Chaviva G.

Hello and Happy Saturday!

I wish to thank Ven. Jo Jo for sharing his journey with us. A very interesting and indepth piece that I very much enjoyed reading. Thank you Ven. Jo Jo!

Today we have a new interview so please welcome Chaviva G.
Chaviva is a Jewish Convert and I know you will enjoy her interview as well!


Here Is Chaviva G.'s Introduction:


Chaviva, a social media devotee, is the the creator and writer of blogs Just Call Me Chaviva (www.kvetchingeditor.com) and the Kosher Critic (www.kosher-critic.com), among others. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, 12seconds.tv, Yelp, and every other social-networking, music, and media platform the web over. Why the vast virtual presence? Every e-avenue is an outlet for explaining, exploring, developing, and expanding the understanding of and experience of Judaism in the 21st century not only for Jews of every flavor, but also for the larger global community.

When she's not blogging or Tweeting, Chaviva, an Orthodox Jew, is a master's student at New York University, and the future holds more academic promise, she hopes. In a past life, Chaviva was a copy editor for The Denver Post, The Daily Nebraskan, and The Washington Post, and Chaviva still manages to mix her passion for proper grammar with Judaism through Jewish-style editing projects.

1) What religion do you practice?
Orthodox Judaism.

2) Did you convert or were you born into this religion? If you converted, what did you need to do to convert? And what did you practice prior to converting?
I converted to Judaism under Reform auspices in 2006 and under Orthodox auspices in 2010. Before converting, I grew up in the Bible Belt of Missouri and then Nebraska, where my parents raised me largely on the Golden Rule. I attended church regularly, went to Vacation Bible School, and was for all intents and purposes a practicing Christian with the big secret that I didn't believe that Jesus was the son of G-d (not to mention a crop of other Christian tenets). I was a very social person with a big group of friends -- a big group of Christian friends. So I went along, I did the clubs and the retreats, and I got saved a half-dozen times. And then, in high school, I quit. I couldn't fake it. I founded my own religion, my own beliefs, and went a fairly agnostic route. In college, a friend, inquiring about my beliefs, suggested I look into Judaism and thus, I found myself at the doorstep of the house that had truly always been my home.

3) Would you consider yourself a moderate, conservative or other.
I consider myself socially liberal, religiously conservative, and politically liberal ... if that exists!

4) In your opinion, what makes you moderate/conservative/other?
Socially, I'm sort of outside the box compared to my religious beliefs. I believe a lot of things that don't float, according to a lot of right-wing Jews I know, because they don't match up necessarily with the simplest understanding of the text of the Torah (Hebrew Bible). For me, however, I think rights, liberties, and acceptance are the underlying message of just about everything in Judaism, so I choose to be socially liberal. Religiously, I see the binding nature of the mitzvot, or commandments, that are found in the Torah, and I live a Torah-observant lifestyle (keeping kosher, observing the Sabbath, dressing modestly, etc.). I don't think the two -- being socially liberal and religiously conservative -- are out of balance. Add to that, of course, that politically I'm a liberal!

5) In your opinion, what makes someone conservative? What makes someone moderate?
Nine times out of ten, I think it's how you grew up, what values your parents instilled in you, and how open-minded you are toward a change in those views and sentiments. I think environment plays on people's conservative and moderate sentiments more than beliefs, because we tend to worry more about how people view us and how accepting others are of us than what is right or just.

6) What's your heaven/paradise like?
In Judaism, there's really no necessarily defined view of the afterlife, what we call olam ha'ba, or the "world to come." Thus, I don't think much about heaven or an afterlife, because as a Jew, my emphasis is on this life, doing good and positive things here, because I know the tangible results that can be had. When it comes to a heaven, it's impossible to know what it entails, so I don't think much about it. I did read a brilliant fiction book by Dara Horn called "The World to Come," in which she suggests that olam ha'ba actually is *this* world, the one we live in. When people die, they spend their lives teaching and preparing souls for this world!

7) In your opinion, does everyone make it into heaven/paradise? If they do not, why?
Since I don't really conceive of it, I don't really have a good answer to this. My inclination is to say, Sure, why not?

8) What makes your religion a good fit for you?
It focuses on doing good and living a commandment-based life, this life, the hear and now. A focus on the present just makes sense to me. Why live for something that might come later, or put responsibility for your life in the hands of someone else? In my mind, G-d gave each of us the gumption to do good and make this world better for a reason, and I found that reason and realization in Judaism.

