I was AMISH - AMA | Imamother

a jewish woman

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 12:02 pm

amother wrote:

I am willing to answer question in this thread. Or I could start a new one, if yoiu think that it is better. I wanted to point out that I am anon because several people know of my background and don't necessarily want them to know my screen name.

Can you explain rumspringa?

monseychick

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 12:10 pm

marina wrote:

What form of Judaism do you practice now?

She lives in Monsey, where they tell her that the hat on her sheitl is wrong, her tights are too sheer, and clothes are too tight. She better shape up or her children will be kicked out of school... Very Happy

amother

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 12:17 pm

Rubber Ducky wrote:

OK, great! probably a new thread would be best. Either way, I have questions.

What did you know about Jews and Judaism while growing up?

What attracted you to Yiddishkeit?

Do you feel accepted?

Do you have contact with your Amish family?

My mother's parents are Jewish so we would celebrate the feast days with my grandparents and we would keep a somewhat kosher home. I was attracted at first because I was disillusioned by the directioin our community was heading in. We had just gotten a new minister appointed and he was very outspoken about my mother and her differences. It was almost like a witch hunt. My grandparents fought for her as much as they could but since my father had recently passed away my mother decided to return to her roots and took us with her.

I will always feel like an outsider. Both sides feel like I am trying to covert them and are resentful of me in a way. We were kicked out of our shul because I was accused of 'aggressively attempting to convert'. I was doing no such thing.

Yes I still have contact. I am welcome back there at any time since I was not baptized.

amother

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 12:23 pm

a jewish woman wrote:

Can you explain rumspringa?

Rumspringa is literally the running around period between the ages of 16 and 20 ( in my community) where you are able to experience the English world and then qyou will be making the decision to stay with eyes wide open. Some people get cars, drink, have English bf/gf. All of thus needs time hidden from the parents and if they open the barn and find a huge truck sitting there they will destroy it, because it is no longer a secret and they will not lie.

Most of this is done at night with the teenagers 'sneaking out' after dark. Your parents know this is happening but it is allowed because you are in rumspringa

amother

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 12:26 pm

a jewish woman wrote:

If her mother was jewish then she would automatically be jewish as well so why did she have to convert to judaism?

I was told that I needed to go through a conversion process because my mother 'went to the other side' is how he discribed it.

amother

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 12:50 pm

youngishbear wrote:

Thanks so much for sharing. This is fascinating.

By English I'm assuming you mean nonAmish. I never heard that that's how they refer to others.

Oh yes...everyone regardless of nationality are English if they aren't Amish. Engleshers actually, pronounced englishers.

southernbubby

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 12:57 pm

amother wrote:

I was told that I needed to go through a conversion process because my mother 'went to the other side' is how he discribed it.

the other side is one thing but what attracted your mother to something so "out there"? I mean, Amish is not like other churches that are in regular neighborhoods. They are also not proselytizing like the JWs or the Mormons or the Southern Baptists.

southernbubby

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:01 pm

amother wrote:

Usually converts are well accepted unless they refer frequently to non-Jewish scripture or have off periods. What caused the shul to think that you wanted to convert anyone? You are not doing that here so I assume that their accusations are baseless.

amother

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:05 pm

southernbubby wrote:

We lived in Pennsylvania so they were everywhere. My grandparents bought jam and eggs from an Amish family and veggies too. My mother was trying to 'find herself' and fell in love with not only my father (who was in his rumspringa at the time) but also the whole idea of being insulated from the dangers of the world. I am not sure if she was ever baptized or not, I am thinking she would have had to have been or my father would have been banned. I will have to ask her. Anyway, my mother who is a nurse became the unofficial midwife/healer for the community, delivering babies, removing splinters, being an advocate for the brethren who needed to be hospitalized. She always said that she finally felt needed and wanted, like this was the place she was always meant to be. The brothers and sisters were welcoming and loving and until the new preacher came in everything was just fine.

southernbubby

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:07 pm

amother wrote:

I do know that they welcome converts and once a bunch of them tried to proselytize us in the Greyhound station.

amother

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:10 pm

southernbubby wrote:

Yes they were baseless. I was asked about my past and I was sharing it, just as I am doing here. I was told that the problem was I said bible instead of Torah,which I sometimes still refered to as the Old Testament. And I said they were english. This caused some of the teenagers to ask questions and find out a little more about the Amish . I was told I was behaving in a non Jewish manner and was asked to leave. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong and I still proclaim my innocence. I am a Jew. I was born one.

amother

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:14 pm

southernbubby wrote:

I do know that they welcome converts and once a bunch of them tried to proselytize us in the Greyhound station.

Really? They must have been in danger of losing their community to do something like that! I was always told not to engage the English because they will be rude or try to make me watch tv or something equally crazy. To be fair when I was in the community there was a huge problem with English rapes on the Amish. It was a scary few years until they finally caught the guy.

PinkFridge

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:15 pm

monseychick wrote:

Not implying ... Acknowledging the truth...

http://www.thejewishweek.com/e.....odoxy

If you start a new thread based on this let me know.
Evidently the only form of MO is exactly what he grew up with, or to the left. He doesn't appreciate people having reservations about YCT?
But this is too big a digression.

southernbubby

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:15 pm

amother wrote:

These people sound majorly intolerant. Hope you find a nicer shul to get involved with. There is also nothing wrong with Jewish kids knowing about the Amish or any other group of people. We live in a world and we have to teach our children that Hashem loves everyone. Hashem was very sad to have to destroy the mitzrim so we can never assume that Hashem does not love non-Jews.

southernbubby

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:17 pm

amother wrote:

We started talking to them and then when we said we were Jewish, that is when they came on heavy with their bible and it's hero.

PinkFridge

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:17 pm

amother wrote:

4 whole years??
And sneaking around after dark - I guess that really it's just a matter of forbidden experiences, not education and learning about the world at large?

southernbubby

Sun, Feb 15 2015, 1:19 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

4 whole years??
And sneaking around after dark - I guess that really it's just a matter of forbidden experiences, not education and learning about the world at large?

I was told that they cannot divorce so they have to date their spouses for a long time in order to know that they want to marry for life.