Just How Sensitive Should We Be?

Hello, friends.

I've been ruminating this week on just how sensitive we should expect Americans to be.

Our country is mainly Christian. Our Founding Fathers were mostly Christian (but still knew enough to establish the separation of "church" and state). So far, our very highest leaders have been Christian. Our country can sometimes feel really Christian.

But growing up it didn't feel that way. Back home on Long Island (at least my parts of the Island), it would have been completely shocking to see something religious in a secular setting, without another religious symbol there, too. For example, Christmas trees are almost always accompanied by menorahs (unless they were in front of specific houses of worship, of course). And anyway, even recognizing Christianity and Judaism does not cover all the bases: we're missing out on recognizing Yalda and the winter solstice and other wintery holidays. But still, I'd rather there be some acknowledgment of other options, not just Christianity.

At the beginning of one semester, coming back from Winter Break, my first day in language class the activity was to talk with a partner about "What we did over Christmas break. What presents we got for Christmas. How we celebrated Christmas." What? Not everyone celebrates Christmas. I was pretty surprised, but I chalked that situation up to the fact that my new professor was from a different country, one where there really are not many Jewish people. But I still made sure that when we presented my partner told the class that "Allyson got a jacket for Hanukkah."

Then this week, sitting in the office of my on-campus job, I noticed a new bulletin board someone had prepared. It has an Easter theme. Complete with a "Finding a Scholarship is like finding an Easter Egg!" and several pastel Easter Eggs with the names of the students who work in the office, including mine (on a bright pink egg). Why? In an office where we try to help find students look for funding for research and study in other countries, on all types of topics, why would we focus on just one religious tradition? It seemed very out of place to bring religion into it, especially at a state school. Now I certainly do not blame whomever did this--I like all of my fellow student workers very much, we're like a little family. I just think sensitivity is important.

Because honestly, every time something like this happens, it's like a little punch in the gut. Another example of feeling like someone is saying, "You don't matter. Anything that is not the majority is not worth noticing." I know it's not intentional, and most of the time the person just does not realize, I know it's not meant to be hurtful, but it is. At least a little bit.

So what do we do? Do we keep everything secular? I think that in a lot of cases, that's better. I understand that stores have religious holiday items mainly for Christian holidays: it makes sense. Capitalism, sell the most product, there are a lot of Christian people, they will spend money on the stuff. That does not offend me. But in normal, secular, non-religious places, I think we might need to strive to be a little more neutral.

This comes up a lot in our household because of the debate a few years back about wishing people a Merry Christmas. It is kind of the same thing...but I do not feel as strongly about that. Why? Probably because of my intense love of Christmas. Strange? Yes. But I love the holiday for secular reasons, for the feelings of goodwill and the smiles I notice on people's faces and being home and snow and New York City being all dressed up like a snow globe. So while I would definitely, definitely prefer that someone say "Happy Holidays!" to me in a store, I do not immediately get offended if I get good wishes for Christmas. At least they're not saying, "Happy Birthday of Christ!" Then I would really be offended...just like how the Easter Eggs in the office make me uncomfortable, but not mad. While I would not say that people should be fired from jobs for wishing people a Merry Christmas, I'd still prefer "Happy Holidays" or something similar around that time of year.

What do you think? Is neutrality best?, since it also acknowledges atheists/non-religious people? Or should we try to cover all the religious celebrations (from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Sikhism, Jainism....)?

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson

Pulitzer Center Article: Spain Rights the Wrong of Jewish Exile?

Hello, friends!

http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/spain-rights-wrong-Jewish-exile-Sephardic-1492

For those who are not aware, I was invited to participate in a small journalism seminar this year at my college. It had just eight students, and we met about one weekend a month since September with two journalists for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to write a journalism piece on a topic we picked ourselves. The link above takes you to the finished article.

