My name is Joseph Benjamin Shapiro. It’s hard to have a more Jewish name than that. My name is very Jewish, and I look Jewish. And regardless of how hard I try, I will always be Jewish. I grew up in the very rich, very Jewish, northern suburbs of Chicago. Being Jewish was never a big deal because of my common surroundings. I do not believe in religion, yet I am still Jewish. I don’t go to synagogue yet I am still Jewish. Even if I don’t believe in the religious beliefs, being Jewish still shapes my views on the world. I am a huge supporter of the nation of Israel. I have been recruited on campus by Jewish Fraternities purely because of my name. On my application to the U of M I never specified religion, nor have I signed up or ever really directly claimed to be Jewish. Yet I am still treated as if I have. I have yet to be discriminated against, but I know there is too much religious discrimination in the world. It took coming to a totally new environment where I truly am a minority to finally realize that being Jewish is something to be proud of. Regardless if I like it or not, I am Jewish in my name, my looks and my heritage. It is my culture.
As a fellow Jew, I found this entertaining. I grew up in Bloomington, MN, land of the Lutherans. People always thought it was weird that I was Jewish and would ask me a lot of questions about it. It's interesting to me that there's a place in the US where Jews AREN'T the minority. Going to the U, for me, is refreshing because I see Hillel and I've met a bunch of other Jews on campus, and there is Jewish Greek life. Compared to my hometown, Judaism is everywhere here.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my mother I was moving to Minneapolis for grad school, the first thing she did was ask me "are there jews there?" I can relate.
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