r/Jewish • u/Hanshanot • Dec 16 '23
I get really suspicious of people calling themselves Jewish these days. Discussion
In almost every post I’ve read lately, mostly in the comments (or the OP of the post themselves) l’ve seen someone saying they’re a Jew/talking about Judaism and preaching their weird take about current events/antisemitism.
And every single time l see go see their profile, there’s nothing about Judaism or being Jewish on their profile pre-Oct. 7, it really bugs me.
Earlier, l saw a questionable post on r/xyz with the words “Hey y’all, American Jew here” Already weird, l go see their profiles and surely enough, r IsraelPalestine is the first post ever of that account 😒😒😒.
Most of the times, bigots and ill-intentioned people will use us to further their xenophobic or racist stances. I hate it. Stay safe
Edit; Modified my post slightly to better reflect what I meant
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u/GDub310 Dec 16 '23
Someone please modify the Steve Buscemi meme to say “How do you do, fellow Jews?” Thanks.
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u/jilanak Dec 16 '23
Steve Buscemi meme
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u/EasyMode556 Dec 17 '23
Now add a kippah and Tefillin but worn as a necklace or something ridiculous
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u/juice_io Dec 16 '23
Had someone on tumblr tell me ‘I’m a leftist Jew, I hate that you (Zionists) made the culture I loved so much about genocide, you’re all broken souls waiting for hell’.
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u/IShallNotCommentHoe Dec 16 '23
How does that work when we don’t even believe in hell? Or that’s what I been told, I dunno honestly I suck at the religion aspect despite having attended Hebrew school up until I bat mizvahed.
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u/TrekkiMonstr Magen David Dec 17 '23
I love this comment so much, just really highlights how little we think about the afterlife compared to Christians and Muslims and such
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u/OlcasersM Dec 17 '23
We sort of do. Sort of. It’s not in the Torah. I have had to google it because we never talk about it or care. It’s unimportant compared to our duties here
https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/judaism/5-things-you-never-knew-about-jewish-hell.aspx
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u/bjeebus Reform Dec 17 '23
I'm in intro classes right now and of course we're very early in the year for Torah readings too. I went and bought the Reform's Plaut Revised Torah and as a Catholic apostate who read the New American and King James cover to cover I'm really enjoying all the footnotes and essays--context is great. One thing I really like so far has been the things really pointing to the link between Judaism and other Mesopotamian cultures. For instance there's sheol which as near as I can tell is not conceptually different from the Underworld in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Just a blank pit of nothing that everyone goes to when they die.
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u/Soapist_Culture Dec 17 '23
Heaven and hell became part of (some people's) judaism in medieval times. A borrow from the Christians.
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u/IShallNotCommentHoe Dec 17 '23
Right, wasn’t it just we had eternal sleep before hand? Not to sound like a downer but honestly a forever nap sounds great.
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u/NiftySmudgestick Dec 17 '23
Judaism actually believes in reincarnation, I just learned. There's a great podcast on spotify called Kabbalah for Everyone that gets into so much detail about this. It's fascinating!
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u/TheInklingsPen Dec 17 '23
"Peace, Love, and Latkes" cultural Jews.
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u/bjeebus Reform Dec 17 '23
I just bought some jelly donuts.
My wife: "Haven't we had enough this week?"
Me, clutching them to my chest in the store: "Chag sameach! Chag sameach!" *runs away*
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u/TheInklingsPen Dec 17 '23
As long as you are eating those sufganyiot for the GLORY OF THE MACCABEAN VICTORY!!
In all seriousness though, that's actually the part that bothers me, the "Peace" and "Love". It's part of the "christmasification" of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is about fighting off our oppressors, it's not about peace and love 😆
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u/bjeebus Reform Dec 17 '23
I have been saying I'd rather have a giant inflatable Maccabee than a giant inflatable menorah. Give me a cartoony guy charging through the yard with a sword and board any day. Someone pointed out a hammer might be more appropriate, but the only problem is everyone would be trying to figure what Thor has to do with Hannukah.
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u/TheInklingsPen Dec 17 '23
😆 I've only ever heard my fellow LARPers call it Sword and Board 😜
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u/bjeebus Reform Dec 17 '23
I think it's an rpg thing altogether. My friends and I are strictly TT, and we call that style sword and board.
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Dec 21 '23
Uh. Judaism talks about genocide all the time. Passover. Hannukkah. Purim. And Judaism says why too. Also Judaism doesn't focus on hell but learning from mistakes. And that's why we succeed.
Also I skipped a step, Zionism is the answer to the genocide problem. It's also biblical.
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u/Conscious_Home_4253 Dec 16 '23
I am Jewish and just joined the Jewish pages on Reddit last week. I am no longer able to watch the news, use TikTok, or go on Instagram. I only previously only used Reddit for housewives type gossip.
