Jews and Money

I know I've talked about Jewish stereotypes recently but I want to talk about the stereotype of Jews and money. This comes from the notion of Jews being greedy which was perpetuated throughout history, for example, they were sometimes illustrated as demons with large noses. Why do I want to talk about this?

Well, tonight, I went out to dinner with my boyfriend. We both play the online video game called World of Warcraft. He is an expert at leveling his characters while I sometimes have a hard time finding enough time to play the game. Anyway, in jest I told him that he should market his talents on eBay, where people will pay other people to play with their character and level them up until they get to the 'fun' levels. He laughed and said he would consider. I reminded him that I deserve a cut, since it was my idea. He laughed, held my hand and said that I was such a Jew. We had a good laugh about it.

Sometimes I am worried that I am perpetuating this stereotype of Jews being greedy because whenever my friends make the joke about me being greedy, I laugh. I never try to defend the accusations. I'm not offended by these jokes, but at the same time, I am worried that my behavior may encourage them to act similarly towards other Jews. Does this affect other Jews?

Jews and Christmas

Last week I found myself watching the old Christmas episode of South Park in which the Jewish child, Kyle, feels left out while his Christian friends celebrate Christmas with their families. Meanwhile, he celebrates Chanukah with his family but it isn't as special as Christmas seems for his classmates. He sings a sad song titled "Lonely Jew". The story progresses with Mr. Hankie but that's another story. This episode brings an interesting item to the table relating to Jewish identity. First, I should mention that the character was based off one of South Park's creators, Matt Stone, who is Jewish (I'm not sure how religious he is now though). Kyle is supposed to represent his own childhood experiences as a Jewish child. I'm sure every Jewish child can agree that being Jewish during Christmas is difficult. Sure, marketing tries to make Chanukah seem like a big deal and getting presents is cool but there is the knowledge that it isn't the same as Christmas. It is hard for children to grasp their Jewish identity, because children don't want to be different and knowing that you are a different religion than your classmates can be hard. Thus, it's hard to embrace Jewish identity. Now, I'm sure it is difficult if you are living in a large Jewish community but not every Jewish child is lucky enough to grow up in such an environment.

Jews and Pop Culture

It has come to my attention that someone made a blog designed to compare the Harry Potter series to the Torah. He compares several incidents in the books that somehow relate to the stories in Judaism. At first I was very confused at how he managed to do this but then I thought about it and realized that this was someone trying to incorporate Judaism into pop culture. I think this is designed to get young people interested in Judaism by saying it relates to something popular. I wonder if there is a blog out there comparing Star Wars and Judaism (I know people have written papers that compare Star Wars and Daoism). This seems like exploiting young people but I guess if it gets them excited about their religion and makes it fun then I have no complaints. However, if you're getting into your religion simply as part of your own fascination with a favorite franchise then I feel something isn't quite right.

Then again, I loved Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc (features the Ark of the Covenant that contained the 10 commandments) that was doing the same thing so maybe I am talking out of my ass.

Star of David

Ah, the Star of David. A Jewish sign. Slap on anything and everyone will know of its Jewish origins. This symbol has become a major part in identifying Jewish objects and the Jews. For instance, it was thrown into The Unborn in ancient texts to mark that the books were Jewish. As Wikipedia will tell you, it is named after King David of ancient Israel. Its ts earliest known communal usage began in the Middle Ages[citation needed], alongside the more ancient symbol of the menorah. Geometrically it is the hexagram or two triangles on top of as the DaVinci Code will tell you otherwise.

It wasn't until he establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 when the Star of David on the Flag of Israel has also become a symbol of Israel and Jewish identity.

Everyone uses the Star of David to identify Jews. One key group to do this was Nazi Germany, by forcing all of the Jews to wear a yellow Star of David with Jude written across it.

Another interesting thing about the Star of David is its involvement with Jews for Jesus. I'll mention the church in my next post, but there was a Jews for Jesus temple near my grandmother's house that had a Star of David directly under the cross (showing the Christianity ruled over Judaism?). The Star of David is a powerful icon in Jewish identity.

