Signs, Witnesses, and Testimonies
Monday, November 06, 2006
I just got back from lunch. One of our coworkers was recently married, so we decided to throw her a luncheon. My part was to pick up a sandwich from a local deli; not a problem. When I went to pay, I caught the cashier looking from my face, to my neck, and back to my face again with a level of suspicion that I hadn't noticed before. Then, I remembered that I was wearing one of my Magen David necklaces today. I watched the man carefully as he counted change, waiting for some sort of reaction, of which there was none. I simply received my change and left.
That kind of thing hasn't happened to me in a while, but it has happened before. And, you know what? It felt good in a way. As you begin living out your Jewish life- I mean, really living out your Jewish life, not just talking Jewish around your Jewish friends- you start noticing how differently you're treated by the gentiles around you. I say "gentiles" without giving you the specific description of any of them, because whether they're Asian, Arab, Latino, African, American, or European, male or female, young or old, it doesn't matter. What matters is that they specifically notice that you're Jewish, and that strikes enough of a chord in them that you know they're taking special notice of the fact that you're Jewish.
I've had a variety of these experiences, mostly benign, some charming, and some downright creepy. They're all worth noting and will most likely be brought up from time to time as conversation permits. However, the true focus, the true point is not in the experiences themselves, but what I've been able to learn from them. Each time someone gives me a suspicious look, a nervous smile, or comes off with a rude remark, I am reminded that I am pleasing to HaShem. Yeshua taught us that, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." [John 15:18-19]
It has been my experience that, in America, Jews (especially Messianic Jews) do not fully comprehend Antisemitism, nor do they believe that it can happen to them. This is mainly due to the fact that the American Jewish community on the whole is incredibly insulated from the larger nation and the world, including Israel. In truth, outside of the greater New York metropolitan region, Jews are few and far between, with the exception of places like Chicago, L.A., and Dallas, and retirement capitols like Boca. It is a fact that there are many Jewish people all over the country in drips and drabs, but for the most part we stick to metropolitan centers and we stay to ourselves.
When I travelled to Texas for my graduate degree, I learned from the small Jewish community there that some Texans still honestly believe that Jews have horns. My friend from West Virginia told me once that I was the first Jew she'd ever met. To the majority of the country, the Hebrews were a people that existed in Bible times and mattered a whole heck of a lot-- until they killed Christ. Top that off with a good amount of socialist-bred Antisemitism coming out of the academic world, the Muslim population (that is closely united with the White Power movement), and leftists in general, and you'll realize that there are quite a few million folks in this country who: A. Have never met a Jew, and B. Think a whole lot of bad things about us, mainly out of ignorance.
New York City is not a microcosm of the country; in fact, the Big Apple is about as much the opposite of the rest of the nation as any city ever could be. But, because of the large system of Federations, Hillels, day schools, synagogues, and JCC's, most Jewish people (at least in the greater northeast) will never understand this because they will never get out of their element. The same is true whether you're Orthodox or Messianic; you have your little network of shuls, family, friends, and activities that dominate your world. It is a system that stretches back to the shtetl, first designed for our protection, now employed for our retention since assimilation has become so attractive.
But there are Jews everywhere, I can hear you argue. Jerry Seinfeld's a Jew, Jeremy Piven's a Jew, Larry David, Adam Sandler... Go ahead, keep naming away. Name every celebrity you know, and you're most likely right, they're Jewish. One of the worst comments I ever received was from a fellow graduate student who eyed me up and asked, "Why are there so many of you in the media?"
I never knew I was a plural. I bet my mom would have a thing or two to say about that.
I had a Catholic friend go to the National Association of Television Programmers and Executives (NATPE) Conference once. She was amazed at the number of Jewish people. "I felt like a total outsider!" she exclaimed, recounting the experience. Yes, quite a few of us are in the media.
Because the American goys wouldn't let us do anything else.
Remember that medieval myth that Jews control all the money in the world because they're bankers? The veracity of that myth is as viable as that of the myth that the Jews control the world media because they're in the TV and film industry. Just as the medieval Jews were forced into banking by the gentile ruling class who didn't permit Jews to do anything else, so American Jewry found its way into the burgeoning film industry because the American gentile ruling class would not permit Jews to be lawyers, doctors, or anything else deemed "respectable." The reason there are so many Jewish people in the media today is because our ancestors weren't permitted the education to become anything else, so they made a billion dollar industry out of nothing.
When I presented my fellow student with these facts, the Turkish girl next to him gave him a nudge and laughed. He followed suit.
"If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me." [John 15:20-21]
When the Jewish people were first set apart for G-d's purposes, they were deemed to be "a light unto the nations." The Rabbis teach us that Avraham Avinu himself was the first witness to the goyim of the truth of HaShem. Now, the majority of us in America surround ourselves with each other and don't bother with the rest of the world, except to try and fit in the best we can. We have gone from lights to troglodytes; very intellectual, sophisticated ones, but cave-dwellers nonetheless. Not only are we doing a disservice to ourselves, we are doing a disservice to the One who made us who we are and to each and every gentile who has a heart to know Him.
This is why I rejoice at suspicious looks, wide-eyes, nervous laughter, and harsh words. They aren't the best criticisms in the world, but in receiving them, I know that I am at least doing my job.
"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." [John 15:26-27]
Be encouraged to live out the words in which you place your trust!
Messianic Judaism, Judaism, Jewish, Yeshua, Jew, Antisemitism
posted by Shoshana @ 11:53 AM
