Posts from — August 2007

JVoices posted an excerpt from Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz’s new book, “The Colors of Jews.” Ms. Kaye/Kantrowitz does actually raise some interesting questions in this piece. But DK/Kvetcher is not interested in seriously addressing those questions in this post, because Kaye/Kantrowitz isn’t either. Not if this excerpt is any indication.

However we problematize Jewish/whiteness, when I, with my–in Lenora’s words–“pink� skin, am stopped by police, they do not assume I am a criminal; they smile, wave me on, say, We’re looking for a car like this. Sorry.

They do not assume you are a criminal because you do not match the description of the suspect they are seeking. Ultimately, they are not looking for a car like yours, but a person who is not you. They have every reason to apologize for inconveniencing you. Oy, the police brutality! They were polite to you since you weren’t who they were looking for. THOSE BASTARDS!!!!

“Faddist White Studies fails to acknowledge the larger context of racism against which whiteness exists.�

And far-Leftists fail to recognize anything matters about whites outside of racial oppression.

“Official categories notwithstanding, in 1988 Ethiopian Mulugeta Seraw was beaten to death by white skinheads in Portland, Oregon, for being a black man on the street.�

Would you like some names of whites and Jews who were killed by blacks or other minorities because they were white/Jewish? Because I don’t have to go back to 1988. Oh, right. That’s because in such cases, the assailants are the true victims of racism. They’re Murderers of Color!

“The Turner Diaries, a scarily popular novel written and published in 1978 by neo-Nazi William Pierce under the pseudonym “Andrew Macdonald,� depicts impending race war in service of imposing absolute segregation. The novel describes the gruesome hanging of thousands of “white women who were married to or living with Blacks, with Jews, or other non-White males.�21 Significantly it includes Jews, along with mixed race people, as “mongrels� who need to be killed first because they confuse things. White supremacists want their racial differences clear.�

This book is not popular with whites generally. This book is popular with hardcore neo-Nazis. Please do not conflate neo-Nazis with whites generally.

Love, especially sex, across racial borders is enraging and terrifying to white supremacists; perhaps merely titillating or fetishistic to white liberal racists.

This view is not popular with whites generally. This view is popular with hardcore white supremacists. Please do not conflate white supremacists with whites generally.

And the other Jews, the ones who don’t look white, those who by anyone’s definition are not white: Jewish African Americans, Jews from the Middle East, Latin America, Ethiopia, the Caribbean, India, China. Jews of any race who chose Judaism.

Anyone who chooses Judaism is what we in the traditional Jewish world call a convert. They are welcome, but individuals do not nullify established communities.

Biracial and multiracial Jews. Children of mixed marriages.

This is not just about being a Jew. This is also about a hyphenated identity.

Children of color adopted by Ashkenazim.

Whatever that is, it isn’t really their choice, is it?

Invisible, marginalized, not even imagined.

How are they marginalized? Because we don’t pretend most Jewish kids are from Korea or Ecuador? And imagined? What are we supposed to do all day, imagine all the different types of peoples who could be Jews and maybe are somewhere? Who cares?

The world is falling apart around us. We should be mobilizing to save the environment. It’s probably too late. We are probably fucked. All of us. White. Black. Not White by Choice. White here but not in Poland. But instead of activism that could save the planet, the far-Left wants us to whine…MORE…about a white racism they haven’t bitched about enough. As if!

Ladies and Gentlemen, give a big hand to the far-Left. They. Are. Useless.

As most of you are probably aware, our beloved Annie has exited the blog world (temporarily!), but we have some new friends at Jewbiquitous. And apparently, one of them is sensitive to religious freedoms. The Pedant insists* that a Liberian woman who smuggled in monkey meat should be allowed to do so, because, according to The Pedant, “the food-grade monkey parts are for some religious purpose, and therefore she should get a free pass.�

The Pedant asks, “How far should exemptions for religious observance go?”

I think the question is inverted. A main point of religious freedom in this country originally was the freedom to not be religious. Not to allow for money meat smuggled in illegally. Sorry, Pedant. I do not agree with you. Smuggling in monkey meat to the U.S. is not okay. You are wrong.*

So much “religious sensitivity” and exemption is demanded. Some of it is perhaps a bit excessive. There, I said it. The west now has veiled Muslim women refusing to be identified by male bus drivers, taxi drivers refusing to take seeing eye dogs, and Christian workers being denied food trolleys during Ramadan.

And if banning monkey snacks keeps a few fanatics out, I say all the better. I would go further, and ban pita and all chickpea and lamb based sandwiches. Except in my neighborhood. Because I’m lactose intolerant, and I should be given a dietary exemption.

*(No, not really, but let’s haze The Pedant anyway, and march over to Jewbiquitous, and demand to know why someone is defending smuggling monkey meat into our country).

I have been profiled. For my athletic ability. No, I am not kidding. I even got on base (once).

I bet you had no idea.

Full story

Bet-Nahrain, an affiliate of Assyrian National Congress (ANC), has an interesting understanding of the myth of the Tower of Babel. Apparently, some Assyrians feel this Biblical myth was aimed at them.

