Can A Jew Tell A Jew By Looking?
Am I a Jew?
My mother says I am.
Is she a Jew?
Her mother said we weren’t–I’ve reasons to doubt her both ways.
Was she a Jew?
Were her sister and other daughter Jews?
What is a Jew?
A colleague of mine, named Epstein, is Jewish (go figure). We had this conversation. At one point he gave me a look of complete guilelessness and asked "Do you feel guiltily all the time?"
I LOLed.
Am I a Jew?
I contemplated the question “What is a Jew?” about the time I knew you (having Jewish parents can raise that question).
I am not Jewish religiously, so for me, if I am Jewish, it must be something else.
The Something Else I settled on then and am still comfortable with 30 years later is that I am a Jew by heritage and culture. You can throw genetics in there, too, if you want.
Comment by Mary Westheimer — June 6, 2009 @ 12:30 pm EST
The odd thing is I had already started studying the work of Abraham Abulafia before the question even came up.
Comment by isilion — June 11, 2009 @ 4:15 pm EST