#esp mizrahi and sephardic jews

[hindahoney]

As an Ashkenazi with solely european ancestry, I do consider myself white because, while a couple of my family members are racially ambiguous, I think it's fair to acknowledge that, as far as the racial framework of the US where I live, I am viewed and treated as a white person. This in itself makes me white for all purposes. Therefore I consider myself a white ashkenazi, with the white label being most relevant to my position in society. It may be worth noting that I am not very visibly jewish.

I understand your point, however just because others view you as white doesn't mean you're white. There are plenty of people part of a racial or ethnic minority who are white-passing but this doesn't mean they are actually white. It's important to point out that it's only within the last 50 years or so that Jews are thought of as white (during Jim Crow we were classified as "yellow eurasians" and were also redlined, there's a reason why many jewish communities are right next to other minority communities in cities), and that idea is primarily an American one due to the prevalence of Ashkenazi immigration following the Shoah. The American racial divide is on a black/white binary, while much of the rest of the world is on an east/west divide. As is evident, Jews don't fit in the American binary and neither do plenty of other groups.

Some Jews who do not wear cultural identifiers and do not have stereotypical identifying features can pass as white, and thus benefit from the privileges that come with that. However, that is not the case for many Jews, so there are difficulties in categorizing us.

I'm not necessarily saying being Jewish is its own race, nor am I dismissing that idea (I'm fine with however individual Jews define themselves, I know plenty of people who believe either one), I'm just saying that Jews don't fit into the American concept of whiteness or the black/white binary, due mainly to the unique prejudices we face.

#ask Hinda #this is a big topic #again im not saying being jewish is a race #nor am i saying its not #i know people who believe both #and thats fine good for them #im less interested in categorizing our race than I am pointing out that whatever it is it isn't white #because that erases a ton of jews who don't fit that #esp mizrahi and sephardic jews #like we're part of the same tribe and if only one minchag is accepted as white that's pretty problematic #for a host of reasons

[khescd-blog]

tips on how to write a jewish character (written by a jew)

jewish people are constantly categorized as being greedy, penny pinching, or scheming.... and women, particularly older women are stereotyped as the nagging jewish mother type.... so dont write a character with these traits and make them jewish or vice versa (dont give an already jewish character these traits)

also i have a problem with evil/talon aus with jewish characters/characters hced as jewish for this very reason. bc people see us as “secretly evil all along and ruling the world”

judaism is just as much a culture as it is a religion, and even those who have become separated from the religion still maintain a closeness to their jewish culture. if your character was estranged from judaism and their jewish culture as a child, you need to write on how this affected the character and how it affected who they became -- dont be lazy and just say they’re “culturally jewish” because that’s showing you did literally zero research.... how are they culturally jewish, how did they celebrate, why were they estranged, how did they reconnect with their culture etc... not every jewish kid has a bar/bat mitzvah, explain why or why not, etc, was ur character raised kosher?? a lot of times kids who are raised kosher and leave the jewish community are still repulsed by pork (for one such example) even though theyre not technically “kosher” anymore. what values or specifications does your character consider to be important to their jewish identity??

a lot of secular jewish people still celebrate major holidays with family and they feel a deep connection to their faith despite not being religious... many still identify strongly with judaism 

but still like......if ur not jewish its kinda not ur place to write about being disconnected from jewish faith and culture bc its an experience unique to jews like...... same as facing antisemitism, its horrific and you really need to do your research bc its still rampant everywhere. theres a reason WHY so many of us become disconnected from our judaism.

of what background is your character? is your character ashkenazi, mizrahi, or sephardic? you need to acknowledge that the cultural traditions for each of these is DIFFERENT

hebrew is not the only language jews grow up with.... for example if ur ashkenazi and you didnt go to hebrew school i guarantee you that you will know more yiddish than hebrew.... ur character can go to hebrew school and/or know hebrew, thats fine, but if they’re ashkenazi they probably know at least some yiddish words. this will change of course depending on what jewish bg your character is ( see above )

uhhhhhh also if ur not jewish also avoid stereotyping looks about us bc we all get the big nose/curly hair/drooping eyes caricature a lot that categorizes us...... to “look” jewish is a thing we get from goyim constantly and it can be pretty harmful esp if ur not jewish dont talk about it lol

hanukkah is not the only jewish holiday lmao please do some research.......... and know why it’s important to us too, there’s way more to it then just lighting the menorah

this should be self explanatory but you really cant make jokes about jews unless ur jewish lmao

also since halloween is coming up..... im reminding you that the classic image of a halloween “witch” that we all know (green skin, pointy hat, hooked nose, warts) is actually an antisemitic caricature and it’s really no mistake that the features (and the pointy hat) are the way that they are... this is just something i thought i’d mention while i’m already here

tl;dr if you choose to write a jewish character please be respectful of our culture because it is really special to us!!! thanks.

dont make ur character jewish for special brownie points bc ill sniff u out right away

#just do ur research #i guess