Not a Jew

In Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to
Global Dominance — And Why They Fall, by Amy Chua — that Tiger Mom in an age
of penguins — I was struck that in the introduction, she referred to her husband
as a “Jewish American.” I was an “Irish-American” in the days of Geraldine (“It’s
my turn!”) Ferraro, an “Italian-American” who was Walter Mondale’s running mate
in 1984. There were Afro-Americans and WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) and
Newyoricans (playwright Miguel Pinero and Justice Sonia Sotomayor), but Jews were
just Jews. I’d only heard the expression “Jewish American” once before, years back
when a congresswoman awkwardly referred to some of her constituents as “Jewish Americans.”
Commentator David Brooks got a laugh out of it, saying, “I used to be a Jew. Now
I’m a ‘Jewish American.’ ”

But maybe Chua’s characterization is the better one for our times. Technically,
as I understand it, you are a Jew if your mother was a Jew. But hypothetically,
if you live in Brooklyn and support Hamas, if you don’t believe in God, if you married
a Muslim woman and were married by Bill Clinton, who also performed the bris on
your first-born, are you still a Jew?

It is a rising question and an important one. I’ve spoken to Jerusalem psychologists
and corresponded with Israeli leaders about it, suggesting that American Jews today
yield to the classic anthropology of any other immigrant group. After three generations,
you are no longer Irish-American. You are American. But American Jews have an option.
They can make aliyah to Israel and end the exile. Or they can stay here and be Americans.
We the former Irish cannot do that, because when we left Ireland it changed forever
and that which once was no longer exists.

It is an existential question. Haaretz reports yesterday that the Interior Ministry
and the Jewish Agency rejected a request from singer Barbra Streisand’s cousin to
come and live in Israel. Dale Streisand, 57, was reportedly refused new immigrant
status on the grounds that his Facebook profile indicated he had been involved in
Christian missionary activity in the past.

Nir Hasson reports that Dale Streisand’s application had been rejected because he
believes that Jesus is the messiah. Evidence of this, they told him, was found on
his Facebook profile in the form of a link to a Christian missionary website. Streisand
also told Haaretz that he is a newly Orthodox Jew, is studying Torah and that he
wants to live in Israel and raise his children there.

According to the Law of Return, the Interior minister may deny a Jewish person the
right to immigrate if they have a criminal record, endanger public health or state
security, or if they “work against the Jewish people.” The High Court
of Justice has in the past upheld the decision not to grant immigrant status to
a Jewish person who has been proven to have converted.

The Jewish Agency released a statement saying the Interior Ministry determines individuals’
right to immigrate according to the Law of Return. The ministry added that the right
to immigrate is determined by Israel’s Law of Return.

I never liked being an Irish-American. Brought to mind that Niels Bohr equation.
How does that go? You can be a Particle or you can be a Wave, but you can’t be a
Particle and a Wave at the same time. Better to be an American. Or a Jew.

Visit Mr. Quigley’s website at http://quigleyblog.blogspot.com.