I was born into a Jewish mixed family (Dad was from Brooklyn, Mom was from the Bronx) As a result I was raised like many contemporaries to be a thrice a year Jew (Chanukah, Passover, and Rosh-Hashana/Yom Kippur)

I was raised in a predominantly Reformed-Neo-Hassidic, Conservatox upbringing. This means that the level of devout seemed to be directly related to how close my mother lived to the local Rabbi and what the local synagogue was.

I went to Sunday School and Hebrew School and then I had my BarMitzvah (I think the parsha (sp?) was Cha Chodesh, Spelling assistance welcomed)

I went to a college in Ohio that did not have a Synagogue anywhere nearby, and have since been a Jew by upbringing but not practicing.

Slowly I am trying to find my way back to my beliefs and faith as well as understand my culture better without compromising my own beliefs (Which I still believe are strongly rooted in my Jewish upbringing)

None of my posted questions are meant in anyway to belittle Judaism or anyone's beliefs or faiths. They are out of honest curiosity)

Thanks.