In Harlem, what I most enjoyed was going to the Apollo Theatre. The experience was really cool because Billy made it really interesting and sort of brought us back to the past. I liked how we rubbed the special tree stump and were allowed to walk on the stage. By doing this, the experience became much more realistic.
Whenever I go to places that have existed for a while, I always try to imagine what exactly went on there, and how it was different from what goes on today. Going to Harlem allowed me to get an idea of what life was culturally like for Malcolm. Harlem made me think of The Holocaust Museum because this is a place for me that is a part of my family's life and history as Harlem is for African Americans and specifically Malcolm. Going to the Holocaust Museum helped me so much to have a better understanding of my family's history. However, aside from all of the pictures and stories of the Holocaust, the exhibits helped me to imagine what it was really and truly like in the concentration camps, and what emotions and thoughts ran through all of the prisoners. Here is a link to an article on what life was like, specifically, in a Warsaw Ghetto: www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005188. I chose this because my Grandpa Jack, who was in the Holocaust and is still alive today, was born in Warsaw, Poland. The article shows what the horrible conditions were like in the ghettos of Warsaw during the time of the Holocaust.
Being a Jewish person, everybody that I know always assumes that I am religious, that I go to temple, worship in the synagogue, and observe the Jewish Holidays. However, I do not even belong to a temple anymore (I haven't for about two years), and although my family and I get together to celebrate certain Jewish Holidays, I feel that being Jewish is more of a title for me, than something of my own. On certain Jewish holidays like Passover, Jewish people are not supposed to eat bread or anything containing yeast. I eat bread and things containing yeast anyway. What I'm trying to say is, I'm proud of my religion, of who I am because of it, and especially proud of my family's difficult past in being involved in the Holocaust; but I feel that in order to be Jewish, you don't have to observe all of the Holidays, and go to temple. I know that I make of it something on my own, in my own meaningful way. On some holidays when certain things are expected of me to do, or not do, I don't always follow the traditions, and my friends say, 'aren't you supposed to this, or aren't you not supposed to do that'. But being Jewish for me is so much more than following the customs of a Holiday-it's knowing that my grandfather survived through such a horrible time in history and had to endure all of that pain and torture, and is still alive today. That's one of the main reasons that i am proud to be Jewish.
Lastly, my Grandpa Jack is still very religious and goes to temple all the time. He walks to and from temple, and tells me how he prays for my family and me. He observes all of the Jewish holidays, and I completely respect him for that. My grandpa and I are different in a sense that I am not that religious. When he asks about the boys in school, and which ones I like, basically all of them that I talk about are non-Jews. This really upsets him to such a level that it even makes me really upset and agitated to see him so distraught. I understand why he wants me to go out with Jewish guys, but I remind him that I am only 15 years old and not to worry because I will marry a Jewish guy. So basically, the way I see it, I'm just as Jewish as my grandpa, but just for different reasons and beliefs. Below is a link explaining "what a Jewish person" is: www.mideastweb.org/jewreligion.htm. I think this link is really relative to what I've talked about. The Paragrpah Jew and Jewish- Definitions says that different Jews define themselves differently. That was exactly the point I was trying to get at!
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