Defenses against jealousy

berurah
Sun, 17 Sep 2006 03:10:02 +0000

Northstarmom:

I find it more uninformed or ignorant than “sad.” My guess is that she’d never been around other Jewish people before so had no idea how Jews act. Perhaps her idea of Jews was a mob of people yelling, “Crucify him. Cruicify him.” What she said was very ignorant, but it doesn’t sound like she was being cruel.

NSM~

I think that in my above post, I DID classify this as “sheer ignorance” and not a “cruel” action. That said, I DO think that that amount of ignorance in this day and age in ANY area of the U.S. IS sad. It’s not like we don’t have books, movies, television, and the internet or that just because you’ve never met a Jew you must think that she sports horns. lol

Maybe if I finish that conversation, it will shed a bit more light. After the woman made the comment saying that she was surprised that we were Jewish because we were “nice,” she proceeded to question me in a rather antagonistic manner. I will never forget this as this conversation took place just prior to Yom Kippur. After I explained to the woman that both Jews and Christians believe in the Old Testament and in the sanctity of the Ten Commandments, she began to speak about the subject of sin. I told her that our most important and solemn holiday was coming up, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. She then said something on the order of, “Why do the Jews think they’re SO great that they only have to atone ONCE A YEAR? Christians ask forgiveness all the time for their sins!” Now, to me, THAT is more than ignorance and probably reflected something or other she’d heard in her church.

I actually accompanied one of my very best friends to a local church about 12 years ago. During the service, I heard something that both STUNNED and humiliated me. The minister began this diatribe against the Jews by saying, “The JEWS think they’re the CHOSEN ones, but they’re NOT!!! They’re going to burn in Hell for not accepting our savior…” blah, blah, blah. Now, no one but my friend who took me to the service knew that I was Jewish, and she never once addressed this event or apologized for this obvious insult. What I learned from this experience is that several of the local churches spout very negative views about Jewish people, and that may be contributing to the larger community and school issue.

Speaking of the school issue, I have been invited for many years now to go into the schools during Hanukkah and explain our holiday. I have done it for about the past 12 years. I HAVE noticed that the kids who attended elementary school with my children demonstrate much more enlightenment and much less antiSemitism than the ones who have never been around a Jewish person, so I DO think that education is a key factor. That said, I have become increasingly uncomfortable doing this and have decided to decline any invitations this year. I do not think religion, ANY religion, belongs in the schools, and I’d hate for anything to be misinterpreted by other parents. My own children take part in any and all local Christmas programs, celebrations, choir concerts, etc. I’ve never had an issue with that as we are, by a long, long, LONG shot, the minority here, and the vast majority of my kids’ friends are Christian.

~berurah