9) What are your holy days and what do you do to celebrate them?
Do you have a few hours? Hah. Judaism has a lot of holy days; we have FOUR new years! Some of our holy days include Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Each hold historic and religious importance, but going into the details would take me quite some time and probably confuse your readers.

10) Do you consider people of other faiths to be your friends?
Of course. All of my high school friends are Christians, I have a few Hindu friends, I have a college friend who converted to Islam. I don't discriminate or not include people in my life for their faith choice. I believe firmly that what is right for me is not right for everyone, and because we can know with no certainty which religion (if any) is "right," then why bother creating divisions or converting others or discriminating? Why not just live your life and your faith in the way that makes you most comfortable.

11) Would you ever join people of another faith to celebrate one of their holy days? Please explain why?
There are a variety of restrictions as an Orthodox Jew as to what I can and cannot celebrate, where I can and cannot go, etc. I would love to invite a variety of individuals with varied faiths for a Passover seder or Chanukah party, but I cannot go to a Christian Mass or celebration because of laws about entering churches and taking part in non-Jewish ceremonies.

12) What are your thoughts on the burka, and Shariah Law?
I don't know enough to answer.

13) What are your thoughts on women not being allowed to become priests?
Again, I don't know enough to answer, but in Judaism, we have this issue with women being rabbis and/or faith leaders.

14) Does your place of worship segregate? If yes, how does this make you feel?
My synagogue does have separate seating, with a mechitzah, which is a sort of walled separation, dividing us. In many synagogues this is a *beautiful* separating structure, made of etched glass or latticework. In some Orthodox synagogues, women have seating upstairs overlooking the main sanctuary where the men are (it's a very Friendship Meeting House sort of kick-back). I actually really love having the separate seating, because it gives everyone a chance to focus on their own prayers, without the distraction of a husband or possible love match. I know that before I became Orthodox, going to synagogue with my then-boyfriend was hard because he wanted to hold hands and talk to me during the service, which kept me from really connecting to G-d on a personal and in-depth level. The separation allows me to sort of climb into my own world with G-d.

15) How much does your religion affect your daily life and how much thought do you give it when making a decision? Does it affect in any way your decision on abortion, gay marriage, etc?
My religion affects EVERYTHING I do -- it affects how I dress in the morning, how I cover my hair, how I leave my house, how I purchase, cook, and eat my food, how I talk and interact with individuals, and more. Judaism allows me to be 110 percent conscious of every small and large thing I do and decision I make. It does play into how I view social and political issues, of course.

16) How would you react/feel if your child wished to marry outside your religion? It would break my heart, but I would understand the need to make one's own place in the world (after all, I did). I would hope, however, that my child would come out of his life at home with the powerful impact of Judaism on his or her heart and mind.

17) In your opinion, if someone is not of your faith, will they go to hell?
No. Judaism doesn't believe in Hell ... there's (pretty much) always a chance to turn back, to make teshuvah.

18) Who do you think is not a practicing ----- in your religion and why? ie who in the public domain claims to speak for your religion? Do you agree with them or not?
Not sure I understand the question. There are a lot of people who claim to speak for aspects of Judaism (think Madonna and Kaballah) who really don't represent or express the positive aspects (or even the true aspects) of my religion.

19) Have you ever been the target of a hate crime? Please explain.
Thank G-d, no.

20) Do you ever feel like your religion devalues you?
Never! The common misconception about Orthodox Judaism is that it devalues women, the modern world, and anything that doesn't float back to our earliest sages and Rabbis. This, of course, is a complete misconception. Don't worry, I haven't been brainwashed. But as with all things, you view your religion through your own, unique lenses and if those lenses are dirty or chipped, then you'll see everything you don't agree with as a stumbling block and not a building block.

21) Does your religion give you peace of mind?
Yes.

22) Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?
There are a lot of curious aspects of Judaism that cater to an idea of reincarnation in a sort of tangential way, but I don't know enough to speak about it at length. There is a thought that a friend once shared with me that the reason there are so many young Jews returning to Orthodox Judaism, to a Torah-observant life, is because the souls of those who died in the Holocaust are being rekindled in these Jews who are returning to the faith as those souls might have, had they not been killed. It's a unique and beautiful thought, I think.