Ann-Margaret “Maggie” Yonan writes,

Till this day Babylon implies a degenerate and corrupt civilization that was destroyed by God. How could a degenerate and corrupt society produce such a magnificent culture and civilization? Assyria was known as God’s handwork, but our enemies resented the magnificent culture we had created through our literature, sculpture and science and called for Babylon’s destruction. The Jews wrote that Assyria built the Tower of Babel to fight with God when in fact we built the tower of observation to study the stars and to perfect the science of Astronomy.

What’s amazing is not that this group published an essay about this perceived Biblical slight like it was yesterday, but expects everyone else sees it the same way. Like everyone thinks this is an attack specifically on the Assyrian people. As if when we meet an Assyrian (not a Syrian, but an Assyrian), we are thinking, “Oh, one of those idiots who thinks he can build a tower up to God. What a dumbass!”

You got to love Near-Eastern people. We just don’t let things go, and it’s always about us.

Loved your post. Nothing makes male circumcision quite as appealing as when feminists support it incessantly, especially with graphics! Isn’t there a better way to express one’s *love* of cock?

This one’s for you, KRG. Cause I know you’ll miss me at Jewschool.

Some mothers might claim that the child would be psychologically and physically harmed by these procedures (I wonder what our East African Muslim fellow humans think of that?)

The thing that’s unusual with FGM is that generally American courts never ever stay out of cases involving religion such as this, no matter how mild the FGM.

[picture of FGM diagrams deleted]

The U.S. is out of line with other Western countries in terms of its attitude towards circumcision.

But things are changing.

The Forward reports,

The highest-level case in American history involving the right to circumcision is slated to be heard this fall, when the Oregon Supreme Court rules on whether a father can have his 12-year-old son undergo the procedure[…]The acceptance of the case by Oregon’s highest court is surprising, because judges generally grant a wide degree of latitude to custodial parents — so much so, in fact, that the state’s Court of Appeals rejected the mother’s case without issuing an opinion. If the Oregon Supreme Court decides to review the merits of the father’s plan for circumcision, it will almost inevitably weigh in on two related issues: the right of custodial parents to guide their children’s religious upbringings, and the weight that religious considerations should be given when considering the welfare of a child.

“Are parents only authorized to make decisions that a secular decision-maker would make?� asked Marc Stern, general counsel for the American Jewish Congress, which is filing a friend-of-the-court brief in support of James Boldt. “We have to win this case, and win it big, in my view� Stern said.

And what would Marc Stern say if the child expresses a preference to not be circumcised? This is not the case…the child’s wishes are not clear.

But would he argue that he should still be circumcised?

What would you say?

The JTA reports,

New members of JTA’s senior staff, from left, are: Daniel Sieradski, director of digital media; Ami Eden, managing editor; and Uriel Heilman, associate editor.

This is a great sign for the JTA, but it is also critical for the health of Jewish media.

Back in the day, the Forward and The Tag slugged it out, and that competition was healthy for the Jewish population. We need such competition now as well.

Now, perhaps, we will have it.

This is good for the Jews.

Thanks to the JTA for letting me *borrow* their photo.

And good luck, fellas.

Because I don’t live there and because I am not a citizen there, I try not to dictate too many policies to the State of Israel. Not everyone agrees. Like, say, Sophie Glass over at the Lilith blog.

Ms. Glass writes,

I believe that it is important for Israel to accept the Sudanese refugees and that any housing, educational and health-care issues can be overcome by true political will. These refugees would not have been displaced had the international community intervened before the conflict mounted to its current humanitarian crisis. Many countries, namely the United States, have spoken-out against genocide in Darfur, but have not committed military forces due to political and logistical reasons. Actively accepting some of the 2.5 million Darfurian refugees is a non-military display of commitment to the lives of Darfurians.

I don’t speak for Israel, but I don’t think Ms. Glass does either. Israel has limited resources, and limited land. Absorbing “some” refugees could force them to end up grappling with pressure to absorb many, many more.

This is Holocaustism. Israel must not be pressured by Holocaustians to do any such thing. This is “tikkun olam� out of control. This won’t tikkun a damn thing.

You know who is on the floor laughing? The far-right. Comments I have read on a race realist site (hint: the smartest large one) include the following,

“Israel will suffer the same fate as Europe and the United States but in a faster process. The same Jewish Organizations that advocate for “open borders� in every Western country are now engineering the end of their “homeland�.

“Considering the last names of so many of the attorneys and civil rights activists who are responsible for the invasion of hispanic, muslim and african third worlders into this country all I can say is:

What goes around comes around.�

“Israel should welcome the cultural enrichment of the Africans. They should encourage third worlders to storm their borders because “diversity� is such a strength.�

“The Israelis will open their hearts to these poor unfortunate brothers from oppressed countries. I for one hope that Israel opens their borders and allows the downtrodden to come and share the land. There should be no borders in Israel. We are all a part of the human race.” [editor's note: This comment was meant sardonically. Trust me.]

