Jew-ish
What is being "Jewish"? What are Jews? What do Jews believe? What do Jews do? What's happening in those mysterious synagogues with all that weird language (it's Hebrew)?
Jew curious?
The thing about being Jewish is, you can't tell us apart by looking (well, not always), we often look the same, dress the same, work and play and eat right alongside our non-Jewish counterparts, and yet, as a teeny tiny minority--only 0.2% of the global population, and 2-3% of the U.S. population--plenty of people have probably never met a Jewish person, or if they did, they didn't even know it.
For as much as we share (and it's probably way more than you think), somehow, moving through the world as a Jew really is different. Everything looks different through a Jewish lens, even for those who aren't particularly religious, the ones who describe themselves as "Jew-ish."
But honestly, none of this is really that mysterious. And, if you're curious or confused, you can always just ask the internet--or, now you can also come here and check in with your new Jewish friend.
So, if you have questions about being Jewish, we're here to introduce, explain, ask alongside, and generally demystify Judaism for Members of the Tribe (Jews) and goyim (non-Jews) alike, exploring and showcasing the infinite ways there are to be Jewish.
Jew-ish
What does "culturally Jewish" even mean
Finally, the basic question: What is being “culturally Jewish”? Getting at the difference between a culture and religion, how identity manifests in modernity and how it came to be this way is heady stuff, and of course, in true Jewish fashion, the answer is: it’s complicated. Thank goodness for my brilliant baby brother, Zeb, who is a professional Jewish educator like my mom, but also a largely secular Jew, like me, and his specialty in and nuanced thinking about modern Western Jewish history. Some light topics up for discussion include: the birth of nation-states, assimilationism, responses to modernity, what “identity” means, and how, lucky us, we came to be part of the "global cabal." Don't worry, there's plenty of snark too, this ain't grad school! Also, love you Mom, sorry in advance! Tons of terminology in this one, so hit the glossary below, and check previous episode notes for more.
GLOSSARY:
Rebbe: Largely used by Hasidic Jews, a Yiddish-German term for "rabbi," also referring to a person educated in and who educates, guides or mentors others in Judaism.
Assimilationism: The act or desire to be absorbed culturally and socially into the dominant or majority group.
Zionism: A political movement founded by Theodor Herzl in the 1890s to create a Jewish homeland, based in an assimilationist philosophy and cemented by antisemitic incidents like the Dreyfus affair (the false accusation and imprisonment of a French Jewish military officer that came to symbolize Jews' supposed disloyalty).
Ghetto: Likely derived from Italian, in the early 1500s it referred to the area of Venice where the Jews were required by law to live. It is most broadly used in the Jewish to refer to the walled-in parts of cities where Jews were imprisoned under Nazi occupation, often before being sent to death camps.
Humanism: A philosophical approach with a long history, generally centered on placing importance of the human experience, and well-being of humankind over deities or states.
Haskala: A late 18th- and early 19th-century European Jewish intellectual school of thought integrating Judaism and modern European life.
Yiddish: Translated to mean "Jewish" in Yiddish, a German-derived dialect integrating Hebrew and parts of the local language generally considered the language of Askenazic Jewish communities in central and eastern Europe. Yiddishkeit: a Yiddish word describing a quality of "Jewishness."
Ladino: Sometimes called Judeo-Spanish, it has Castilian origins and is considered the language of Sephardic Jews, who originate in Spain and Portugal, but blends broad languages including Arabic or Greek.
Nebbish: Yiddish for a meek, pitiful person.
Freedom Seder: https://religiondispatches.org/take-history-into-your-own-hands-why-i-wrote-the-freedom-seder-and-why-its-still-necessary/
Reform Movement: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/reform-judaism/
Pale of Settlement: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-pale-of-settlement
