Being a Jew

I wouldn't trade places with the Queen of England.  I only wish I could put into words how much, the unmeasurable value, that being a Jew* means to me.  But there's no doubt that the heritage brings along some baggage with it. 

I am in the middle of a very slow reading of Ruth Wisse's "Jews and Power." Unfortunately, my memory stinks and I don't have the time/opportunity to sit down and read uninterrupted very often.  I do a lot of writing (it doesn't all find its way here by any means, and a good deal of it just gets deleted).  I don't consider myself a writer (no talent for it) but I still enjoy doing it and find it helps me sort out thoughts.  So, a great deal of the time I might spend reading is devoted elsewhere.  I plan on taking Wisse's book with me when we go on vacation in a few days.  Think I'll bring a long a highlighter as well.  It's very relevant to me right now, and I want to learn and remember what she has to teach.

John Podhoretz touches upon some of Wisse's ideas in a must-read post at Contentions.  He also describes some episodes of antisemitism through the eyes of a  new documentary film, and some thoughts that make me stop and say: This is important to make note of.

*I deliberately frame it as "being a Jew" rather than "being Jewish," because I abhor the fact that the term "Jew" was turned into an epithet.  It's just my own small expression of protest. "Being a Jew" encompasses both religion and identity; it is a declaration that I am who I am and I don't care what anyone else thinks.

Comments

[draftervoi]

I read the story through the link. People...all people...have a natural capacity for believing ridiculous things. Once you get an idea in your head, a prejudice, it's hard to remove. Your mind is made up: last week, I mentioned that I was putting turnips in a soup. A coworker wrinkled up her nose, made a face, and said, "I hate turnips." Within two minutes, she revealed that she had never, not once in her entire life EATEN a turnip, and did not know what they even looked like, but damn if she doesn't HATE them.

And this is not a stupid woman, I've worked with her for 14 years and can vouch for her intelligence, stable personality, etc....and yet, the word "turnip" provoked a visceral disgust. Once you've arrived at a conclusion without any evidence, it's hard to change your mind.

[Gail]

I can see not liking a turnip without having tasted it. One pictures an ugly old root in one's mind. But not liking Jews without having met one begs the question, "What are they picturing and where did it come from?"

There's a moral point not addressed in the analogy. It's ok to be prejudiced against veggies, even to have a vegetable holocaust. But it is wrong to have a "visceral disgust" about fellow humans. We can't accept as an excuse that "it's hard to change your mind."

[draftervoi]

I had better make clear here, Gail, that I do NOT consider you to be an ugly old root. :)

And you're right: there is a moral difference. But my story was to draw an analogy comparing you to a turnip so much as to just point out that once people get an idea stuck in their heads, it's hard to get it out of there. Those guys on the street in the story...they can see that the local shul is not a "palace," and yet, they insist that it is a palace. They KNOW it is a palace, therefore it MUST BE a palace. Turnips don't matter...but people do.

[Gail]

"I had better make clear here, Gail, that I do NOT consider you to be an ugly old root. :)"

Oh well, I don't mind looking like a turnip. It's having a tuber brain that really bothers me.

It's very difficult to remain unemotional when you are the target of hatred. I find myself thinking, "They can't get the idea of antisemitism out of their heads on their own, eh? How about me and my baseball bat give them a hand?"

And maybe that's what I resent the most because I'd much prefer to like people and be nice than feel like hitting anyone over the head with a bat. And I wind up feeling guilty over being angry at people for their baseless hatred.

When I give it thought, I don't believe in contorting into knots to try to avoid anger (which I think they deserve)or guilt (which I think serves a good purpose). So, I am stuck. If I were to look at it from a religious POV, I would say it's supposed to be this way and lessons are supposed to be learned from it - by those who hate, by the targets of their hate, and by those who are observers. I think everything happens for a reason.

[DRaftervoi]

I'm not asking you to remain unemotional, or advising you avoid anger. I'm just telling you that even rational people are bat-shit crazy a lot of the time. Turnips can't defend themselves, you can. And should.

[Gail]

The concepts of "rational person" and "anti-semite" are mutually exclusive from my point of view. But I am able to see rationality and blind turnip hatred co-exist in one person.

[draftervoi]

Ha. That's just your own anti-turnip bias showing. Heck, even the phrase "ugly old root" has a negative subtext. Let's get to the heart of the matter: how do you feel about rutabagas?

[Gail]

I am very tolerant when it comes to both fruits and vegetables. As long as it's not a beet, it's ok by me. Beets are evil.

[DRaftervoi]

Yes. I have heard that 666 is the Number of the Beet.

