July 4, 2024
We returned from living in Israel two months ago. Since then, we have been asked, “What is it like there? Is it nice? Weren’t you worried? Of course, you came back because of the war--didn’t you? What do you think of Netanyahu? What do Israelis think of Netanyahu, the war with Hamas, Iran, what about the Haredi Jews, are you Orthodox?”, etc.
I think about these things all the time too, but I don’t have a good answer for any of these. I can say that whatever opinion or answer is stated is…somehow wrong! You just have to be there and then you still can’t give a good answer—neither can I. Anything I say—I would say is somehow wrong!
To quote a lyric from a Groucho Marx routine, “Whatever it is — I’m against it!”
All I can tell you is what I experienced. And when it comes to what I have experienced in life, all I can tell you is what happened to me and my perspective on that. As the days go by, my perspective on what I experienced changes—so, I reserve the right to disagree with myself, whether it is what I have already written, or what I am about to write as once again pick up my metaphorical pen and put it to paper.
I share these things with you to give you a window into my experiences. You will have your own thoughts about my rhyme, reason or resolution.
I have been away from writing my story for almost a decade, and I fully intended to start writing again after making Aliyah (“to go up” — refers to Jews living in the Diaspora immigrating to Israel). Then there was the medical emergency that overturned our lives in Israel and led to our return to the USA for treatment.
It started with a simple trip and fall on the bumpy sidewalk in front of our Jerusalem apartment. Pegi simply tripped and fell. What should have been a run of the mill treatment for a broken shoulder turned into a major metabolic crisis and the necessity to seek specialized treatment back in the USA. The details are really unimportant. The overall impact was the not the shattering of a few bones which could be repaired, but the shattering of a shared dream of no longer wandering--finding our home in Israel after 48 years of marriage. That dream was shattered. But Pegi is my dream and she is my home!
So, here we are in Newnan, Georgia—about 40 minutes south of Atlanta. What does it all mean? I don’t know, but it makes to sense to me that if we go back and look at how we got here, we can begin to see what our future here may hold. So, I plan to go back to describing my wanderings with the hope of discovering the questions that might illuminate some answers. Whatever I discover—I reserve the right to disagree. “Whatever it is, I’m against it!”
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If you are new to this blog, you will want to view this in the webpage version. From there you can view the introduction and subsequent recounting of my wandering. The mobile version of this blog will automatically take you to the most recent blog which is out of context by decades!
Since I am starting writing again after over a decade's hiatus. I thought it would be helpful to post some of the introductory matter here.
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Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Well, it took another 11 months to actually get back to writing! It isn’t so easy to get your life up and running when you are in your mid-70s! There were a lot of doctors’ appointments and physical therapy sessions, but Pegi is making substantial progress in recovering from surgery on both shoulders. And there has been a lot of activity wrapping up our lives in Israel and reestablishing ourselves in a Georgia near our daughter and grandson.
So, enough excuses, it is time to get back to the story!
And just as I wrote the last line, I got another the almost daily warnings of rocket and missile fire threatening our residence in Jerusalem—probably the Houthis in Yemen again!
Monday, February 16, 2009
1 — Starting Where I Am
One of the advantages of being a "wandering" Jew is that I can just start where I am. I should have started 9 years ago, and there have been a few aborted beginnings, but beginning has always been the problem.
I don't want to start with my publication (Messianic Jewish Congregations: Who Sold this Business to the Gentiles? Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2000. That was just a point in time, and although it represents something of where I was in 1997—well I have wandered since then. I could have started with my childhood and bored everyone! There will be time for that. I sure couldn't start with the chapter about me in Robin Moore's 1977 book, Rhodesia. I only slightly resembled his characterization of my military adventures in Africa at the time. I remember he put some words in my mouth that I don't understand to this day.
Should I start with my late teenage years as a secular Jew raised by a Reform mother and Orthodox father? Or should I start with my LSD and teargas experiences as a University of Wisconsin-Madison student in 1967?
Where do you start the story to explain how a nice Jewish boy from Louisville ended up as a Christian missionary in Africa? And then how do you begin to explain how the birth of my only child, Abigail, in 1986 began the path that would end my association with Christianity, my career as a seminary professor, and bring me back to be a practicing Jew?
And how did I get stuck working for AT&T for 9 years? Who cares—I am actually happy to be one of the 12,000 who were just "canned" as a part of the current economic crisis. The result is that this is where I am—call me retired, call it my retirement career, call it what I should have done 9 years ago instead of taking that "temporary" job with AT&T while I looked for a teaching position at a secular institution.
This is where I have wandered and it is where I will start. I will probably upset Jews and Gentiles alike as I tell my story, but hey what are you going to do—fire me? Too late for that—AT&T beat you to the punch!
In each context I try to accurately reflect the thoughts and feelings that I had at that place and time.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
A Word of Caution from a Wondering Wanderer —[formerly blog #6]
A word of caution here before we progress. I have been putting off writing this part of the story for the last 10 years. The reason for this is that 10 years ago I walked away from a 30 year focus.
I have been hesitant to tell this story because I am sure that it will cause offense to many. I was concerned that it could even have a negative impact on my family's relationships and especially my daughter as she navigated her teen years.
But I am working on my 60th year and my wife and I have been on this journey together for 33 years. My daughter is an adult with her own son to raise. Both my wife and daughter have been encouraging me to get this into print for some time now. And, if I don't tell this story, no one else will be able to explain it to my grandson!
This is a pretty wild story that will take us from my childhood in the USA, to Africa, southeast Asia, Israel, and back. It includes my time as a soldier in African army and my return to work side-by-side with my former enemies. It is a pretty wild ride, but that is not what caused me to hesitate.
The Cause of Hesitation
The next few installments in this saga detail a course change that would cause me to "wander" for three decades. Because I wondered as I wandered, I would end up completely overturning the life choices I made during my “7 days in May.”
This is not to say that 30 years were a total bust, but my conscious motivation for the entire period would be overthrown. Because I always wondered as I wandered, I would eventually find an underlying motivation that would lead me to reject my conscious motivation.
Now does this seem confusing to you? Let me make this plain. Over the course of 7 days in May 1969, I would wander away from my Jewish faith. I had already dismissed my Jewish upbringing as being inadequate for the course of my life.
Now I began to take a course that was definitely not Jewish. I would begin to become interested in Jesus—although this was a much different Jesus than the one in traditional Christianity. I would start as a "Jesus Freak" on the outside of organized "churchianity", but eventually would find myself as a pastor, missionary, and even a seminary professor right smack in the middle of a well-established Christian denomination. But, because I wondered and because I was always questioning everything (one element of my Jewish heritage that never abated), I was always in trouble with some religious "authority." The more trouble I got in, the more I wondered. At the end of 30 years progressing deeper and deeper into Christian religion, I walked away from it and returned to my Jewish faith.
So, in the next few segments I will detail how I wandered into Christianity. Later we will document how I wondered my way back to Judaism.
My story will relate the challenges I faced, both theologically and experientially. If you stick with me as I narrate this journey, you will probably be challenged too. Whether you are Jewish or gentile, religious or irreligious, a faith adherent or agnostic/atheistic—you are likely to be frustrated with me. But if I am to tell my story, I have to be open with you. I hope you can remain open with me as you read.
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