Am I a Jewish American or an American Jew? What does the question mean anyway, and is there really a significance in the nuance of the term? In order to answer those issues, we must first take a step back...

From early on in our history, Jewish people loved the idea of tight-knit community. For anyone familiar with the story of Fiddler on the Roof, the people of the town lived in a small town with a large Jewish population, and for the most part lived and died in their small bubble. Indeed, the very idea of shtetl-life was that of an insular Jewish community without much interaction or even contact with the outside world. Some... more

Its one of my favorite (true) stories I tell -

It was one of those rare days when I took a lunch break from my job. While waiting for my order, in walked this forlorn-looking, sniffling and coughing young lady. She looked like we all feel when we have the flu. Anyway, she said had called her family back in North Carolina asking what to do about being sick, and her mother had told her to go find a "Jewish Deli" and ask for chicken soup.

Its a story that always brings a smile to my face. Jewish or not, everyone seems to know about chicken soup. Heck - there's even a whole series of books... more

Around Christmas time, we visited my mother's office. She works for one of those really big companies that bring vendors in on designated days. While we wandered around - or rather, my daughter ran around and I tried to keep up - a nice lady came over and asked Anna what she wanted Santa to bring her this year. "Santa?" Anna looked up, puzzled. "What presents do you want from Santa?" Presents was a word she understood and stopped trying to figure out what Santa meant.

While this looks like an innocent, harmless and really meaningless conversation, its one of those points in a choose your own path novel (anyone remember those?) for me. I'm a Jew.... more