My topic, for a change, was antisemitism in Spain (topic of my honors thesis this year, 7-week summer project I did back in 2011, basically the only thing I talk about...). But that was not specific enough for a journalism audience, so, fortuitously, when the Spanish government announced in November that they would change the rules to make it easier for Sephardic Jews to gain Spanish citizenship, my topic became focused on that.

Under the new rules, if you can prove that you are a Sephardic Jew, even if you and your family has not lived in Spain for centuries, you can apply for and gain citizenship. Without any kind of residency requirement! Hard to believe, I do not think this is a usual development in today's day and age. This action is meant as a move towards reconciliation for the 1492 Edict of Expulsion, which kicked all of the Jews out of Spain (and led to the burning alive of some Jews who tried to stay in the country as fake-Catholics aka secret Jews). Technically, Jews were not legally allowed to live in Spain from 1492-1968. Can you imagine? 1968 is not that long ago...

Anyway, they posted the article just the other day! I am not going to re-post the whole thing here (it ended up being quite long...) but please take a look if you're interested. I would love to hear any opinions in the comments below!

http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/spain-rights-wrong-Jewish-exile-Sephardic-1492

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson

Harry Potter: Real-Life Mudbloods

Hello, friends. 

"It’s a disgusting thing to call someone. Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It’s ridiculous." --Ron Weasley, explaining the term "Mudblood" to Hermione

I'm a Harry Potter fan (surprise!). A big one. So naturally, I subconsciously draw parallels between my life and the books. This became particularly disturbing during some discussions I had last summer with fellow Jewish college students. Let's start with a refresher on what "Mudblood" exactly means, for those who haven't read the books in a while or those who never have.

In the books, a large divide is set up between two major groups of opinion: there are those who believe that anyone with magical ability should be allowed to learn magic regardless of their parentage, and those who think that instead only those whose entire families have "magical" blood should be allowed to participate in the society and go to Hogwarts. "Mudblood" technically means one's parents and grandparents were not magical in any way, aka they were Muggles. Hermione is the main example of a "Mudblood" throughout the books. A main character, extremely skilled in magic, she has great morals, and is a feminist figure at her best, she fights for what she believes in and manages to overcome a lot of those who would put her down because she is not from a wizarding family.

But people hate her. Like, really, really hate her. These people are led by the very evil Lord Voldemort, who himself is secretly a Mudblood (kind of like how Hitler is thought to have had some Jewish heritage?). Those who came across as almost Nazi-like in their genetic determination of wizarding blood and their intent to kill those who do not fit their narrow description of a "witch" target Hermione and others throughout the books. They ignore her commitment to her magical studies, her attempts to reconcile the magical and Muggle world, her above-average skills in magic. Instead, they focus on her bloodline, something she did not choose, something that should have nothing to do with anything. The movie version dramatizes a scene in which Hermione is actually tortured, adding in that someone carves "Mudblood" into her arm. Note the continued Nazi allusions, here a seeming reference to the tattoos prisoners often received in Nazi concentration camps; these Shoah (Holocaust) allusions were particularly obvious in the last two movies.





Cue a look at Judaism. Strict halakhah (interpretation of Jewish law) dictates that Judaism can only be "passed down" through the maternal bloodline. What? Yes, Judaism is almost seen as genetic, that "Jewishness" is somehow carried in the blood. So at my Jewish internship experience this summer (though this issue extends to many Jewish people, not just some of those in my program), it felt like the majority of the group disapproved of my family's lifestyle because my mother is Catholic; there would have been no problem had she been the Jewish parent. How does that make sense? I just don't know. Then, when they found out I was adopted, the maternal/paternal thing didn't end up mattering since I was not the physical offspring of my parents anyway. Instead I received questions like, "Do you know if your [birth] parents were Jewish?"* I respect that some people follow their holy books (in this case, the Torah) as closely as possible because they believe it to be the direct word of G-d. But when interpretations change throughout the centuries, it becomes clear that rather than a stagnant thing, it is meant to be a changing document, reevaluated by new generations. This is how the Conservative and Reform movements emerged. So maybe it's time for everyone to take another look at the rules regarding bloodline.

