I interviewed Ruth in her home on 24 October 2004.  Ruth, 50, was born in New York.  Most orthodox Jews, her ancestors came from Russia, Poland, and Lithuania.  Currently a professor of Religious Studies, she belongs to a conservative congregation.  She has written several books related to Judaism, and she has authored many articles for national newspapers and magazines.  I did not tape this interview, but I recorded my impressions from notes I took during the interview.

1.  How do you express being Jewish in ways similar to the ways your mother expressed her Jewish faith?  (family traditions that emerge from your faith)

Ruth's mother had an altar in her house.  On the altar she placed her Sabbath head covering and pictures of family weddings.  Also, her father's kippa and prayer book were there.  Ruth keeps Sabbath candles on her altar with a tzedaka, a righteousness box, for Purim.  She puts spare change in this box for the poor.

Ruth took me to her kitchen and showed me the side for meat and the side for milk.  She does not separate her Tupperware and her utensils, though, in honor of her mother's rebellion against this rule.  Ruth has, however, placed red dots on the utensils she uses for meats.  She joked that even though she is a professor, she can't figure out how to separate her utensils.  Ruth's glasses don't match.  Her mother uses yahrzeit glasses for juice.  These glasses originally held candles to burn in honor of the dead.  Because Ruth has not lost anyone in her family, she does not have any yahrzeit glasses.

2.  How you do you express being Jewish differently?

Ruth became animated when she took me into her sunroom where she showed me several volumes of Talmud in her bookcase.  At first her mother was skeptical of Ruth's reading Talmud, but over time her mother has supported Ruth's study.

3.  Is there an object in your house that reflects a way your mother or grandmother practiced?

On a shelf in Ruth's living room are several variously colored schnapps glasses her grandmother and grandfather used for Kiddush after Synagogue on every Sabbath in Paterson, New Jersey.  They would serve schnapps and sponge cake to their neighbors. 


4.  Is there an object that reflects your own expression of being Jewish?

Ruth showed me a package she had put together for bereaved friends. 

Ruth has several Hamsa symbols throughout her house.  Jews have adapted this sign, originally Arabic, that portrays the hand of God protecting against the evil eye. 


5. What is one aspect of Judaism that you would feel sad about if your daughters did not perpetuate?

Without hesitation Ruth replied that she would feel sad if the distinctive language of the Jews is lost, for her language connects her to the past.  She feels that praying in the language of the Bible is vital.  Through Hebrew she can communicate with Jews all over the world.  She would also feel sad if the belief in the one sacred were lost.  She would feel sad "to lose the distinctive time of the Sabbath" because the Sabbath keeps coming to mark life.  The Sabbath is a family celebration, an obligatory time to be with family.  If the Sabbath were lost, Ruth fears that time spent with the family might never happen.

At the end of the interview, Ruth summarized her legacy from her family.  She has inherited the obligation to "model ethical behavior, to teach others, to care for the needy."  She feels this legacy is a "burden," but it also "feels like royalty."