The Jezebel article on half-Jews was unfortunately frustrating, even though I usually like the author quite a lot. I guess the very idea of a self-labeled "half-Jew" decrying their lack of inclusion into Orthodox Judaism seems illogical and deliberately targeting. I get it, Jews stick together, you don't feel included, you think the ethnic identity of half your DNA can excuse you from responsibility over not perpetuating stereotypes, etc.
A couple of things, though. One, whatever the haredi Jews in Israel say, the only person who decides whether an American Jew is Jewish or not is that Jew him/herself. If your father is Jewish (like the author and many complaining commenters), any Reform or Reconstructionist congregation in America would love you as a member. I know many Hebrew school teachers whose fathers were not Jewish and yet who consider themselves proud Jews. However, of course, the author of the article is not looking for synagogue membership. In fact, she defines half-Jews as those who either "compromise" by going to Unitarian or Quaker memberships or those who light menorahs in front of Christmas trees and grow up without a "single religion."
Everyone's faith is their own business of course, but I don't see how belonging to a Christian Church and not identifying as Jewish really qualify one as an MOT. I don't get how the author can complain about being excluded from a religion/culture which she indicates no desire to participate in. Is she taking Hebrew lessons? Does she study any Jewish history or current politics? Does she observe any holidays? Does she laugh when those around her, assuming she's Christian, make jokes about Jews? It's not just like being Italian or Irish; Judaism is a commitment to a people and a heritage that is simply not compatible with simultaneously practiced Christianity. When someone with only one Jewish parent makes that commitment, they're not called a "half-Jew." They're simply Jewish, whatever the Orthodox mishpocha thinks about it.
Being Jewish may come with a free Birthright Israel trip (thanks, btw, it was great!), but it also comes with a lot of burdens. In the eyes of much of this country and the world, to be Jewish is never to be completely white, completely American, completely "normal." It is to grow up knowing about the Holocaust, and pogroms, and suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. It is to know that as a Jewish woman, particularly among other secular Jews, your looks are valued on how well you can pass as non-Jewish. There is a reason why so many of the commenters have shiksa mothers; decades after Annie Hall, a WASPy blond is still the ultimate catch for a Jewish man. For many of us, women included, thanks to the openness of American society, passing is still a constant tempation and often a resented fantasy.
I have only respect for those individuals who are born as "half-Jews," and decide to embrace their Jewish identity, willingly tackling all of the above. Those are the people whom I believe the Conservative movement should move to welcome and whom the State of Israel should incorporate under its policy for olim. However, the "half-Jews" of this article, who consider themselves equally "half-Christian," have excluded themselves from the Jewish community. If they ever wish to return, to shoulder their responsibilities as Jews and assume the joy and sorrow inherent in a Jewish identity, we'll be waiting.
8 hours ago