Why should it matter if my birth parents were Jewish? I have never met or spoken to them, they have played no part in my life beyond giving birth to me, their heritage is not my heritage. As far as anyone should be concerned, I am a blonde, Puerto Rican Jew from Long Island, whose family raised her in the Reform Jewish movement, took her to Hebrew School, gave her a Bat Mitzvah. Both of my parents read Hebrew to some extent, just as an example of our interfaith life. But for many Jewish people who follow the idea that the physical birth mother needs to be Jewish, I am breaking all the rules. And just to be clear, this used to be traced through the paternal line, centuries ago. So it really does not make sense.

The maternal bloodline tradition has a lot of implications. For example, a Jewish woman could technically marry a non-Jewish man, and their child would still be considered "halakhically" Jewish. I know a devout member of the Catholic Church, an older man who has practiced Catholicism faithfully for decades, and yet whose mother was Jewish and would thus still be considered "Jewish" by strictly observant Jews. But people like me, who have been raised in Judaism from birth and may be adopted or have a non-Jewish mother, are not considered Jewish at all according to many Jewish people, not just the very religious ones. Luckily, Reform Judaism considers someone Jewish if either parent is Jewish, following the maternal or paternal rules, and the theology of the movement actually does not tie itself to bloodline at all, so adopted kids are fine. I'm generally a fan of inclusion, so this all works for me. The ironic classification of religion as a somehow physical thing baffled me when I first heard about it. There is no way to "pass down" Jewish belief and practice physically, only through instruction.

Now, the magical thing is a little different, because if someone does not have magical ability, simply cannot perform spells, they cannot learn magic, there's no way to force their bodies to perform it. The books have a term, "Squib," which means the opposite of Mudbloods (someone from an all-magical family who has no magical ability).

But the disapproval I feel from many Jewish people feels the same as the Mudblood situation. I feel like they're saying, "Your family is not good enough, I do not care that you study Judaism/magic all the time or that you talk about interfaith/Muggle relations or that you excel at Jewish subjects/magic or that you might become a rabbi/work for the Ministry of Magic, you're not good enough because your blood isn't 'pure.'" Same as Hermione (though fortunately without the violence). Unfortunately this also then ties into Nazi-like genetic determination, which is frightening and a very dangerous allusion to make.

Luckily, when I discuss this issue with people, a lot of them seem to start to understand a little better. To understand how devoted I am to Judaism. To understand how shocking it was to be told, at age 21, that no, I was not Jewish (in their opinion). To be asked about my birth parents, as though that should matter at all. They start to realize that maybe there should be alternative Jewish communities, where interfaith families and adopted children can find greater acceptance. At least, I hope that's what people think when they hear my story.

I encourage everyone to keep thinking about your own way of "drawing circles," as a rabbi once described it. Who do you consider a part of your religion? Who do you accept into your synagogue, your church, your mosque, your temple. Who fits? For you, if you're Catholic, is someone who uses birth control considered Catholic? If you're Muslim, is someone who drinks considered Muslim? If you're Jewish, is someone who does not observe Shabbat considered Jewish? Not everybody in the religion will answer the same way, not everyone will agree. Think about where you draw your own circles, and feel free to share your opinion in the comments.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson

*Sensitivity note for adoption situations: My parents are the ones who raised me. My birth parents are the ones who physically gave birth to me.

Should People Care About the Pope?

Hello, friends.

As many of you might have guessed, this post has been spurred by the recent announcement that the current pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, will resign by the end of the month. According to what I've read, it is the first time this has happened in 600 years. Wow.

I was pretty shocked to read the news, and for some reason, my immediate reaction was to inexplicably giggle for several long minutes. I certainly meant no disrespect, but it is the honest truth. This might have been brought on by my inability to fall asleep before 1 a.m. the night prior (believe me, 1 a.m. is way past my bedtime), but I suspect it also had a deeper root in my confusion about my own opinions on the pope. I was shocked by how few of my non-Catholic friends were interested, and it got me thinking about this whole situation.