Holocaust

The film medium has radically changed in the course of the last few years. First, a little history. One major holocaust film is, of course, Schindler's List. Made by Steven Spielberg in 1993, this movie told the true story of Oskar Schlinder *played by Liam Neeson),a Nazi womanizer businessman who saves the lives of over 1,100 Jews by employing them in his factory. This movie is still regarded as Spielberg's most highly acclaimed film. It was powerful, beautiful and heartbreaking. Such a great movie (which is more than we can say for his latest films, I'm looking at you Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). For years Jews were portrayed as victims in movies (see Devil's Arithmetic, and others). However, recently Holocaust films have taken a different approach. Rather than portraying Jews as victims, they are showing them to be bad asses with guns like that the one with Jewish James Bond (Defiance?). Daniel Craig plays a Jewish man who manages to squeeze past Nazis and wages a small war with them. (I haven't seen the movie so I'm using Wikipedia for this part). Pretty soon, that one guy's story about falling in love with a girl who threw apples over a wall will be made into a movie. So, the question is, are Holocaust movies okay? Is it okay to make money off an extremely sensitive moment in Jewish history? My answer is, yes. The Holocaust represents an opportunity for Jews to become united and try to spread education so it doesn't happen again. So, yes, the Holocaust is a fragment of Jewish identity.

Jews and Stereotypes

A few weeks ago, I ordered a couple of bagels from a local bakery. My friend laughed and said "how Jewish of you". Later that same day, he started asking if I could buy him a soda since he was short. He asked to borrow some 'Jew gold' which apparently I was supposed to keep around my neck as jewelry. Jews can't seem to escape the stereotypes that surround us. For instance, we have the stereotype of the Jewish mother. The stereotype generally involves a nagging, overprotective, manipulative, controlling, smothering, and overbearing mother or wife, one who persists in interfering in her children's lives long after they have become adults. As much as I hate to say this but this is one stereotype that I am convinced is true but I digress. I'm sure we've all heard the joke of a Jewish mother saying in a New York accent for their children to wear a sweater. Then there is the notion of large noses. Does this have any genetic basis? I have no idea. I never notice Jews having big noses but maybe I’m just not paying enough attention. Anyway, Jews seem to embrace these stereotypes as part of their identity because, once again, we come to Jews uses humor as part of their identity.

Intermarriage

This is an issue I will have to face sometime in the future. My boyfriend and I are getting very serious and occasionally we'll talk about our future together (mostly being cute). However, I am from a Jewish family and he is from a Christian family. I asked him if he would convert to Judaism if we wanted to get married and he confessed that he isn't religious and doesn't see the point in converting. He said he had no problem with me raising any future children to be Jewish, but it does raise the question of how my children would identify as Jews. Would they consider themselves half-Jews? If I do marry this man, is he going to let me celebrate Jewish holidays with the children? Will he want to celebrate Christmas with them? Is he going to be uncomfortable if I wanted to circumcise any sons we may have? These are questions that are concerning me about this. Now, we aren't planning on getting married anytime soon. It's just a thought we both have. I'm also worried about my parents. Are they going to be okay with him not converting if he wants to marry me? Are my parents going to accept this? Also, his parents are devoted Christians. Are they going to be okay with me raising their grandchildren to be Jewish?

Messianic Judaism

I don't understand this at all. How can anyone be Jewish and Christian at the same time? It doesn't make any sense. A huge part of Judaism is that we are still waiting for our messiah while Christianity accepts Jesus as the messiah. How do you overcome that? Do you argue that Messianic Jews are waiting for the second coming of Jesus as their messiah? Doesn't that just make them Christian?

On their website, www.mjaa.org (Messianic Jewish Alliance of America) on Joel Chernoff's blog, he describes the correlation between Passover and Communion. "This brings me to the New Covenant Passover. Did you know that the Christian Communion, that is celebrated at various times throughout the year, depending on what denomination and church you are associated with, is actually a Passover celebration. In other words the Last Supper was a Passover meal." I guess this makes sense and he is really trying to argue the connection between Judaism and Christianity. I suppose that they are worshiping the same G-d essentially so I guess it's harmless. I still find it confusing but, whatever.

