“Are you an American, or are you a Jew?” Sara Anderson posed this question on March 29, 2024. She is a cantor at Temple Emanu-El, one of the oldest and largest Reform synagogues in the world. In the fourteen-minute excerpt posted on YouTube, she discusses four existential crises faced by specific individuals in the Torah. Then, she poses a new existential question for herself and others without providing her own answer.
I have a similar bio-born in NYC. Jewish Paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents emigrated from Russia. Raised in secular Jewish home—no Seders, not kosher,etc. never had any interest in Israel. Proud to be American. But never under any illusion. Somehow from childhood, having learned some history and also experiencing anti-Semitism , I never believed that Jews were only safe here. I always said “it can happen here.” I’ve been hateful and un-American for saying as much.
But since 10/7 it is painfully clear. Here and around the world. A Jew is only temporarily tolerated.
My answer to the question? I’m both—if they will let me be. That is IMO the only rational answer. The sooner we all recognize that and defend our accepted status, the safer we will be.
I have a similar bio-born in NYC. Jewish Paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents emigrated from Russia. Raised in secular Jewish home—no Seders, not kosher,etc. never had any interest in Israel. Proud to be American. But never under any illusion. Somehow from childhood, having learned some history and also experiencing anti-Semitism , I never believed that Jews were only safe here. I always said “it can happen here.” I’ve been hateful and un-American for saying as much.
But since 10/7 it is painfully clear. Here and around the world. A Jew is only temporarily tolerated.
My answer to the question? I’m both—if they will let me be. That is IMO the only rational answer. The sooner we all recognize that and defend our accepted status, the safer we will be.