Yes I’m Jewish, Yes I’m Blonde.
Summer, Camarillo, CA I am Ashkenazi Jewish and have always known so, and was raised speaking English and Yiddish. I am fair skinned, blue eyes...
That is a white Jewish name
Sonja, East Cleveland, OH My children are not biracial and their last name is Cohen. However their great great grandfather who married a black woman...
Jews wear coats of many colors.
Marsha Semmel, Arlington, USA This refers both to the Biblical story of Joseph, my own struggles with defining my Jewish identity (many Jewish friends check...
White until you know I’m Jewish.
David, Marietta, GA People interpret the world using the only tools at their disposal, almost always defaulting to the answer that requires the least amount...
Kids sang about her Jewish nose.
Rebecca Gundzik Studio City, CA We left a small town in Central Oregon because my then middle-school age daughter was being subjected to severe incidents...
Michigan, 1970: Where are your horns?
BJ Diamond, West Hartford, CT. Just married, moved from East Coast to Midwest, found a job as an urban planner for the county. First woman...
I am not your curiosity game.
Victoria, Salem, OR. As a biracial person, people often ask me, “what ethnicity are you?” – aka what race can I define you as? People...
You’re Jewish? You don’t look Jewish.
Jek, Hudson Valley, NY These days, that comment might be a good thing. But I don’t try to hide who I am. This year, for...
I’m Jewish – not a white oppressor
Leeba Weisberg, Spring Valley, NY In the wake of the October 7th Hamas attacks, I see rising antisemitism. But Jewish people aren’t getting the same...
Canada has a racism problem, too
Emma Lamson Edirisinghe, Canada. Following the U.S. election, hatred and bigotry have reared its ugly head in Canada, too, where many think racism isn’t a...
Sure, right, Jewish is a race
Anonymous, Portland, ME Although I’ve explained a thousand, people keep telling me that Jewish is a race not a religion. At this point, why both.
What do you people call Grandma?
Anonymous, Bethel, CT I’m Caucasian and raised as a Jew. She was Catholic and my daughter’s mother-in-law. I thought that was the only difference between...
Messianic Jew Yogi? Pick one fool!
Signe Wendt, Austin, TX. Jewish by heritage when I began to worship Jesus I was told I was no longer Jewish and I had to...
More colors more stories more gratitude
Penny Shaff Altman, Portland, ME. My father told me stories drawn from his childhood in the Ukraine. My mother told me stories about her life...
Always felt different. All are unique.
Nona Lynn Simons Orangevale, CA My Six Words: Have you ever felt different from everybody else? I have and sometimes I still do! In the...
But I’m not White… I’m Jewish.
Liza Frolkis, Nevada City, CA. I understand that because modern Jews are descended from multiple populations that ‘Judaism’ is not technically a race. But the...