African American Jews

Several years ago, we had a black rabbi visit my temple. He came to discuss race and religion within Judaism. His name escapes me at the moment. Anyway, he said that he was raised in a Catholic home where he was told to not read the Bible and to listen to the pastor. When he went to college, he decided to read the Bible and he discovered that "there were a lot of Jews in the Bible". Apparently, his pastor never mentioned that. Eventually, this African American man started studying Judaism and converted after college. A few years later, he married an African American woman who was willing to convert to Judaism. He described the obstacles facing a man who is African American and Jewish. For one, "he is a KKK's worst nightmare" and additionally, his children were accepting of two powerful ethnic groups. He went on to describe their temple at home. The demographics of this temple is mostly white. He said that he is sometimes worried that the white children in the temple will feel weird about being in class with African American Jews but that wasn't the case.

African American Jews are starting to become a larger part of the Jewish community. Additionally, it helps to have an African American president with a wife who has a cousin who is a rabbi. (Sorry if this post is odd, but I'm tired and not exactly sure what to say)

Jews and Israel

I've been working on the paper for class all of this week. Basically, my paper is based off a JTA article which reports a speech Obama did on March 26th to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty. He announced that peace was possible in the middle east between the Arabs and the Israelis. My paper serves to question why the president feels a need to use Israel as part of his foreign policy. My proposal is that he uses Israel as a way to connect to the Jewish people. Jews identify with Israel. Now, I tried to explain this to my boyfriend but he didn't understand. He doesn't understand how a group of people can feel so attached to a small patch of land that is merely the size of New Jersey. I tried to explain but I don't think I could explain it. I tried to explain the historic significance of Israel. Is it because of the history? I also tried to explain the religious significance to my boyfriend. I told him about the temple and the western wall but he still didn't understand. Is it because of our religion? What connects Jews to Israel?

Birthright definitely tries to explain that Israel is an important part of Judaism with their program to send young Jews to Israel. Complete with attractive Israeli troops. Why is Israel Jewish? What makes Israel Jewish? I don't know anymore.

Jewish Studies

For the purposes of the Jewish Studies, I examined Indiana Unversity’s major in Jewish Studies. According to the College of Arts and Sciences catalog, “The Jewish Studies Program has as its objective the study of Jewish civilization from antiquity to the present and its interaction with and impact on world civilization. There is broad agreement that the various facets of Jewish culture-literature, history, religion, philosophy, languages, and other constituent features of Judaism-comprise one of the richest complexes within the whole of recorded cultural history.”
The description also goes on to describe the various departments within the College of Arts and Sciences which identifies Jewish Studies as history, religion, literature, political science etc. According to the standards created by IU, a student wishing to major in Jewish Studies needs the following:

2 semesters of Hebrew
Intro to Judaism or Jewish History: Bible to Spanish Expansion
Jewish History: Spanish Expansion to Modern
A specialization in Literature, History or Religion

This means that the university divides ‘Jewish Studies’ into language, religion, history and literature. Additionally, the school offers classes with Jewish topics in the folklore, philosophy, political science, anthropology etc. Additionally, the language of the Jewish people extends into Germanic and Slavic language.

'Queer Judaism'

For the purposes of this blog entry, I decided to review the Jewish Queer Youth's website. First, I notice the use of bright colors originating from the rainbow as the icon of homosexual culture. A nifty paragraph on the homepage announces their goal is to give young (18-30) homosexual Jews a comfortable place to anonymously discuss various issues facing their identity as both Jews and homosexuals.

Directly under the Home link is a link which leads to an article titled "Gay?" which addresses the issue of 'coming out'. "No matter how you look at it, according to Yahadut (Judaism), there is no aveirah (transgression) in having homosexual or transgendered feelings. What prohibitions are involved in terms of actually carrying out one's desires involves major halachic (Jewish legal) discussions. The GayJews' Homepage goes more into a halachic discussion of homosexuality. You may also want to check out the Open Halacha website." I tried to look at the links to see what they were referring to, but they were broken links.