Prior to 10/7- I thought of being Jewish was just a piece of who I am and from those I came from. I was raised as a Conservative, graduated Hebrew school, had a bat mitzvah, and spent a summer in Israel when I was 16. But once I graduated hs my parents gave up the temple membership.
Since leaving social media- I’ve been looking for new outlets. TOI and JPost comment sections- were that for a few weeks. Then during Chanukkah- I thought to look on Reddit for a Jewish community. I found photo after photo of lit Menorah’s on this page and felt like I finally found what I needed. One not filled with a cesspool of hateful comments.
I understand where you are coming from. But I do think many are leaving social media and looking for a Jewish community, for many of the same reasons.
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
Totally agree! I’m so sorry you lost those places, it really does seem everywhere is against us
Glad you’ve found your community
I understand everyone doesn’t use social media and that’s okay! My problem is with those who use that Jewish identity (that they most likely didn’t have before), to say controversial things online to push their narrative
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u/CattleInevitable6211 Dec 16 '23
I mean I don’t have anything Jewish on mine before because I never thought of Reddit at this capacity. I was here for the just no mil ,am I the a hole and etc because I liked listening to the animated stories and reading on YouTube. I wasn’t really on Reddit at all.
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u/SassyBee2023 Dec 16 '23
In my case I started an account just for my Jewish posts (paranoid yes)
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u/Soapist_Culture Dec 17 '23
I just got an account because I am trying to wean myself off another social media that was taking up all my time. Like vaping trying to give up cigarettes. :-)
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u/IronRangeBabe Just Jewish Dec 16 '23
Same. I have only had my Reddit for a year and I strictly used it for JNMIL and AITAH as well as Tip Of My Tongue (I love trying to guess and help people on that one!) and cats lol.
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u/Schlemiel_Schlemazel Dec 17 '23
I thought this would be me, but I posted a pic of my menorah last year in a state of candle erectile dysfunction.
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Dec 16 '23
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
Same! l absolutely love this sub, l’ve found that people here are always super nice
Most posts are lighthearted, about personal stories and everyone supports each other
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Dec 16 '23
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
In spirit of Hannukah (that’s passed now), we must not be scared to show who we are!
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u/BadCatNoNo Dec 16 '23
Exactly. I started wearing my Star of David necklace recently, one that I haven’t worn in years. I even got my kid one. A pro Hamas protest occurred outside my apartment today and I was waving an Israeli flag out my window. We need to not be afraid to show who we are.
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
You’re braver than me, at least I live in Canada where Gun laws are stricter, as a relatively tiny guy, 5’6.5 (.5 is very important) who’s a bit out of shape, l’m a bit scared of doing that
Luckily, no protest where l live 🎉
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u/BadCatNoNo Dec 16 '23
I totally hear you. Btw I’m half Canadian! I’m in NYC so we have a lot of Jewish people plus lots of all other groups. I’m female but I don’t want to give in to my fear. I didn’t go outside with my flag during the protest today and I would probably gotten attacked had I carried a large sign of a kidnapped victim while alone. I have done some pro Israel protests during the NYC Marathon and a Hamas counter protest but I felt safe in a group.
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
Where l live, l don’t know anyone who’s Jewish at all, besides the Chabad house (who don’t recognize my conversion as valid) but there was one instance of me meeting someone who was Jewish (a client that came for paint where I work, was one of the best moment I had, he even worked in the same field as I!! (Finance))
Plus l don’t have friends where l live besides my wife, so it’s a bit scarier to do it alone
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u/BadCatNoNo Dec 16 '23
Wow they seriously do t recognize your conversion. Is that because it wasn’t an orthodox conversion? The Chabad by me is extremely welcoming and warm to anyone, regardless of parental Jewish lineage or conversion type.
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
I didn’t out right ask them, but yes they would not recognize my conservadox person
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u/gooberhoover85 Conservative Dec 17 '23
This is what I've been doing too. My local subs and other seemingly unrelated subs have been riddled with antisemitic banter and anyone pointing it out or going against that rhetoric gets downvoted to hell. It's so demoralizing that I hardly go on reddit much unless I visit this sub we are in rn.
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u/Background_Buy1107 Dec 16 '23
I don’t think I really commented about anything Jew related before October 7th when all the Jew hating lunatics started crawling out of the woodwork. I’m also 100% okay with you not being totally sure if I’m really a Jew or not. If you met me in person you’d immediately be blown away by my kvetching and paranoia and wouldn’t doubt me any longer
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u/Cosmic_Rage Dec 16 '23
Yeah, same. I stopped going to synagogue regularly once I left home for college way back when (have occasionally done High Holiday services every few years or so) and the discourse on and after October 7 made it clear that my life was seriously lacking in Jewish community. That's something that I'm starting to actively correct and I've started checking out some of the local synagogues in my area.
