DEI Employee Spotlight: Adam Buchanan (Jewish American Heritage Month)

Tell us some background about your upbringing.

I was raised Jewish by my parents. My mother never received a Jewish education or Bat-Mitzvah (a traditional ceremony marking transition of a girl into an adult member of the Jewish community; a Bar-Mitzvah is for boys) so she very much wanted me to have the experience. My father converted to Judaism when he married my mother, and he also wanted me to have a strong Jewish education. Despite my reluctance to spend 3-4 hours a week in additional classes and have even more homework than what school already assigned, I really grew to enjoy learning to read and write Hebrew and getting to develop my Jewish identity. Now, it is an inseparable part of who I am. I was especially proud of my grandmother, a daughter of immigrants from Eastern Europe, when she had her Bat-Mitzvah at 65 years old!

Can you share some background on Hanukkah and its importance?

Hanukkah celebrates the Jews’ victory over the militarily superior Syrian army and the subsequent re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, the most important site in Judaism. Generally speaking, it’s a holiday of celebration and family togetherness. We all exchange gifts, traditionally eat fried potato-pancakes (latkes), sufganyot (jelly donuts) and chocolate in the shape of coins (gelt). We also spin the dreidel – a four sided top with a Hebrew letter on each side.  Depending on what letter it lands on, you may win more gelt!

What are some of your favorite Hanukkah traditions?

My favorite tradition is having my family light the Hanukkah menorahs together (see the photo below!) Each family member lights their own menorah. When it gets to the eighth night of Hanukkah and there are 9 candles lit on each menorah (each menorah has 8 candles lit on the last night, plus one “helper” candle to light the other candles) it gets very bright! PSA: keep all wrapping paper FAR AWAY from the candles!

What is something about your Jewish culture that people may not know?

There is no one, single Jewish culture, there’s diversity within diversity! In the States, it’s mainly Ashkenazic (European) influenced culture (Seinfeld, bagels, delis, etc.) But there is a huge Jewish diaspora all over the world. I’ve been to Jewish High Holiday services in Beijing! There is Sephardic (Middle Eastern Jewish) culture, smaller Jewish communities in South America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and elsewhere. And there’s Israeli culture, which is just about every Jewish culture mixed together! But no matter where you’re from, Jewish practice teaches that the world was created imperfect and it is up to each Jew to perform Tikun Olam (healing the world.) It’s important to perform acts of charity and good deeds to make the world a better place for everyone.

Sometimes there is confusion between the Jewish culture and the religion of Judaism. Can you explain the differences?

Judaism is the religion all Jews practice (to the extent they individually practice religion) and it uses the same holy books (the Torah/Old Testament/Jewish Bible) and worships the same G-d. Culture is shared community and practice and does not require the belief in G-d or the practice of religion. My Jewish culture consists of sharing humor, food, Tikun Olam, emphasis on education, arguing, Tzedakah (charity), arguing, with my fellow American Jews. Fun fact: Jews as a custom, don’t write or type out the full word for the omnipotent being who created everything. You know, three letter word that starts with a G and ends with a D… because erasing that word would be a sign of disrespect to the Creator.

Have you faced any challenges being Jewish?

Fortunately, not too many. I grew up in New York and live in Philadelphia, two areas with large Jewish populations, so most people are at least somewhat familiar with Jewish people. But there have been a number of times that I’ve needed to correct people from using negative stereotypes, assumptions, language and threats (OK, I guess there have been challenges over the years), or educate people on what Jews actually believe (and that we don’t all believe the same things). The biggest challenge is the rise in extremism on all sides and it’s leading to more anti-Semitic violence and normalization of hate speech. It’s universal these days to have security be priority number one at Synagogues and Jewish schools. Every day when I drop my daughter off at school or when I drop off my son at Hebrew School on Sundays, I pass an armed guard. That’s something I never saw when I was their age, and it just really hurts every single time I see it.

What makes you the most proud about being Jewish?

I’m so proud of how through the Millenia, Jews have faced innumerable hardships but have always managed to persevere. Not only persevere, but have flourished and helped make the world better for everyone. Grit and determination are ingrained character traits (along with an extra serving of humor) that have served us well. A story about my grandmother sums this up perfectly. She was always, and well into her 90’s, an excellent ping pong player. My mother asked her how she got so good. My grandmother said that while she was working for the government in D.C. during World War II, there was a ping pong tournament at the Jewish USO and the prize was a long distance call, a very expensive call in those days and mainly prohibited during the war. My mother said to her “You won, didn’t you?”  She did. My grandmother said she learned how to play ping pong (she didn’t even know how to play before the tournament!) and beat everyone in the tournament. Most of them were men, and soldiers to boot! And this five foot tall girl of maybe 22 years, took them all out! She called her mother and sisters in Brooklyn; such a nice girl!

How has your heritage influenced who you are today?

My heritage has taught me to always help others, work hard and learn. If you can’t do something without helping others, then you just can’t do it. My grandmother, the ping pong champion, ended up being a social worker for 30 years in New York, working to help those in need get housing and other social services.

Do you have any podcast recommendations?

For a super in-depth but super approachable education on Judaism, take a listen to “Jew Oughta Know” hosted by Jason Harris. It goes into detail on a million different Jewish-related topics from history, to modern events, Israel, the Bible, archaeology, Jewish Holidays, etc. etc.  It’s very interesting no matter what your background or your prior knowledge on Jewish topics.