See you at the Rally for Israel, Friends!

Thursday, January 8, 2009 7 PM

National Day of Solidarity with Israel

Jewish Community Center
2 Millstone Campus Drive

Confirmed speakers: Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder State Representative Maria Chappelle-Nadal

Convened by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis
Coordinated by the Jewish Community Relations Council
Hosted by the Jewish Community Center


With the cooperation of:
American Jewish Committee; American Jewish Congress; Anti-Defamation League, Missouri/Southern Illinois; Association of Reform Rabbis; Bayit Yisraeli; Central Agency for Jewish Education; Hadassah, St. Louis Chapter; Jewish Federation of Southern Illinois, Southeastern Missouri and Western Kentucky; National Council of Jewish Women; St. Louis Hillel at Washington University; St. Louis Rabbinical Assembly; St. Louis Rabbinical Association; St. Louis Rabbinical Council


No packages, backpacks, signs on sticks, etc. will be allowed into the event

For more information contact the Jewish Community Relations Council at 314-442-3871
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More Ish than Jewish

Yep, that's my line when people ask what religion I am. It goes over well at parties. And I think a lot of Jews can relate.


I should probably introduce myself… I'm a new contributor to The St. Lou Jew, which I have been following thanks to my friend, Y. My background: Native St. Louisan (though I've lived five years in London), United Hebrew attendee, Wash U grad, downtown inhabitant, corporate slave.

I feel very strongly about certain things in this world: politics, culture, women's rights, the role of religion in society, and Cardinals baseball. Lately, I've been reconsidering my faith and the role it should play in my personal life and future.

Like most STL Jews, I went to Sunday school and Hebrew school with mainly Parkway School District kids. I went to a Rockwood school, where I was one of three Jews, and religion did not play an integral role in my formative younger years. I never really felt like I was one of the "jewish kids" since I didn't hang out with a "jew crew" of my own that went to Parkway Central. Oddly enough, I went to Wash U for college and only attended one Shabbat dinner. Maybe my faith would be more important to me if I had gotten more involved and met the right people.

I do want to reconnect to my faith. Why did I forget about it in the first place? I would like to know more about who I am as a Jew, and what's it all about where I am in the world. After Shabbat at Y's a couple of weeks ago, I definitely feel like it's coming back. It's hard to forget the traditions, the prayers and blessings, the smell of some downright good food. So I'll start there and see what other great connections to my faith I rediscover.

You can expect to read my crazy takes on STL, Jewishness, post-college life, and many random things. I'd like to thank Y for the opportunity to contribute. He's doing great things in the world and asking great questions on the blog. If it takes a village to raise a child, then it may take a stronger sense of community to make me more Jewish than Ish.

Ok, back to slaving away…

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The role of the Shiksa

I saw this image on a T-Shirt and couldn't help but laugh, and think about a recent conversation I had with a (non-Jewish) friend of mine.

She sent me a text informing me that she was hanging out with a Jewish friend and they were trying to think of the Yiddish word for a non-Jewish girl and a guy that dates non-Jewish girls.

The word for a non-Jewish girl is Shiksa (literally cockroach), as for the guy that dates the Shiksa, well. . . so far as I know, we don't have a word, which is probably due to the fact that its a pretty common practice.

There is certainly a deep conflict between the egalitarian principles espoused in much of reform Judaism and the deep bias against inter-marriage.

I've done some (pseudo)research into sites like JDate et. al, and there are quite a few non-Jews (mostly women) who have profiles on the site. Its clear that the attraction goes both ways. Granted, its much easier for a Jewish person to find a non-Jewish mate as a simple fact of numbers. By restricting your potential partner set to just Jews, you cut a whole lot of potential out of the picture.
Why is it, though, that non-Jews (once again, mostly women) are going out of their way to seek out Jewish partners (mostly men)?

Some of the answers seem to revolve around the classical American Jewish stereotypes. That Jewish men are more responsible and mature (*cough), better with their money and more family oriented. That they treat women well, cave easily to their demands, and provide steady partnership. . . much of this may be true, at least partially, but what about our stereotypes of non-Jewish women?

How often have I heard, despite the joking tone, that 'goys are for practice'? ...Sure, that relationship was going along swimmingly, until the parents started thinking about where the wedding would be held, how the children would be raised, and then, well, things went to hell, just like her parents promised you would.

What is it though, that simultaneously drives us away from Jewish partners until we are ready to consider the possibility of serious (potentially final status) relationships?

I'm as inundated with images of rail thin, large-chested, tan, blonde women without any body hair as any other media consumer in America, but perhaps as a Jew, these traits have a different meaning. Perhaps they are signals of beauty that we are supposed to aspire to based on our swarthy or pale predispositions, as part of our 'quest to become white'.

I think that as part of the integration process, we have held Gentile women as the standard of beauty to embrace, evidenced by the popularity of nose jobs, tanning beds and laser hair removal to some in the community. It is likely that, as we reach the limits of integration, we start to see a resurgence of pride in who we are, naturally.

It wasn't until I spent some time in Israel that I started realizing, or rather reminding myself, that Jewish women are beautiful. Now, I'm sure there is a point about identity politics or psychology in here somewhere, but really, it just clicked one day; I like dark, curly hair, I love dark, pensive eyes. Sure, our melanin might be pretty lacking, but hey, try getting kicked out of every Mediterranean country over the past 2000 years and see how you end up looking!

I'm interested in what people think though, so why do you never/always date Jewish/non-Jewish women/men?

