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Monday, March 31, 2025
Searching for agreeable Jewish organizations
My wife and I are struggling to find space in the Jewish community, given our (to some extent) heterodox views about Israel and Israel's centrality to the Jewish faith and what it means to be Jewish, as well as our willingness to tolerate (or at least accept the reality of) antisemitic speech on and off campus and the First Amendment obligation to deal with hateful views.
I am more troubled by this silly poster than I probably should be. But so much seems wrong: The easy jokes about "kvetching." The centrality of complaining to much Jewish humor. The First Amendment. The fact that people said the same thing to Jews (perhaps including my grandparents) 100 years ago. The fact that Jewish study calls us to question (which is just another form of complaining) everything. Beyond all that, this bothers me because it accepts the MAGA framing that all who disagree with us (however mild or peaceful) should shut up or leave, which runs counter to my understanding of Judaism and democracy (which run together here).
(Assuming this is real. I found it floating around social media and commented on by a lot of people I trust. I will delete if I learn it is false).
Posted by Howard Wasserman on March 31, 2025 at 08:12 PM in First Amendment, Howard Wasserman | Permalink
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