Is America Co-Opting Our Cool?

By Josh Klemons
San Diego State Hillel

What group of Jewish friends in high school didn’t have their "honorary Jew" that infiltrated their ranks? The kid who had other friends but yearned to be included nonetheless? They laughed right along with us at our Jewish jokes, asked us about our "Jewish God," complained when they thought that Jews were getting a bad rap and all in all did what they could to fit in with our "Jew Crew." We loved it. It reaffirmed for us that someone outside of our Hebrew school classes and sleep-away camps and youth groups realized that we were, in fact, worthwhile. It reassured us that despite our differences, and maybe because of them, we were cool.

But we always knew that we were cool. After all, Jews have always been popular in modern American society. From Hollywood to Manhattan, Jews set the stage. They have been influential in movies, music, television, comedy and everything in between. And we all knew that if Jews didn’t create it, they probably managed, produced or accounted for it.

Sometimes they talked about it: Adam Sandler had the country singing about Hanukkah for months after the Christmas carols had ceased playing on the radio. Sometimes they chided it: Jon Stewart constantly jokes about his "bagels and lox Judaism." More often than not, they ignored it altogether. But they were all there representing us and we knew it.

But these are secular Jews that we are talking about. Judaism as a people was cool. Seinfeld having a Jewish name and Phish having two Jewish members, that was enough for us. When did Judaism as a religion become so popular, and, dare I say, cool? While intermarriage rates are proof that non-Jews have become totally accepting of Jews in a way that no society has ever been in history, America’s recent obsession with both Kabbalah and Matisyahu is simply mind-boggling.

I live in San Diego. I go to parties with no other Jews in attendance and Matisyahu is blaring on the radio. People are singing right along. Do they know what a Moshiach is? Maybe they are thinking it’s a step up from Manischewitz.

"We want Moshiach, we want Moshiach now!"

Do they think that they are screaming for debauchery? Are they searching the lyrics for an excuse to party, even as Matisyahu continues that drugs are wrong, and they can "only bring you down." He gets high through God; they get high through Matisyahu. In fact, Matisyahu recently played New Year’s Eve in San Diego and tickets sold out in 35 minutes. I guarantee you that for every Jewish person that was there, there were three non-Jews in attendance. Are they not listening to the lyrics as he sings, sometimes in Hebrew, about Jews wandering the desert and following the mitzvot (commandments)? If they are listening, what could possibly be going through their minds? They know the words, but do they understand the message? Do they know what will happen to them should the Moshiach in fact arrive? (Do we for that matter?)

This is all part of a stranger situation going on in our country. Jews are moving further and further away from Judaism and non-Jews are embracing it in a way that has seldom been seen in modern history. Madonna now goes by Esther, Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears are wearing red "Kabbalah bracelets," suddenly Judaism is the new "thing," the place to be seen if you will. As America appears to be diving headfirst into our deep and wonderful and often confusing traditions, are they driving Jews out? Even if these non-Jews never really make it beyond the surface of our heritage, is it possible that their splash, showy if still shallow, is scaring Jews out of the pool altogether? Or perhaps we had already left, giving them room to capitalize on our heritage in a way that so few of us have done successfully in American society.

While writing a sermon for the High Holidays, I did some research into the notion of non-Jews marrying Jewish. We all know that Jews are marrying outside of the faith, but as I hinted at earlier, what’s far stranger is that non-Jews are willing to marry us. Is it proof that we have reached full acceptance in society at large or is it more than that? I found books advising non-Jews on catching a Jewish mate. With titles such as "Boy Vey: A Shiksa’s Guide to Dating Jewish Men," they advise non-Jewish (women, anyway) on finding, dating and ultimately, marrying Jewish.

I often wonder what kind of reaction our ancestors living in Eastern Europe might have, if they were informed of the situation today. Would they be shocked that we are marrying outside of the fold, or would they be thrilled that beautiful women and successful men are going out of their way to have us?

The way that I see it, we are at a fork in the road and it is time to make some decisions. We can go to the right and be angry that these non-Jews are stepping into our traditions. We can complain that no self respecting parents can dub their newborn daughter Esther for at least another five years. We can moan that we have to buy our Matisyahu tickets on Ebay with everyone else. We can yell at the Kabbalah Centers for misrepresenting one of the most complicated areas of our ancient traditions with blessed waters and canned spirituality.

We can choose the left and walk away from it completely. We can hand it all over to the new keepers of the faith. They weren’t born into Judaism, but maybe they will treat it with some respect and dignity after all.

Or we can choose the middle road, which in my opinion is also the high road. We can appreciate their interest and foster growth within ourselves as we strive to stay ahead of them in their Jewish education. We can be the first ones on the phone to buy our Matisyahu tickets next year. We can go to Israel and buy hoards of red string to resell and capitalize on our Taglit - birthright israel experiences.

Whatever we are going to do, we must remember that it was our bloodline, and often our ancestors blood, that got us this far and we must make our decisions accordingly. Is it time to walk away and give up, simply because for the first time in history, society will allow us to do so? Or do we realize that we were born into Judaism and had the option to leave and didn’t, holding our heads, yarmulke or not, that much higher. The choice is clear in my book, but the decision is in your hands.

Josh Klemons lives in San Diego, California, and has worked for the San Diego State Hillel since graduating from the University of Georgia. Along with his job with Hillel, Josh is a musician and a freelance writer. He is looking forward to working as an Engagement Associate in the near future.