Identity in general is supremely complex. It’s likely that our gender, our profession, our sexuality, our color, our nationality, our religion and our politics are all part of our identity. And all of these factors interact in complicated ways.
For example – years ago, a Jewish woman who covers her head out of modesty told a story, in a public forum that I was part of, about how she was once in an airport and struck up a conversation with a Muslim woman who also covers her head out of modesty. She said that following that conversation, she felt a strong identification with that woman, stronger than she feels with many Jewish women.
A liberal-minded Jew may at times identify more strongly with a liberal-minded Christian than with conservative-minded Jews. The reverse may also be true. And sometimes – the religious commonality will trump everything else and create the strongest identification.
I want to challenge all of us to ask ourselves, “what are the different parts of our identity? And how does religion figure in?"
