A Pull Back, A Leap Ahead

A Congregant's Perspective

by Jason M. Rubin

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It was a long, slow, gentle pull, barely noticeable, not even stirring any sense of curiosity on my part. It was a slight tug back toward something I already knew, something familiar in my past, which I had left behind several years ago. There was no need to look back and acknowledge it, and less compulsion to consider it seriously. I had made my decision back then and easily made my peace with that decision. I was comfortably, in my own parlance, post-synagogual. What does that mean? It means that while I cling to my Jewish identity and take a reasonable amount of pride in that; and maintain a few, highly selective acts of observance—eating apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah, fasting on Yom Kippur, enjoying Passover seders, lighting at least one night’s worth of Hanukkah candles while giving gifts to my children—I have no interest in, nor feel any need to pursue, congregational life by actually joining a temple. My issues with temple membership have as much to do with... more