{"id":32488,"date":"2011-05-07T21:12:13","date_gmt":"2011-05-08T05:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=32488"},"modified":"2011-05-08T08:23:35","modified_gmt":"2011-05-08T16:23:35","slug":"i-hate-it-when-im-just-a-symbol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=32488","title":{"rendered":"I Hate It When I’m Just A Symbol"},"content":{"rendered":"

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 →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,21],"tags":[26319,950,1085,20258,26321,26320],"class_list":["post-32488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-orthodoxy","category-personal","tag-false-assumptions","tag-orthodox-jew","tag-orthodox-jews","tag-pagan-origins","tag-rebbes","tag-religious-holidays"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t