From the Editor’s Desk

Ron Duncan-Hart

from HaLapd, Spring 2009

With Gloria

•As we honor the Iberian roots of crypto-Judaism in this
number of the journal, today we are still addressing the
issue of who is Jewish and to what degree, but we do it for
different reasons. It is no longer a matter of the Inquisition, but there
are those who still ask.

Are you Jewish? Do you identify as a Jew? Do you want to be recognizably
Jewish 24-7-365 days of the year? The identity of whether or not
we are Jewish and how we want to be recognized is an old question in
Judaism. Jews are constantly asked to define themselves in Christendom
and the Muslim world, and crypto-Jews are at the heart of this age-old
Jewish practice. Are you? Are you not?

As early as Abraham, we have the loss of those who would not follow
in the steps of their fathers and mothers. Ishmael, the first born of
Abraham, followed another path, as did Esau, the first born of Isaac.
From the time of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs to the Babylonian captivity,
Esther in Persia, the Greco-Roman period, the time of expulsions
in Europe down to the horror of the Holocaust and the contemporary
era of American assimilation, one of the characteristics of Jewish life has
been the choice to leave it. At the same time other people have married
in, and some have converted to become Jewish. The borders of Judaism
have long been defined by their porosity, especially in the Diaspora. It
was that porosity that has led to the unique situation of crypto-Jews
today. Crypto-Jews may be as central to the definition of Jewishness as
are Hasidic Jews.

Identity. What does it mean to be a Jew? I spoke with a woman
recently who quickly gave me her Jewish pedigree: New York, socialist, Workman’s Circle, Forward, and not religious. That was fast. Then,
there is the Ashkenazi, Hasidic, black hat, shomer Shabbat, religious Jew
from Eastern Europe. These can quickly slip into stereotypes, but they
are ways that people identify as Jews. It is critical to religious Jews to
define their Jewishness according to halachic rules, but many secular
Jews could care less. My former rabbi once pointed out that even if you
are born a Jew, you still have to choose to be a Jew.

Benjamin Disraeli, the only Jewish-born British Prime Minister,
lived with ambiguity toward his Judaism. Although born Jewish in London,
his father had him baptized as a child after conflicts with the local
Jewish community. Having been baptized as an Anglican, actually allowed
him to study at the university and become a Member of Parliament,
but he was always considered a Jew by the Christians around him.
At one point Queen Victoria supposedly asked him if he were really
a Jew or a Christian. Disraeli is reported to have answered, “I am the
blank page between the Old Testament and the New.” While the porous
edge of Judaism allows this ambiguity, the Jewishness of people at the
ethnic and religious core of Judaism, like Martin Buber, has never been
in question. But, then, there was Maimonides.

Into this unique history of struggle over how we define Jewishness
has come the science of genetics. Now we have to ask, “Can Jewishness
be defined genetically? Can genetic inheritance prove Jewish descent?”
Although there are genes (such as the “kohanim” marker for descendants
of the “priestly” caste) associated with Jewish populations, what do they
mean? While these genes are also found among non-Jewish populations
in the Middle East and elsewhere, an individual known to be Jewish and
kohan has less than a one in four chance of testing positive for the gene.
So, having or not having that particular genetic marker, is only one issue
in the complex matter of Jewish identity, and it may not be a definitive
one. Given the history of biological determinism used to assign identities
to Jews (and other ethnic groups), we must question and assess the
value of genetic markers in defining ethnic identity of any kind, including
Jewishness.

Melvin Konner, arguably the leading anthropologist of cross-cultural
Jewishness today, has addressed the topic of identity and genetics
in his recent book, The Jewish Body, which includes a chapter on
Jewish genetics. While he recognizes the complexity of the issues involved,
he points out the weakness of the argument for a single Jewish genetic heritage. Broad genetic diversity defines Jews from Germans and Eastern Europeans to Sephardic, Mizrahi, Indian, African, and even Chinese Jews. He argues that we must separate Jewish identity
from the specific genetic make-up of an individual. While he argues
that there is no valid genetic definition of being Jewish, he emphasizes
the importance of genetic research that can trace the inheritance of
diseases through particular family lines. He also gives an interesting
discussion of how Jews have historically used their supposed “biological”
traits to relate to their real religious and cultural uniqueness.

Although the field of genetics has made huge strides in areas of medicine, genetics is not a science of ethnic identity. Jewish populations around the world are not the same genetically. Local relatively
intact communities, such as Belmonte in Portugal, that have had dozens
of generations in one place may constitute a recognizable genetic
group. In contrast, Jews in the Diaspora who have moved repeatedly
and intermarried with people from many different parts of the world,
have a diverse genetic make-up.

The definition of identity in Judaism is complex and thorny. Each
answer can be barbed with emotion. Do you have a Jewish nose? Do you
look Jewish? Is your family Jewish? Did you grow up with yiddishkeit, or
Sephardic traditions, Catholic beliefs, or no religion at all? Do you have
Jewish genetics markers?
What is it to be a Jew? How do you identify?
The discussion over whether a crypto-Jew is truly a Jew is a very
Jewish discussion. The Jewish community is constantly working to define
who is and who is not a member, and it is a debate that will obviously
continue. May we use the debate judiciously to understand who
we are.

* All editorials represent the views of the editor and not positions
taken by the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies. The editor invites responses
to the issues raised here. Please send them to: cryptojews@pop.
powweb.com or ronjosseph@gmail.com.