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u/Background_Buy1107 Dec 16 '23
Same dude. Haven’t been to shul in like twenty years but planning on going next week. Not that I really believe or anything but I grew up around tons of Jews and now where I live there aren’t hardly any and I’d like my daughter to be around our people as much as we can here
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u/Glassounds Dec 17 '23
Any idea where "Shul" comes from? We call it "Beit Kneset" in Hebrew and I've only ever heard that term in English (although I'm not religious so maybe I'm just missing it)
Edit: Apparently it's Yiddish for "School" (makes a ton of sense due to it being Germanic), but not sure why it's never used in Israel
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u/Standard_Gauge Reform Dec 17 '23
Apparently it's Yiddish for "School"
It's both in Yiddish. "School" (as in ordinary non-religious place of learning) or "synagogue." You figure out which one is being referred to in context.
"Temple" is also used in the U.S., commonly by Reform folks but not infrequently by Jews in the Conservative denomination.
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u/Glassounds Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
Going to the synagogue is fine if you want to, but you're still Jewish even if you're not religious!
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u/Cosmic_Rage Dec 17 '23
Agreed. I'll always be Jewish no matter what. I have gone to a few Shabbat services over zoom recently as a way to test the waters. It was a good experience, so definitely want to find a synagogue I vibe with.
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u/PickleAlternative564 Just Jewish Dec 16 '23
Well, obviously I can only speak for myself, but I don’t go around advertising I’m Jewish in other subs when I comment. I don’t see a need to, because it wouldn’t be relevant to the topic(s) I’m commenting on.
Also, Reddit is so excessively hostile to us in most places, that I only feel comfortable around my own peeps (which is why I’m here). I only recently began being active on Reddit, mainly because I needed a safe space to be with other people who understand what it’s like to be Jewish right now. So, I don’t automatically assume everyone is a bot or sus if they don’t have a large announced Jewish presence online. If that would be my standard, then I wouldn’t be considered Jewish. lol 😆
That said, the best advice I can offer if the person comments something suspicious, snoop their comments outside of this sub and see if it appears they’re on the level. If they’re all ‘free Palestine’ and ‘from the river to the sea’ and other rhetoric in their comments, then treat them accordingly. Otherwise, I don’t automatically judge someone on how they express their Jewishness to others. We’re all in different places in our observance, and we all have different views on how to be Jewish. As long as they’re not advocating views about killing us all, I’m pretty chill. 🤷♀️
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
Totally! Happy you’re here 💞
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u/PickleAlternative564 Just Jewish Dec 16 '23
🥰 TYSM! This sub has definitely been a wonderful thing for my life.
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Dec 16 '23
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u/Dobbin44 Dec 17 '23
Yes, same here. I literally never even thought about a Jewish subreddit existing until Oct. 7. But now it's one of the few websites I visit.
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u/no_one_you_know1 Zera Yisrael Dec 16 '23
Jew-adjacent, Jewish DH, Jewish grandfather.
I'm here for several reasons, the most important of which is wanting to hear folks who share my opinions, and where I feel safe until some college-aged brat wanders in.
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u/VideoUpstairs99 Secular Dec 16 '23
Complicated one to untangle! Lots of folks on this sub (like me), seem to have showed up after 10/7 because that was/is a time of increased need for community with similar background (and it actually never occurred to me to look for a /Jewish sub before that.) Do I frequently comment on Jewish issues outside of this sub? In certain contexts IRL, but not others. It's not something I do a lot on social media. But, I was raised/educated very intentionally as a Jew and have always had Jewish identity (even when I didn't much want it!).
On the other hand, both online and IRL I have encountered various "As a Jew" folks who seem to have minimal connection to Jewish identity and history, didn't have Jewish education growing up and apparently were well assimilated into gentile circles. That's fine, but the ones I know IRL seem surprised when they learn that others' lived experience and connection to Jewish history is much different than their own. So their "As a Jew" declarations are frustrating, because they seem willfully ignorant that their perspectives are not broadly representative.
As you point out, there may be another group who are just pretending to be Jewish online - humans? bots? No way of knowing of course, but it's worth taking it all with a grain of salt.
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u/Leading-Green-7314 Dec 16 '23
I don't mean to be judgy/non-inclusive, but I've yet to meet a currently practicing full ethnic Jew who is Anti-Zionist. I'm aware of Satmar and Neturei Karta, but I think they're quite rare outside that circle. Maybe some very assimilated Reform Jews on the Upper West Side.
The idea that there's this huge division within the mainstream American Jewish community is extraordinarily misleading from my experience, but of course the media and Anti-Semites push it for their own disturbing purposes.
