On Being Jewish October 22, 2007
I recently met a couple of pretty cool people who, as it turns out, are Jewish.
After hanging with them last night something struck me. When speaking with
someone who is truly Jewish, not just Jewish if they have to think about it
you’ll hear them say “because I’m a Jew”, “and there I am, a Jew”, or similar
phrases to describe some situation they found themselves in. I thought back to
all the times I’ve heard these utterances from all the Jews I’ve know, including
my father, and I realized that there’s a weight to it that goes far beyond what
deity they happen to believe in. Saying “I’m a Jew” and meaning it down to your
bones comes with the unspoken weight of thousands of years of being shat upon by
every other race, and triumphing over it, and surviving through it. It reminds
me of that quote from The Matrix when Morpheus was giving his speech in the
temple:
I stand before you unafraid. Because I believe something you do not? No. But
because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that
lies before me, but because of the path that lies behind me.
What’s even more amazing is how this seems to be woven into the core of being
Jewish. When they mention it they’re not trying to say “so there!” or point out
how hard they’ve had it, but there’s a different quality to the phrase that
comes from that. When a Christian says it it feels either totally superficial or
that they’re trying to point out how you’re going to go to hell, or how much
better they are than you because of how often they pray. Almost none of the
Christians I’ve met have any sense of that quiet strength when they mention
their faith in passing.
It makes me wish I was brought up knowing more about my fathers faith.
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