Judaism Is More Than Just a Religion

Dear Anonymous,

On Thursday, we had a brief conversation about being Jewish. You might not remember this conversation because it was a few days ago and you’ve got better things to think about, so I’ll fill you in on the important stuff. I was talking to a few friends and somehow we got on the topic of being white, and I said, “But I’m Jewish, so it doesn’t count,” and you joined in to say that it wasn’t right to claim Judaism as a race because it’s a religion. I then told you that Jews in the world are a vast minority, and you told me that you know lots of Jews and that it still wasn’t good to group Judaism as a race because it might offend some people. At the time it really bothered me, and even now, it still bothers me. I was unable to articulate why, although now I’ve finally figured it out.

Being Jewish is more than just a religion. It’s a religion, ethnicity, and nationality all tied in to one. When I say that I am Jewish, not only do I mean that I practice Judaism. I also mean that I identify ethnically as a Jew. I am Caucasian and anyone that takes one look at me would describe me as white, but I am more than that. I am white and Jewish. It’s like when someone with interracial parents is automatically labeled as black, despite actually being half white. It’s the part that fewer people see, but that is still a large part of my identity.

Saying that being Jewish is merely a religion is offensive to me and other practicing Jews. I know that you in no way meant to be anti-semitic, but that’s what happened. It’s a simple mistake that I’m sure many people have made. But if religion were the only factor of Judaism, there wouldn’t be such persistent persecution of us. This hits especially close to home after the shooting in Pittsburgh, as I’m sure you understand.

I don’t mean to give you a lecture, and I feel guilty even as I’m writing this out. But I wanted to articulate my feelings and let you know that what you said was insensitive to my culture. For me, and many Jewish people like me, Judaism is a way of life. It gives me an entirely different perception of the world than I know many Christians have. It brings with it microaggressions and actual aggressions that would never occur to anyone who wasn’t looking to see. I don’t blame you for not knowing about the depth of Judaism, as many people are unaware how much of an impact it has on the lives of many Jews.

All religious practices aside, there are many things that show that Judaism is an ethnicity too. Herodotus in 480 BC gave the earliest definition of an ethnicity, with four key features: a shared descent, a shared language, shared sanctuaries and sacrifices, and shared customs. All of these apply to people of Jewish faith and lineage. In 1978, anthropologist Ronald Cohen stated that identification of an ethnic group by outsiders not included in that group does not always coincide with the self-identification of said group. People outside of these ethnicities often cannot lay a perfect line as to where they start and end.

Jewish identity encompasses religion, culture, and ancestry due to the fact that many Jews were and are still considered to be Jewish if their mother is Jewish, despite whether they practice it or not. That must mean that this trait can be traced through mitochondrial DNA (which is only passed down through mothers). This idea that Judaism is hereditary can be proven by Tay-Sachs disease. Tay-Sachs disease is a genetic disorder in which a child’s cognitive function and development essentially begin to revert around 3-6 months of age, due to the destruction of nerve cells. This is a rare disorder that results in the infant’s death not long after onset. In the US, there are fewer than 20,000 cases per year. However, about 1 in 3,600 Ashkenazi Jews are affected by it. About 1 in 27 Ashkenazi Jews and 1 in 125 Sephardic or Mizrahi Jews are carriers. I won’t spend too long on the specifics, but a four base pair insertion in exon 11 of the HEXA gene, also known as a 1278insTATC mutation, results in the infantile form of Tay-Sachs. In the early 1900s, it was thought to be a Jewish disease, until there were reports of its occurrence in non-Jewish children. In fact, this was part of what led to the dislike of Jewish immigrants from Americans. There were vast Jewish migrations from the late 1800s to early 1900s, and many Americans attributed the prevalence of Tay-Sachs (among other things) to their perceptions of Jews’ inferiority. There are even more than one disorder like this, that affect Jews at higher rates than the general population (they’re conveniently called “Jewish Genetic Disorders”). (Also sorry for all the science and numbers; I’m a biology gal.)

For many people, Jewish identity is deeply intertwined with the idea of ancestry dating back to the historical Kingdom of Israel. It was largely depopulated by the Roman Empire in first century CE. This eviction of Jews is known as the Diaspora, and it led to the spread of Jews across the world. It’s also the reason there are Ashkenazi Jews (from Europe) and Sephardic Jews (from Iberia). Many people also view Judaism as closer knit and more connected to other aspects of identity than other religions because of the fact that it is a non-proselytizing religion, unlike Christian and Muslim identities. The idea of Judaism was never, “let’s see how big we can get this,” unlike with Christians, who viewed their beliefs as something that should be spread to all of humanity, regardless of nationality.

Going back to our conversation on Thursday, I would also like to point out that Jews are, in fact, a minority in the world. America and Israel have the highest percentages of Jews in the world, and make up about 83% of the total Jewish population, but even the US only has about 6 million of us. Jewish people make up less than .2% of the entire world’s population. We are an extremely small group of people relatively, and just because you know a lot of Jewish people does not make this less true. There are lots of Jews in academia, so of course you, as a professor, know many of them. That isn’t me being stereotypical. When people have their property stripped from them, what else can they do? Study. Then they teach their kids to study, who then teach theirs, and then their grandkids grow up loving learning and then this goes on for generations. There’s a reason 20% of the Nobel Prize winners are Jewish. The reason public schools get off on Jewish holidays is because in the past, so many teachers have been unavailable on those days due to them having worship. Even in my own family, this trend is apparent. On my mom’s side, there are six cousins in her generation. Three of them are professors. Another is a teacher for special ed students. So, of course you know lots of Jews and don’t see them as much of a minority as we are.

Again, I don’t want to lecture you, or make you feel bad, or appear condescending in any way. I just wanted to let you know that it comes off as antisemitic when you say that Judaism is only a religion, because it’s so much more than that. I don’t blame you for not realizing the depth of Judaism, and you’re not the only person that has said something like that to me. Believe me, if this was the most antisemitic comment/microaggression I get, I’d be walking on sunshine everyday. But it’s a fairly common occurrence. And I know that you care, and that you don’t want to offend anyone; all your students can tell that just by the way you apologize at the end of your “controversial” lectures. I know you meant no harm at all and were only trying to help me sound less offensive myself. But I thought you should know that in doing so, you came off as disrespectful and rather hurtful. I’ve sat on this for a few days and have only now been able to articulate what I was feeling and why. Thank you for understanding.

Yours truly,

An offended but understanding Jewish student