Jewish in Quebradas

Below is an article I wrote for the upcoming issue of La Cadena, the countrywide Peace Corps publication (of which I am now one of the editors) that I thought you might enjoy...

Well, let’s just say it was different than past High Holiday celebrations. Honestly, I didn’t even remember it was Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, until I got a call from my dad in a rare spot with cell phone coverage in my community and answered it to the sound of the shofar playing in our synagogue in Los Angeles.

To many of you, some of the above Jewish jargon may not mean much, but trust me they mean less to Ticos in Quebradas. At least most of you probably got a day or two off each fall during high school thanks to the Jews, so you know we’re busy celebrating our new year and repenting for our sins around that time. But in a small rural community in a 98% Catholic country, even I almost forgot it was a holiday. Here are all the ways I did NOT celebrate Yom Kippur this year: I ate. I ate pork. I said grace before eating pork. I worked. I did not go to temple. I did not think about going to temple. Fortunately, my Jewish mother is very forgiving.

This is just one of many situations that have made me think about how I identify with my own religion and think about religion in general since I arrived in Costa Rica in March. I think it is safe to say that in the past six months, I have spent more time in church than I have spent in synagogue in the past 10 years. Almost every piece of art in my current family home is a representation of a church, a cross, or Jesus Christ. I now know the Santa Maria prayer in Spanish better than any prayer in Hebrew due, unfortunately, to two recent deaths in my community and the ensuing nine day rosary.

I would call myself a cultural Jew. For me, being Jewish is less about my beliefs and more about the family traditions, sense of humor, and of course, the food. But I have found myself having to explain my religion to many Ticos in my community who, including the priest, have never met a Jew and do not have a clue what it means. At first I was a little uneasy about it and felt like I had to be on the defensive even though I do not feel that strongly about Jewish doctrine. But to my pleasant surprise, I have found that I have not once been judged for being different or for not believing in you know who, but rather that people are genuinely curious about what kinds of holidays we celebrate and how we celebrate them. And I have been able to draw some apt analogies to relate Jewish tradition to daily life in Quebradas, such as Bar-Mitzvahs and Quincineras, sitting shivah and rosaries, Yom Kippur and – oh wait, the sin here would be to go a day without rice and beans.

In all seriousness, it has been far more interesting and comfortable learning about and participating in another religion than I had imagined. I never envisioned myself being able to relate to people for whom God is such an integral part of their daily existence that they will only show up to my English class or recycling meeting if He wills it. But now these people are my family and friends, and I respect and appreciate how Catholicism guides their charitable deeds, family values, and faith in the face of challenges and disappointments. I feel blessed that they have welcomed me, an outsider in so many ways, into their blessed community.

Now if only I could get them to start eating bagels and lox…