There's two identity markers I'm sure of, and one is, I'm Jewish. And the other is, I'm a writer. There's just no arguing with either thing. I'm just Jewish.
I am not a Jew in the sense that I would demand the preservation of the Jewish or any other nationality as an end in itself. Rather, I see Jewish nationality as a fact and I believe that every Jew must draw the consequences from this fact.
The German mass murder of the Jews... brought my Jewishness to the surface.
As a matter of fact, part of being Jewish is the whole question of what it is to be a Jew.
The route of the train of Israeli justice must take into account the Jewishness of the state.
I've had a bris, was Bar Mitzvahed and, on occasion, have referred to a temple as a shul. I've never denied it, nor have I disguised it. I am, indeed, a Jew.
I've discovered my Jewishness late in life. And I've really enjoyed exploring that world.
I am not today, nor have I ever been a Jew, and as a matter of fact, I am uncircumcised.
An aged rabbi, crazed with liberalism, once said to me, We Jews are just ordinary human beings. Only a bit more so!
There's something innately funny and warm about being Jewish. I think it's something to be embraced and respected.
A Jew without Jews, without Judaism, without Zionism, without Jewishness, without a temple or an army or even a pistol, a Jew clearly without a home, just the object itself, like a glass or an apple.
I didn't emphasize my Jewishness because I wanted to. I just happen to have been raised in a family where everybody happened to talk like this, so why would I talk like somebody else?
It's not what the rabbis say that defines Jewishness but what we Israelis do every day - our actions and our values.
In 1982 I was playing soccer at William and Mary, and a kid from Randolph-Macon called me a kike. I ran after him. 'I'm not a... well, yes I am.
Bearing an eternal longing for Jewishness, I threw myself in all directions and left to work for another people. I am not one of those lucky ones raised in their own environment, whose work is normal.
I'm Jewish, but I'm totally not.
I think that being Jewish is in some ways unique because there's this conflation of race, culture and religion.
I super strongly identify with marginalized communities. I'm not at all religious, but I feel super, super Jewish. I can't even describe the feeling, but it actually feels really similar to being gay, the kind of kinship that you feel with the LGBTQ people. That same sense of community is there with Judaism.
My Jewishness and queerness are very interwoven, and, although they sometimes conflict culturally, intellectually and spiritually they deepen one another for me.
All a Jew has to do is recite a few proverbs or anecdotes to consider himself an expert on 'Jewishness.'
Hey, I may loathe myself, but it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm Jewish.
I do love the idea of ritual. I'm a very ritualistic person. I have to wash my face twice, and on the second wash before I rinse, I brush my teeth, then I rinse, then I floss, then I put on moisturizer. I'm ritualistic. Jewishness is very ritualistic.
To be a Jew is a destiny.
My face couldn't play Jewish.
