the closest my upbringing
approaches to an organized religion)
remembers dribs and drabs hearing Yiddish
courtesy my Mamale / Mamaleh,
a smattering spoken
to Yiddish, פאָטע 
(Foter/Futer) father of mine
in his boyhood home,
(long since demolished),
whose late mother of mine
also prepared Jewish entrées
such as Kasha Varnishkes
(such as the Yiddish name for the dish
combining kasha (buckwheat groats)
and noodles) kugel,
and Kneidlach, matzah ball
then formerly located at 324 Level Road,
now stashed away in memory banks,
where McMansions populate
the half dozen plus acres
along a cul de sac called Stella's Way.

Even though Judaism,
(perhaps even orthodox sects -
Sephardim come to mind -
registered as a significant element
on the periodic table, albeit kosher),
nevertheless a healthy dose of skepticism
permeates every cell
that constitutes my body electric
and after querying Google, I sat
stunned and open mouthed i.e.
slack jawed to discover
the following tidbit
whereat, the average
adult male estimated
to have approximately 36 trillion cells,
which estimate based
on a representative adult male
weighing about 70 kilograms
(approximately 154 lbs)
and does not specify
a precise number
for a 67-year-old or
for a particular race,
as the variation due to age
in this range and race
likely less significant
than that due to overall body size.

Legacy of mine ancestry
ever so imperceptibly ruptured,
(albeit not deliberately),
and perhaps linkedin
to progressive ideologies
at the time that challenged
rock-ribbed doctrine,
whereby each successive generation
experienced existential nihilism
as once charismatic, dogmatic,
and enigmatic all knowing
Jewish scholars or teachers,
especially one who studied
or taught Jewish law,
could not convince a doubting thomas,
or two, or three, or four...
unwittingly irrefutable faith
got chipped away
by then what got hashtagged
as revolutionary heresy,
and thought provoking
political philosophies
got branded as poppycock
rode roughshod
over long held
and revered doctrinal principles.

 

Though sacrilegious to declare
Judeo/Christian biblical tracts as fiction
interspersed with kernels of fact,
those very nuggets
of true personalities
and factual events
prick the amateur historian within me
and sustain an abiding and everlasting
driving passion to become familiarized
with the impact of such
real flesh and blood individuals
credited with authoring treatises
upon humanity
and unleashing flashpoints
of significant events
within the annals of civilization.

Best to indoctrinate
an impressionable
young and restless mind
(during early years),
when beliefs more readily accepted
as gospel truth,
and get soaked up
like a metaphorical
(bobbing) sponge
squarely affixed
to pants of a conservative paradigm
versus the less likely adoption
of established purportedly sacred tenets
questioned with more assiduity
within the mindset
of an older person
less likely to swallow
hook, line and sinker
the tomes of storied
man/woman kind.

When steeped in lives
of the saints and sinners
when just an itty bitty
boy or girl
the threat being ostracized
from family and community
influences one to maintain
an abiding unquestioned faith
even at the expense
of suppressing tamping down
or being sternly rebuked
exhibiting recalcitrance
if inadequately answered questions
abound within the inquisitive
ever curious lad or lass,
who will be told
(to shut up or ship out)
if continuing to pepper
the well salted church fathers

and/or mothers,

who also learned

to keep their trap zipped,

and perhaps opt

to remain linkedin

to brother and sisterhood
of authoritarian order

til death do them part.