An interesting thing about JQY is found in the FAQs page. After looking over the various questions and answers, I found that most, if not all the questions were about homosexuality and didn't reflect any concerns of judaism. For me, it seems that this organization focuses more on the homosexual identity than the jewish identity.

Another interesting tab was the 'experiences' tab where young Jews described their struggles with between their homosexuality and their Jewish ancestry. One woman tells a sad story of how her parents arranged her marriage (I believe she was Hasidic or Chabad. I don't remember which). She married the man and had children quickly but in a few years, she fell in love with a woman. Eventually, this led to a 'road to discovery' and she took the children and left her husband to pursue a new life, free to explore her new found identity. These messages were very touching and really captured the suffering some people go through, simply trying to be themselves.

Paskudnyak by Sonia Pilcer

First, I'd like to point out that I did a little research on Sonia Pilcer. (Thank you Wikipedia). According to Wikipedia, she has written stories that are loosely based on her own life.

In this story, Zosha is part of a Polish Jewish family. Her parents are Holocaust survivors Genia and Heniek (he escaped from Auschwitz so he has numbers). If Wikipedia is to believed, these people were real people. Anyway, this short story deals with the pressures on young people to assimilate into American culture while traditional households encourages tradition. This leaves our protagonist and narrator, Zosha torn between two worlds. There is an interesting progression in this story because in the beginning, little Zosha seems to enjoy the Jewish traditions, even to the point of wanting to ink numbers on her arm to be like her mother (though it's father who has the numbers). As usual, a young child doesn't really understand what it means to be Jewish and in this case, she thinks that numbers and as such, suffering is a part of her identity. As the girl grows into a teenager, she comes to abandon her Jewish identity in favor of being an American teenager. She dresses as her friends dress, wearing tight outfits, short skirts and boots (something her parents detest, thus conveying their traditional lifestyle). Desperate, her parents take her to a rabbi but she will have none her it. She refuses to speak hebrew and denies entry to a hebrew school. This is an emotional scene but she has effectively abandons her faith in favor of her American life.

Jewish Music

For the purposes of this assignment, I looked at the compilation album, Bojac, The Best of Jewish A Cappella.

The first thing I notice about the CD is the album cover which has uses a Hebrew-like typography for the phrase "Bojac" and microphones that make up a star of David. You don't even have to listen to the CD and you are already faced with Jewish imagery. I'd like to quote the CD's booklet, if I may.

"Historically, a cappelle means 'in the style of the chapel.' How appropriate, since the roots of Jewish vocal music might be traced from our tradition of singing informally in the synagogue and around the Shabbat table, all the way back to the first gig on record, Miriam's Red Sea Crossing celebration (a.k.a. the original 'Matzoh Ball)"

This quote is very interesting because of its explanation as to why a cappella can be considered "Jewish", at least for the purposes of this album. The pamphlet goes on to describe Jewish a cappella as its own culture.

The songs in the CD range from English, Hebrew to Yiddish; so we have Jewish identity wrapped around the languages Hebrew and Yiddish. Next, some songs are religious prayers so we come to the notion that Jewish identity is about one's religion. Naturally, as one would expect, we have songs about Israel. Do I even need to explain this one?

Additionally, the CD takes a moment to thank its sponsers, all of which are Jewish organizations ranging from Hillel Foundation, the Sameach Music Staff (Company specializing in Jewish music), independant Jewish bookstores.

Chabad

Ugh, I'm sorry. I'm having a hell of a month. I promise to get back on keeping up with these blog entries from now on.

Anyway, Chabad. I researched www.chabad.org, to find that there is a huge emphasis which describes society and living, as described by the chabad tradition. Under the society and living link, the website describes intimacy. I'd like the quote the website if I may, "To be intimate means to go into a place that is private, that is sacred, that is set aside".

The thing that confuses me about the website is that the section on the Rebbe is actually further down the website. You'd assume a movement where its leader still plays a HUGE role despite being dead would be on the top of their list of things to showcase on their website. It seems the movement wants their website to function as a social connection towards its members, focusing on living a jewish life before they start going into the religion. From the website, we arrive at well laid out explanation on the rebbe, including his insights, teachings and a biography.

