Jews are just as confused about our race as Whoopi Goldberg is
Whoopi Goldberg attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood, California. By Christopher Polk/Getty Images
To the editor:
Like Nora Berman, I also felt that Whoopi Goldberg’s Holocaust remarks were a teachable moment — but I’m a teacher, so to me most moments are.
Fifty-plus years as a Jewish educator have taught me that hardly anyone, including many Jews, really understands antisemitism.
We have long denied that we are a race, arguing that we don’t want others to define us, and we bristle when someone references “the Jewish race.” But we get angry when told we are not victims of racism.
Our own inability to define who is a Jew doesn’t help. It’s like defining great art: I’ll know it when I see it.
Then we have the problem of who is not a Jew. Where do we draw the line?
In a class on this subject at Hebrew University in 1968, we were asked to define a Jew. One born of a Jewish mother or who converts? One who considers one’s self a Jew? One who others consider to be a Jew? One who practices the Jewish religion? One who does not convert to another religion?
Is Judaism a religion? A culture? A nation? A tradition? An ethnic group?
The answer, of course, is all of the above.
This fluidity is great for us, but confusing for those who are not Members of the Tribe.
The race designation has often served American Jews well. In Gold Rush San Francisco, for example, Jews were welcome to become full members of society because, for the first time in our history, we were considered members of the white race, since we weren’t Asian or Black.
But I know I’m not the only Jew who feels uncomfortable checking the box when asked my race on a form. Should I check Caucasian? Maybe I’m Other?
I don’t believe Whoopi Goldberg is an antisemite. I believe she is a non-Jew who sees race as most Americans do: through skin color.
Defining Judaism is complicated, and shouldn’t be surprised when others are confused. I thank Goldberg for making this a topic of national discussion.
— Meridith Patera
To contact the author, email editorial@forward.com.
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