Sarah Silverman is funny.
She's also Jewish.
Or at least that's what I've been told. Her TV show, The Sarah Silverman Program had one of the most successful debuts in the history of Comedy Central last year. And in case you didn't know, she's Jewish. She worked for Saturday Night Live and has appeared on such comedies as Seinfeld, Frasier and Crank Yankers. Also, she's Jewish. Silverman has been romantically linked to such comedians Dave Attel, Colin Quinn and Jimmy Kimmel. And she's JEWISH. She's been a part of several Comedy Central Roasts, has had her one-woman show turned into a feature film as well as appearing on the cover
of Heeb magazine.
BY THE WAY SHE'S JEWISH.
And she'll keep reminding you of that fact in a way that suggests she really is proud of it. Although how proud she could be of her heritage when she's regularly dating guys who are not Jewish themselves may be up for debate, but to each their own. Clearly she has no problem with you knowing that she went to Hebrew school and loves money and has a "tuckess" (because apparently no one ever taught her how to make the chet sound) and loves doctors and has a Holocaust survivor grandmother who was at one of the "better" concentration camps.
Still with me? Because I think that may be the most stereotypes I've ever put into one sentence in my entire life. In any case, our friend Sarah is also a gigantic Obama supporter...so much so that she's encouraging young Jews to fly down to Florida where their grandparents live, to convince them that just because they're huge racists they can still be ok with voting for a black man because he's the "goodest person we've ever had as a presidential choice" who is apparently "the last hope of ending this country's reputation as the assholes of the universe."
OK terrific.
Politics aside, fact-checking aside, my biggest issue with this video is the same issue I've had with Sarah Silverman for years.
I'm TIRED of this act.
I'm tired of famous JEWS getting on a national stage and acting like just because they make fun of Jewish stereotypes that somehow it qualifies them to speak for the rest of us. And enough with the "tuckess" and the "schmeer" and the "chutzpah" and the "shlep" and the "kvetch" and all those other annoying stereotypical Yiddish phrases that when used, somehow justify the person to speak for the rest of us. It's not just Sarah Silverman, I'm also talking to you Woody Allen and you Barbara Streisand and every other brisket-eating, knish-loving, doctor/lawyer/accountant-admiring, neurotic, big-nosed, walking stereotype out there.
When I see/hear this going on, I cringe the same way I cringed when I heard Rich Vos on Opie and Anthony several months ago, having no answer for the Jewish Banker stereotype.
I mean who elected Sarah Silverman as a representative of the Jewish community anyway? Who elected any of our representatives? In fact, who ARE our representatives for that matter?
All these Hollywood Jews who hog the spotlight? Enough already! What did any of these people do to earn the right to speak for any of us? They have Jewish last names? They've all seen Fiddler on the Roof? They say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas? What, exactly qualifies them to speak for us? What have they done to advance Jews, Judaism or our homeland, the state of Israel? What do they even know about this culture that they claim to love so much?
Because they certainly aren't doing very much to break down those stereotypes that have held us down for thousands of years. Rather, they're perpetuating them. Not by making jokes...but by not supporting the causes that they should be supporting. The causes that actually affect our future.
The Streisands and Silvermans and Allens of the world want us to allow them to speak for us as Jews who are comfortable with their heritage? Where are they on issues such as the future status of Jerusalem (our ancient capital of 3,000 years)? Where are they on issues such as the thousands upon thousands of rocket attacks on Sderot and the Western Negev? Where are they on issues such as the continuing Gilad Shalit hostage crisis - now in its 826th day! Where are they on such topics as intermarriage and what the the future of Jewish identity in America will be?
.
..
...
.......silence. Nothing. Zero.
And the reason for this? Because these people have NO CLUE what Jewish identity even is! Jewish identity to these people is knishes and briskets and oy vey. Jewish culture is lox and hava nagila and banker stereotypes. Gilad Shalit doesn't matter to these people because he does not even EXIST in their worlds. How can he? He doesn't talk or walk or act anything like them.
But he exists in MY world. And in my world there's a lot more to being Jewish than having a big nose and fat bank account.
So don't tell ME who to vote for Sarah or Woody or Barbara. Don't tell ME what Jews should or should not do at all for that matter.
You want to know who to talk to about being Jewish? An Israeli soldier. A Holocaust survivor. The convert who voluntarily left their family behind to be one of us. The rabbi who has devoted his entire life to learning about Judaism, teaching it to a new generation and showing young Jews what this ancient culture is really about. The Zionist activist who raises money for victims of terror attacks in Israel. These are the people that should speak for us...people who understand the concept of SACRIFICING something for the betterment of the sons and daughters of Israel. Not these spoiled, self-absorbed, vapid, shallow embarrassments to our ancestors who sit around and pat themselves on the back for nothing more than being born into a religion they never embraced or fully understood.
We need to take control of our representation. Think long and hard about it and decide if this is the kind of image you want to project to the outside world. Are we not tired of EVERYONE else thinking that we are a bunch of self-deprecating, neurotic weasels? Because I sure am.
Do we really want Sarah Silverman as the poster-child for 21st century Judaism? Is she really the person we want speaking for and representing us? Because I sure do NOT.
It's time everyone understood we are not the stereotypes that these people project of us. It's time everyone understood that there's more to being Jewish than knowing a few Yiddish phrases.
But most importantly it's time everyone understood that these people do not speak for all of us.