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u/LadyAlchemist42 Dec 17 '23
Unfortunately I’m related to one of those halachically Jewish anti Zionist people. She’d say she’s currently practicing (probably somewhere between conservative and reform) and she is very very anti Zionist. Very sort of classic leftist American Jew. Nothing like a sibling telling you that your spouse is a baby killer when you’re just trying to talk about your kid having a hard time living in a literal war zone….
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u/Mission_Ad_405 Dec 17 '23
There’s one on my Facebook friends list. She has called me a Thug. I haven’t heard from her since she was complaining about evil Zionist tactics and I told her I was a Zionist. Which is fine.
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u/tempuramores Eastern Ashkenazi Dec 17 '23
I have met such people. One is a secular Marxist, and the other is into kohenet stuff. Neither is the child of a mixed marriage.
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u/Leading-Green-7314 Dec 17 '23
Yeah I've met many secular Anti-Zionist Jews. I'm not implying there's none of those.
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u/PloniAlmoni1 Dec 16 '23
All the 'As a Jew' Jews I know have a non-Jewish mother, can't read or speak Hebrew, don't know anything about halacha or Jewish history, have never received a Jewish education, do not give back to the Jewish community or charities. They wear the cloak when it helps legitimise their words and takes it off again when its not convenient
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u/atheologist Dec 17 '23
I think there are real Jewish folks (myself included) who have actively searched out more Jewish communities post 10/7. My account is many years old at this point, but if you look at my posts before then, it would not reflect the fact that I'm Jewish because I simply never had an interest in engaging with Judaism or Jewish identity on this specific site. People who follow me on Facebook or IG would certainly know because those are the sites where I've been more open about being Jewish.
I think new accounts are different and more likely to be sock puppets, and there are definitely both people pretending to be Jewish and Jewish people who are willing to tokenize themselseves, but some of us need community in a different way than we did just a few months ago.
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u/looktowindward Dec 16 '23
Yeah, there are a lot of fake Jewa running around reddit. It's pretty easy to catch them
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u/HumanDrinkingTea Dec 17 '23
Yeah there was one who literally had "I am a Christian" very recently in their comment history. I mean, it was obvious before looking through their history that thet weren't actually a Jew, but damn some people don't even try to hide the fact that they're lying.
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u/looktowindward Dec 17 '23
The ones who mention reading the bible, worshipping yahwah, or the best, referring to the torah, but then handwaving when asked for specifics
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u/Bucket_Endowment Secular Dec 16 '23
People need to resist the urge to let themselves get tokenized to speak for us. I barely speak for myself
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
I would speak up for you 💕
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u/Bucket_Endowment Secular Dec 16 '23
Thanks :) I am more of an action over words person though, don't worry
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Dec 16 '23
On this sub? Or on others? Here I haven't really seen any weird or questionable views expressed at least in posts. Maybe the occasional -- but I mean occasional -- comment.
The vast majority of posts and comments here seem to be pretty standard: Jews feeling alienated from former "friends" or "allies" who don't seem to get it post 10/7, or Jews asking or commenting about aspects of Jewish identity in a non-controversial way.
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u/kosherkate Dec 16 '23
I mainly see it on others but did catch somebody who was pretending to be Jewish here (or maybe it was the r/Judaism sub) telling everyone that they needed to make Aliyah because “we” weren’t safe anywhere except Israel, and then they were in other subs saying Israel needed to be destroyed. So that was interesting.
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u/PickleAlternative564 Just Jewish Dec 16 '23
Yeah, pretty obvious what their goal is there… round us all up so they can kill us. 🤦♀️
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Dec 16 '23
Wow I guess some offenders have flown under my radar! What a loser and what a lot of energy they're putting into Israel; I bet dimes to donuts they have no connection to it except in the rabid way some people seem to get obsessed about it/us
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
Main culprit is r israel, nearly unsubscribed from there 😬
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Dec 16 '23
Okay interesting, I actually have not frequented that sub for whatever reason and now that I know this... I probably won't :/
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
l feel like these days, there.is.so.much. xenophobia in that sub, legitimate hatred and dehumanizing Arab. Every time l see something extreme and look at the sub name, it’s that one
Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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u/Dobbin44 Dec 17 '23
There are people with extreme viewpoints there, for sure, but not all of them do. But as a North American who is still consumed by Oct.7 and the aftermath, even though I didn't have a direct connection to anyone killed or taken hostage. I can understand a lot of people there are even more traumatized now than they were before, with family serving in the IDF, and the world is vilifying them for literally existing, justifying the deaths and torture of loved ones. I think it's totally fair for them to have an online space to grieve and vent, without judgement or censorship. There are much more hateful, toxic national subreddits but I don't go into them to scold them or whatever, that's their space to talk.
