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Author Comment    
Kevan Taylor-Perry



May 4, 08 - 2:46 PM 		Passover Thoughts

Shortly before Passover, I was thinking to myself, "Why bother? Who am I trying to fool here? I'm not accepted as Jewish anyway by many Jews."

But, I went ahead anyway and got the makings for a seder. And so I had a seder, although a bit different than many. And I had a revelation about the whole thing.

It makes no difference to me if the Orthodox do not accept me as Jewish. I am not asking to join them. I am a Pagan. In my beliefs, I must honor my ancestors. There is room in my spiritual practices to have Judaic practices also. And if I allow others to tell me I cannot honor my patrilineal ancestors, then I give these people too much power. I am not asking to come to their shul, nor would I. But I, and I alone, determine who I am. Not a group of people who make their wives shave their heads---my word, what is that but a different type of hajib anyway? (They'd probably be better off with hajibs!)

I do not think the Orthodox can be convinced to accept patrilineal Jews as Jews. To this I say, "So what?" And the Chasidim? You know, who are they fooling? They dress like Russian boyars and Polish nobles from the Medieval Period. Honestly. The streimel and spodik are hats the Russian boyars used to wear. How "Jewish" is that? Well, that's because they intermarried with Russians (not usually Poles, but it did happen). Where else are blonde Jews coming from? Are they going to tell us that not a single one of the blonde Jews came from a Jewish father and Russian or German mother? Come on. In the shtetls, before Chasidism came around, lots of things went on. Which is why Chasidim are dressed like Russian boyars! Really, who wears fur in the Middle East?

One of the most infamous photos of the 1930s nazi rise to power shows a Jewish man and German woman wearing placards and flanked by stormtroopers. The placard around the German woman's neck says, "I am the biggest swine in the house and only sleep with Jewish men." Now, the biggest problem among racists is "their" women being with the "racially inferior" men. This comes from a type of insecurity; that the other race has something the racists do not have. It's jealousy, pure and simple. (The photo also shows intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews went on a lot in Germany, otherwise it would not have attracted the attention of the nazis so quickly.)

Honestly, trying to justify racist beliefs---"you should not marry a goy"---is racism no matter how one chooses to portray it. It's not "preserving culture" (David Duke says the same thing, too) or morals or whatever. It's just an "us versus them" exercise in racism. As Jews, we ought to know better than that.

How we define ourselves is up to us. How others see us, well, that's their problem. It obviously bothers them to the extent they need to go out of their way to say we're not Jews. Since that's the case, we should continue to call ourselves Jews. We do not need them to acknowledge us. But we owe it to ourselves and our ancestors to state we are Jews and we're not going to take our ball and go home on the issue. It makes no difference to me if they accept that or not. They're the ones who seem to get their tallit in a wad over it. So let it upset them! Let them sweat in their streimels over it!

I had a very nice Passover. I paid homage to my Native ancestors by having Cherokee succotash as the meal. I gave thanks to my ancestors and my People and Tribe. I made a promise to my ancestors long before I found my father was Jewish. I promised I would not forget them. So I cannot.
Janelle



May 4th, 2008 - 6:12 PM 		Re: Passover Thoughts

I totally agree with you Kevan, on how it shouldn't matter what other people think of when it comes to expressing your heritage openly.
I know how it feels to not feel wanted on any side. My family has mixed Jewish ancestry but we try to protray ourselves as Christains. All accept for me, I openly see and express my self as a Jewish person with some Scott-Irish, Hugarian and Romany(Gypsy)ancestry as well. It has been difficult but I feel like this is the best path for me to live by. So even if other people don't accept me, in my heart I will always be true to myself no matter what.
Kevan Taylor-Perry



May 4th, 2008 - 6:36 PM 		Re: Passover Thoughts

You keep hearing the defenders of matri-only Jewishness saying, "Well, that's what it says in the Torah!"

Uh....ok...where in the Torah does it describe a streimel? Oops! Borrowed that from the Russkies! Yet you see these Chasidim with $5000 streimels trouping down the street. So they CAN change customs when it suits them (or looks cool, perhaps...)
Robin Margolis

www.half-jewish.net


May 7th, 2008 - 6:30 AM 		Re: Passover Thoughts

Dear Kevan and Janelle:

The founder of modern India, Gandhi, had a good saying applicable to this thread's line of thought:

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Warmly,
Robin


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