Maya Scholder…………………………………….. 30

Maya Scholder

she/her

“I think for the first few years of my [Jewish] education, I very blindly believed everything, because I didn't really know how to think otherwise.

Then I entered high school, and I feel like that completely changed. I feel like my teachers really wanted it to be a journey of self

exploration. I was taught to question everything that I was reading, to refute things, and I was able to challenge my teachers and the texts. I literally could have said that I don't believe in God, and they wouldn't have gotten upset with me.

And, I think that's where, I would say, I became more spiritual and religious in a way. Not in the traditional way of praying every single day, but in being able to ask questions. And, I've come to realize that being

Jewish doesn't mean you have to follow every single law or halacha, but rather, you can decide what's important to you and take that, and that doesn't make you any more or less Jewish.“