“Considering the role played by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and Morris Seligman Dees’s SPLC (as well as the large numbers of “ordinaryâ€? American Jews who contribute to these groups financially) in supporting Third World immigration into the USA and doing everything in their power to cripple, demoralize and break White America, I think this is wonderful! Wonderful beyond measure!”

It reminds me of an old, terrible joke. Three elderly communist women were sitting playing Mahjon, talking about their sons’ success.

1st Jewish woman: My son is helping to build a workers’ paradise in Russia.

2nd Jewish woman: My son is helping to build a workers’ paradise in Cuba.

3rd Jewish woman: My son is in the export business in Israel.

First two Jewish women: And he isn’t building a workers’ paradise?

3rd Jewish woman: What, in our own country?

My point is, Jewish insanity about saving the world needs to be…directed. As I have explained elsewhere, the whole point of Darfur is not only about Darfur itself, but for some, about why Islam sucks. If you make the issue about why Israel is the problem, then the mainstream Jewish community will feel pressure to back off Darfur. Of course, I was opposed to this mission from the start. I worried it would bite us in the ass somehow.

It will probably get much worse, in the off chance that the social-Left Jews aren’t able to solve Africa’s problems. But don’t worry, at least we tried. And hey, that’s what counts guys! Look at all the goodwill the Neocons got us for backing Bush’s Democracy for the Middle East plan! Okay, so maybe it didn’t quite work out as planned. Well, no big whoop. But anyway, what could possibly go wrong here? Solving an African civil war…how hard can that be?

But remember, my tikkun olam social-left friends…not in our own country!

In an effort to shore up interest in the Reform Movement among rebellious, teenage boys, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, yesterday urged Reform Jewish leaders to consider promoting annual Nascar trips for teenage youth.

“Look, there is a misconception that the Reform Movement is the easy listening jazz movement, and we’re so much more than that!â€? said Rabbi Yoffie. “We’re pluralistic, and that can mean Nascar, or that can mean tzitzith…there isn’t one way to express your Judaism, and that’s the real message we are sending through Nascar trips.â€?

Hillary Leila Krieger reports in the Jerusalem Post,

Rather than bolstering the likelihood of students marrying within their race, attending once-a-week Sunday school programs actually slightly increases the chance of intermarriage, according to a newly published study[…]The study also found that attending congregational school two or more times a week hardly decreases students’ chances of intermarrying.

Cohen, who conducted the research for this study, offers some reasons that are speculative, but Failed Messiah offers a more interesting idea.
Failed Messiah writes,

I think a far more plausible explanation is that Judaism really has very little to offer normal people in this day and age. Certainly, whatever Judaism brings to the table is not enough to stop the average Jew from out-marrying.

I think because they have only a very vague idea of what Judaism the religion is. If they are happy in their homes and family lives, they associate Judaism with that. Their affiliation is cultural, not religious. As such, they choose to marry people who share their cultural and social outlook.

In other words, an argument can – and should – be made that secularism is a better force for Jewish continuity than religion.

This is only evident for Liberal Judaism. Liberal Judaism is a bad joke that keeps striving to outdo itself. For instance, the Reform Movement now “offers several prayers for sanctifying the sex-change process,“ including “two blessings authored by Rabbi Elliot Kukla for transitioning genders.�

This shit is off the wall, and no one needs Liberal (so-called) Judaism pretending to ritualize that which should not be ritualized in the name of Judaism at all by a movement suspiciously prone to adding new “blessings” for those who can’t be bothered to say the old ones.

But that’s Liberal Judaism. Of course most kids don’t take it seriously.

But I suspect that if secular Jews were taught Modern Orthodoxy, even while remaining secular, they would take Judaism much more seriously than if taught Reform Judaism. If the Jewish community were at all serious about promoting endogamy, they would offer a Modern Orthodox education to their youth. Right now, there is no such option for most non-Orthodox families. The closest thing they have is NCSY. And as we know, NCSY isn’t really Modern Orthodox. It’s co-ed Haredism, and while Haredism successfully promotes endogamy as well, the cost to the BTs (baal teshuvahs) and their families is high.

The haredi kiruvniks must not be given a blank check of concerns over intermarriage. There are many worse things than intermarriage. Like say, BT haredism. If the Orthodox world offers Modern Orthodox education and alternatives to our youth, and does so without deception, they should be supported, or at least, tolerated. But if the Orthodox world continues to prefer offering haredi outreach instead of Modern Orthodox education, we must do our best to strengthen the secular Jewish community’s resolve to disappear. The “spiritual Holocaust� is no Holocaust at all. It might be the best option usually on the table. And that’s the reason NCSY, Aish, and all the other mostly haredi organization hide inside ecumenical clothing. They know the liberal/secular Jewish community prefers intermarriage over ultra-Orthodoxy.

The only thing that will turn around the intermarriage rate is Orthodox outreach and education. But if that education is haredi, we are better sticking with a continuously rising intermarriage rate. Because if the only thing that can save Judaism is Haredism, then Judaism is not worth saving. Let the liberal and secular Jews escape with their lives, vocations, educations, and their families intact.

No Judaism at all is still better than too much Judaism.