In the midst of High Holiday season, when many infrequent worshipers make their way back to synagogue, Mark Oppenheimer ponders the issue of Judaism no longer being a “native language” for many Jews. His advice to the uninitiated? Think of practicing the religion “as an art, or maybe a sport“:
Consider that playing guitar is very, very hard when you start. Let’s say you take a beginner’s class. At the beginning, you will feel frustrated and embarrassed when you make mistakes. If you don’t even know how to read music, and if, what’s more, you lack a good ear, then you will be surrounded by people, even in that introductory class, who seem far ahead of you. You may go back for a few weeks in a row, and you may even practice every night, but after a month you won’t have made what seems like satisfactory progress. Meanwhile, if you bump into fellow students, or hang out at the music school, you will feel as if all of them are ahead of you, making more progress, and coalescing into a community of musicians that you will never be able to join. Some of them may start jamming together, or using lingo that you have yet to master. You will already be defeated. …
So it is with some kinds of Jewish practice. The first few, or even few dozen, times you try it, it’s not just hard work—it seems as if you’ll never get it. The prayers are in a foreign language, you don’t know when to stand or sit, and it seems as if everyone else has known these things forever. (Obviously, some Jewish services are in English and can be quite user-friendly; but even then, the newcomer will have some of these feelings of inadequacy.) What’s more, it seems as if all the people around you are old friends with each other, and you are the newbie. But if you keep coming, it’s amazing is how quickly you begin to feel a sense of mastery. The fifth time you try it? The 10th? All of a sudden you are part of the community, you know people, you know when to stand and sit. And you are teaching some newbie who arrived after you.
The Dish 