Not In My Religion! Jew-Ish Is Not Jewish

There is no question that Jews are taking a hit. So many of those in positions of power who have been accused of committing sexual harassment and even worse are Jews. Harvey Weinstein, Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, Bryan Singer, and Jeremy Piven to name a few. There is no avoiding it, as much as I would like to. And it isn’t funny either, Larry.

But I am here, as someone who is not just Jew-ish but is someone who is proud to be a Jew and is somewhat knowledgeable about it, to say not in my religion.

I grew up in a secular household and came to become religiously observant when I was 19. On my own and as a result of my own introspection and searching. I take my Judaism and Jewish pride seriously.

I am super proud of Judaism and its ethics, which includes the high regard in which women are kept, and the sexual morality we are bound to keep.

So now a bunch of secular Jews are doing the wrong thing, and antisemites and fellow Jews are trying to make out like it is a Jewish thing. It not only isn’t but is entirely antithetical to the teachings of Judaism.

All throughout Jewish history, there have been Jews who have worked against Judaism and our goal to be a light unto the nations. What can I say? We are human like anyone else, and have our fair share of jerks.

And just like we have many who support those who wants us obliterated (I am looking at you, “pro palestinian/anti-Israel” members of the tribe), we also have those of us who desecrate G-d’s name, choosing their own satisfaction over what is right and good.

But I won’t stay silent. I will rip those who besmirch Judaism, Jew and non-Jew alike, a new one.

11 thoughts on “Not In My Religion! Jew-Ish Is Not Jewish”

  1. Your blog, with your posts, and those of other talented, insightful and sensible contributors, is often an oasis in a desert of group think, stupid and blatant antisemitism. However, for me something about this particular post misses the mark.
    Personal disclosure: I have a toe in each camp, as it were. As a child, I came from the former Soviet Union, not religious, but fiercely Jewish, and keeping some observances (try landing in Italy as the second stop, on Pesach. No money. No language. No place to live yet. And your mother insists you are not eating bread or pasta for 7 days. In Italy. Yes, really.) Once in Australia, I went to a religious (Chabad) girls’ school. There was some discrimination – the not religious girls were sometimes told we weren’t “properly Jewish”, girls made fun of my accent, other “Russian” girls told me I would never be as good as them as they were here earlier, and just the shock of being told that I’m “Russian”. The more I protested that I’m Jewish, the more laughter and derision I got. In hindsight, although my experience had specifically Jewish aspects, in most respects, the stories among child migrants to a new country, new language, no friends etc have many commonalities. I left the school in year 9, and then I did something apparently unprecedented – after 2 years I returned to complete the last two years. My choice completely, I even had to sacrifice my pocket money, to demonstrate commitment. So, I chose to remain secular, but I remained friends with my best friends from school (also the main reason I returned) – one not religious, and two religious, even a Rabbi’s daughter.
    I feel I can see things from quite a few perspectives.
    And this is why it’s off the mark for me – are you saying that these people did the wrong thing because they are secular? That religious Jews wouldn’t do something like this, because Judaism forbids it? – look at Sholam Weiss; the woman who was a principal at a religious girls’ school in Australia, who sexually molestered students, and now is hiding out in Israel, trying to get out of extradition; and the man who went on a stabbing spree at the Jerusalem gay pride parade.
    Or are you saying that being Jewish had nothing to do with it (which is completely correct) BECAUSE they were merely secular Jews, but could be a factor if they were observant Jews?
    Yes Jews are proportionately more represented in Hollywood.,,, and also in the list of Nobel prize winners.
    Lumping all of these guys together is more an example of antisemitism than it is an example of these guys doing anything “Jewish”.

      1. I know you have taken the “religious” jerks to task before, which is why I was a bit surprised at the tone of this post. My point is that these guys did what they did because they are jerks, not because they are Jews. But the fact that people try to make the connection to them being Jewish, in my opinion, has more to do with antisemitism, than the fact that they are “a bunch of secular Jews” or whether they are Jewish or “Jew-ish”. Also, in my opinion, you should have the right to call these people out, and to point out their hypocrisy and antisemitism, regardless whether you yourself are a practicing Jew, or merely “Jew-ish”. When these people make the connection to these jerks being Jewish, it’s not the religion they’re attacking, it’s Jewish people. They’re judging and tainting all of us Jews, on any and all levels.

