Comments on: Jewish in Polynesia http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/ Just. One. Column. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:04:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chuck http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/comment-page-1/#comment-266584 Chuck Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:50:26 +0000 http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/#comment-266584 Grew up Jewish in Queens, NY in the 1960's in a neighborhood almost completely Jewish/NonOrthodox/Liberal/Democrat. That, along with a heavy reading of Jewish history let me to understand that Jewish values consisted of empathy, social justice, intellectual acuity, and tikkun, a tradition that I was quite proud to be a part of. What an eye opener it is to see Orthodox Repubicans, UltraOrthodox Rabbis cavorting with Rick Perry, Orthodox rabbis in Israel signing letters urging housing discrimination against Arabs, settlers on the West Bank contemptuous of the locals, and UltraOrthodox excited that they will get gender separated beaches on the Dead Sea. Maybe out in Hawaii there's only one variety of tomato, but if you look at various neighborhoods in Israel and New York, there are a whole lot more varieties. If they were alive today, many in my old neighborhood would conclude, perhaps with some justice, that some of those varieties of tomatos are not tomatos at all. They're nuts. Grew up Jewish in Queens, NY in the 1960′s in a neighborhood almost completely Jewish/NonOrthodox/Liberal/Democrat. That, along with a heavy reading of Jewish history let me to understand that Jewish values consisted of empathy, social justice, intellectual acuity, and tikkun, a tradition that I was quite proud to be a part of. What an eye opener it is to see Orthodox Repubicans, UltraOrthodox Rabbis cavorting with Rick Perry, Orthodox rabbis in Israel signing letters urging housing discrimination against Arabs, settlers on the West Bank contemptuous of the locals, and UltraOrthodox excited that they will get gender separated beaches on the Dead Sea. Maybe out in Hawaii there’s only one variety of tomato, but if you look at various neighborhoods in Israel and New York, there are a whole lot more varieties. If they were alive today, many in my old neighborhood would conclude, perhaps with some justice, that some of those varieties of tomatos are not tomatos at all. They’re nuts.

]]> By: RBL http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/comment-page-1/#comment-32472 RBL Tue, 18 Apr 2006 15:50:45 +0000 http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/#comment-32472 RBL here, Yes, it did ring true. Although my experience was obviously different, I did find it instructive that Jewishness was a whole lot more salient (and Hispanicity coded in an entirely different way) in the East as compared to in good old River City. It never really occured to me in high school (at least in my memory) to think that there was something particularly different about Jews. On that note, I think religion _in general_ wasn't all that salient a differentiator at our high school. To be honest, I'd be hard pressed to identify the religious backgrounds of _most_ of our friends -- except for the one's who've gotten married, of course. RBL here,

Yes, it did ring true. Although my experience was obviously different, I did find it instructive that Jewishness was a whole lot more salient (and Hispanicity coded in an entirely different way) in the East as compared to in good old River City. It never really occured to me in high school (at least in my memory) to think that there was something particularly different about Jews. On that note, I think religion _in general_ wasn’t all that salient a differentiator at our high school. To be honest, I’d be hard pressed to identify the religious backgrounds of _most_ of our friends — except for the one’s who’ve gotten married, of course.

]]> By: Alex http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/comment-page-1/#comment-32465 Alex Tue, 18 Apr 2006 04:04:14 +0000 http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/#comment-32465 RBL -- Does that what I say ring true to you? Both in terms of ethnicity and also my own position in our merry little band? RBL — Does that what I say ring true to you? Both in terms of ethnicity and also my own position in our merry little band?

]]> By: RBL http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/comment-page-1/#comment-32462 RBL Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:45:10 +0000 http://alex.golub.name/log/2006/04/17/jewish-in-polynesia/#comment-32462 RBL here, For the record, my family's place in Tahoe is _not_ a time-share (how's _that_ for a finely-demarcated class boundary?). A nice piece of work, by the way -- fun to read, and thought-provoking to boot. RBL here,

For the record, my family’s place in Tahoe is _not_ a time-share (how’s _that_ for a finely-demarcated class boundary?).

A nice piece of work, by the way — fun to read, and thought-provoking to boot.

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