tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post337086840741496427..comments2024-01-01T01:47:59.449+02:00Comments on Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Are America's Jews still Jewish?Yaacovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12835192312242961481noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-3337606354622602292013-12-07T05:11:14.169+02:002013-12-07T05:11:14.169+02:00I would say that I am as much a Jew as you are -- ...I would say that I am as much a Jew as you are -- albeit an American Jew. I practice the many of the Jewish practices as you do -- albeit not at the same scholarly level as you. At a much more vocational level... I married a Jew, my children are growing up as Jews, receiving Jewish religious education, have become part of their Jewish community, become Bar and Bat Mitzvah. The difference is that we live in America and have different way of observing and practicing our Jewish faith. Perhaps most important to the arrogant Israeli, we encourage our government to support Israel and its Jewish experience (even if it is not our own) to a degree no other nation on the planet is willing to do. So next time you are in NYC, look around and see the community of American Jews that support your approach to Judaism. Reach out, shake their hand and say Thank You.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08945300737848125797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-80446239747602473682013-11-03T04:56:26.259+02:002013-11-03T04:56:26.259+02:00re: "How many secular Israeli Jews would reco...re: "How many secular Israeli Jews would recognize many American Jewish synagogues? This would matter less if America's Jews were creating a viable and recognizably Jewish form of life. But are they? In what way?"<br />I assume you're not being facetious, so I shared your query with a wide range of folks in the USA. Maybe, just maybe, a few will respond. We'll see.<br />>> Arieh LebowitzAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-4164763404963700472013-10-25T16:29:58.589+03:002013-10-25T16:29:58.589+03:00Well, I do think you're wrong on one minor poi...Well, I do think you're wrong on one minor point. When you ask what Jews are supposed to look like, you're confusing ethnie with race. The people Israel is (among other things) an ethnie, despite the fact that it's multiracial. That is, it's a largest group having a myth of common ancestry.<br /><br />I think that for most Israelis, unlike Americans, ethnicity is the primary element of Jewish identity. In that way Israeli-Jewish identity fits comfortably into the category of national identity in the 21st century. Not so at all with American Jewish identity.<br /><br />Ethnicity, like learning, was another option that wasn't even listed on the survey question. That <i>should</i> be surprising. There was no answer "Belonging to the children of Israel (Jacob)," i.e., belonging to the people descended from the Patriarchs.Aaron Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07105500964362053569noreply@blogger.com