As my Mom so astutely says, Pope John Paul II is a hard act to follow, and my main views of the papacy grew during the last years of his leadership of the Catholic church. He was a great man by almost all accounts, traveling to different countries and continents to foster peace and goodwill, and not just among Catholics, but among all peoples. He was the first pope ever (score!) to visit a Jewish synagogue, and worked hard (and unfortunately unsuccessfully) to bring peace to the Middle East. He was well loved by many around the world for his sincere efforts to make this world a better place. I once heard from an English professor of mine that JPII (John Paul II) held some antiquated views on women, but otherwise he seemed to stand as a representative of all that a human being can hope to achieve during their life on earth. I must admit I found him very inspiring. He is on a fast track to being beatified (I just love that word, it means "to be made a saint") because he was so holy during his lifetime.

Pope John Paul II

The most recent (still-current) pope, Pope Benedict, did not reach nearly the same popularity or recognition around the world, nor among non-Catholics, as Pope John Paul II did. He was the second pope ever to visit a Jewish synagogue, though, which is awesome. Otherwise, I do not know much of what else he has done over the past few years outside of the Catholic Church. He apparently feels that he can no longer physically serve in the role of pope because of his age.

Many questioned the decision several years ago to elect a pope who was so old (he's 85 now) and I even heard the quite cynical theory that he may have been chosen because there were no extremely strong candidates and his age would mean he would not live much longer (sounds horrible if it's true). But what about all of us non-Catholics? With Pope John Paul II, the great interfaith champion, gone now for several years, should we put any thought into the changing of leadership of a major world religion that is not our own? Simply put, should people care about the pope?

My quick answer would be this: everyone should probably care about the pope more than most non-Catholics do and less than many Catholics do.

Allow me to explain. My experience with the Catholic religion has been long and deep. Growing up I learned a whole bunch about the religion from my mother, from various friends at school, and most recently by living with several Catholic girls for a few months last fall in college. I would consider myself fairly well-versed in Catholicism, and I probably care more about the "changing of the pope" than I should as a Jewish person. But it affects many people I love very much, and I will continue to hope that the next pope will use his power in a way that he will live up to the interfaith legacy Pope John Paul II left behind more than Pope Benedict has.

I think non-Catholics should certainly care about the pope to some extent. Whether or not it makes us happy, the Catholic church, with its millions of members around the world, has a lot of power, with its members, with various governments, in the media. Just as with any other large world organization, we should maintain some awareness of the pope because of the power he holds. It may not be fair that the world follows Catholic changes of power more than they follow decisions within movements of Judaism, or Zoroastrianism, or Presbyterianism, or Unitarian Universalism, for example, but that is the way it stands today.

Which points to another opinion I have, which is that those directly invested in the outcome of the choice of the new pope (Catholic people) and other very interested observers (like me) should probably be less interested than we are. Yes, even Catholic individuals should only care about the pope to a certain extent. The pope is a man like any other man, possibly holier than some (I do not know enough about any popes other than JPII to claim this definitively) but also probably less holy than others. No one is perfect. (Though I have loved the images of "brackets" a la March madness that have popped up regarding who might become the next pope. The odds are unfortunately against any American becoming pope next. Darn!)

In Judaism, being a rabbi is synonymous with being a teacher. Rabbis are meant to lead us in our religious learning, and are not seen as being selected directly by G-d (as far as I know). I think a lot of people assign too much weight to their religious leaders, not just members of the Catholic Church, I am simply using this as a case study. Religious leaders are people, certainly much more educated in their religion than lay people are, but still: just people. I think my giggling on hearing the news was really just my shock at how much I cared about the news about the pope's resignation, a feeling I imagine stems from my close relationships with some wonderful Catholic people, like my Mama.

