Blumenthal’s “Stars”: You Don’t Speak for Me, but Your Actions Effect Me

Joshua Frazer — June 9, 2009 – 3:43 pm | Israel | Obama | Stop the Smears Comments (0) Add a comment

I felt I should address the gentlemen wearing kippot in the Blumenthal video. Wearing a kippah (yarmulke) is a personal decision that each Jew undertakes in a personal manner. For some the decision to wear a kippah is no-brainer, for others, the decision comes later in life. Regardless of when one decides to begin wearing a kippah, the minute one accepts that responsibility they are assuming the burden of representing the Jewish people in public. This means twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

There are two important points to address when it comes to those young adults wearing kippot in the video. The first point is merely repeating my earlier assertion that substituting hate filled speech in place of a cogent argument is not helpful. Although in this instance this behavior has the potential to do more damage to the Jewish community because of the kippot on the heads of many of the young men that signals to the rest of the world: We are Jewish and we are ignorant. Are we so desperate to not be taken seriously? This behavior should be disturbing to Jews who wear kippot, and those who don’t. Anti-Semites don’t need an excuse to target our community, and your behavior in the Blumenthal video reflects poorly on all of us.

The second point, and perhaps more important than the first, is the continuing stereotype linking kippot and right wing beliefs. I have noticed this stereotype becoming more prevalent over the past few years. (In the interest of full disclosure, I do wear a kippah at all times and have been wearing one since age six.) The stereotype is subtle, but it is assumed, both inside and outside the Jewish community, that wearing a kippah makes one politically right wing. However, those who view the kippah wearing community as a monolithic bloc should understand that there are divergent political views among Jews who wear kippot.

As a Jew who wears a kippah, and does not have right wing beliefs, I find it increasingly difficult when people assume my kippah signals not just my religious observance, but also right wing political beliefs. So, here is my message to my peers in the video wearing the kippot: know that you do not speak for me, but your actions effect me.

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