Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
copyright notice at the end. |
 |
|
"Shvarzehs","Shikses"
& "Goyim"
|
 |
Dear
Gil:
Last
week I moderated a group discussing
subtle racism. The group of 50 were
90% Jewish. The free use of the term
shvartzeh among Jews always bugged me,
and smacked of prejudice. It seems
strange to me, while in the middle of
a conversation in English, an American
born Jew will all of a sudden switch
languages when referring to blacks or
African American, and use "shvartzeh".
Is
it hypocritical for Jews to use the
term for another minority group? A
little more than a third of the group
said it is racist, a third said it was
traditional use, others
silent..although after the session,
some privately conceded it was in fact
racist. Do you have an opinion on this
subject?
C
Dear
C:
If
a third of your group feels the term
is racist...that is reason enough to
stop using the term. I believe there
are some people who mean nothing by
use of the term but that does not mean
it isn't being heard as racist. When I
hear an English speaker use this term,
to me, it always sounds derogatory.
I
feel the same way about terms like
"shikse," "shagetz"
and "goyim." Any time I
write or lecture on this subject,
somebody is quick to tell me that such
words are innocent and then they
"teach" me that the word
shvartz just means black or that goy
simply means nation. Often they even
cite the use of the word goy in the
Torah to prove to me that the word is
no big deal and that using the words
implies no negative intention on the
part of the speaker.
To
this I respond: more than once, a
non-Jew has explained to me that
saying the phrase "Jewing him
down" is innocent too and they do
not mean to be anti-Semitic. They may
not mean to insult Jews, but that is
what they are doing...what they mean
to say is one thing, what we hear is
another!
On
top of this, I must say that the
majority of times I have heard a Jew
use the words goy, goyim, and goyeshe
the words are not simply synonyms for
"nation." Sometimes, the
intent is innocent, but, most times I
have heard a Jew use a derivation of
the word goy, the connotation is
insulting for example, saying "he
has a goyeshe kop."
As
for shikse or shagetz, they are almost
used disparagingly (many don't realize
the words literally meant vermin!) And
even if the speaker does not mean
anything negative, I think we should
purge all of these words from our
vocabulary because of their negative
potential. And as you note, Jews of
all people should be hypersensitive to
the dangers of prejudice....or even
the potential for prejudice.
This
is enough of a reason to eliminate
these words from our vocabulary, but
for good measure you can add the
potential of violating Jewish law
about improper or unethical speech...lashon
ha-ra and rechilut (gossip.) In
Judaism, unethical speech is
considered communication that lowers
another person's status including
words, a smirk and even rolling ones
eyes.
The
great Jewish expert on this topic
Rabbi Israel Meir Kagen (known as the
Chofetz Chaim) wrote that unethical
speech can be equated to murder and
violates 31 commandments -- not the
least of which is the Golden Rule to
love your neighbor as yourself.
Leviticus 19:18
(To
see all 31, go to www.ahavat-israel.com/ahavat/am/gossip.asp)
To
those who earnestly feel they are
doing nothing wrong because they are
simply communicating using neutral
terms and they mean nothing negative,
I respectfully suggest that you change
your practice, because your intentions
can easily be interpreted as
prejudiced and negative. These words
have taken on connotations that go far
beyond their literal translations or
original meanings.
This
world has enough problems of people
treating others poorly. Having been on
the receiving end of this treatment
for centuries, Jews should be at the
forefront of the fight to raise
people's dignity. Our day to day
language should reflect this.
I'll
end with my recommendation of Rabbi
Joseph Telushkin's highly readable
book on this subject: Words that Hurt,
Words That Heal. If we all followed
his advice, this would be a kinder and
better world.
Gil
A FRIENDLY COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
only do I give you permissions to copy these Jewish Email
columns...I HOPE YOU WILL and that you share them with others!
All I ask is that you never charge anyone for them and that you
also include this little copyright notice. Thank You!
|
|
