Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 10 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 23 years, 2 months ago by
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I think Jewish men who always dress in black, wear black-brimmed hats, always have beards and have those curls dangling from the sides of their heads look silly. Am I being racist and/or anti-Semitic?
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Name : Greg P., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 22, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’d say you are being ignorant. You are mocking what you don’t understand. It would be like someone thinking the Pope looks silly because he wears a funny hat. These people are adhering to customs that may not be the norm in today’s society, but it is something they believe in strongly. We can see this in many groups of people: the Amish (not utilizing much of today’s technology), Jehovah’s Witnesses (not celebrating birthdays), Orthodox Jews and Muslims (dietary restrictions), etc. These things may not be the norm in the world, but they are important to these people.
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Name : Me21900, Gender : M, Age : 27, City : San Francisco Bay Area, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I don’t think we can help what we find silly. However, if you judge their character to be silly because of how they look, or if you shout at them to tell them they look silly, then yes, you would be being racist.
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Name : BB23284, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 26, City : Edinburgh, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : PhD student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Silliness is in the eye of the beholder. I live in a neighborhood with a large Jewish population. First, you’re not being racist because ‘Jewish’ is not a race (there are even black Jews). To explain myself: What would you call a Venezuelan, Spanish-speaking, salsa-dancing, white-skinned, blond and blue-eyed Jew? Jewish, white or Hispanic? Get what I mean? Second, you’re not being anti-Semitic because only a group of men within the Jewish community dresses that way (you have nothing against Steven Spielberg, do you?). Now about the silliness part: Even within the Jewish community I’ve heard jokes about the ‘penguins’ (of course coming from non-orthodox Jews).
I for one don’t consider silly anything pertaining to a religion, culture or tradition, so I respect the way the Ashkenazic-orthodox Jews dress, just as I respect the fashion style of the stereotypical nerdy computer geek who can’t dance. You know, live and let live.
About the black-dressed orthodox Jews, I have wondered if they don’t get hot in there, at least down here in the tropics, but that’s about it. Now if they seem silly to you, fine, no harm done. Just like you may seem silly to a large part of the world’s population. The question is: Do you care? Well, neither do the orthodox Jews.
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Name : Nelson-A20180, Gender : M, Race : White, but very Hispanic/Latino, Religion : Catholic, Age : 32, City : Caracas, State : NA, Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I don’t think you’re being racist or anti-Semitic, you’re just projecting your idea of what looks ‘silly’ onto someone else. Many orthodox Jewish men dress this way. The beards and curls (‘payess’) are in obedience to Old Testament law; the black hats and coats are at least in part based in history (Hasidic Jews in Eastern Europe). By the way, I wear two small squares of cloth, connected by chains or cords, around my shoulders (under my shirt); this is called a ‘scapular’ and is worn by many traditionalist Catholics. Many people would regard this as ‘silly’ too.
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Name : Augustine23667, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 40, City : Columbia, State : SC, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,It depends on whether you think these men ARE silly or just look silly. (Do you respect their choice of dress?) On the surface, it sounds conformist – but not necessarily anti-Semitic – to say that people who dress very differently from the typical clothing for their sex and current fashion look silly. How do you feel about other outfits that stand out – Catholic nuns’ habits, Greek Orthodox priests’ black robes and hats, Buddhist monks in saffron robes, Muslim women who wear head coverings…
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Name : Laura26067, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 40, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States,Yes.
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Name : Jennifer, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 26, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Writer and Activist,I always thought the curls looked a little silly, too, but you know, anyone of another culture or religion might think what I wear or how I do my hair looks silly, too, and they can if they want. I don’t think it’s anti-anything, as long as you’re not saying they should stop doing it because other people might think it’s silly.
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Name : Netta20208, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 19, City : Armidale, State : NA, Country : Australia, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,You aren’t being racist or anti-Semitic at all. It isn’t a question of race in the first place. Diaspora Jews come in various shades and mixes, and I really don’t think anti-Semitic is even the right word anymore (much less ‘racist’). If anything, it would be anti-Judaic, but even that is shakey. If you believe they look silly dressed that way, it only shows that you’re opinionated. There’s nothing wrong with that. If, however, you callously betray your opinions on this matter to other people (especially to individuals dressed that way), you could be perceived as a jerk (or just a brutally honest person).
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Name : Christian32032, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Self-designed, Age : 19, City : Lake Forest, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : unemployed, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Upper class,The thing is, is that judaism USED to be a race, but it is so dilute now to be nonexistant. During the diaspora jews went to every corner of the earth and mixed with those people. We are still jewish, but at the same time we are latino,black,white,earopean,asian, EVERYTHING. Some people say jewish people have certain physical characteristics, but that is usually in referece to ashkanazis. There are two majority types of diaspora jews. Ashkanazi and Sephardic. Sphardics came from Spain and Italy and that area after the inquisition and you probably wouldnt find them looking that different from anyone else. Ashkanazi jews come from Russia,Poland, and former soviet union countries. The physical characteristics are actually from the slavic blood and not from being jewish. (big nose, dark hair, thick eyebrows) I could be called discriminatory towards my own race by acknowledging that some jews have similar physical characteristics, but they DO! I went to a youth convention a few weeks ago and when you crowd two hundred jews into one room, you begin to see a pattern. anyways, it isnt really racist to think something (you cant really help what you think) its when you say something or actually act a certain way towards that person BECAUSE of that difference, that you are racial.
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Name : Lindsay22713, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 16, City : Warwick, State : RI, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Upper class,In Israel, when they talk about ‘Blacks,’ they are not talking about Africans; they are talking about the men in the long black coats and black hats. Incidentally, there’s also a smaller group of the Ultra-Orthodox who wear gold-colored hats.
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Name : Hope, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Religion : Jewish, Age : 38, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College,
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