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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Self-Loving Jews

The Forward has an interesting column up discussing the case of folks like Richard Falk, Noam Chomsky, Jacqueline Rose, and others of their ilk. They are often labeled "self-hating Jews", but this isn't quite right. The appellation "self-hating Jew" was originally quite literal -- it referred to Jews who were literally filled with shame and self-loathing over the fact that they were Jewish. This doesn't seem like an accurate description of someone like Falk, who hardly seems to suffer from a lack of self-esteem. Rather:
What they’re enamored by is their image of themselves as Jews who have the moral courage to attack a Jewish state and the moral impunity to do so, which their Jewishness gives them. (“What, me anti-Jewish? I’m a Jew myself!”) Far from being self-hating Jews, they are self-loving Jews of the I’m-not-one-of-you variety.

Not very catchy, as the author admits, but more accurate. A related concept might be the "asajew", named for those persons whose Jewishness only manifests when prefacing a statement attacking other Jews or Jewish institutions with "as a Jew...." Obviously, there are plenty of Jews with minority opinions who nonetheless identify clearly with the Jewish community writ large even as they dissent on particular matters. But there also most certainly is a subset of Jews who are Jewish only insofar as it is an effective cudgel for bashing other Jews (and shield against their protestations).
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8 comments:

  1. PG4:51 PM

    A related concept might be the "asajew", named for those persons whose Jewishness only manifests when prefacing a statement attacking other Jews or Jewish institutions with "as a Jew...."

    Hmm, I'd interrogate that further with regard to the aspects of Jewish identity that aren't all about Zionism. To my knowledge, as not-a-Jew, this includes things like one's interest in practicing Judaism. I mean, if Falk, Chomsky and/or Rose regularly attends a synagogue, religiously educates his/her children, keeps kosher, participates in Jewish charity, etc., then claiming they're only interested in being a Jew as a political weapon seems an unfair charge.

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  2. David Schraub5:26 PM

    My understanding is that they are all secular, non-observant Jews. I agree that if they are active synagogue members or otherwise well-connected to Jewish communal life, then they aren't asajews (e.g., even interpreting everything against him in the worst way possible, it never would have been fair to call Judge Goldstone an asajew).

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  3. wotan9:34 AM

    I confess that I admire intellectuals for the quality of their work and would never have realized that I need to be aware of their ethnic or religious background in order to have a full appreciation of their contribution to society. As a token of my gratitude for this profound insight, Professor, permit me to suggest yet a third category to which I am sure that you and your kind are proud to belong: "Professional Jew."

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  4. David Schraub10:01 AM

    Critique: "asajews" strategically deploy their Jewish identity solely to bash other Jews.

    Response: What does their identity matter?

    Hmmm ... while I do think identity does matter, it's hardly the asajews that are making a bold play to downplay their own. The whole point is that they do demand we be "aware of their ethnic or religious background in order to have a full appreciation of their contribution to society" (and specifically, to ratify it as a legitimate contribution and insulate it from critique).

    So I'll take your label of "professional Jew", and bestow upon you one as well: "sophomoric commenter".

    Try reading better next time.

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  5. PG12:30 PM

    You're probably right about Rose and Falk, both of whose families seem to have been only nominally Jewish. However, I thought Chomsky had a Jewish-in-more-than-name background? His Wikipedia bio claims as much, anyway. Living on a kibbutz is a pretty significant marker of being Jewish as more than an accident of birth.

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  6. David Schraub12:35 PM

    My read in Chomsky was that he has drifted away from that and his current involvement with the Jewish community is nominal, at best (contrast to a Michael Lerner or Richard Goldstone). But I certainly could be wrong about that.

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  7. David Bernstein12:56 PM

    We often disagree, so I'm happy to agree with this post. Perhaps you should mention the "not really a Jews," like Gabe Schivone, a non-Jewish "flotilla" activist who may or may not have vague Jewish ancestry, but who proclaimed himself a Jew for propaganda purposes.

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  8. wotan5:05 PM

    Let's stop kidding ourselves. All of us know that the only way that anyone in America can dare open their mouth to take issue with US policy towards Israel and the Middle East and not get assaulted as an anti-Semite is to identify oneself or otherwise let it be known that one is a Jew. Hence “asajew.” But as your fatuous denigration of Chomsky, Falk and Rose demonstrates, dissenting Jews in America also take a hit – not in terms of the arguments that they try to make, however valid they may or may not be – but because you and others like you portray them as having betrayed their origins. Perhaps I was unfair to have lumped, together with you, the many dedicated individuals engaged professionally in cultural, religious and humanitarian activities in the Jewish community, who have no particular political agenda to promote. So, I don't feel so bad about your including me a Professional Jew, and if asked I will never deny that I am Jewish.

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