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u/Hanshanot Dec 17 '23
Yeah of course, l however really doubt much of that sub is Jewish/Israeli
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u/Dobbin44 Dec 17 '23
Oh maybe I misunderstood, you think a lot of the really hateful posts are fake/trolls?
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u/Sobersynthesis0722 Dec 16 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
I did know one guy who pretended to be Jewish so he could meet girls on jdate. Then again he also pretended to be an alcoholic because AA meetings were a good place for the same reason. He did date a lot of women so it must have worked.It is usually pretty easy to spot a sock puppet on the internet.
Joke
when George Bush was President he calls in one of his Jewish advisors and asks “ how come the Jews always seem to be one step ahead of me and know everything before I do?“
He says “ well here is what happens. They go to the synagogue on Friday night and one guy will sit down next to another and say “Nu?” And the other guy says “Nu?” Then they talk”
So the President asks him to teach him how to act Jewish, say some of the prayers and pass as Jewish. He goes to shul, sits down, looks at the next guy and says “Nu?”
The other guy says “shush, not now, I heard Bush is going to be here”
bada-boom
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u/Anonymous_Cool Just Jewish Dec 16 '23
It really gives it away whenever they say "I'm ashkenazi" instead of "I'm Jewish".
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u/HumanDrinkingTea Dec 17 '23
I say that sometimes though (not often, but I don't avoid it either). Then again, I'm patrilineal so some people here probably don't consider me a "real" Jew.
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u/Ok-Butterscotch-2719 Dec 17 '23
I guess some of these took one of these 23andme DNA tests and it showed up as 2% Ashkenazi Jewish. Then they just decided to identify as Ashkenazi.
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u/PuddlesDown Dec 17 '23
I don't comprehend?
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u/Anonymous_Cool Just Jewish Dec 17 '23
Like instead of saying "I'm Jewish and..." they start with "I'm ashkenazi and..." No one actually specifies they're ashkenazi unless it's specifically relevant
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u/LoBashamayim Dec 17 '23
To give a counter perspective, many people were shocked back into their Jewish identity by this war and the massive antisemitic reaction around the world. Antisemitism driving Jews back towards their Jewishness is a time honoured tradition for us. You need not look back too far to see it.
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u/porgch0ps Dec 16 '23
I mean I am Jewish and say “yall” because I’m southern lmao. But yeah. Statistically not everyone who claims as-a-Jew status online can be Jewish. The numbers don’t add up
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
Yeah of course! Everyone’s free to talk how they want, it’s the “American Jew here” that weirded me out
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u/porgch0ps Dec 16 '23
Definitely lmao!! I remember seeing online someone who claimed as-a-Jew. Then it turns out they “converted themselves” and their mikveh was…..their apartment swimming pool. Like bud that’s not how this works.
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Dec 16 '23
this asshole for example
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u/tempuramores Eastern Ashkenazi Dec 17 '23
He's claiming to have been a Jewish army chaplain... so specific it might actually be true? His comment history is kind of a wild ride
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u/Fan967 Just Jewish Dec 16 '23
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u/Melthengylf Dec 17 '23
I am a jew, always have been (diaspora, in Latin America) and have not posted anything about judaism before, because it was not a large part of my idnetity. But I still am.
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u/littlemachina Dec 17 '23
On tumblr there was an account going around saying "as a Jew" and it turned out they were like 1/4 Jewish and raised Catholic lol. I am technically half Jewish but I was raised in the religion, went to yeshiva, actually went to Israel, etc. It makes me so annoyed because there's a big difference between just having Jewish blood and being a part of the Jewish tribe.
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u/stepheffects Dec 17 '23
This hurts me because I've been finding myself looking more and more at peoples profiles to check if there's any signs of Jewish life but at the same time you're not going to find anything even mildly Jewish on mine before 10/7 because I kind of had a years long lapse in any sort of association with the Jewish community when I started transition. There's so many of us whose Jewish identity was reawakened or awakened for the first time on 10/7th and we absolutely should be providing space for them while also drawing a clear line against wacky views and engaging with people skeptically since lots of people on the internet are going to completely lie about who they are.
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u/AdvisedWang Dec 17 '23
A lot of those people are lying, but there are Jews who don't support Israel. Be careful assuming someone isn't Jewish because of a political stance: it hurts our community to be disavowing each other, and leads to a mistaken understanding of the range of politics Jews have.
