Marlena Tanya Muchnick
LDS Speaker, Author, Researcher
Recently I traveled through international waters. People of different nations were aboard the huge vessel. One evening I was privileged to share a meal with an 80+ year old retired Israeli businessman and his wife. We share a common ancestry. They were raised in an Orthodox Jewish environment. As we visited, Yitzhak was quick to tell me that he disapproved of his country’s leaders and their policies, and also those of the U.S.A. I did not regard this as unusual.But when he told me he had decided that Judaism was not important to him, I was greatly surprised.
“How do I know that Abraham was a real man? Why should I believe in Moses? What is so important about being Jewish?”
I quizzed him on what events or situations in his life had led him to this belief, but he shrugged and repeatedly said, ” I know I am a Jew, but it is not important to me any longer.”
When asked if he had considered any other religion, he quickly disavowed it.
“No, no. I have no other religion. Can you tell me that God wants me to be a Jew, a Christian, a Buddhist? I am not seeking anything at all.”
I spoke with him further in an endeavor to find out more of his life and experiences, but he preferred to talk of politics and quizzed me regarding my heritage. He just wanted to enjoy his meal and the cameraderie of the evening.Yitzhak’s wife had similar views but she demurred when asked any details about her decision to be inactive as a Jew.
On that Friday night the weekly Shabbat ceremony was held. A roomful of about 30 people attended. Most were of the Reform congregation. I attended because there was no LDS gathering – the 33 LDS aboard ship did not make themselves known and my party had no priesthood available for a sacrament meeting. This continues to upset me, but I took refuge in a ship-born synagogue service and felt (sort of) right
at home. You have to be a passionate Jewish convert to the LDS church left among fellow Jews who are celebrating fervently their Judaism to understand my situation.
Surprisingly, I found Yitzhak in attendance, though his wife chose not to go. As we sang the hymns and recited the many Hebrew intonations of praise and love for God that make up a Jewish worship ceremony, he alternately joined in or remained silent, but when we at last recited the Shema – the Jewish creedal prayer – his voice was among the most defined. (My own recitation ended with …” the lord is Jehovah”,) but softly.
I saw Yitzhak on several more occasions. He is a charming man, chatty in Hebrew with the other Jews on the ship and gently teasing the many Filipino and Indonesian food servers.
It was a revealing experience, one that somewhat mirrors my own disatisfaction with my Judaic upbringing. As I wrote recently in an article posted on Jewish Journal.com:
“I often contemplated the gifts promised the human family in the Tree of Life mentioned in Genesis 2. The Hebrew life giving tree motif I found in a copy of Kabbalah (esoteric Judaic writings). It stirred in me a deep curiosity about the mysterious connections of all things in earth and heaven. I read of covenants, oaths, the patterns and behaviors of men –blessings received, curses endured. Always the connection of God to His children was tested and tried. The Hebrew people have always been engaged in a love story (often also a tryst!) with their Father/Lord. So, in a fashion, I was being spiritually prepared for my transformation at age 47 – from Orthodox/Conservative Jewess to a temple-attending Latter-day Saint.”
If only I could have told Yitzhak about the restored Gospel, the deep yearning for the promised Mashiach and the joyous realization that he HAS come, that he HAS restored the correct teachings given through our ancient prophets… that there IS hope in Judaism because it is an arrow of truth, a messenger of eternal possibilities… but, alas, Yitzhak and his wife were on a cruise for fun and distraction, not spiritual discovery.
We know their time will soon come and that their spiritual eyes will be opened to the vastness of God’s educational system.
I hope to meet him there among the libraries of Heaven, to sit with him, his wife and his passed-on family members, to talk and rejoice among the angels of the blessings and gifts of God and His Christ in Olam Haba. We will meet our Heavenly Mother, and we will become filled with the light that passes all understanding. We will have finally come home.
Marlena’s Musings
Marlena’s websites
Marlena’s websites:
Judaicaworld
Marlena’s Excellent Judaica