Last night, I had my buddy Moe of Occam's Toothbrush over to our house. He's one of my favorite people. I always dig talking to him. I could talk to him for hours--indeed, I often have. A former rabinnical student, the bastard knows a little about everything, and what he doesn't know much about, he's insightful about anyway. Plus he has a great sense of humor.
At some point last night, he said something about my weblog, Dean's World, that made me uncomfortable. He said, "You both overestimate and underestimate the extent of antisemitism in America." I often make jokes about anti-semitism, you see. Mostly out of a desire to mock that which I find repugnant, and also to expose thinking I find stupid and silly (e.g. "Our Zionist masters" and "the wily Joooz"). I also dislike Catholic-bashers, evangelical Christian bashers, muslim bashers, and so on.
I didn't say much about it when he said it, but I've been chewing on it for about 8 hours now. An essay will be forthcoming, methinks. And what will that essay be?
"What a gentile thinks it means to be a Jew."
I'm not sure why I mention this, except to say that he made me think about it. On multiple levels. Especially because it's worthy of more than just casual humor. I'll have an essay forthcoming on the subject soon. It's a serious subject worthy of serious contemplation.
Stay tuned. I hope what I'm chewing on now is worth reading once I write it.
I will be looking for it.
It is indeed a very serious subject.
Sounds more like a Zen koan. both overestimate and underestimate?
Yeah. What Bryan said.
What did Moe mean?
One could overestimate the depth and underestimate the breadth, or vice versa.
Not knowing Moe, and thus not knowing what he had in his mind at the time ...
My roommate freshman year in college was jewish. She's been my best friend ever since, not because she's jewish but because she's a really great at being a friend. I didn't really know any jews before that (just lack of opportunity, not avoidance) and thought that anti-semitism was something that ended with WWII. (Yeah, go ahead and laugh at my stupidity).
The point being: Being with her a lot I kinda started seeing things from her point of view sometimes. I suppose similiar to a positive world-view-broadening form of Stockholm Syndrome. At first I "over-estimated" the impact that anti-semitism had on her. Sure it was annoying, but she didn't let idiots and stupid jokes ruin her day. She wouldn't give them that power. But, I also definitely "under-estimated" the pervasiveness of anti-semitism in this country. When you start looking, its everywhere. Even then I didn't REALLY see it was directed straight at me when a few people in our group of friends decided that I must be Jewish because I always suggested that we eat at restaurents that served fish or pasta in some form or pancakes/etc (keeping kosher). I was never agressive about it, just gently suggesting alternatives because I knew my friend wouldn't say anything to make her lifestyle an issue. She's more mellow than I am. I was also naive enough to assume that it would make no difference but PRACTICALLY EVERYONE TREATED ME DIFFERENTLY until it accidentially came out that I'm a Christian and have NEVER been Jewish. It wasn't that they were crazy/hostile when they thought I was Jewish, they just thought I was different than them and excluded me as something "other". I honestly believe it was vaguely unintentional on their part, but it was certainly an eye-opener.
Allisonk, what's the distinction between being different and acting differently when viewed by another party?
You were different. Others concluded you were Jewish because you did a couple of Jewish-specific things.
Is that anti-Semitic?
Then you told them you were a Christian.
So they saw you as not Jewish.
Is that a surprise?
Is that anti-Semitic.
There's a difference between disliking someone for an race or religion and noticing that this person is member of a different ethnic or religious affiliation.
You guys are on to me...until now I've been able to pull off looking like I know "a little about everything" by making ambiguous statements like that one. No, seriously I did have a point.
Being a Jew is only important if someone makes it important.
I can't tell if someone is Hebrew in 90% of the people I've known. And I didn't care that they were, until the ones that wore it like a badge of identity shoved it down people's throats. Specifically: a jewish member of the military didn't like living in the barracks, and used his "need" for kosher food preparation as a pretext to get the Army to pay for an apartment for him. Funny, he never worried about kosher preparations when he ate beef ribs at Tony Romas'...
And yet, at the time, I didn't get any feeling that Jews were manipulative, selfish prigs, I got the feeling that he was a manipulative, selfish prig who was using his Jewishness as a weapon.
In conclusion, I don't care that Jerry Seinfeld (or whoever) is Jewish, and neither should you.
Let me add to that statement (although I will certainly be labelled as an anti-semite), that in regards to the Holocaust, we shouldn't be so concerned that 6 million Jews were killed by Hitler as much as the fact that 6 million people were killed simply because of their race.
A subtle difference, but the first lets people not care when non-Jews are slaughtered in worse ways (like the Nanking Massacre), while the second view doesn't diminish the evil of the act or the depravity of what was done to this race.
Richard Aubrey said "There's a difference between disliking someone for an race or religion and noticing that this person is member of a different ethnic or religious affiliation."
I wasn't clear earlier because I was trying to shorten the comment. Personally, I didn't experience people disliking me because I was "Jewish". Instead, I found a subtle and pervasive contempt from people that were my friends and actually liked me as a person. If I bought something on sale, silly lighthearted remarks were made about Jews being tight with money. If we were all going out to dinner, eyes rolled as someone pointed out that of course we couldn't go to Fuddruckers (a place no one really wanted to go to anyway). People made fun of the fact that I have an attractive nose (go figure). They told "Jewish" jokes that I occassionally overheard but it was Ok because the jokes were funny, right? No offense meant or taken, right? They didn't seem to dislike Jews so much as to view them as a slightly inferior race.
If I found out my friends were like that they wouldn't be my friends anymore. I mean, I can accept that the friendship is conditional, but on the condition that I'm not an "inferior race"? Yeah right, buddy. I'd be getting some new friends.
> They didn't seem to dislike Jews so much
> as to view them as a slightly inferior race.
Mmmm, to be the Devil's advocate, difference makes people uncomfortable. It's not necessarily hate. Could just be discomfort. But, you were there.
Yep, I definitely got some new friends. But, I managed to "re-educate" some of the old ones :) I'm generally not a timid person (neither am I overly agressive). I liked to ask them VERY calmly "What do you mean by that" which they usually responded to with "oh, you know" which leads to "no, I don't know" which leads to them saying "well, everyone says it" which leads to "So, you mean either (A) something bad or (B) something worse" which leads to "hmmm, hadn't quite thought about it that way". Generally, they were thoughtless, not evil. Usually, they were relying on stereotypes (either because they were mentally busy or lazy or maybe it was just convienent and easy). Confronted with their own ignorance repeatedly and firmly but gently, many of them came over to the side of rightousness and light :) The sad part is that there was so much ignorance to confront. I've got to admit that I got a little tired of it and I shudder to think how tired of it my friend must have been after a lifetime. No wonder she just lets it go.