subject: just a random thought
mood: sleepy
music: mum in the other room
CPCetc: pondering should not be done so late at night
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Whilst running amok in the fable land we call the "internet" and looking around for information on One-Acts, I happened upon this bit by a Franta Bass. He was a child at Terezin.

I am a Jew and will be a Jew forever.
Even if I should die from hunger,
never will I submit.
I will always fight for my people,
on my honour.
I will never be ashamed of them;
I give my word.

I am proud of my people,
how dignified they are.
Even though I am oppressed,
I will always come back to life.

People ask me what made me decide to convert. Whenever someone finds out they have two questions: 1. What were you before? and 2. Why?. I've always told them that I never believed in Christianity and that's true, I didn't. It seemed like some sort of game, some play that you dress-up for and leave after an hour or so to go back to your life. But that's not really why. Actually, it's the same reason that I do a lot of things in my life, which I feel says something. The Jews are one of the oldest people in history, thriving on this amazing culture and all these traditions that still hold meaning to them. Yet they've done all this without a home. They've surpassed the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, all these cultures that we say invented our own but have crumpled away into dusty ruins and moldy history books. But not the Jews.

A Jewish child is taught what it means to be Jewish. They learn what happened during Passover and why a Kiddish cup is important and how to be a good person in the eyes of G-d. They learn the same things that their parents and grandparents learned, and their parents and grandparents before them, going back four thousand years. And at the same time, they go on to do things that they're parents never did; to be artists and lawyers where their parents owned shops or worked in banks. They're their own people, but with a common thread, a common belief. And they're proud of who they are. They're proud of the fact that their people have gone through wars, genocide, banishment... yet remain. They remain stronger and smarter than the last generation could've been. And then there are new traditions. And they move on.

To be a part of something like that... to be able to sit down at a table like that and share in their stories, that would be incredible. I'll never be able to say that I was born a Jew, not in the way that others can. But I was born with the knowledge that I was not going to be what my parents thought. I will never live in a big white house with a picket fence, I will never Christen my children. Hell, I'll probably never even have children. And I don't think I'll ever fully settle down. Because that's not who I am. I can't sit back and let things pass by, not really. Everything happens for a reason, but it's near impossible for me to just let bad things happen. And you'd have to break my legs and cut my chords to get me from running to the nearest fight and shouting for what I feel is right. And maybe someday, they'll figure out that I'm not what they wished for. Or maybe they'll realise that it doesn't matter if they wished for it or not, it's going to be all-right anyway.

Kiri >^.^<