Hen Mazzig - The Wrong Kind of Jew: A Mizrahi Manifesto

A WICKED SON BOOK

An Imprint of Post Hill Press

ISBN: 978-1-64293-723-7

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-724-4

The Wrong Kind of Jew:

A Mizrahi Manifesto

2022 by Hen Mazzig

All Rights Reserved

Cover Photo by Edo Brugu

Cover design by Tiffani Shea

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Contents

O ne of the first things people learn about me is that Im Jewish.

When people ask me what I do for a living, Im Jewish is usually the shorthand answer. For the past ten years, I have worked as a professional Jew touring the world to educate audiences about the Jewish storyour past, our present, and our hopeful future.

At this point, I dont know what facet of my life isnt entrenched in Judaism, who in my life knows me outside of it, or where Ive gone without a Star of David (both metaphorically and physically) hanging around my neck.

When people ask what Im passionate about, Judaism, likely, comes first. If you ask where Im from, the answer is Israel, so usually a dead giveaway. But if you dive into my ethnicity or race, I will tell you that my family comes from North Africa and the Middle EastTunisia, and Iraq, to be more specific.

So you re Arab? people often ask. And I respond, No, I m a Jew .

Im Mizrahi. The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa are known as Mizrahim. But few peopleJewish and non-Jewish alikeknow of us. There are many reasons for that, one of which is that for too many, Mizrahim are the wrong kind of Jew. Were not only unfamiliar, our culture shatters stereotypes and unspoken rules. Meanwhile, our story derails the narrative many want to propagate about Jews, antisemitism, and most controversially, Israel. We break the expectations many hold about Jews and race, the Middle East and religion, and even politics and oppression.

Ive been the wrong kind of Jew my entire life, and not just because of my ethnic background.

I dont eat Kosher. My partner is non-Jewish. I rarely go to temple on Friday nights. In fact, I pick up my phone and tweet on Shabbat, the weekly twenty-four-hour period Jews are obligated to resthonestly, I dont think Ive taken a day of rest in years.

I dont abide by most Jewish laws. Especially whichever one said being gay isnt allowed. I break that rule on pretty much a daily basis. (As does the man Ive asked to marry me.)

So theres that.

But because of Mizrahi heritage, I dont fit into what many people see as the secular, cultural tenets of Judaism. For example, I like bagels, but I dont consider them my cuisine. I dont have opinions on Katz Deli or whether or not they are better than Langers. What kind of meat is pastrami? Im still not sure. My Saturday lunch can be okra, pink beets, pumpkin or hard-boiled eggs with Hummus, and a pita bread. My grandma doesnt make matzo-ball soup when Im sick, or even on the holidays. Instead, shes making stew that most of my Jewish friends cant pronounce.

My grandparents dont look or sound like Larry David, Sarah Silverman or Bernie Sanders. Actually, they more closely resemble the Arabs who owned the chicken restaurant Larry called an antisemitic shithole on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm . Or the tan cartoon Pharaoh in Prince of Egypt shouting, I will hear no more of this Hebrew nonsense!

Speaking of which, my surname isnt very Hebrew sounding. Somehow it always gets me an extra pat-down in airport securityeven in my home country of Israel. No matter how expensive my shirt is, my beard still gets me a few suspicious glances on the airplane. Or perhaps its my accent.

Yes, my grandparents were in the Holocaust. Cant get more Jewish than that, right? But their streets were never lined with swastikas or German soldiers. No one scrawled Jude on their homes or businesses. My grandma and grandpa didnt survive Auschwitz or Dachau or Buchenwald. They were due to be sent to Nazi camps whose names are unknown. Their neighbors were shot and raped in antisemitic riots which most people, even most synagogues, dont commemorate.

Its not that I dont fit a Jewish stereotypeI just dont relate to the culture that most people in the West define as Jewish . Because it isnt mine.

I dont nestle neatly to the expectations we have about Jewish people. I experience prejudice because Im Jewish, but unfortunately, from both Jews and non-Jews. Ive had my life threatened by neo-Nazis, but many fellow Jews have taken issue with me on the basis of my race and sexuality. Because of how I look or whom I love, some do not perceive me as Jewish at all. To them, at best, I am not really Jewish, which is their way of saying the wrong kind of Jewish.

And sometimes I get it. Im bad at calling out antisemitism when its politically useful. I cant help but speak out when I see hatred from people, regardless of which ideological team they play for. When the right is happy with me, I call out bigotry among their ranks.

When I finally have proven I am liberal enough, I put a spotlight on how progressive movements exclude Jews. I have the audacity to be an Israeli who does not believe that Israel is the perfect utopia they told you about in Hebrew school. But I understand that things dont have to be perfect to be beautiful. Beautiful enough to risk your life and reputation for.

Speaking of reputations, Im not afraid to call out when your role model or celebrity crush expresses hatred against Jews. But when many want to steamroll someone for their ignorance regarding Judaism, Im often that fellow trying to educate rather than punish the perpetrator. I try to find redemption for people half the town wants to burn at the stake.

Im bad at meeting the appropriate narrative. I cant tell my story of beating back hatred against Jews, about the millennia of subservience my ancestors survived, without mentioning that Mizrahi Jews still face inequalities today.

Im not the kind of Jew who keeps our dirty laundry off the clothesline.

But Im certainly not the kind of Jew who wants to hang our people out to dry.

Im not a silent Jew, not a blanket to give cover to anti-semites. Bigots cannot buy my silence, even at the price of acceptance. Im not the Jew who chooses politics over truth, who will protect my friends over my people. I will not kneel before any movement when they refuse to offer Jews a seat at the table.

No matter how polite they appear, I refuse to appease bigots, even when they offer me solidarity. When I feel rejected by the Jewish society, I dont scour for acceptance from their adversaries. I am not their good Jew. For I know there are no good Jews to antisemites. There is nothing good about being Jewish to them. However, a Jew pushing hateful ideology against our own people is useful. And I ask: why be useful when you can be bad?