[alisa]

I used to like beets until I met a real one up close and personal. That translates to one that wasn't all pretty and pickled in an Aunt Nellie's jar. I still like them, only ready to eat!

I like turnips too.

I was always taught to respect Jews even though until I sorta-nearly-cyberly met you (Gail) some time ago on another message board. Gail, you are very tolerant. You are patient and yeah yeah you put your foot down and stomp it every once in awhile and swing your bat, but you never do it. You beat them with "words" and I can even say, in my knowing you, you've come a long way in your feelings about Christians and that some of us aren't as bad as the papers make us seem and we aren't all right wing insensitive zealots who are out to "fill in the blank!"

With that said, there are a lot of my OWN faith I'd like to get a bat after because they are so narrow narrow narrow in their mind. I can just see real beets oozing out their little brains to be wasted before Aunt Nellie or Del Monte can get to them to "save their little souls" as it where.

We all have our baggage. Mine has turnips and beets and lots of different beliefs. We have the same God. That's 'nuff for me.

Please don't underestimate all that can be learned from you and your history and those of you who are willing to teach people like me WHY I was taught certain things. I have shared so much of what I've learned from this blog.

Back to the beets, turnips and moral bias we all possess. I say stir-fry. Those of us who are willing can jump right in. Keep your bat just in case though. :-)

[gail]

Just ducked in (am in the Dominican Republic with very spotty internet access) to read email very quickly and found this comment. Had to respond with this: {{{{{Alisa}}}}<---Merry Christmas hug. :)

[DRaftervoi]

As a non-Christian, I've recently been looking at the Japanese adoption of Christmas as a holiday: less than 2% of the pop. are Christian, yet it's celebrated as a minor holiday by numbers far larger than the people who are celebrating the religious part of the holiday. As Spock would say, "Fascinating." There's the religious aspect of the holiday, but there's something else going on, too. So...in the non-religious sense of the day, I want to wish the two of you, "メリークリスマス." As usual, we've run right off the conversational tracks from anti-semitism to beets to Christmas in Japan and are now bumping along on the gravel verge, but that's the way the Internet works. Gail: have fun in the Dominican Republic, and when you get back to the States, there will be a CD waiting for you with the usual mix of forty or fifty years of pop musical mix; I'm particularly interested in your take on Anita Carter's original version of "Ring Of Fire."

[Gail]

A friend recently sent me a very funny parody of what Christmas would be like if Jews celebrated the holiday.

No insult to anyone intended, but I've never had any desire to celebrate Christmas. I don't mind observing others observance of it, but I don't feel the need to do it myself. There are more than enough Jewish holidays to keep me busy.

Thanks for the CD - I did receive it, but haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I will definitely provide feedback after I do.

[DRaftervoi]

Ah, it makes sense, but there is a way for you to uh...sort of "join in" next year: do a post on the best Christmas songs written by Jews. Christmas would be crappier without "Silver Bells" and "Rudolph."

[Gail]

Nice idea. I will try to remember it for next year.

[DON]

>>>As a non-Christian, I've recently been looking at the Japanese adoption of Christmas as a holiday: less than 2% of the pop. are Christian, yet it's celebrated as a minor holiday by numbers far larger than the people who are celebrating the religious part of the holiday.<<<

The Japanese worship the turnip. I suspect Japanese women worship it as a phallic symbol. But, I could be wrong as I often am. The turnip is the most used vegetable in Japanese dishes. The turnip belongs in a New Year's meal. Christmas is only for redceiving toys and presents. New years is an important day where gifts are given as a gesture of appreciation for the past year and as a way to spend time with the most important people in one's life. By making it a point to do so, one establishes the pattern for the rest of the year. Turnip is used in miso soup, pickled takuan, is shredded shredded and drowned in soy sauce to enhance raw fish, oysters, and other dishes. Turnips are revered as Gautama himself. And no one demands that a circumcision be performed on it.

[Gail]

There is nothing in Judaism that is without meaning. Many times, there are even multiple meanings. I've heard it said that Judaism is like an onion, with many layers. It takes a lot of study and reading to peel the layers back and get to the heart. But these meanings and this heart are only of importance to Jews themselves.

The thing that matters most, imho, is that no one "demands" circumcision be performed on anyone. Jews absolutely do not demand that gentiles be circumcised, just as they don't demand that anyone has to be a Jew or believe as a Jew. Jews believe Jews should be Jews, that Gentiles should be Gentiles, and that there are many paths to righteousness and goodness. Just because a person is not a Jew, that does not make them any less in the eyes of God or man.

You don't have to be a Jew, you don't have to be circumcised, to be perfectly fine just the way you are.