So I vote that we non-Catholics pay attention. Religious news in important, whether you are an atheist or a devout adherent of some religion, religion affects us all to some extent. But we also need perspective, because in the end, isn't religion supposed to just help us live our lives in a better, more moral and loving way? Whether or not a leader here, or in Rome, or in Israel or India or China or Utah or wherever decides to make decisions about our religion, in the end, we all have to do what we feel is right. Religion can only take morality so far.

With that said, I have a question: Does anyone have any good JPII quotes? Please write them in the comments if you do, I'd love to find some to add to my quote book (yes, I have a quote book).

Oh, by the way, a bit of foreshadowing: The rumor going around is that an article of mine will be up somewhere else online on Monday. I'll re-post it here as soon as it goes live.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson

Jews Are Not A Minority

Hello, friends.

"Jews Are Not A Minority." Okay, okay, I'm just kidding. Jews are a minority basically everywhere (except for Israel). But living with my new roommate this year has taught me what it means to really be a minority...because she's Zoroastrian.

Zoroastrianism is a fascinating religion. Many of my peers have only heard of it because they took AP World History in high school (and that was honestly my only experience of it before now). I have done some significant Googling on it since August, and talk every so often with my roomie about her religious practices as well. I'm still working on learning about it, so maybe I'll have a later post about the religion when I know more. But I'll leave it for now at the basic explanation that Zoroastrianism is considered monotheistic, it is possibly older than Judaism, and it does not involve Jesus of Nazareth.

I live in a very unique "dorm" on campus, a Lodge, where all seven of us girls practice different religions to some extent. What're the odds, especially in southern Virginia? We've got Jewish, Zoroastrian, Catholic, Unitarian Universalist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Muslim/Catholic. I feel like I share the most in terms of religious/world beliefs with my Zoroastrian roommate, and our Lodgemate who is Unitarian Universalist. This by no means implies that I completely diverge with the other girls, nor that I am closer friends with these two girls, but I just feel great similarities with them because we just seem to view the world in very similar ways.

Why is this? Why do we have similar opinions on religion, on the way we want to live our lives, on the world? Especially with my roommate, does it simply have to do the fact that Zoroastrianism and Judaism developed around the same time in history? Does it have to do with the three of us not having Jesus as the center of our religion? Or is it related to factors outside of religion, something more to do with our families' attitudes and cultural pasts? Whatever the deeper, theological reasons, I definitely feel a kinship particularly with my roommate.

I think it has a lot to do with our status as religious minorities. Whenever I talk about my research on antisemitism with other people, they are usually Jewish and understand where I'm coming from, or Christian and feel bad for the Jewish plight. But with her, it is different. I now feel a little guilty whenever I talk about Jews as a minority, because I cannot help but think about her much smaller religion. Jews certainly have faced a terrible history of unfounded prejudice, that is for certain, but in American today, can we be considered a true "minority?" When popular TV shows like NCIS have Jewish rituals thrown in without any explanation for a lay audience under the assumption that they will understand, when even non-Jews adopt Yiddish idioms like "oy vey" and "mensch," it can be hard to feel truly put-upon, our religion is so culturally present.

I talk with her, and realize that even as a strong advocate for interfaith, I myself know almost nothing about her faith. She speaks of holidays that I have never heard mentioned in mainstream media, and to attend her religious school as a child she had to actually drive to another state just to find a community that was right for her family. I hope to learn more about this interesting faith from her over the next few months before graduation, because I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be even more similar to Judaism than Christianity is. Whether or not it is, though, does not necessarily matter: I remain strong friends with many Christian individuals, and non-friends with some Jewish individuals. But it is still nice to feel a connection with someone religiously, especially when I am so far from my tight Jewish community.

I want to close this post with an excellent trivia question I picked up from the IFYC (Interfaith Youth Core--you should Google them, they're awesome):

"Which U.S. President, while addressing a Jewish community and affirming America’s commitment to interfaith cooperation, insisted that, 'the Government of the United States…gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance?'"

It was George Washington. Even back in 1790, our great country had strong interfaith principles at work. We just need to continue that legacy!

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson