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How to Understand Your Jewish Heritage

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Understanding your Jewish heritage can involve more than just reading. Understanding Judaism involves living Judaism. Living this faith of over 2000 years. With such a large, rich history, it can be difficult to find where to start. Just follow these steps, and you are that much closer to understanding Judaism.


  1. 1
    Find a mentor whom you can trust. You can go online or look in the yellow pages to find a reliable Rabbi to get in touch with. A Rabbi or scholar can be the easiest to gain clarity through, because they allow you to ask questions and they will give you clear answers to all your questions.
  2. 2
    Compile a list of questions that may have been bothering you. You are bound to have questions if you are looking into your Jewish heritage, because otherwise, why would you be looking into it?
  3. 3
    Consider learning Hebrew: this is a good step after you have spoken to a Rabbi. Rabbis are very smart, and they know how to help you get to where you are trying to go. Once you have contacted a Rabbi, ask him if he thinks you should be learning Hebrew. While learning Hebrew isn't required, it is a great tool to know.
  4. 4
    Read books which explain Judaism. There are thousands of them out there. You can read any books on Judaism. Check your local library or ask a reference librarian for suggestions. Don't be afraid to ask your Rabbi. Rabbis with duplicate copies or a generous Rabbi will be more than happy to lend or give you a book. Jews are the people of the books, so making a library will be something to start on.
  5. 5
    Read the Torah, In English. There are many books with commentary on the Torah. There's even the Chumash, a fully translated Torah in book form. This allows you to follow along with the Torah portion each week.

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  • Find a group of like-minded people or those in your age group to meet with, through the local Temple. They might hold on-going discussions that you can join, where you can speak freely about your questions.
  • Visit a local Temple for a regular service or during a festival and observe what happens. Ask if you can participate or join a group for a ceremony such as a Seder or a Bar Mitzvah.
  • Contact other Jews in your area, such as an elderly couple who may be in need of some assistance, and volunteer to help them. Tell them you are interested in learning more, and they may be happy to share their ideas with you. Or your local temple may have a charity or other community outreach group that you can try out or join to interact with other Jews and see how they apply their beliefs in real life.


  • Be careful not to approach new contacts with a condescending or overly dogmatic attitude. Be friendly, open, curious and helpful instead.
  • While Jews are a friendly bunch of people, there are some not-so-nice people as well (as with any group). So while you should be open to new Jews, you should still be cautious.

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Categories: Judaism


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