Beware of Race-Peddlers in a Yid's Clothing
To fight the hatred from outside, we have to fight the hatred coming from inside
One of the most insidious forms of antisemitism in the last few years has been the attempt to divide Jewry along artificial racial lines. 'White Jews.' 'Black Jews.' 'POC Jews.' ‘Ashkenormativity.’ The list goes on. Claims such as 'white Jews have privilege over POC Jews' and all other kinds of modern political hogwash that couldn't be further from Judaism have plagued our public discussions. Worse, many Jews have bought into discourse and evangelize its message on social media, as if they feel that by speaking against the bad (usually 'White') Jews, they'll be seen as one of the 'good ones.' Some have even gone as far as echoing BHI propaganda and repeating almost verbatim Farrakhan talking points.
“Five more tweets about the ways Orthodox men are evil, and I’ll be cleansed & purified!”
It results in an almost constant bashing of (and attempts to guilt-trip) Ashkenazi, or 'white', Jews. Completely disregarding the fact that here are Ashkenazim with dark skin or Asian features, as well as blue-eyed blond-haired Sephardim. It routinely ends with a request for funds to be sent to their venmo, too. Clearly, they haven't been paying attention to the fact that not only is it not a winning strategy with antisemites, but Torah hates such speech against Jews, too. Truly a lose-lose situation.
At a time of heightened antisemitism, it's time to circle the wagons and banish this rhetoric back to the non-Jewish ideological lands from whence it came from.
Joy in Division
In Klal Yisrael, the only groups that are counted are:
Kohen
Levi
Israel
Halal (child of a Kohen from a forbidden union)
Child of an unknown father
Child of unknown parents
Mamzer (child of an illicit union)
Netin (descendent of Gibeonite converts)
Convert
Freed slaves
That's it. Those are the only divisions that are recognized by Torah. True, there’s the question of minhagim as well, but those are not meant to be factions, groups or classes, but merely how you and your family follow Halacha. If the tribe of Dan was no better than the tribe of Gad or vice-versa, then so too Ashkenazim and Sephardim.
The only groups that are relevant today in Halacha today for the most part are Kohen, Levi, and Israel. The rest are entirely irrelevant except in fringe cases. A Jew is a Jew is a Jew, and skin color was never taken into account before by Torah or our Sages. We shouldn't mustn’t fall into modernity’s trap and start taking it into account today either.
We need to push back on these attempts to divide Jewish spaces & voices with identity politics.
Recognizing Differences
There is obviously nothing wrong with acknowledging that there are Jews from diverse backgrounds that differ from the majority. As such, they might have a perspective that runs counter to the mainstream, and thus it might be a good reason to take an special interest in what they have to say. Or, if there’s a discussion about issues affecting a specific group, then we should give that group priority when it's time for people to express their views. This is just logical.
Someone's mere existence does not, on the other hand, give extra weight to their opinion in any way whatsoever. Neither does it give them the right to silence others so only their views are heard. 'Sit down, you are not X; let them speak and just listen' should never be part of the Jewish discourse.
We have a principle in Torah (Horayot, 3rd Chapter) that if we are in a situation where a Kohen Gadol and a convert or mamzer are kidnapped, and that either the convert or mamzer is a greater Torah scholar than the Kohen, if you can only rescue one prisoner, you must ransom the convert or mamzer over the Kohen Gadol.
Doesn't matter if three months ago the person wasn't Jewish, or that due to his birth he's not even allowed to marry inside the Jewish people proper; the fact is that, through his own efforts, he's shown that he is more worthy of rescue than even the Kohen Gadol himself.
The position of Kohen Gadol is the highest spiritual assignment one can attain; he's the only one who enters the Holy of Holies, and only once a year. Yet, we see that even if a he’s a direct descendant of Aaron while the other doesn't have a drop of Jewish blood, the latter is still rescued instead of him.
Ultimately it’s immaterial if your skin is as pale as Siberian snow or as dark as night, or whether you have an unbroken bloodline that never included converts or not. It’s just as inconsequential whether you eat kitniyot on Pesach or use onion as karpas.
A Jew is a Jew is a Jew, and what matters is what you do.
This is also one of the lessons behind why every Jew had to give a half shekel and not a full shekel yearly. The Torah’s message is that 1) You are but a part of a whole and 2) You are equal to any other Jew without exception.
We should never look at another Jew and think that they are not the same as us because of some trivia external differences. Much less believe that they are lesser than us, G-d forbid. And we must absolutely never tolerate any discourse that uses those differences as a basis to attack a group of Jews.
Saying lashon hara is considered one of the worst aveirot you can do. Even worse than saying it about an individual is when it’s spoken concerning an entire group. Can you imagine how much more despicable it is when you say it about millions of jews?
Faux Pas & Going Forward
It's not to say that it's entirely meritless to say that some Jews are probably made to feel awkward or might have even faced racism from ignorant members of our community. We are not perfect, but Judaism judges us as individuals, not as a collective. If someone in a shul did something wrong, it's not the shul's fault, and it's definitely not the city's Jews' fault, and much less the entire country's. You can’t blame all Jews part of a group because one, or even many, or even most, misbehaved. We are ultimately all judged as individuals as far as our actions go.
Jews are not perfect; we are defined by the fact that we're imperfect and have been given the Torah to strive toward perfection. Let's turn to it when it comes to how we define ourselves and our relationship with each other. Torah doesn't see color, which means Hashem Himself doesn't consider it relevant as far as Jews are concerned, so why should we concern ourselves with it?
We already have laws that regulate interpersonal relationships, what to say and what not to say, so let's rely on the timeless guidelines of our Sages which are based on what the Torah wants from us instead of following the statutes of a handful of Western academics writing theories as stable as francium from their ivory towers.
More importantly, let's stop pretending that, as a whole, Jews are [negative stereotype]. Our communal spaces are not hellholes filled with violence, micro-aggressions, or anything like that. In fact, I can probably count on one hand any incidents like that I've witnessed my whole life. Part of Jewish pride is saying proudly and loudly that this is not who we are.
Let's appreciate each other, listen to what others have to say, respect their right to say it, and deal with each other with love and compassion, but let's not buy into divisions or hierarchies that simply do not belong in Jewish spaces. Let’s treat them as the modern Korachs that they are, and flee their camp so we’re not swallowed in the same ideological sinkhole as they are. It’s not worth debating or arguing with those ideas. We simply have to point out they have nothing to do with us and refuse to even engage with them.
As far as our actions go, we might be judged individually, but as far as our identity we are one big family, the descendants of Avraham, Yitzhak and a Yaakov. What we are not is a group of individuals, or a group of groups; so let's start to act like it.
Great article! Thank you for this. It was perfect and it's something I've been saying (though not as well as you) for a long time.
I'm going to share this far and wide! I appreciate you.
Great perspective on identity politics. The clear example I see of this is "if you don't have a uterus, you can't talk about reproductive rights." So does that mean I, as a man, can't vote on any law regarding the issue? Does that mean I shouldn't engage in discussion on the topic with my wife? Are women doctors the only ones able to consult female patients?
The more moderate position you allude to here is the right one.