Personal Narrative: My Life As A Jew

Being Jewish in a non-Jewish world can be a struggle, especially for a teenager. There are times when you have to make choices between celebrating what makes you unique and special and trying to fit in with everyone else. To some, it might be easier to just be like everyone else, to conform, and to ignore their Jewish identity and the Jewish values that go along with living and being Torah, but is this right? Personally, I feel that in a world with rising anti-Semitism, increasing hate crimes against Jews, and negative sentiments expressed towards Israel, that it is my role to be more active as a Jew. It is important to me to embrace what it means to be a Jew in today’s world and to be comfortable representing this amongst people who are different from myself. If the Jewish message is that everyone is
This is a time for all Jews to start living with a Jewish identity in their own way. Some feel that every Jew is a Jew by choice; by choosing to self-identify as a Jew, I have made the choice (Becheerah) to represent my people in a positive way. I feel that it is incumbent upon me to carry out the responsibilities of what it means to be Jewish in my daily life. Ultimately, how we are judged by others is based upon our actions. To demonstrate this, I chose to show my duty to G-d in my secular life as well. In addition to being a Jew, I am also a Boy Scout. One of the tenets of Scouting from the Boy Scout Handbook is that “a Scout is reverent. He is reverent toward G-d. He is faithful in his religious duties...” Even in Scouts I self-identify as a Jew by proudly wearing the Ner Tamid emblem on my uniform. While my troop is majority Christian, several members of my troop attended my Ner Tamid ceremony when it was held at my synagogue. They supported my choice to earn this “Duty to G-d” which showed that I wanted to grow stronger in my faith. This was one way to show immediate