Jewish Studies
Before I took this class, I had no idea about Judaism since I grow up in an Asian country in where people generally don’t familiar with it. I very enjoy being in this class since I found that I learned something that I never had before. The topics which explore Judaism in different perspective are very diverse and interesting. I remember we discussed about Jewish identity, movement, genetics, and community…... One thing that I really appreciate is how Professor Cohen encouraged us to see Jews in an objective way. Even in our papers, he reminded us not to assume we knew what everyone thoughts. His attitude and spirit made me feel very comfortable in this class. He taught us not only Jewish culture, but also how to be an objective learner. Judaism can be a culture, race, religion and community. Today, I still don’t know how to explain to my friends that the meaning of Judaism since it is very broad and great. After this class, I hope I have chance to go to Israel to experience the Jewish spirit. Thank you for Professor Cohen and you guys’ comments on my blog.

In the reading, 'Conclusion: American Judaism at a Crossroads,” Sarna talks about several problems that threaten American Jews. Low birthrate, immigration, conversion and intermarriage cause the decrease in the number of America Jews, but he is very optimistic in the future of American Judaism. Also, he provides the population data in the end, which shows the population of American Jews is increasing steadily. However, Greenberg and Nussbaum Cohen in another reading state that the young Jews are the great 'at risk' group since they grow up in an America culture which strongly affects their Jewish identity. Young American Jews are reclaiming their heritage on their own terms. People concern about how to maintain both the quantity and quality of American Jews. However, I want to separate quantity and quality here because it is hard to measure quality which is not a number. While talking about the quality of Jews, I want to ask how to define a good Jew or bad Jew? Orthodox movement sees homosexual Jews are a sin, but modern Judaism accept them. Therefore, are homosexual Jews bad? It depends on the subject and how you see it.
As the young Jews define themselves by what they want, so the identity of Jew is quite broad. Is it good or bad? Some people say it is good because it reflects the diversity in Jewish culture. However, some people say it is bad because it fades the meaning of traditional Judaism. It depends on how people see it.

Gentile woman
After reading the article, “Shiksa”, by Christine Benevento, I find I change a little of my idea on Jewish community. This book reveals that gentile women still face hostility in some parts of the Jewish community. While reading this book, I remember another book, “The Flying Camel”, by Loolwa Khazzoom. Both of them are talking about how women suffer from the discrimination at the local Jewish community. When gentile women raise children in the Jewish community, they need to face wrenching conflicts, day-to-day struggles and profound rewards they experience. Jewish families and communities are increasingly faced with the task of how to integrate non-Jews into Jewish celebrations, ritual and worship. Do they allow on the bimah? Is it okay for them to say Shabbat blessings at home? Also, the author details many horror stories of gentile women who married into unwelcoming Jewish families, who nonetheless, decided to join that exclusive club themselves.
After that, I know why some Jews disagree with intermarriage because some of them can’t tolerate non-Jews to participate in their community. I am just curious that if they are worry about the continuity of Judaism, why they don’t welcome non-Jewish into their community. Maybe this book is too offensive to the Jewish community, I feel sorry for these gentile women who never have a chance to became part of Judaism.

I know why the "Left Behind" is one of the top grossig books because it is really interesting. It talks about rapture which all born-again Christians will be taken from Earth into Heaven by Jesus Christ. There is an Evangelical fervor in these books that warms my heart. Following the characters through their decisions to become Christians and sharing their new-found peace with God is very amazing. I hope and expect that the Evangelical warmth in the books will inspire many readers to rethink about their relationship with God. However, I am just wondering some of their view of God's doctrine. While God is involved in the apparently indiscriminate killing of billions of people around the world in all of the plagues that occur in this series, I can't imagine what this God is. The book suggests that it would be nice if the Jews eventually accepted Christ, but with or without Christ, they are still following the one true God. I gets the distinct impression that there are two ways to heaven -one through Christ, and the other through being born a Jew. Even if people are related to someone who was chosen by God, it does not make them chosen by God. God chooses those who choose him. Muslims are as close to being God's chosen people as are Jews who have not accepted Jesus.

Messianic Judaism
Messianic Judaism is the name most used by Jewish people, who actually have become Christians when referring to Jews. However, they are still Jewish even though they believe in Jesus. They think Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. As professor Cohen said they were between Christian and Judaism. Sometime, they are not accepted by either one of them and under their pressure to find way to survive. Most Messianic believers refuse to be classified as Christian because Christians reject the Torah and adopted pagan festivals, such as Ester,Christmas, and Halloween. Judaism rejects them because Messianic Judaism aims to convert Jews to Christianity, so it will eliminate Judaism. I feel very interested in this group because they have two different identities which are Judaism and Christian, and they think they can coexist with each other. I understand why both Christian and Judaism reject to accept Messianic Judaism because they try to connect them together, but they have their original doctrines and culture. I am just curious about how they define their identity between Judaism and Christian because they are different from each other. If they don’t belong to either one of them, why do they keep some of Judaims and Christian's doctrines and custom? It is hard to ask people to convert to Messianic Judaism since both Judaism and Christian are two of the biggest religions.

Intermarriage
I think there is no direct relationship between exogamy and Jewish identity, but exogamy can be a way for non-Jewish people to know what Judaism is. Therefore, intermarriage won't contribute to low Jewish continuity. I agree with Barack Fishman that parents, peer Group, and Jewish education are the keys to Jewishness. In fact, they are closely related to each other. If an intermarried couple educates their children about Judaism and take part Jewish events with them when they are young, children will have stronger sense of being Jew because they are easily affected by what their parents do. In other words, intermarriage won't threat to Judaism if their Jewish parents insist to educate Judaism to them. One of the best ways to educate Judaism and strength the Jewish identity to the children of intermarried is to take them to synagogue and let them get along with Jewish people. Children are not only easily affected by their parents, but also their peers. When they see all of their friends are Jewish, there is a pressure or attraction to them to convert to Jewish. Beside that, a good Jewish education program is very important to maintain Jewish continuity. Keeping Jewish teens in some kind of Jewish schooling has a great implicit. The Jewish education program should start from supplementary school, so it can create a strong Jewish sense in their mind. I can understand that people misunderstand intermarriage will cause shrinkage, but they should be objective to see the larger-scale picture.

The Flying Camel
The cover of the book, The Flying Camel, by Loolwa Khazzoom, shows a lady who wears hijabs and mask sits on the floor. I originally thought it would be about Muslim women, but I found out it was about Jewish women by the subtitle. While reading the essays in this book, I can feel these women struggle from the culture they live in and the people they get along with. The essays go into much detail about individual lives of women who experienced the discrimination, terrible oppression at the hands of local people. Being a dark Jew in Europe is not that easy because dark Jews have certain things different from the dominant group. These differences can be their names, skin colors, language, clothing and so on. I think one of the reasons that these women couldn’t get into the dominant group comes from these difference. It is like a kind of "Jew to Jew" discrimination, and I feel sorry about the dark Jews because they seem don't know how to define their identity. They have their original standard of being a Jew, but they need to change this standard for the dominant group. That's why the cover's lady wears the hijabs because it makes her look more like the local people. I understand that sometime people need to make some changes because of the environment, but I feel upset for the dominant group who can't accept other groups of people in their society. I am impressed by these stories, and I hope people can understand more about Jewish women's difficulties.