend our family\u2019s definition of Jewish representation, which was just as involved as my transformation. I began to search for items, posters for my children comprised of Jewish themes. To my continual dismay, there just weren\u2019t any.<\/p>\n
I became quite savvy on the keyboard, surfing the web for something, ANYTHING I could proudly present to those little Jewish faces. There just weren\u2019t any, at first. I knew that I felt more and more isolated, as my searches produced nothing but late night searches and exhausted days. The isolation grew in direct conflict with my by determination. Feeling alone I needed some solace, but I couldn\u2019t find that either.<\/p>\n
Eventually, I began finding a minimal amount of resources onthe Internet, but I quickly realized that the resources I needed were support from others that had to be experiencing the same isolating, sobering journey. As I was kvetching (complaining) to my husband, about the lack of networking opportunities, it occurred to me that it was possible that I was capable and motivated enough to create one. It hit me like any good epiphany; it came into my thoughts clear and focused and determined to accomplish exactly what I was looking for! Yachad b\u2019Shalom ~ Together in Peace became my new truth, a place where all diverse Jews were able to extend and encourage others to follow their hearts, their Jewishness in a way I was accustomed to in a previous life,and I embraced that feeling.<\/p>\n
Now, it is three years and three beautiful Jewish boys later, and I am still in the middle of my journey. I have now added to my repertoire, as well as my son\u2019s bedrooms, the family room, living room,hallways, and friend\u2019s homes those heirlooms that I had always imagined in my heart. My house exudes the same levelof tranquility as the one I grew up in, but with a new pragmatic point of view. I have created my own Jewish paraphernalia paintings of my children, paintings of rabbi\u2019s and women that embody the essence of Jewish diversity.<\/p>\n
As I continue my journey, I am constantly reminded that there are no longer barriers that I cannot overcome. What began, as a personal quest for emotional sustenance became the voice of the diverse Jewish population. We have somehow found each other, and the benefits are bountiful, and more continue to surface. The once Jewish ideal has been revised, to include all of us, from all around the world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shira-Davida Goldberg-Rathell is a Jewish Diversity consultant also the Executive Director of YBS. She is currently in Northern California and lives with her husband, three children and their pomeranian, Maccabee. Shira-Davida has written many articles on diverse Jewry with an emphasis on multiethnic Jewish families. Her educational background is in Jewish studies, psychology and pre-med. She is a member of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society of Psychology and was awarded a Fellowship at the Medical College of WI. She was also a Sunday school and Hebrew teacher. Her current commitments are social activism, painting and her vision, Yachad b’Shalom ~Together In Peace<\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2001 The Multiracial Activist. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/small><\/small> <\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yachad b’Shalom ~ Together in Peace by Shira-Davida Goldberg-Rathell December 2001\/January 2002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":5816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[110],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tma-articles-and-commentary","tag-the-multiracial-activist"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2001\/08\/Articles-and-Commentary.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p89tuq-5w","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8767,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions\/8767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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