About me - What defines me:
"I am Jewish." Those words transcend their simple meaning. People familiar with the life of Daniel Pearl understand the deep obligation that comes with uttering such words. It is in that spirit that I say, "I am Jewish."
Being Jewish.
Although I believe I always had a Jewish spark inside me, I was not always Jewish. I was born in a nominally Christian, but very secular, home near Des Moines, Iowa. I lost my faith entirely when I was five years old.
Now, to a five year old, faith is a funny thing. What does a five year old believe in exactly? Well, when Santa Claus brings you presents every year, such faith is tied to a tangible reality. When I learned there was not really a Santa Claus, faith in such intangible things as God seemed sillier still.
Until I was in college, I remained a committed atheist. That confidence eroded into agnosticism. Then, it developed into deism. But, one thing that was missing from my faith was any foundation. It was ungrounded. There was no tradition. It had no people.
What I had not realized, is that the seeds of my Jewishness had been planted even as I was an atheist. I was picked on for not being a Christian. A good friend of mine, who, like me, also had a black belt in tae kwon do, left our high school because of anti-Semitic bullying. I was able to relate to her suffering. One of my mother's coworkers had been a Jewish partisan in World War II. Although I could not relate, I found his story deeply compelling.
Perhaps most important was how I defended myself from Christians who would taunt me for not sharing their faith. I was never a strong defender of atheism. Instead, I studied religious history. Specifically, I learned about Jewish history. By understanding the foundations of Christianity better than the Christians who taunted me, I was able to deflect their attacks. What I did not realize at the time is that I was beginning to learn how to be a good Jew.
Before I finished college, I knew that I would convert to Judaism.
Preparing for Life.
During my education, I had no idea what I was going to do. So, I simply prepared to do anything. I had four majors in undergrad. Then I got my MBA and my law degree. My first career out of school, was working as an in-house lawyer. My second career was in hospital finance and decision-making. Both of those careers allowed me to do a lot of interesting things and provided opportunities to help people.
I am sure my career will be filled with opportunities to do interesting work and help others. The exact manner does not matter.
Defending Klal Yisrael.
For the last seven years, one "hobby" of mine dominated all the others. I was relentless in defending Israel and the Jewish people. My efforts were local, but I lived in an area in desperate need of such efforts. I worked with Jewish community leaders. I reached out to broader national and international Jewish resources. I visited Israel. I pulled together Jews and friendly non-Jews. My efforts were largely informal, but they were substantial. This is my calling.
Liberaltarian
I consider myself a liberal or libertarian. I am more libertarian than anything else, but I seek to distance myself from certain more ideological libertarians. I am not an isolationist. I do not want to end the Federal Reserve. I believe government has a role in actively promoting a more liberal and tolerant society. I have conceded that the government will, and probably should, do something to prevent people from experiencing crippling poverty.
At my core, however, I am a market liberal, a social liberal, and broadly tolerant of extremely diverse lifestyles and backgrounds.
About me - Other interests:
Reading and Digesting Information
I love information. I get excited to read new things or tear apart new data. Like others, I do read a lot of books. However, I also enjoy looking through data sources like the FBI Hate Crimes Database, The USAID Greenbook of foreign assistance, START's Global Terrorism Database, US Census data ... I feel lucky to have the skills to digest information in many forms and I enjoy using those skills.
Bicycling and Running
I have always been interested in being more active. I do not, however, always find time for such things. More recently, I forced myself to be more active by not routinely driving a car. In Iowa, that is a significant decision. It means you get exercise by default. I try to run and bicycle for fun in addition to what is required for me to get around. However, given my lifestyle change, I no longer simply avoid exercise.