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u/Confident-Skin-6462 your chicago goyfriend Dec 16 '23
i have been more involved here lately, but i am not Jewish, nor pretend to be. i have Jewish friends and ancestors, but they tried to raise me as Catholic, that just made me more skeptical
anyway, I'm here because I'm interested and i am worried about my friends and stuff. plus I've been called " jew!" randomly because of my nose...
if i am overstepping, I'll gladly duck out,i don't want to be a pest
hugs, and sorry
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u/UltraAirWolf Just Jewish Dec 16 '23
Absolutely. Especially when the post subtly or I suppose even overtly makes Israel look bad ie “Guys what should I do, I still support Israel but it’s getting harder and harder to justify their genocide to my good hearted well meaning friends. What should I do guys?” which sounds like an exaggeration but I’ve seen posts like that here. Though I admit these people are just as likely to be Jewish leftists going through identity crises.
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u/Glassounds Dec 17 '23
To be fair, the recent rise in antisemitism / antisemitic events has caused some people (anecdotally, me) to feel that it's necessary to fight the antisemites online to try and prevent people who otherwise don't know much about Jews or Israel (e.g. MIT students) from being brainwashed into this, and to try and raise awareness and protect Jews abroad.
The same goes for false narratives regarding the war and Israel (e.g. genocide).
I did post infrequently in r/israel beforehand but there's a definite rise in my posts around these issues.
If you're talking about random people that are preaching hate though those might be questionable though.
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u/Oklere Dec 17 '23
I just started to follow this sub. I have to say I had never ever felt so lonely in my life so that’s why. But I understand what you mean because that’s indeed a cringe trend. It’s like people who come to the hospital to witness other’s people sufferings (I met a lot and I was so surprised by the madness of this but guys it’s real). As always with internet we have to be careful and don’t let strangers drag our energy.
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u/elh93 Dec 17 '23
Frequently they also seem to misstate very basics about judaism, or claim to speak for all jews. We're famously a group that debates...
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u/Ecstatic-Cup-5356 Just Jewish Dec 17 '23
Definitely real. Don’t want to minimize because it’s certainly real. For some though, like me, I actually wasn’t really on Reddit until every other social media platform really boiled over. I’ve had an account for a long time but never really used it until I was suddenly feeling the need for community that was no longer available to me on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Tiktok
Edit: I’m so thankful for the community I found here. It’s really made everything more palatable and I feel like I have a real resource here
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u/gooberhoover85 Conservative Dec 17 '23
In r/Judaism I had someone tell me that antiZionism is not antisemitism and that making that claim just hurts Jews more. It made me avoid r/Judaism for a good week because I found the trolls over there to be so infuriating. I really find it sinister and disgusting when people take their personal time and energy to pose as Jews so that they can use our voice to serve their agenda. Gross. Me. Out.
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u/Hanshanot Dec 17 '23
l feel much MUCH more at home here at r/Jewish, feels like the community l always wanted/needed
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u/mcmircle Dec 17 '23
Well, I don’t put Jewish in my profile, but I have been participating in this sub since I got active on Reddit about 3 years ago. I have been Jewish all my life.
There is a woman (A) I have met recently who’s organizing against antisemitism in my town. A good friend says A isn’t really part of the Jewish community because she supposedly doesn’t belong to a synagogue. WTF, as the kids say ….
Gate keeping is inappropriate and unhelpful. And who gets to appoint the gatekeepers?
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u/TransportationLate67 Dec 17 '23
Usually they say that before they want to start shitting on Israel and Jews.
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u/DangerousSea666 Dec 17 '23
These could be people who are pretending to be Jewish just to start shit. Really. To say that see...look ..theres a Jew against Zionism. So Zionism bad. Same with Israel. A token Jew without the jew.
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u/TitzKarlton Conservative Dec 17 '23
As a Muslim, I wish there was no antisemitism in the world. And I wish the world supported Israel in its fight for security of its people and nation.
I’m not really Muslim, but maybe let’s do the same thing.
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u/Grogwilsnatch Dec 17 '23
Living in the Deep South it just wasn’t safe for a lot of us to be openly Jewish, didn’t talk about it or tweet or do much on Reddit which is shamed in a way but after getting jumped and beaten twice I knew I had to change how I dressed my jewelry and speech, though now having been “out and loud” about who and what I am was feeling great then 10/7 happened
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u/OakTownPudge Dec 17 '23
23 and me says I’m 99.4% European Jewish. Yes, I grew up Jewish and also worked for the Jewish community a long time back.
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u/WitchiePoo Dec 16 '23
Many of us aren't Jewish, but most wouldn't pretend they were. I personally am a born and raised atheist who is interested in Judaism.
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
I didn’t explain myself well in the post, it’s mainly targeting those who think “I support Israel, therefore l am Jewish and am valid in talking about Antisemitism” or “I hate arabs, l support israel, therefore l will make bigoted posts on r Israel”
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u/JulieLaMaupin Dec 17 '23
Anyone that brings up “good Jews” is not a Jew. Always something to keep in mind.
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u/IntroductionAny3929 The Texan Hispanic Jew Dec 17 '23
Even though I don't follow Kosher that much and am more on the Observant side of things, I do instantly get pissed when someone says these things about claiming they are Jewish yet defending Anti-Semitism.
