Religious Identity: The Story of Zoe
This is Zoe. She’s a Jewish, second-generation American girl living in New York City in 4th grade. She loves all of these things about herself! She adores seeing all of her friends every day at school and her favorite class is history.
Everyday in history, Zoe learns something new. Today, the topic discusses Judaism. As Zoe’s teacher begins explaining the role Jews played in colonial times, one of Zoe’s classmates bursts out,
“Why are we learning about these people? No one here is even Jewish!”
Zoe’s cheeks flush a shade of red as she begins looking around her class and notices she’s the only Jewish person in the room.
No one responds to the classmate. They all let his comment slide, even Zoe’s teacher. This confuses Zoe, and she asks herself why she isn’t the same as her friends. Why can’t they all just be the same religion? Suddenly, all eyes are on her and she can’t help but think everyone else is examining her identity as well. She runs out of the room.
As the school day goes on, Zoe convinces herself she can hear whispers from all her friends discussing her Judaism. For as long as she can remember, Zoe was the only Jewish person at her school. But this is the first time she has ever felt bad about it. She begins to feel like everyone is just judging her. Very self-conscious, she keeps her head hung low in the hallways.
Zoe decides to eat lunch at a different table that day, alone. As she chews on her pasta, more and more of these negative thoughts swirl through her mind, and, before she knows it, the school day is over.
As time goes on, Zoe decides to not acknowledge the incident in class. She simply forces herself to think about her identity less. Despite this, she still can’t shake the feeling of being different.
In the next few weeks, Hanukkah, which used to be one of Zoe’s favorite holidays, rolls around. But each of the eight nights all she feels is shame for her identity. Her dad notices.
“What's wrong?” he asks.
“Why couldn’t we just celebrate Christmas like everyone else?” she replies.
Zoe’s father is a bit shocked by this question.
“We’re not Christian! We’re Jewish! Just like all the family that came before you and I for hundreds of years were. And if you ask me… it’s pretty cool to get gifts for eight whole days and not just one!” His enthusiasm is clear as he speaks.
“Yeah, I guess.” Zoe just shrugs and exhales heavily.
After lighting the eighth and final candle of Hanukkah, Zoe retreats to her room and begins to scroll through social media. Goldie, her dog, decides to follow her up and curl up on her bed next to her. After a bit of silence she asks Zoe,
“What’s wrong? You seem upset.” Zoe lets out a long sigh and explains what happened at school.
Goldie’s furry eyebrows raise in shock and she exclaims,
“What! That’s crazy talk. Whoever this person is, they’re just a mean bully. Do not listen to them. Being Jewish is cool! It’s what makes you unique. Who wants to be like everyone else?”
Zoe’s face brightens at hearing these words. Goldie always manages to give the best advice. She gives her a tight squeeze and says,
“You know what? You’re right Goldie. It is cool!”
Having a completely new perspective on her identity and renewed self-confidence, Zoe decides to post a photo of herself and her parents with the caption: “Night 8 [heart emoji]” to instagram. All her friends immediately flood this post with likes and comments of support. Many of them write things like: “Love this!”, which only amplifies Zoe’s newfound pride.
The next day at lunch, Zoe decides to sit with her friends as normal. They ask her if she is ok. She responds,
“Yeah! I just needed to figure some things out but I’m all good now.” Soon after, Zoe notices the new girl all sitting alone. She quickly waves her arm, ushering her over. “Hi! You should sit with us! You’re new, right?” Zoe questions.
The girl nods shyly.
“What’s your name?” Zoe asks.
The new girl introduces herself as Sophie and Zoe notices a gold star of David hanging around her neck. Zoe exclaims,
“Hey, you’re Jewish? Me too!” Sophie’s face lights up at these words.
“No way! Really? I was the only Jewish person at my old school…”
Zoe smiles knowingly. “Yeah, that’s how it was before you came. But I guess we're both not as different now.”
The girls go on to become really close friends. Having a newfound sense of pride in her identity and heritage, along with an amazing new friend who she can be unique with, Zoe truly cannot find one thing to complain about.
THE END