From the insights link, we come to a very lengthy list of separate topics which the Rebbe discussed. These range from death, Holocaust, Israel, charity, etc. This website provides an excellent resource for anyone curious on the movement.

Cultural Judaism

Apologizes for the late entry again, I was busy with several projects for different classes. Today we have cultural judaism on the menu like reconstructionist jews who base their identity on being a jew without letting religion step in the way. For them, being jewish means to embrace the social and cultural part of judaism. To understand more about what Jewish Reconstructionism is, I explored www.jrf.org. here, I found the Kaplan Blog, including the writings from their religious leader, Aryeh Kaplan which shows their devotion to the man despite his death over 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, at the website www.culturaljudaism.org, which includes the large grant (i.e. bribary) to encourage students to study cultural Judaism which raises the question of how they define "cultural" Judaism. Does it include art, music, history or folklore but do they simply ignore religious studies or philosophy?

I understand why they choose to exclude religious rites because of the trend in non practicing Jews while some Jews don't believe in God that these movements could proivde an identity to Jews who feel disconnected from their religious because of their personal disbelief in religion.

Orthodox Judaism, TRADITION!!

Sorry, I couldn't hold that in anymore. My apologizes for writing this blog entry a little late but I found myself buried in work which included two tests, a paper and an art project that I simply forgot to write on here. Again, my apologizes.

Which leads me gracefully into my next topic, Orthodox Judaism. Now, admittingly, when I think of Orthodox Judaism I picture a bunch of snobby white men with beards and top hats who refuse to socialize with girls. Thankfully my perspective has changed and I find myself compelled by this movement. They have continued their way of thinking for years while adding bits on the side. Women can be educated and can study Judaism but with the comfort of other women (though we can't be rabbis).

I find it interesting that Orthodox Judaism, rather than crumbling under outside culture, they simply incorporate their own culture into wider society. Now, we have Jewish bakeries, Jewish music stores, Jewish book stores... all from the east coast I noticed. This movement, while keeping its own traditions in check is still able to coexist with the main culture around them whereas Reform and Conservative are determined to open its door to the rest of society.

Orthodox Judaism, while their right beliefs may annoy me, I do have to admire their devotion to their religion.

Conservative Judaism, The Shy Middle Child of Judaism

Ah, conservative Judaism. Now this is a movement I'm very familiar with. As I mentioned in my blog entry, "Reform Judaism or Jewish-Lite?", I was raised in a conservative synagogue. Conservative Judaism, as far as I can tell from past experiences, is the shy, awkward middle child of the three main movements (or the three most people are familiar with). We have Orthodox Judaism, the oldest of the three brothers. He is an honors student, a star athlete and very popular at school though a little frightened of girls. The boy is a little too by the book for some but otherwise a good guy to know. Then, we have Reform Judaism, the youngest brother. He is in elementary school wanting to imitate his mature big brother Orthodox Judaism but wants to define himself. Some say he is a little immature at times, but still a generally a likable little boy. Finally, we have Conservative Judaism. The middle child that is currently enrolled in middle school and is having a hard time figuring out who he is. On one hand, he wants to be more liberal like his little brother Reform but traditional like his big brother Orthodox. This creates the awkward situation of dizzily stumbling between the two movements, leaving Conservative Judaism destined to fade away. I really don't think the movement has much hope for survival. I mean, they can't decide what to do with themselves. They don't like to make a clear decision about anything. They have yet to really establish their opinion on homosexuals in the jewish community and the jury is still out on intermarriage. It's because of this indecisive nature that I feel Conservative Judaism is destined to collapse in on itself. Wow, I sound like such a pessimist, don't I?

-Rachel Wyman

Reform Judaism or Jewish-Lite?

