When Jews adopt black babies, the reaction they get from fellow Jews can shock them. Many Jews, particularly the more traditional, do not believe that a black can ever really be Jewish.<\/p>\n
Most traditional Jews, I suspect, think that a Jew who pairs up with a black, even a black Jew, is severely damaged. <\/p>\n
From Times of Israel<\/a>:<\/p>\n NEW YORK \u2014 I find great joy in seeing non-Jews benignly jest and jape at Jewish customs and stereotypes. When they kinda think they know what a Bar Mitzvah is or when they start throwing the hard Chet sound around where it doesn\u2019t belong. I don\u2019t think I\u2019m alone in this, and I think other ethnic groups feel the same way. (My unscientific proof: one semester I roomed with an Indian-American who would lose his mind whenever Apu would show up on \u201cThe Simpsons.\u201d And if it was a particularly Apu-heavy episode, the phone would be ringing off the hook as he and his pals called each other, doubled-over. It was great.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s this aspect, and this aspect alone, that held my interest in Lifetime Network\u2019s \u201cKosher Soul\u201d for as long as it did. Whereas most reality television would have me tossing the pillows on my couch in a furious search for the remote after thirty seconds, \u201cKosher Soul\u201d held my attention for at least 10 minutes. Considering that each episode clocks in at only 20, that\u2019s not quite the disaster you might think.<\/p>\n Miriam Sternoff is a cheery, warm, under-40 New York Jewess transplanted to Los Angeles (it happens). When we meet her in the first episode of \u201cKosher Soul\u201d she is engaged to an African-American comic from South Carolina named O\u2019Neal McKnight. Their love for one another is true and delightful and manifests itself for our viewing pleasure right there on their couch, where they zip and zing one another like a Greek Chorus commenting on their own lives. What\u2019s fascinating is how they both fit in the box of their own ethnic stereotypes, but also frequently burst out. (It\u2019s almost as if, gasp, they are their own people.)<\/p>\n O\u2019Neal is a performer (and, while the show is very vague about the specifics, used to work for some heavy hitters in the music business) and is as representative of mainstream, affluent culture as anyone. This isn\u2019t to say he isn\u2019t in touch with his African-American history, but he\u2019s hardly a dazed kid from the \u2018hood.<\/p>\n Miriam has a bit of a taste for the finer things, but anyone expecting JAP-y Jeannie Berlin from \u201cThe Heartbreak Kid\u201d is going to be disappointed. Her trip to the New Age mikveh is pure Southern California not Safed. She\u2019s very funny, but a lot of that is playing the straight man, setting up O\u2019Neal for the killer punchline. They really are a great fit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Jews adopt black babies, the reaction they get from fellow Jews can shock them. Many Jews, particularly the more traditional, do not believe that a black can ever really be Jewish. Most traditional Jews, I suspect, think that a … Continue reading