Are We Ashkenormative or Ashkefardic?
For me, the real value of “Ashkenormativity” is that it signals a long overdue initiative to depict Jews as who they really are—a fascinatingly diverse multicultural people.
David Suissa is Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of Tribe Media/Jewish Journal, where he has been writing a weekly column on the Jewish world since 2006. In 2015, he was awarded first prize for "Editorial Excellence" by the American Jewish Press Association. Prior to Tribe Media, David was founder and CEO of Suissa Miller Advertising, a marketing firm named “Agency of the Year” by USA Today. He sold his company in 2006 to devote himself full time to his first passion: Israel and the Jewish world. David was born in Casablanca, Morocco, grew up in Montreal, and now lives in Los Angeles with his five children.
For me, the real value of “Ashkenormativity” is that it signals a long overdue initiative to depict Jews as who they really are—a fascinatingly diverse multicultural people.
Are these disruptors even thinking straight? Do they realize the optics of throwing temper tantrums at virtually any event they attend or at anyone who won’t follow their party line?
You experience this Talmudic vibe in conference rooms and presentation halls where hundreds of experts grapple in deliberate fashion with some of the world’s toughest problems.
Beyond the blatant double standard against Jews, scratch the surface of the campus rage and you’ll see a temper tantrum from whiny kids who are used to getting their way.
These are not justice warriors who want peace in Gaza. They are blowhards and conformists pretending to be rebels and picking on the world’s easiest target.
The frenzy of Jew hatred spreading at Columbia reminds us that great principles are useless unless they’re enforced.
In the spirit of resilience, I’d like to suggest that we dare add something more hopeful to our Seders this year, something more American, something about transforming nightmares into dreams.
The success of Israel since its birth in 1948 is that it inherited the keen sense of danger from the Old Jew and married it to the military prowess of the New Jew.
“Curb” gave us advice on what to talk about to get serious laughs, with the caveat that it’s preferable to only tease people who won’t call security on you.