Explaining "Jewish Things" in our Mostly non-Jewish Community

In our small town, we are but a handful of Jews. Many of our native to the area neighbors have never seen a mezuzah. Most don’t have a clue as to what it is. When friends visit our home for the first time, I notice them cast a glance at ours. Not any particular type of glance, mind you. Sometimes it is a look of puzzlement. Other times, it is a sweeping glance.

When a guest in my home asks about it, I tell them what it’s for. Sometimes, it only leads to more puzzlement. On occasion, I’ve been given a comment like “cool!” but not very often.

The problem is not that these people think that I’m being “holier than they”. It is just that some of them have never encountered a Jewish person that they know of. They may have heard about Jews. And who knows what they’ve heard. Could be good, could be bad, certainly could be indifferent.

As they leave, or as they look around, they are faced with my enormous ketubah, my marriage contract. It is a work of art, and is framed and hung above our front door (it’s a 2-story entrance). Sometimes a guest will ask. Usually women are fascinated to hear that it was my husband’s idea to keep it in a common area of the home, rather than the traditional place of over the bed. Besides the fact that it would kill us if it ever fell, he wanted everyone to know that we are committed to each other not only by law, but in the eyes of God as well.

Also in the foyer is a print of Marc Chagall’s Wedding Couple (with a giant chicken in the background). So that’s not a religious item, but it was a wedding gift and it’s a “Jewish thing” so it counts, but doesn’t usually get inquiries as to its meaning – it’s art.

The shabbat candlesticks in our dining room are fairly innocuous – they are plain silver – and a wine decanter is a wine decanter. The braided havdalah candle is no attention grabber, either, except for the fact that it just lies there on a platter. Our seder plate is not on display, nor is my husbands prayer shawl bag. So most of our “things” are not on display.

But our daughter’s Sunday school papers are. Her drawings of biblical characters, her Hebrew worksheets, her Hebrew name with a picture of her at her naming ceremony.

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