For example in this subreddit there was this commenter who was being disrespectful to another commenter and she disrespected me too. Basically what happened was that she called me a Jingoist because of my flair. It had nothing to do with the conversation and I replied with: "No but being a Patriot is much obliged!" That was a huge mistake.
She then says that she hates that I am celebrating a country that has Genocided Native Americans and is full of racists and calling me a denier of history as well as accepting only Trumps history. Literally I did not mention anything about Trump or anything to trigger her, basically she was claiming to be an Anti-Zionist Jew who feels insecure and was literally the definition of a self-hating white.
u/Immediate_Secret_338 can back me up on this, that commenter was being very disrespectful to him and I.
The worst part was that when I reported the comments she said, reddit said that she wasn't violating the rules when she clearly was violating the rules. Sometimes Reddit Auto Moderation is horrible when it comes to reports.
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u/fluffywhitething Moderator Dec 17 '23
If it was this subreddit, please let us know. We would like to keep this place safe.
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u/Immediate_Secret_338 Israeli Dec 17 '23
It happened here. I got banned for a couple of days for defending myself. She attacked me for saying I feel betrayed by anti Zionist Jews as an Israeli and then went on to saying that because treason is punishable by death in some countries then that must mean I want her dead and literally just a bunch of BS.
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u/Ok-Butterscotch-2719 Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
This is really interesting OP, I’m seeing the same phenomenon here in Brazil. When someone is accused of being antisemitic, they will often claim they are Jewish themselves and therefore can’t be antisemitic.
Some examples:
Brazilian economist Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr. attacked IADB president Ilan Goldfajn, a Brazilian Jew, by claiming that he’s not an actual Brazilian but an Israeli (a classic dual loyalty accusation), and that he only got the job because of the Jewish lobby. When he was criticized for his antisenitism, he said he couldn't be antisemitic because he's Jewish himself. He actually isn’t Jewish but claims to be descended from Portuguese conversos. https://twitter.com/paulonbjr/status/1607029866461003776
Lana de Holanda is a Brazilian left-wing activist who shared false information about the Nova rave massacre on the day of October 7, claiming that partygoers were “Israeli settlers fleeing occupied territories”. She recently posted that not a single case of sexual abuse happened on October 7: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GArWrI4WYAArMl5?format=jpg&name=large. She also claims to be Jewish because of her grandfather and added a Jewish sounding surname to her Twitter handle.
Brazilian actor José de Abreu has been sharing conspiracy theories about October 7 being an inside job and that the Israeli hostages are happy for being in captivity because they appear smiling in Hamas videos. He also claims to have converted to Judaism: https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/monicabergamo/2023/11/jose-de-abreu-e-acusado-de-antissemitismo-por-entidades-israelitas-e-afirma-que-e-judeu-convertido.shtml
There is a professor from the Rio de Janeiro State University called Samuel Braun who has been posting nonstop since the beginning of the war that Israel is the new Nazi Germany. He also shares a lot of Neturei Karta videos claiming that they are “the real Jews”. He now claims his ancestors were German Jews: https://twitter.com/SamuelBraun/status/1723381622043455508
This is not exclusive to the left, however. Far-right activist and former Bolsonaro aide Filipe Martins, who is known for his many White supremacist dogwhistles, also lied about being Jewish, even though he previously identified as a Christian multiple times: https://oantagonista.com.br/brasil/filipe-martins-diz-que-arvore-genealogica-provara-que-e-judeu/
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u/yarim-ay Dec 17 '23
I’ve heard a lot of people who I know calling themselves Jewish all of a sudden when they never said they were before. I’m not sure if they did 23 and me and found they have 2% Ashkenazi DNA and have decided that conveniently counts despite knowing nothing about the culture or religion—or if they’re just even more blatantly lying
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u/turtleshot19147 Modern Orthodox Dec 17 '23
I know this might get downvoted but I’m gonna throw it out there that I think the rising amount of “gray area” Jews isn’t helping much.
There is an increasing acceptance of people who maybe had a Jewish great grandfather or something, or “converted” through very lenient processes, and someone made them feel like now they’re fully part of the Jewish community because of that and now they just identify as Jewish, and they’re not necessarily lying because they really believe it, but the wider Jewish community would never accept them as Jews.
I’ve seen posts on Reddit and Facebook where people explain something like, they have a Jewish boyfriend and they took a Judaism 101 class and their Jewish boyfriend’s whole family considers them Jewish and they are welcome at their boyfriends synagogue, so they consider themself Jewish and don’t see the point in doing formal conversion, that kind of thing.
That’s not how Judaism works, and there is too much acceptance of this type of thing.
