Yin yang yamulkas, lo mein for the kids, Chinese lanterns - these all spell bigrotry and rejection to me. Isn't there a halacha that forbids refering to a ger as a ger?
I disagree. As a mixed-heritage person, I find that the best thing for me is to affirm my Jewish affiliation but acknowledge that my "other" heritage adds depth to who I am. Why not celebrate Cece's heritage with some Chinese culture? It's all part of who she is. Plus, your comment suggests that being Chinese automatically makes you a ger. In fact, there have been Chinese Jews for centuries. I'm sure they ate some kosher version of Chinese cuisine, just as Eastern European Jews ate adaptations of Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian foods. Ever go into a Ukrainian restaurant? Surprise! What you think of as Jewish food is mostly plain ol' Eastern European, minus the pork and dairy-in-the-meat.
My problem with the blog is with the use of the word "bloodline." I think we need to stop using "blood" and "bloodline" when what we mean is "culture" and "heritage." There's no such thing as Jewish blood. Matrilineally-defined Jewishness doesn't refer to blood; it refers to the fact that Jewish women were frequently the victims of rape, and the community decided to accept the children of Jewish mothers regardless of who the father might have been. Pretty cool, IMHO. Also, the matrilineal rule acknowledges that for most of the last 2000 years, mothers have had the greatest influence on their children, especially during their first three years. The Jewish mother was expected to set the tone for the home, keeping it a Jewish one. The matrilineal rule honors the important influence of mothers, and we should recognize this as one of the areas where Jewish women have been given their due. So let's stop the racism and refrain from thinking of the matrilineal rule as being about blood. It isn't.
Yin yang yamulkas, lo mein for the kids, Chinese lanterns - these all spell bigrotry and rejection to me. Isn't there a halacha that forbids refering to a ger as a ger?
I disagree. As a mixed-heritage person, I find that the best thing for me is to affirm my Jewish affiliation but acknowledge that my "other" heritage adds depth to who I am. Why not celebrate Cece's heritage with some Chinese culture? It's all part of who she is. Plus, your comment suggests that being Chinese automatically makes you a ger. In fact, there have been Chinese Jews for centuries. I'm sure they ate some kosher version of Chinese cuisine, just as Eastern European Jews ate adaptations of Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian foods. Ever go into a Ukrainian restaurant? Surprise! What you think of as Jewish food is mostly plain ol' Eastern European, minus the pork and dairy-in-the-meat.
My problem with the blog is with the use of the word "bloodline." I think we need to stop using "blood" and "bloodline" when what we mean is "culture" and "heritage." There's no such thing as Jewish blood. Matrilineally-defined Jewishness doesn't refer to blood; it refers to the fact that Jewish women were frequently the victims of rape, and the community decided to accept the children of Jewish mothers regardless of who the father might have been. Pretty cool, IMHO. Also, the matrilineal rule acknowledges that for most of the last 2000 years, mothers have had the greatest influence on their children, especially during their first three years. The Jewish mother was expected to set the tone for the home, keeping it a Jewish one. The matrilineal rule honors the important influence of mothers, and we should recognize this as one of the areas where Jewish women have been given their due. So let's stop the racism and refrain from thinking of the matrilineal rule as being about blood. It isn't.