"OK, well maybe I have to get back to Judaism. In the sense that if I look at me and my forebears forever stretching back to I don't know, whenever there's no sense of place and therefore no sense of nationality"

Janet Suzman’s reflection grapples with the complex interplay between personal identity, heritage, and the notion of belonging. She entertains the idea of returning to Judaism, not merely as a religious practice but as a foundational element of self-understanding. Her words reveal a longing for rootedness, an intrinsic connection to ancestors and cultural continuity. When she considers her forebears “stretching back…forever,” Suzman underscores the deep historical tapestry from which she emerges, a lineage unbounded by recent memory, woven through centuries of experience, displacement, and survival.

Her observation that there is “no sense of place and therefore no sense of nationality” exposes a sensitive facet of diaspora identity. For many Jews, especially those whose families have fled persecution or wandered across borders, conventional notions of nationality often feel tenuous. The lack of a permanent homeland throughout history means that attachment to a specific land or state can be ambiguous. Suzman’s words reflect the experience of many whose identities are not wholly defined by the borders they inhabit; instead, identity is shaped more profoundly by shared stories, cultural practices, and inherited memory.

The yearning to “get back to Judaism” may be seen as an attempt to reconstruct a sense of belonging not easily available through place or nationality. Judaism, for her, may represent more than faith, it stands as a surrogate for rootedness, a point of continuity in an otherwise scattered history. In the absence of physical place, communal ties, rituals, and traditions offer a spiritual home and a source of pride, resilience, and self-understanding. Suzman’s musings ultimately highlight the universal human need to locate oneself within a larger narrative. Her words remind us that for individuals separated from geographical origins, identity can be reclaimed through the reconnection with cultural and familial lineage, forging coherence from what otherwise feels fragmented or unanchored.