"In 1427, a decree was issued ordering all Jews expelled from Berne, Switzerland. Jews have wandered and settled in over 100 lands on five continents. Throughout the Middle Ages, Jews were subject to frequent expulsions. And amazingly, 90 percent of Jewish families were uprooted in the 20th century... This is prophesied in Leviticus 26:33: 'I will scatter you among the nations...' Yet amidst it all, the Jewish people have miraculously maintained their distinct national identity."This would explain why I have a primal need to stay put and love holing up in the hermitage, although I guess this would also explain why so many Jews I know seem to have a primal need for foreign travel.
As for evidence of my enduring national identity as a Jew, there's no shortage of that in my Catholic Christian life. I'm thinking specifically of my inability to queue up on only one side of the buffet table at church receptions, behavior anchored in too many O.T. references to trot out here and now.
