Isaac Mizrahi Quotes

I'm certainly not a practicing Jew. I would never claim, 'I'm Jewish.' That's not the first and foremost thing in my mind, as far as who I am as a person.

Jewishness is a very big part of my identity. I am a proud Jew, I would say, who doesn't practice very actively.

Judaism is not, per se, a religion in the sense most Americans think of. Even if you don't adhere to the various precepts, you're still a Jew.

My mom was Jewish, so some would call me Jewish.

I am very proud of being Jewish. I went to a Jewish school all my life.

Most American Jews came from the lower middle classes, and therefore they brought with them not a lot of Jewish culture. The American Jewish story starts with Ellis Island, and the candy store in the Bronx.

I believe in Judaism, I was raised a Jew, I'm happy to be one - or proud to be one.

I feel more Jewish than I do Iranian.

I'm a fifth generation Jew from the South, and I would say that I felt this connection to my religion, but it wasn't a spiritual connection.

I'm a Persian Jew, and we don't speak Hebrew.

I must have been yearning for some Jewish content beyond my genetic makeup because soon after my 21st birthday, I noticed I was no longer dating WASPs.

My wife is Jewish, and therefore, it's my children's birthright to be Jewish.

When I tell people I'm an Italian Jew, they're very amused by it. But obviously by blood I'm Jewish, because my mother is.

Looking back now, I can see that my dad was a real fighter. A lot of people thought, 'Why don't you keep the Jewish stuff quiet?' They were anti-Semitic Jews. People who were afraid. People who came here and made it and anglicized themselves and didn't want to associate with their past.

I'm half-Russian, half-Polish and all Jewish.

I'm 100 percent Jewish by blood, but by education I'm nothing. By affiliation I'm nothing.

No one in my family is Jewish; no one was raised as a Jew, me included.

In my blood there is no Jewish blood. In their callous rage, all anti-Semites must hate me now as a Jew. For that reason I am a true Russian.

Judaism is important to me from a tribal point of view.

I'm rather secular. I'm basically Jewish. But I think I'm Jewish not because of the Jewish religion at all.

I'm the only one in my family - I'm a practicing Jew - who has attached themselves to religion in a more traditional way.

Most of the Jewish writer friends I have are American, and I feel closer to them because they're always obsessed with one issue - identity: what does it mean to be an American Jew?

I consider myself a Jewish writer - even if my characters frequently are not Jewish - in the same way, I guess, that I consider myself a Jewish man, even though I don't often attend shul.

The question of boundaries is a major question of the Jewish people because the Jews are the great experts of crossing boundaries. They have a sense of identity inside themselves that doesn't permit them to cross boundaries with other people.

Anytime someone orders a pastrami sandwich on white bread, somewhere a Jew dies.