*EDIT* There are gorgeous Jewish women with red hair, and even blond hair. I mean, Natalie Portman looked decent even without hair in V for Vendetta (although I couldn't help but think of pictures of those interred at camps during the Holocaust).

Also, there is a really interested article tangentially related to this that I just found.

שבת שלום

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Not bad at all, a reflection

Some big things have recently happened, and seeing as how I went to Jew camp, I feel pretty comfortable sharing.

First, the St. Lou Jew blog reached 500 page-views over the weekend, which is fairly momentous because we haven't really done any publicizing other than word of mouth. It took EJ at Celebrity Car Parade a little longer than that and look at him now, pushing that Challenger!

We appreciate your support and would love to hear from you as we expand our content. What would you like to see our crack team of LouJews investigate?

Second, we are moving forward with our partnership with both Moishehouse and Jewish in St. Louis. We hope that by joining up and collaborating, we can start connecting with other young Yids, find some interesting things to get involved with, and maybe make even relieve some debt along the way. Jewish in St. Louis is basically the one stop show for information regarding all things Israelite in the city. The site didn't really have a lot geared towards the post-undergrad-crowd, and I think we can fill that space pretty well.

Third, CRC makes dope Challah. Seriously.

Finally, we are always looking to network and expand. If you are young, Jewish, and in St. Louis (not St. Charles (ok, you too)), and might be interested in linking up to contribute, or just socially, shoot us an email, we're in the business of making friends (actually Auggie Busch the first said that, but we mean it).


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Review of Matisyahu’s performance at the Pageant

The last time I saw Matisyahu in St. Louis, he attracted what must have been half of the religious community in St. Louis; the young, the old, and everyone in between had come to see this ‘hassidic reggae superstar’. I suppose at the time I wasn’t as surprised by the number of orthodox Jews there as I was the number of non-Jews in the audience. I figured, here is a guy with a gimmick that wouldn’t really appeal to anyone outside of the Jewish community. Time has proven me quite wrong.

When Matisyahu first emerged on the scene, his music was most easily classified as pop-reggae, with influences from Bob Marley, whom he shouts out in ‘Close My Eyes’ as well as jam band Phish, whose tours he followed in his pre-hassid days. His Jamaican-style raps, or ‘toasts’ have made their way into American pop music through the likes of Sean Paul, and add a melodic quality to otherwise rhythm-based rapping.
In a near-capacity show at the Pageant on a Wednesday night, Matisyahu brought his blend of Phish-style jam-rock, reggae, and beat-boxing to the masses. This time around, crowd reflected the diverse population of St. Louis. This is not to say that there weren’t large numbers of MOTs in attendance, but rather that Matis’ appeal has clearly transcended the ethno-cultural-religious line.
The Pageant’s dance floor was packed so tight, it was more constricting than a bar-mitzvah boy’s necktie, but that didn’t stop the mostly high-school-aged attendees from jumping around in enthusiastic appreciation of Matisyahu’s mix of Jewish themes, Hassidic melodies and niggunim with rock, reggae, and hip hop musical sensibilities.
The highpoint of every Matisyahu show occurs as the band’s energy swells and Matis belts out the Shema, hashem substitutions included. As the set wound down, Matisyahu began pulling people from the crowd onto the stage, until the stage overflowed with dancing bodies. He might not be Shomer Negiyah any more, but he can still draw a crowd and rock a show.
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From sea to sea

There is a rumor that has spread around the Middle East for decades that the Israeli flag, with it's Star (or shield) of David flanked on either side by a blue line, is a symbol of the Jewish state's intention to have a Jewish presence from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates (a terrifying notion, to be sure).

While certain religious Zionists have declared that a the State of Israel should contain all of the land of Israel, its clear to me that the majority of the Israeli have no intention of even hanging around the Jordan river. In fact, the majority of the Israeli population lives right on the Mediterranean coast.

Let me now make a comparison, if I might, to the US, where most of the Jews also live on the coasts (especially the post-college, pre-marriage demographic). In fact, if you were to judge by the way many Jewish organizations (especially a certain well-respected reform theological seminary that I love very much) behave, there aren't any Jews between the coasts at all.

Kanye said, ". .The Mid-West is Young and Restless." You certainly wouldn't know it from the media. Jewish images in the media are generally restricted to New York, LA, or Israel. To be fair, those may or may not be three of the largest Jewish populations on the planet, seeing as how there aren't that many of us left in Cairo, Morocco, Spain, or Iran. So whats the deal? Every sitcom that doesn't involve Jews seems to take place in the Mid-West, or at least somewhere outside of NYC or Cali (exception being of course the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but seeing as how the whole thing was basically making fun of bougie JAPs anyways, it doesn't count).

Beyond that, half of us 'fly-over-state' Yids end up in NYC, DC, LA, etc. I feel the pull too, I just can't give up on STL yet. So what if people don't hustle the same way here (CSM points out that you can't spell hustle without 's-t-l'), the conditions exist in the Mid-West for a spark to really make some things happen. Not just in STL, but in areas like Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, NOLA, etc. (the last two aren't MW but count, you don't like it, get yer own soapbox). But we are here, the young and the restless of the coast-less, but certainly not hopeless.

This brings me to Moishe House, a pretty cool concept for those of us on the front line of Generation Y(id)™. Basically, they help you turn your spot into an urban (hopefully) JCC. A non-denominational open house for post-college Jews to come, kick it, maybe have a meal, and connect.
There is a lot of potential in this idea, and if you have some feedback regarding feasibility and interest on the local level, shoot it our way.

Perhaps one day, those rumors of a well represented young Jewish community can apply to the areas between the coasts of the US as well.
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