tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202222045117826089.post5337302513592495198..comments2010-04-15T07:11:43.561-07:00Comments on Ahava Ariel: Does Pediatric Judaism Make Us An Orphan People?Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15741325467027799330noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202222045117826089.post-81523725516881723502009-02-24T10:06:00.000-08:002009-02-24T10:06:00.000-08:00I appreciate all of the comments, and I'm not real...I appreciate all of the comments, and I'm not really sure what the minchag is in blog-world for responding to people's responses.<BR/><BR/>However, I have many thoughts about Jendeis's infertility struggles. I have had so many friends in a similar situation - the very community that should be the place to go and not have to worry about emotionally protecting oneself is so often a place people experiencing infertility find emotionally charged. I don't know what to do about it, but I really wish we'd talk about it more!<BR/><BR/>Also, Phyllis mentioned the challenge of concurrent programming . . . I have come up with one potential solution - over Pesach we don't have religious school so I am taking a Passover Adventure Trip with a group out of Colorado. I'll happily share how it goes!<BR/><BR/>I am also seriously considering looking for work outside the Jewish community so that I may be observant as myself within the Jewish community . . . not sure where those thoughts will take me, but they are under consideration.<BR/><BR/>Finally (for now) in the book Seven Blessings, when the main character is engaged and finds herself accepted in a way she never was as a single woman and is very uncomfortable with her new found place in the Jewish world because she knows how she 'earned' it.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741325467027799330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202222045117826089.post-55038746118662629952009-02-02T07:36:00.000-08:002009-02-02T07:36:00.000-08:00Here from HH. What a thoughtful and thought-provo...Here from HH. What a thoughtful and thought-provoking post. I very much wish to explore my faith and become more observant, but am hesitant (not the right word, but it will suffice) for two reasons. First, I am unsure where to start (never really felt welcome at my family's synagogue). Second, my husband and I are struggling with infertility. Being around kids and being marginalized by adults for not having children is definitely not high on my list of priorities.Jendeishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11960909534349311223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202222045117826089.post-88107235756233049962009-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:002009-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00Are you talking Conservative Movement? If so, I fu...Are you talking Conservative Movement? If so, I fully understand. In my truncated and semi-informed (not to mention intimidated) Jewish community here in America's Bible Belt, Chabad and the MO shuls do a good job of making Jews out of Jewish adults.Schvachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07052885350566210171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202222045117826089.post-6762793311235148982009-02-01T10:16:00.000-08:002009-02-01T10:16:00.000-08:00Wow. That was a fantastic post, and I agree comple...Wow. That was a fantastic post, and I agree completely. Thank you! I'm a mom now (have been for about a year) and only now am I finding myself "welcome" in the adult Jewish community, and that doesn't thrill me.<BR/><BR/>I was "lost" from the end of high school, until now. After so long, I'm not even sure how to return, ya know?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202222045117826089.post-88530307182501904952009-02-01T08:49:00.000-08:002009-02-01T08:49:00.000-08:00Remember that in Megilat Ester, Haman says he will...Remember that in Megilat Ester, Haman says he will destroy all Jews, from the youngest to the oldest.Batyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11246929075812590204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202222045117826089.post-14144295923896044302009-01-29T15:44:00.000-08:002009-01-29T15:44:00.000-08:00i struggle with this all the time. i do think you'...i struggle with this all the time. i do think you're right - the pediatric nature of what we do DOES turn off our young people because they only think it's about kid-stuff...i wish i had an answer but i don't.<BR/><BR/>and yet...i also know that those of us who work and teach in the community have a uniquely difficult time finding our own programming/opportunities because we're often BUSY working while other people are enjoying the adult programming running somewhere else concurrently.<BR/><BR/>some days i think i want to go get a job as something else so i can just be a "jew in the pew" but it's not likely to happen, is it?Phyllis Sommerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16654761832717723000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202222045117826089.post-58095286275668494152009-01-29T01:27:00.000-08:002009-01-29T01:27:00.000-08:00This is a very powerful post and deserving of a be...This is a very powerful post and deserving of a better answer than I could possibly give you. I think you are on target when you said that your observation is possibly less true in the orthodox community, though there it is certainly painful to be a single adult without children. But in the orthodox community the involvement in Torah and holidays is an integral part of adult life. While there are some who choose a different path, the majority of those who grow up in an orthodox home can invision themselves as functioning adult members of the community. You mentioned the Hagadda. There is a requirement to tell yourself the Hagadda - to your inner child if you may. Certainly not fun, but you have the obligation to yourself. If there are any orthodox venues available to you I would urge you to seek them out. In the orthodox community lectures and events for adults are common and there is no requirment that you yourself be othodox.esqcapadeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03221115564263664489noreply@blogger.com