I guess what tribe I belong to can’t only be explained on scientific, or genealogical lines. Maybe I simply shudder in a particular way when I hear the name ‘Adolf Hitler’. Maybe Jews aren’t related just by blood but in our synapses?
Neuroses matter to me, because – forgetting the scientific bit for a moment – they damn well frighten me. What’s more, they damn well piss me off.
There’s pride for some of us this Pride Season. For others, such terrible, corrosive shame remains. Worse, prejudice and, yes, punishment remains for countless millions, simply on account of their being lesbian, bi, trans or gay.
What can any of us do in response to the newer challenges – of anti-Semitism today? I would simply start by saying please open your heart or mind to what Jewish people themselves say needs to change. All too often in recent years, Jews warning journalists, politicians and others about anti Jewish prejudice have been accused of playing political games, of effectively ‘crying wolf’.
Whatever (or whomever) we lose, we must lament and later mourn, commemorate and acknowledge. Whatever lessons history teaches us, let’s at least agree, there are lessons that need to be learnt, that we can’t let our histories simply fade.
I’ve been called various things throughout my 39 years.
At school I was called ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Igor’ (the character in cartoon, ‘Count Duckula’) and ‘Gonzo’ and various other nicknames, owing to my prominent nose. I now plan to reclaim my family past, reclaim my name from its early 20th century past. I’m coming out as Andrew Kaufman.