A Kosher Dating Odyssey: One Former Texas Baptist's Quest for a Naughty & Nice Jewish Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

verses and are worn during morning prayers. I’m now trying to lead a less digitally driven life on Shabbat , primarily by not signing in to email or Facebook. It gets easier, although I sometimes give in to the Devil and backslide into old habits. Oops, there I go again with the Baptist terminology.
    While I’ve made peace with my past and current beliefs, I am still aware of the split in my life. My Jewish friends remember childhood seders; I remember Easter egg hunts. They played with dreydls (the spinning tops used for gambling for chocolate coins at Hanukkah), I decorated Christmas trees. They hated Hebrew school, I liked Vacation Bible School. My childhood and adult sides are mostly separate. These worlds collide on Facebook, where secular Jewish friends from Princeton and Israel encounter my evangelical friends from Texas and their straight-talking professions of belief. Their views on faith differ sharply. My attitude? You’re all big boys and girls; you can sort out your differences. But I am tickled to be in the middle, seeing people from the opposite poles of my life interacting.
    The chasm yawned widest whenever I returned to Mission in the 1980s and visited with Mrs. D. My change saddened her. “Could you ever believe the way you used to?” she once asked.
    “ No,” I said. “I’m happy with who I am now.”
    To this day, my evangelical friends and relatives will try to win me back over to the Christian team. One cousin wrote, “I’d be curious to know your thoughts on the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah to come. I believe Jesus is the fulfillment of those prophecies.”
    I responded, “As far as the Old Testament prophecies, I used to think the way you do, but I gradually changed my mind and think of them on their own, with Jewish meanings that differ from the Christian interpretation.” I then directed her to the group Jews for Judaism, which counteracts missionary efforts aimed at Jews.
    Christian pitches never work now because I am at peace with my Jewish beliefs and don’t care to engage in fierce theological disputes based on their interpretation of the so-called Old Testament. They can call up every possible “proof text” of fulfilled prophecies and logic arguments pointing to Christianity, and I politely demur. However, I’m never insulted or even bothered by their efforts, because I understand that they are motivated by faith. Each one is a dedicated salesperson, driven to make a pitch and ask for the sale.
    Some shards of faith, old and new, bridge the distance of decades. As a mirror of my personality, the transition from conservative Christianity to conservative Judaism makes perfect sense; new-fangled forms of spiritual expression never worked for me. Indeed, I joke that if I were a Catholic, I’d learn Latin and grumble in favor of the Tridentine Mass.
    Like a good Baptist, I watch my language. You’ll rarely hear what we quaintly called “cuss” words pass my lips. The importance of Bible reading remains in me, so I try to keep up with the perek yomi (Torah chapter of the day) program published by the Orthodox Union, although now I limit my scriptural readings to the, ahem, Old Testament. I have faith in faith and don’t spend much time in agonized arguments with God about His existence, mercy or common sense. He is what He is. Community engagement matters, so I attend synagogue when I can, bringing my post-bar mitzvah son along so he can round out the ten-man minyan, that is, the group of men required to say certain prayers at Orthodox services. I truly feel as if we’re contributing. Through Facebook, I’ve connected with Jewish relatives in Texas, other members of the far-scattered Schwarz clan.
    Politically, I lack the intense anger many of my Northeastern and/or liberal friends feel toward evangelicals; I may disagree with the Christians’ views, but I understand where they’re coming from and I keep the differences on the political level. I know enough to