Parshat Toldot.

Abstract

The most fundamental challenge facing thoughtful modem Jews in contemporary twenty-first-century America is how to remain rooted in the best of American culture and values while, at the same time, maintaining a genuine commitment to Jewish life and Jewish tradition. This issue is particularly relevant to a young woman or man becoming bat or bar mitzvah, setting the course for the kind of life she or he will want to lead into adulthood and beyond. How can a caring Jew simultaneously affirm two identities without doing a disservice to either? A tiny, apparently insignificant, detail in this week's Torah portion provides an answer.