Category Archives: A Wondering Jew

Are Jews White?

A Jewish convict in California has applied to the state’s courts to have the penal system reclassify him from “white” to “other”, for practical reasons of personal security: When the prison is locked down because of any clash among prisoners, … Continue reading

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What’s Good for the Jews…

Serge Gainsbourg records in Jamaica In my “What is Rootless Cosmopolitan?” manifesto, I hinted at my belief that being dispersed among the nations (the “Diaspora”) is not some catastrophe to have befallen Jews, as the Zionists maintain; on the contrary, … Continue reading

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What Makes Food Jewish?

Originally published in the Anglo-Japanese magazine Eat in August 2000 There’s nothing more Jewish than fish on Fridays. Or so I thought, growing up in a household that tucked into pedestrian fried hake and chips every week after blessing the … Continue reading

Posted in A Wondering Jew, Cuisine | 20 Comments

Judaism, Zionism and the Gaza Grotesquerie

Settlers cynically appropriate the Holocaust: Jews can’t claim the support of other Jews when they violate Judaism’s fundamental ethics. Expelling Jews when they occupy other people’s land seems to me to be a very Jewish idea We’ve already discussed why … Continue reading

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A Jew’s Place

This piece appeared in South Africa’s Sunday Times in December of 2003 Israel’s leaders don’t fear Palestinian suicide bombers nearly as much as they fear the Palestinian population explosion. Even Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is now warning that holding on … Continue reading

Posted in A Wondering Jew | 9 Comments

Where do France’s Jews Belong?

A version of this story appeared on TIME.com published 7.21.2004 Ariel Sharon’s belief that the Jews of France belong in Israel and ought to get there as soon as possible lest they fall victim to anti-Semitism gone wild has opened … Continue reading

Posted in A Wondering Jew | 3 Comments