        It’s like Einstein had said
        “If the theory of relativity is proved right the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist. If relativity is proved wrong the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German and the Germans will call me a Jew.”

        I hope that I’m making some sense.

    1. I’m with Aussie Fave (I mean Dave, but you get the idea!) on this one. The issue isn’t whether religious Jews are “better” than seculars, but that a$$holes all over have interpreted the Hollywood exploiters’ behavior as somehow particularly “Jewish”; e.g., Bill Clinton is simply a pig, while Harvey Weinstein is demonstrating what Jews think of innocent Christian maidens.

      1. I agree with that point. That’s why I don’t think it’s necessary to differentiate between Jews who are practicing and Jews who are secular. We get judged, or blamed regardless.

    2. Inessa – I get what you’re saying. I love Chabad, but I too have experienced a hierarchy there and feel that had a profound effect on several of my boys, and many others, becoming secular. But there is always a double standard for Jews – we get judged twice as hard which means we have to be extra careful in our deeds – we can’t enjoy this “special” relationship with G-d and not have extra responsibilities that go along with it. People will not look at Harvey Weinstein as anything other than a Jew, just as they look at Bill Cosby as a black man. It’s up to the rest of us to act right to counter the trash – secular and religious.

      1. Well, in my case, I didn’t become secular, I remained secular. But with a religious education, and religious values, which I really embraced. It’s a great school academically. We had a particularly nice group of girls in our class, overall. We’re still posting on a Whatsapp group of our class, I don’t want to say how many years ago, but many, from all over the world. And I’m quite proud to be part of this group of women. I just meant, that even the “good” and the “virtuous” are not without their hypocrisy. My point was that these guys were jerks because they were jerks, not because they were Jews. However, the fact that people, including other Jews, will point out these men’s “Jewishness” is more to do with antisemitism, in holding Jews to a higher standard, for no reason, other than they are Jews, than with the fact that they are Jews.

        1. I’m one of those Jews who points to these men’s Jewishness – not because I think their being ethnically Jewish is the reason they’re creeps, but because “kol Yisrael areivim zeh la-zeh”. I always take it very personally when one of ours does something awful. And this year has been one big endless cringe-fest.

          Hollywood Jews are not representative of the Jewish world, but they are the most visible, and have the highest profile. What they do affects us all whether we like it or not.

          1. That was the point I was trying to make – Jewish people in prominent, high profile positions in the U.S. or wherever, are not usually there to represent the Jewish people. And they are not there as a group, they are not linked. They represent themselves as individuals and they happen to be Jewish, or have Jewish roots. BUT, like it or not, if they happen to be Jewish, they reflect on Jewish people around the world. And that is the effect whether they are secular, religious, halachadly Jewish, or not, married out, or in, they will be judged as Jews behaving badly.

            I’d like to call it the Einstein Phenomenon.

            “If the theory of relativity is proved right the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist. If relativity is proved wrong the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German and the Germans will call me a Jew.”
            How much angst or dissapointment this causes me, one of the Jews around the world, personally, is partly up to me, but it does not depend on whether those men are practicing Jews or Jews “in name only” or whether I am. Personally, I only wish that their being Jewish got more of a mention when they are being lauded for their achievements. As Netanyahu said in a recent interview “the good part was much shorter than the bad part”.

      2. You bring up another interesting point: in today’s world, rife with hypocrisy, people might think of the fact that Bill Cosby is black, but they have gone out of their way to not say it and not write it. But Harvey Weinstein’s being a Jew is apparently fair game. Another interesting thing to note, is that when Harvey Weinstein was celebrated for his “vision” and brilliance, when he was mentioned in all those award acceptance speeches, his Jewishness didn’t come up, did it?

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