I had a teacher in college for intro to Judaism and he got to a section about Jewish humor and started telling Jewish jokes everyone laughed because they were funny and he was Jewish. Later, I found out he just looked Jewish and actually was not Jewish and wasn't sure if I signed be offended in hindsight.
I relate to this. A few years ago there was a YouTube girl who got kind of famous for making videos about being left out of Christmas as a Jew. She would stand around a decorated tree and sob hilariously about how hard it was to be Jewish. I wanted to do an interview with her...then I found out she wasn't Jewish, and suddenly it seemed really obnoxious and offensive. I'd say there's something to be said about people "acting" Jewish - as David Baddiel would say, putting on "Jewface." Again, this is a case where Jews are not in on the joke and we're being laughed at, not with.
Well done!!
I had a teacher in college for intro to Judaism and he got to a section about Jewish humor and started telling Jewish jokes everyone laughed because they were funny and he was Jewish. Later, I found out he just looked Jewish and actually was not Jewish and wasn't sure if I signed be offended in hindsight.
I relate to this. A few years ago there was a YouTube girl who got kind of famous for making videos about being left out of Christmas as a Jew. She would stand around a decorated tree and sob hilariously about how hard it was to be Jewish. I wanted to do an interview with her...then I found out she wasn't Jewish, and suddenly it seemed really obnoxious and offensive. I'd say there's something to be said about people "acting" Jewish - as David Baddiel would say, putting on "Jewface." Again, this is a case where Jews are not in on the joke and we're being laughed at, not with.