The Jewish race

This article followed on the heels of a talk I attended given by Dr. Eliza Slavet, author of Racial Fever: Freud and the Jewish Question, in which she discussed racial Judaism.

As a convert, my first reaction to Dr. Slavet's talk was to find the concept of "who is a Jew" as defined by racial Judaism offensive, since, to the best of my knowledge, I have no Jewish blood.* Then I took a step back and remembered that racial Judaism and religious Judaism are, while inextricably intertwined, not the same. One of the rabbis who led our Introduction to Judaism class made it very clear, via Venn diagram, that the only way to enter Judaism without being part of the Jewish race is through religion. He also made it very clear that those of us who were converting would be no less Jewish than any other Jew.

I'm also intrigued by the idea of racial memory. I don't know that I buy into it, but perhaps it explains my propensity for pennywhistles, whiskey and lingonberries.

Or, y'know, not. Anyway, now I have yet another book I want to read, to add to my ridiculously long list.

*Odds are, since parts of my family come from Germany and the Netherlands, there is some Jewishness in there somewhere, but not so's I could trace it.