The Jewish Race

Jewish identity is a bit confusing. There are many organizational and fundamental identities of Jews. Are we a tribe, a religion, a people, or a race? I can hold multiple identities in mind. Jewish identity is confusing to others, and not in a good way.

Reading the story of Joseph reuniting with his brothers, the focus is initially on the tribe. Yet, Joseph invokes his relationship with God, suggesting a religious group.  God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was a homeland for generations. Jews garnered additional demarcations, such as people of the book and Christ-killers.  More recently, Jews became a race as well.

Joseph’s family safely settled in Egypt, but only for a while. Soon, a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. The Jews were a growing minority and perceived as a threat to Pharaoh. With time, irrational fears gave rise to oppression and enslavement.

Reflecting on my Jewish identity, I have celebrated my tribal, religious, and communal Jewish identities. Growing up in New York, I assumed that most Jews were Ashkenazi and white. Now I know that Jews are not monolithic. Moreover, Americans have jumbled racial identity and Jewishness. At first, Protestants in America did not regard Jews newly arrived here as white. In part due to the civil rights movement, Jews became identified as white. And Jews bought into their newly minted identity as an entrée to American society. (The discussion around Jews of color be damned until the next century).

Now, the idea that Jews are a race baffles us. Finally, we understand that race is a social construct.  It is a human invention and not a scientific categorization. Yet, the characterization of people by race continues to divide us.

When Jews are victims of hate crimes, we identify as a protected class but not necessarily as a race. While our skin color might contrast with our African-American neighbors, our experience of victimhood has universal aspects.

Emma Green wrote in the Atlantic, “On the extreme right, Jews are seen as impure—a faux-white race that has tainted America. And on the extreme left, Jews are seen as part of a white-majority establishment that seeks to dominate people of color.” Anti-Semitism in America is rooted in white supremacy, even though in the United States, most Jews are recognized as white.

Scientific circles showed that concepts of racism are arbitrary and false. Yet, to understand the current wave of anti-Semitism, Jews must realize the animus that is born of a hatred rooted in racism. Hatred has persisted since the time of Joseph. Racism has merely given a new dimension to the persecution of Jews. Enjoy your religious, tribal, and national Jewish identities. However, we have to do more than merely be perplexed by anti-Semitism. Now is the time for vigilance regarding those whose racism characterizes us as threatening. The race is to surmount the vitriol and hatred.

Rabbi Evan Krame