My Cultural Identity - Essay Example

Culture on the other hand refers to the beliefs, language, norms, values, customs, diet, roles, dress, knowledge, and skills and other things that individuals learn that forms the way of life of any given community or society (Browne 31).The objective of this paper is to explore my personal cultural identity. Below is a diagram representing the elements of my cultural identity. I am a Caucasian Jews, who hails from the Jews community on the shores of Deal, New Jersey. All my family members are all Jews, and as such practice Judaism as a religion.

What makes me a Jews is the fact that I was born to a Jewish family that is very religious and believe in the existence of one God. My family at all times has kept teaching me to emulate and practice Judaism as a religion. As a Jewish, I believe in Torah, a text which was given to the Israelites though Prophet Moses. At our place of worship, which is the known as the synagogue, one thing that one can never miss to find is the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. These are the two types of bibles that leaders (rabbis) read to the people.

In fact, I have both the Talmud and a Hebrew Bible that was given to me by my parents to assist me follow the way of God. In terms of language, I am bilingual and as such speak both Hebrew and English. Hebrew in this case is the language usually spoken by my parents and grandparents who speak it very fluently. This is because this is the distinct dialects that a majority of us, as Jews speak, which we borrowed from our ancestors in Israel. Nevertheless, I have learnt how to speak English from my friends and at school where English is the dominant language used in teaching and social interaction based on the fact that US is a diverse country.

In fact, at one time, I was at the verge of forgetting the Hebrew language but any time I come home or go for Sabbath, it is the Hebrew language that is mainly used something that has made me continue to learn of the language. For example, at Sabbath, all the bibles used are written in Hebrew as our religion dictates. This implies that failure to understand the language is seen as a disobedience to our ancestors and cultural heritage. Nevertheless, some of my colleagues, who are also Jews, speak Russian fluently, probably because they originated from Russia.

The fact that I speak Hebrew indeed distinguishes me from other Americans who speak a different language from Hebrew. My family is also very rich, something th at I see has made me whom I am today. Using the vast resources and wealth they posses, they were able to take me to a Jewish private school. At school, only the Hebrews that formed a majority of the students. Also, it was clear to me that almost every one of us came from a wealthy family something which is common among the Jewish people.

In fact, after that, my parents decided to register me for a degree course, which I am currently pursuing. It is not only me who has attained this level of education but many people from the Jewish community implying how much Jewish people value education. I believe that the first appearance that one sees of me are the cloths I wear on daily basis. As a Jews, my tradition spells out the kind of clothing that we are supposed to be wearing depending on different occasions such as Shabbat,