Upon studying the Reform Judaism websites and reading the article, "What Does Reform Judaism Stand For?", I find myself torn between two theories on the movement. (I would like to point out that I was raised in a conservative synagogue, the sect which can't seem to decide what to do with itself but I'll address this in my next post on conservative judaism). On one hand, I really like the platforms reform judaism takes. As a bleeding heart liberal, custom to bitching about republicans while sporting anti-bush bumper stickers with a starbucks latte in hand (hell of a run-on sentence but who cares) I can safely enjoy its political agenda. Gender equality? Awesome! Homosexual rights? Hell yes! Intermarriage, fair enough. No one can complain about these (unless you're a republican who can't function without fox news telling you what to do).

However, I feel that with these all of these liberties we may be losing our Jewish hertiage. I mean, once you accept serving roast beef, crab, ice cream and shrimp at your synagogue for your youth organization, where does it end? Granted, my family doesn't keep kosher but we expect that a synagogue, a symbol of our jewish faith should. It's like they're trying to please a wide audience rather than focusing on a single demographic.

Perhaps I'm just talking out of my ass but I feel that some people are abusing "choice through knowledge" to the point when there isno significant difference between these jews and gentiles. Now, don't take my cynical rant as hate speech, I'm perfectly fine with the platform of reform judaism, I just think we should place more of an emphasis on the "judaism" rather than the "reform".

-Rachel Wyman

PS: I found it interesting that we have fewer men are becoming involved in the reform jewish community. Does that mean we are starting to lose the gender equality platform of the movement?

Am I Really Jewish?

Am I really Jewish? I remember spending every Chanukah lighting candles with my family and unwrapping my presents. Meanwhile, I had a secret desire to be able to celebrate Christmas. I never got to sit on a strange man's lap at the mall, with the cries and screams of children deafening my ears. I never got to watch my father curse violently as he tried to place the Christmas lights around my house while my mother kept warning him to be careful. I never got to set up a lovely Christmas tree in our living room while yelling at our pets to stop messing with the bottom bristles. Christmas was always a hard time of year for a Jewish child (I believe other Jews will agree with me) because it reminded us that we were different and as we all know, the last thing a child wants to be is different. Every year, I asked my mother why we celebrated Chanukah instead of Christmas and she always said the same thing. "We are Jewish, Rachel. We don't celebrate Christmas. You may not understand now but one day, you'll understand."

At 13, I had my Bat Mitzvah. I was glad to be rid of the tedious studying, having to mesmorize every verse of every song. I remember hating to go to temple every few days to study but once again, my parents sat with me and told me that it was my right as a young Jew and that one day I would understand the importance of my hertiage.

Now, at 20, almost 21 (hooray!) I thought I had a good idea of what it meant for me to be Jewish. It meant I was part of a certain religion with a rich cultural hertiage and a love for Mel Brooks films. Then, after reading Cheng's article, The Inauthentic Jew, I find myself questioning my own Jewish identity. Am I really Jewish? Am I Jewish because I view Judaism as my own religious belief or is it just because my mother is Jewish and thus I am. Is it that simple? Am I Jewish because I feel a connection with Israel or is this connection with Israel an illusion? Am I Jewish because of my ethnicity? Do I even look Jewish? What makes me Jewish?

Now, in a religious context, I am not Jewish. Yes, it is the religion I was brought up in but I don't view myself as a religious person. I certainly see how religion is important for any society but I just don't participate in a temple very often (something I'm hoping to change). So am I still Jewish despite my indifference to religion? What makes me Jewish? Is it my hertiage?

My Jewish ancestry can be traced to early 1900 in Russia. My family was forced out of Russia (because every country has to. it's kind of like a big sale, all jews must go!) and they landed in America then eventually to Miami, Florida to elect President Bush (ugh). Just kidding. Meanwhile, most of my family went to Ohio because Ohio just screams Jew, doesn't it? Here my family dwelled for years (and still remain for a few members of the family.) Am I Jewish because of this ancestry? My family embraces its Jewish hertiage but ignores the Russian hertiage. Why not claim to everyone that I am Russian? Why is it the first thing I say is Jewish?

I look forward to discovering whether I really am a Jew or not in this class. If I really am not a Jew, I'm going to have to come up with a good excuse for my love of bagels. Hooray for ending a serious note with a stereotype. Goodnight

-Rachel Wyman