I was hired last summer to work as a Social Media Coordinator for A Bit Off the Top, an Outreach department tasked with engaging unaffiliated young Jewish adults in Montreal. Part of the reason I was hired was that I fell very much in the unaffiliated category. Born of a Jewish mom, daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and a French Canadian father, I spent my youth in Quebecois secular schools and culture. Outside of Matzo ball soup, the occasional lighting of a Menorah, some extended cousins’ Bar(t) Mitzvahs, and a period where my mom explored her faith and Judaism in her paintings, I grew up pretty much devoid of Jewish culture and tradition.
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My first day in Israel on Birthright, planting my tree.
At work, it quickly became apparent that I knew very little. For the most part, my colleagues never made me feel self-conscious of that, but I chose to learn about this part of my identity that had been neglected and know more about the religious underpinnings of Western monotheism of which I knew very little. A sad consequence of growing up in Quebec’s secular culture (which provides a great many positives as well) is that one doesn’t learn much about biblical texts. As someone who enjoys immersing himself in culture, I had already come to the conclusion that something was lacking in the way I related to art. Biblical references were flying right over my head!
My ego has always presented a hurdle when the time comes to ask for help; I feared my lack of knowledge in spiritual and religious matters and hid my ignorance away. This was an opportunity to resolve this issue. I felt uncomfortable asking a Rabbi for help -that kind of authoritative religious figure has never been present in my life and I wasn’t ready to make that jump yet. Instead, I asked Briah Cahana, daughter of Rabbi Ronnie Cahana.
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Briah at the Beit Midrash she organized for the Second Annual LE MOOD festival
I first met Briah, during the Second Annual LE MOOD festival in October 2012. She organized a Beit Midrash for the event and despite her young age (21), she demonstrates surprising intellectual maturity. Clear headed and insightful, she is able to speak of complex and obscure spiritual and religious ideas in simple and accessible terms. Magnanimous, she was the perfect candidate to teach me about Judaism.
Following a meeting over coffee and tea at Le Falco, she proposed that we do an exchange of sorts, where, in return for her religious wisdom, I teach her to cook. I don’t think she could have proposed anything that would have made me happier…
And so, this is how “Dinner and a Conversation” was born. Around a meal, prepared together, with invited guests, we will talk food, talk faith, talk society and talk Judaism; from this I will learn about that part of my identity which was left bare.
Every few weeks, I will write about one of these dinners and share with you the issues and ideas that were discussed. Please come back to follow the series and share in my discoveries: comment, ask questions, provide me with answers, criticism and more! I’m all ears, (and, being that this is the web, eyes).
