Jewish Popularity: Everybody Really Does Love a Nice Jewish Girl (or Boy)

A racist, who goes by the initials A.J., recently wrote a delightful article for a hate site about how President-elect Barack Obama is a Jewish creation designed to subvert morality and push "Jewish" legislation about abortion, universal health care, gay-straight equality, the death penalty, etc. (Yawn.)

http://tworca.org/barack_obama.html

"It is purely Jewish money from billiionaire currency con-artist George Soros, Jew money-bags Lew Susman, Jew movie moguls Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and a thousand Katz's, Cohen's, Weinstein's, and Einstein's and Bernstein's in New York and Hollywood that are breathing life into this man-made mongrel mud-man [sic]." A.J. also points out that David Axelrod, Obama's "chief political strategist" is one of the Chosen People.

I point out this anti-Semitism only to say some people still hate us and see us as the movers and shakers behind every single major development in the world. These people are the ones who seek out the last names of the founders/owners of Facebook, Starbucks, and Google and write silly blogs about how every new popular company is run by a Jew. Obama's victory is just the latest event we supposedly masterminded (although I guess my Jewish friend Cody--an NRA member who voted for McCain--didn't get the memo.)

The neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and klansmen are not going anywhere; they're here to stay. And Obama's historic win--supported by 77% of Jewish voters--is only going to energize them. Obama has already been the vicitm of stated, planned assassination attempts.

But as much as we should be aware of this hatred, it's important to keep things in perspective. And that perspective is fairly sunny!! Jews have triumphed in this society--individually, culturally, and spiritually--and are among the most popular groups of people in the western world. Far from hating us, and even pretty far from being indifferent to us, (almost) everybody loves us. A rabbi once famously said about the threat of intermarriage: "The greatest threat to Judaism is no longer that gentiles want to kill us. It's that gentiles want to marry us."

So instead of drilling into the heads of Jewish kids and Hebrew school students that everybody despises Jews and that Jews must be careful because we're always one step away from another Shoah, what if we balanced that by also showing them how so many Jews have succeeded in this country without hiding his or her Jewishness? What if we showed them how Judaism is a major religion that attracts many people who were not born Jewish? How Jewish theology is currently an attractive option in the market place of spiritual ideals?

The first reason we should share this positive balance with our kids and students is that it will surely make them more emotionally healthy people. I have no research to back this up, but my own intuition tells me it isn't good for kids to constantly, obsessively read/hear/learn about our history of pogroms and gas chambers. That sad aspect of our history is definitely important, but it's better to balance that with stories of other ethnic groups' oppression and stories about Jewish achievement in the U.S. and Europe.

The other reason to share this positivity with kids is that IT IS THE TRUTH!!

In proportion, more Christians convert to Judaism every year than vice versa. Nearly every synagogue has active conversion classes. A woman from the Reform temple I do not attend converted for her ex-husband in 1999, and she has remained Jewish even after the 2002 divorce. Even though her initial reasons for conversion were more about her relationship than her spirituality, she has become a Jew in heart and soul.

There have also been recent reports that Judaism is attracting large numbers of black people. In fact, a black Christian church in the south suddenly saw a mass conversion. After exploring the faith as a group, every single member came to the conclusion that Judaism was a bitter fit with their personal beliefs than was Christianity. Everyone studied with a rabbi and they converted en masse. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, this is happening more and more (although not in the same dramatic fashion as the mass conversion.)

"For a black male to put on a kippah and go wandering around in a predominantly black community, you get the strangest looks," said Pamela Harris, who converted along with her kippah-sporting husband Jim ("Judaism Drawing More Black Americans.")

Another black woman, Latesha Jones, was introduced to the faith by befriending some Jews. Because Jews don't proseletize, Ms. Jones studied her friends' faith on her own, and she asked questions and went to shabbos service. Soon after she went through the conversion. "I felt welcome," she said. "I felt like this is my place."

Even though I've experienced my share of prejudice, those instances are far outweighed by the genuine interest and respect my friends show my faith and heritage. Even friends who are Christians or Muslims or atheists are able to carry on conversations with me about the Talmud and bar mitzvahs and Hanukkah without being judgmental or hateful. And I have so many straight non-Jewish male friends who ask me to set them up with Jewish girls, which is apparently a common occurence in the U.S., given the near-constant warnings about inter-marraige from right-leaning rabbis.

Face it. We are popular. Yes, some hate us, just as they hate people who are black, Latino, gay, or Asian. But most people admire Jewish singers, artists, writers, and entertainers without seeing the disproportionate number of successful Jews as being evidence of group control or world domination. Some people are even interested in joining the tribe.

Cute teen-idol pop star Jesse McCartney (not Jewish) recently told the media he uses the Jewish dating site JDate to meet girls. He said, "One of my best buddies is a Conservative Jew, and he told me about JDate and I set up an account to meet cute girls."

Well, good luck, Jesse. I hope you find a nice girl. Even if you don't convert.