War

So now Jerusalem, you know that it's not right
After all you've been through, you should know better than
To become the wicked ones almighty G-d once saved you from

- Mirah, "Jerusalem", from the album C'mon Miracle

I am a Jew, at least by the Orthodox genealogical standard. My great-great-grandmother along my maternal line was born in a Polish shtetl. She arrived in Oswego County, Michigan in the early 20th century, along with thousands of other Polish Jews seeking to escape persecution.

This knowledge was concealed to me until fairly recently. I grew up thinking my heritage was as white-bread-and-mayo as you could get. German, Irish, Swedish was what I was told - with a tiny splash of Cherokee on my father's side.

That was until my sister, who had been given up for adoption at birth, did some research into our heritage. She found the 1920 census records that proved that we were not merely German, Irish, Swedish and Cherokee, but Polish Jews as well. I no longer have contact with my mother and only sporadic contact with my grandmother, but I suspect that they both know more than they have been willing to reveal. Our great-grandmother died in 2000, so we can't ask her anything.

According to traditional Jewish standards, one is either a Jew or a non-Jew - there is no gray area. One's Jewishness depends on his or her mother's status only. This is in contrast to the typically European idea that one can be half German and a sixteenth Swedish. This means that my sister and I are just as Jewish as, say, Adam Sandler.

Ironically, only non-Jews have tried to argue that I'm not really a Jew. All the Jews I have spoken to about my heritage not only agree that I am indeed a Jew, but welcome me into the community. Regardless of my beliefs or what I look like or whether I have had a bar mitzvah, I am a Jew by Jewish standards. They just say, "Er ken ongeyn far a goy," meaning that I can pass for a goy.

Since learning about this aspect of our heritage, my sister and I have both embraced it to varying degrees. Sarah has chosen the path of conversion - though it's not really necessary - to Orthodox Judaism. After months of reading and study, I determined that the spiritual beliefs that I already had are very close to those of Reform Judaism. I occasionally attend a synagogue and I read voraciously. I may or may not choose to become a member of the temple, but this does not limit my exploration of spiritual ideas outside of Judaism. I am what I am - including but not limited to a German Irish Swedish Cherokee Polish Jewish gay liberal intellectual audiophile anthropologist future-librarian pet-parent blogger podcaster with a craving for pepper jack cheese.

Having explained my fairly unique perspective, I must discuss my feelings about the situation about the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon. The words of Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn above are very similar to my own opinion. I think that the Orthodox-dominated government of Israel has become an oppressive power, treating Palestinians as sub-human and acting in ways that are contrary to the ideal of compassion that is at the center of Judaism.

Certainly Hezbollah is not blameless. Obviously, their actions in the past few weeks (and indeed their whole history) are despicable. However, by unleashing such an overwhelming attack on Lebanon, Israel is causing death and harm to more innocent civilians than to Hezbollah militants. It is also weaking political parties in Lebanon than can oppose Hezbollah.

There are no 'good guys' here, but lots of innocents in the crossfire. The fact that Bush supports one of the aggressors in this conflict rather than caring about the safety of civilians on both sides is disgusting - but hardly a surprise. Support for the actions of Israel's government is morally equivalent to supporting Hezbollah as far as I'm concerned. I applaud nations that have come out and publicly condemned both Israel and Hezbollah. This is what the U.S. should do as well.

I hope that there will be an end to this conflict very soon, but I'm not very optimistic about it.