270 Lynn Davidman
religion, it isalsonot about race.^6 Several stated this position quite explicitly, while
others referred to it through scoffing at the idea that there is such a thing as “look-
ing Jewish.” A respondent named Judith, in response to my question, “Do you think
of Judaism as a religious tradition, a culture, or an ethnicity?” expressed this idea as
follows:
All of those things. There are two ways. Ethnicity is a good thing, a good word for
what I had said before, that there were two ways of being Jewish. One is religious and
the other is...well, some people say race, but I think the real way it should be looked
upon is as a religion, or an ethnicity, because there will be less racism and hatred
that way. If anyone can choose what religion they want to be [thus taking away the
racial, genetic components] then you get rid of killing the way Hitler wanted to kill
the Jews because they had Jewish ancestry.However, it is significant that this same respondent, while acknowledging the danger
of defining Jewish identity as a racial identity, also expressed (ambivalent) belief in a
genetic component to Jewish identity. She said,
I feel to be a Jew is to be superior. That’s a terrible thing to say...I think if you
take the average Jew, we’re much better educated. We’re much more knowledgeable
about other religions. Many subjects. It’s incredible what people don’t know. I mean,
maybe it’s because I’m Jewish that I think that Jews are that way, but I know from
when I went to school, and from when my children went to school, that the most
intelligent people were almost always Jewish, and I don’t know why that is. I don’t
know if it’s genetics. My mother-in-law, who wasn’t born Jewish, and my sister-in-
law, who wasn’t either, they’re both very intelligent people, too. So I don’t know if
it’s genetics or if it’s upbringing.These contradictory remarks – rejecting the idea of a racial Judaism but holding on to
the possibility that Jews may be smarter than non-Jews – reveal a deep ambivalence
about the source of Jewishness and highlight the discomfort that many Jews feel about
the role of genetics in Jewish identity.
In terms of lived religion as worldview, I have found that religion and ethnicity,
as described by my informants, are clearly not one and the same, although they are
often construed as such in common parlance, theoretical models, and historical studies.
My respondents have said, in effect, I may not be very Jewish if it means keeping
kosher and attending synagogue, but if it means having a worldview informed by Jewish
culture/history/values, then yes, I am. In other words, they are conscious that there are
multiple ways of being Jewish and of defining the nature of Jewishness in contemporary
American society. And they claim a sense of interpretive authority over Judaism which
allows them to connect so many of their diverse experiences to it.
In this next section of this chapter, I focus on the practice dimension of lived reli-
gion. Whether or not my respondents see Judaism as genetic (although the large ma-
jority do), all of my respondents have found ways to practice their Jewishness through
behaviors that lead them away from religion and closer to those that emphasize culture,
(^6) While nineteen respondents expressed their belief in a genetic component to Jewishness, only
three of these respondents used the word “race” to describe Jewish identity. This suggests
the weight of the term race in our society and a general hesitance to use the word, even if
implying genetic components of identity. No one used the word race who did not also use the
word genetics.