What do you call the totality of Jewish feeling I have in my breast. I’m coming back with a few precious memories before my Bar Mitzvah (I’m the typical 13 and out kind of Jew). These vague but precious memories I need to put a Hebrew name to. These memories/feelings deserve a Hebrew word. I’m a firm believer in the primacy of these mothers-milk experiences over logic and reason. The Jerusalem stone at the synogogue, the smell of my bar mitsvah teacher are about all I have, but how STRONG they are. Give me a name (maybe a Yiddish name if that’s all there is) to these primordially strong things. Shouldnt IT have a name? Thank You.
I believe the word you are looking for is “yiddishkeit.” It is a general
term that refers to that general Jewish feeling that we have. When a person
has a strong feeling about his Judaism we would say that he connects with
Yiddishkeit in a strong way.
Be Well,
Rabbi Litt