Who Am I?

From four o’clock in the afternoon until I arrive home, any call that shows up on my mobile’s caller ID with the name “home” fills me with dread. Because “home” is never calling for just a chat. And by “home,” I mean Beernut. Having overheard me “leave the number after the beep” somewhere between one and two million times, it seems that he memorized it. Giving him, in his mind, permission to use it. At any time. For any reason.

Imagine my surprise, therefore, when the voice that greeted me on the other end of the line belonged not to Beernut, but to Poppyseed. (Note: I didn’t even know that she knew how to use a phone.)

Poppyseed: Mama, can I be in the multi-cultural fashion show?
FrumeSarah: Is it tomorrow?
Poppyseed (laughing): Of course it’s not tomorrow.
FrumeSarah: Then this conversation can wait until tomorrow. Anyway, why would you be in a multi-cultural fashion show?
Poppyseed (eyes audibly rolling): I am Jewish, you know.

It raises an interesting question. What does it mean to be Jewish? Or, more specifically, what does it mean to be a kid from a serious Jewish family, living in a non-Jewish society?

By asking to take part in her school’s multi-cultural fashion show, Poppyseed recognizes what was articulated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan in his groundbreaking, 1934 work, Judaism as a Civilization.

Judaism is not only a religion; it is a people with its own history, identity, culture and civilization.

Not only does Poppyseed sense that her Jewish identity extends beyond issues of faith, but she is willing to stand up and take her place among her Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Egyptian, and Indian classmates. [Indian as in the Commonwealth not the indigenous peoples of the Americas.]

Now we just have to figure out what she should wear?

So which shall it be???

1. Jewish Mother Racheil
2. Dreidel Maidel
3. Shabbas Queen
4. Shtetl Chic