My mother's from a non-practicing Catholic family that I've met about twice, my father's side (much closer) hasn't practiced Judaism since sometime in the 40s. I still identify as a Jew. I'm now alone far away from family at university and I'm considering joining the jewish community but I don't know where to start. Yom Kippur is coming up but I don't know if I want to just show up for the holiest day with no religious backround. The Rabbi on campus seems nice but I don't know what to say or do.
I’d probably say that the Rabbi would be a good starting point. Yom Kippur might be a bit intense to start with, but if the Rabbi conducting the services feels it’s appropriate to join, I think you should.
If not, I think one of the best holidays to start engaging with Jewish life comes soon after. It’s called Sukkot. It’s a harvest festival. It’s celebrated by sitting in an open air booth called a “Sukkah,” which is where the Holiday gets its name. The Booth is strewn with fall fruits and vegetables. It’s one of three holidays on the Jewish calendar that celebrate agriculture and it’s a fun holiday that I look forward to every year.
The last day of Sukkot is known as Simchat Torah, which is when the annual reading of the Torah is completed and started over again. It’s another extremely joyous celebration where the community gets together and performs dances with the Torah called Hakafot.
The other nice thing about starting then is that you get to listen to the Torah reading from the beginning. It’s early in the Jewish year and you get to experience the bulk of the cycle of Jewish Holidays. There are a lot of them, but I think that’s one of the best things about being Jewish. It teaches us to celebrate the various miracles of nature and of our history every single year.
