#halfjews — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #halfjews, aggregated by home.social.
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In addition to admiring Dorothy Parker's wit and literary virtuosity, I feel linked to her because we are both....what term should I use?-- "half jewish". Ugh, no! Observant Jews reject this term because the traditional rule is one is either a Jew through matrilineal descent or conversion or not a Jew The division is binary, so no third status exists. Even those Reform authorities who are prepared to consider patrilineal descent plus a Jewish upbringing as sufficient for community membership do not entertain associate membership; one either is or isn't a Jew. In addition, the term "half jew", with its undertones of mongrel pollution of pedigree, has more than a faint sound of antisemitism.
-- "of Jewish heritage". Hopelessly unspecific - does it apply to a person whose only known Jewish forebear was a great great grandfather? In addition, it is also unfortunately reminiscent of the use of the genteelism "Jewish person" instead of the supposedly offensive "Jew" , similar to the replacement of the blunt "die" by "pass". So no to that one too!
-- "of patrilineal Jewish decent". Accurate, but a horrible mouthful that sounds like a piece of medico-legal terminology rather than everyday English. I suppose, however, it's the best I can think of right now; if you have any better suggestions, please put them in replies to this post!
But wait! There's more....
Dorothy Parker | National Postal Museum
#DorothyParker #Jews #HalfJews #JewishHeritage #WhoIsAJew #Matrilinearity #Patrilinearity
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🧵1/3
In addition to admiring Dorothy Parker's wit and literary virtuosity, I feel linked to her because we are both....what term should I use?-- "half jewish". Ugh, no! Observant Jews reject this term because the traditional rule is one is either a Jew through matrilineal descent or conversion or not a Jew The division is binary, so no third status exists. Even those Reform authorities who are prepared to consider patrilineal descent plus a Jewish upbringing as sufficient for community membership do not entertain associate membership; one either is or isn't a Jew. In addition, the term "half jew", with its undertones of mongrel pollution of pedigree, has more than a faint sound of antisemitism.
-- "of Jewish heritage". Hopelessly unspecific - does it apply to a person whose only known Jewish forebear was a great great grandfather? In addition, it is also unfortunately reminiscent of the use of the genteelism "Jewish person" instead of the supposedly offensive "Jew" , similar to the replacement of the blunt "die" by "pass". So no to that one too!
-- "of patrilineal Jewish decent". Accurate, but a horrible mouthful that sounds like a piece of medico-legal terminology rather than everyday English. I suppose, however, it's the best I can think of right now; if you have any better suggestions, please put them in replies to this post!
But wait! There's more....
Dorothy Parker | National Postal Museum
#DorothyParker #Jews #HalfJews #JewishHeritage #WhoIsAJew #Matrilinearity #Patrilinearity
-
🧵1/3
In addition to admiring Dorothy Parker's wit and literary virtuosity, I feel linked to her because we are both....what term should I use?-- "half jewish". Ugh, no! Observant Jews reject this term because the traditional rule is one is either a Jew through matrilineal descent or conversion or not a Jew The division is binary, so no third status exists. Even those Reform authorities who are prepared to consider patrilineal descent plus a Jewish upbringing as sufficient for community membership do not entertain associate membership; one either is or isn't a Jew. In addition, the term "half jew", with its undertones of mongrel pollution of pedigree, has more than a faint sound of antisemitism.
-- "of Jewish heritage". Hopelessly unspecific - does it apply to a person whose only known Jewish forebear was a great great grandfather? In addition, it is also unfortunately reminiscent of the use of the genteelism "Jewish person" instead of the supposedly offensive "Jew" , similar to the replacement of the blunt "die" by "pass". So no to that one too!
-- "of patrilineal Jewish decent". Accurate, but a horrible mouthful that sounds like a piece of medico-legal terminology rather than everyday English. I suppose, however, it's the best I can think of right now; if you have any better suggestions, please put them in replies to this post!
But wait! There's more....
Dorothy Parker | National Postal Museum
#DorothyParker #Jews #HalfJews #JewishHeritage #WhoIsAJew #Matrilinearity #Patrilinearity