July 17, 2010 | 9:40 pm

The Reality of anti-Semitism

Posted by Ilana Angel

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I love reality television.  I watch it, write about it, and support it.  Some shows are garbage, many are good, and some are fabulous.  VH1 celebrity wannabe shows are on the bottom of the pile, and ABC’s Boston Med is the gold medal winner.

I like the Housewives franchise on Bravo.  I watch it with complete fascination.  Some of the women are inspiring, some are painful to watch.  There are women who are featured on the show who have soared, and many who crash and burn. 

I think some of the ladies are glad they participated, and some wish they had never been contacted by Bravo.  It would have been better, in my opinion, if they had changed casts each season for each city.  Fame seems to have changed a lot of the ladies, and not necessarily for the better.

I am not a television critic. I don’t get paid by Bravo to write about their shows.  I’m just a woman who writes for a major website.  The blog is not about TV, it’s about me, my life, my opinions, my stories.  It’s about being over 40, Jewish, a single mother, looking for love, and having faith.

I wrote a blog about Bethenny Frankel, who was featured on The Real Housewives of New York City, now her own show, Bethenny, Getting Married.  I simply shared my opinion, which I do every day, and things got real ugly, real fast.

Those people who did not agree with my view of Bethenny’s show, started attacking.  I was told my opinion was stupid, and the reason it was stupid, is because I am Jewish.  I was called ignorant, bitter, pathetic, angry, ugly, fat, lonely, obsessed and embarrassing.

Everyone is allowed to have their opinion certainly, but why make things so personal?  Why are people so invested in television, and people they don’t know, that they would lash out at another human being for having an opinion?  It is really sad that this behavior is acceptable.

I posted most of the comments the blog got.  I did not post the ones where profanity was used about me or my faith.  There is no need for my son and his friends, who occasionally read my blog, to see the hate directed at me, for no other reason than I am Jewish.

All the other slams to me were posted because I feel if I am allowed to share my opinion, then those who take the time to read my blog, should be afforded the same opportunity.  Even though I like to think I’m tough, I must tell you, my feelings were hurt by the personal attacks.

I’m not 100% innocent as perhaps my words may have hurt another.  I write honestly on my blog.  It’s just my opinion, and it’s not written in stone.  You don’t need to agree, but you should embrace that we live in a country where I can write freely.

At the end of the day, it’s not a big deal I suppose.  My feelings were hurt, the world is not ending.  The thing is, I love my blog.  I write about my life, my hopes, and my faith.  The hate that is directed at me makes me sad not for myself, but for my child.

There are kids dying in Iraq, oil killing wildlife and hurting families, people unable to pay their mortgages, parents stressed about how to feed their kids, women scared to leave their husbands, and people in hospitals right now praying for health.  Those are the things that matter.

I am grateful.  Grateful for my child, for my family, and for my fabulous friends.  I am grateful to the Jewish Journal for allowing me to speak my mind, and not backing down from bullies.  I think the world would benefit from people finding gratitude in their lives.

I stand by my blog, and by people having the right to disagree with me, and giving them an opportunity to tell me.  To the people who felt the need to attack me and my faith, I’M JEWISH and I’m fabulous.  In the end, all the hate does is give me the strength to keep the faith.