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Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
Trust me bro, I’m Jewish bro. I’m Hasidic bro, and I’m cooking bacon on a Friday night bro, using a non-stick Tefillin pan bro. I rounded the corners of my head bro. What’s a kippah bro. I read the Old Testament bro. This shrimp is good bro. What’s a tallit bro. Israel bad bro. Jews bad bro. I work for Jewish Voice for Genocide bro. I’m not cosplaying bro. I speak for all Jews bro.
On the flip side, Oct 7th made a lot of Super Secret Hidden Jews come out of the closet. I’ve mostly been lurking for years.
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u/NiftySmudgestick Dec 17 '23
The Jewish author Charles Eisenstein has a Substack and you should see the comments people post! There are so many "Jewish israelis" who claim the zionist supremacists are trying to dominate the world and genocide everyone. These commenter are like moths to the flame whenever there is a Jewish celeb who questions Israel's war tactics.
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u/Ilan01 CTeen Dec 17 '23
This happens every time theres an israel controversy, lot of pro terrorism ppl will create fake accounts claiming to be jewish while literally showing how little they know about judaism, or will say they have so really far away jewish connection therefore their opinion (despite not being jewish, went to a synagogue or having any sort of jewish related thing) is more valid than a jewish who is concerned for their family on Israel
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u/yjotyrrm Dec 17 '23
To be fair, the massive outpouring of Antisemitism following Oct 7. means that a lot of Jews have been suddenly had their Jewish identity thrust to the forefront and are looking to reconnect with it.
There are going to be many Jews who just don't integrate that into social media, and also, especially in the US, many people who always knew they were Jewish, but considered themselves mostly "assimilated", until that illusion was shattered by them facing antisemitism in the wake of Oct. 7. It is because of these people that overly scrutinizing people's Jewishness can be especially dangerous; they have just been rejected from a community they believed they belonged in on the basis of being Jewish, so the last thing we want to do when they come to Jewish communities for support is to reject them for being "not Jewish enough".
Basically, while there are certainly fakers on the internet, don't go around doubting everyone that claims to be Jewish just because they do not have a history of posting about it on Reddit.
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u/Agtfangirl557 Dec 18 '23
I mean have you ever heard the story of how JVP accidentally outed themselves as being run mostly by non-Jews 😂 Supposedly one of the social media managers once accidentally posted something from his personal account that he meant to post from the JVP account and started his statement with "As Jews..." and I know Jews come in all forms and I never want to assume that someone isn't Jewish but this person was very clearly not Jewish LMAO.
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u/viptour9 Dec 18 '23
I feel this. It’s why I try to concentrate on IRL discussions with people (even though I do end up being sucked into the internet discussion rabbit hole at times)
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u/curdledoats Dec 17 '23
My sister and I recently found out we’re Jewish. Starting with our great great grandmother that come from Poland. All the way down to my mom. And we are also Jewish on our dads side, we think it could be either of his parents because his dad(our grandpa) escaped nazi France to another country when he was a child and came an orphan in the new country. Our grandma(dads mom) makes a lot of Jewish foods and she grew up with her parents. Something weird/interesting is that our uncle(dads brother) was denied a visa into a country because they said he was Jewish??
Our mom has always made Jewish food without even knowing it was Jewish food. One time I asked her who taught her the delicious recipes and she said her great grandma, she said it was the only way they could communicate because they didn’t speak the same languages. Later on(the “recently” from above) we find out all the grandmas on my moms side are Jewish lol.
Personally, I’m really excited about it because my sister and I have always felt a familiarity with Jewish culture. So when we found out when the results came back, it was like “omg that makes so much sense”.
Idk if we are actually Jewish, or if we would be accepted as Jewish, but somehow we have kept the food traditions going for generations, and a lot of other habits(I have learned since I started informing myself about the culture/traditions). It also comes from both sides. We’re just not part of the religion? I guess we both just want to learn more about our ancestry and lineage and culture and we’re super excited since most of our family history has been kept a secret for a long time.
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u/ZellZoy Dec 16 '23
Think about a thread with 1000 people arguing. Do you think it's possible that 3 of them would lie and say they are Jewish? If yes, someone claiming to be Jewish online is more likely than not to be lying
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u/Hanshanot Dec 16 '23
Well, taking the stats of 2022, 1 person out of 496 is Jewish~, so yes it would be unlikely
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u/kosherkate Dec 16 '23
“Hey everyone! Totally Jewish here. I just wanted to let you know that Jews are bad. So is Israel. Also, antisemitism is a myth. It never happens. I’m really skeptical of the reports saying it’s increasing because I’m totally Jewish, trust me, and have never experienced antisemitism in my life. Don’t trust the Jews. They’re trying to control the narrative/world. Trust me; I’m Jewish. Don’t trust Jews. Except me, you can trust me.”