I hate it when I’m just a stand-in for somebody you truly hate.<\/p>\n
A couple of years ago, I had a woman flee my place after her first visit because my beard and my Orthodoxy made her feel like she was making out with her zede (grandfather).<\/p>\n
For the rest of our relationship, I often felt like I was just standing in for her zede and for other Orthodox Jews she hated. She kept saying things like, “I hope you have a great New Year, although I’m sure you don’t celebrate this pagan holiday.”<\/p>\n
Huh? All of Judaism’s holidays have pagan origins. All religious holidays have pagan origins. That something has pagan origins does not bother me in the least.<\/p>\n
So who was she really talking to? Her zede? Her rebbes at yeshiva?<\/p>\n
I encounter people who make a ton of false assumptions about me simply because I look like an Orthodox Jew. They assume I’m really spiritual. I’m not. They assume I’m into prayer. I’m not. They assume I have a relationship with God. I don’t. They assume I am Israel’s ambassador and that I am perpetually interested in discussing everything the country does. Not always. They assume that I am not susceptible to the same temptations that plague my fellow men. They assume I don’t hug hot chicks.<\/p>\n
OK, I am ambivalent about hugging. It’s not tznious (modest) and it is something I rarely do in public. They have to be really hot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I hate it when I’m just a stand-in for somebody you truly hate. A couple of years ago, I had a woman flee my place after her first visit because my beard and my Orthodoxy made her feel like she … Continue reading