Blog post #3

I'm fairly certain that I am allowed to write about anything today as this is an open blog post. Today I'd like to talk some about my family and my childhood. My father is a professor of history, specifically western civilization. My father is also a practicing Rabbi. I was raised in a very strict Jewish household. From my birth until I was 17 years old I did everything that a practicing Jew should do. I went to temple, ate Kosher, prayed, did a blessing over my food and followed Shabbat as well as all the other rules in the Jewish faith. My father didn't become religious until he was in his late 20s or early 30s so he could not understand what it was like to be a teenage boy who wanted to go out on Friday night and Saturday. Anyone that knows about Shabbat knows that religious Jews that observe Shabbat will not go out on Friday night or Saturday. It seemed to me that doing all of these things and observing all of these rules wasn't going to bring me any closer to my creator. Heck who am I kidding, I just wanted to hang out with my friends on Friday and Saturday. Thankfully I went to  public school which is where I first learned about the parties that go on during the weekend. Most young guys my age looked forward to the weekend. I dreaded it. It was like being trapped. Some of the rules of Shabbat include not being able to use ANY electricity (lights, TV, phone etc) you cannot use your car. The only things that I was able to do besides praying was swimming in my pool and playing board games and card games. I learned a lot of moral lessons from the talks my father and I had during Shabbat so it wasn't all bad, but I still think it is unfair that my father would force me to be religious when I didn't understand what it was all about because I was so young. I had a falling out with my father after I broke away from being religious, but now my father and I have a good relationship and he has accepted the fact that I do not wish to be religious. Perhaps when I am his age I will change my mind, but for now I want to live my life to the fullest.