Making this post to pin to the top of my blog so people can find it easily if they're trying to vet me... Been deliberating on how to say this for a few days now... but I've also been nervous to interact more on Jumblr until I've said it. Going to be a long post, about the "am I ethnically Jewish or not?" question.
Since I got this timblr account, I've been fairly active on Jumblr. I've loved it. I've learned so much, and gotten to draw nearer to the culture of my heritage, and gotten to relate with others who face antisemitism. Recently, however, there's been some back and forth over whether or not I can even count as an ethnic Jew, since I am a Christian. I've met Jews on here who say I count as a Jew, and I've met Jews on here who say I don't. I have never claimed to be religiously Jewish, but I have claimed to be ethnically and racially Jewish, and that I still consider myself to be. I am descended from Abraham, through Isaac, and through Jacob. My mother's family is from a long line of Rabbi's until my Pappa (maternal grandfather) converted to Christianity. Even then, my mother went to Hebrew school as a child, and raised me with some Jewish culture (albeit, not very much, and she didn't do a great job communicating which parts were and weren't Jewish). It is by this metric, that I consider myself a Jew.
I don't care anymore what people think I am. I'm not going to be leaving Jumblr. Consider me a Jew or don't, what you think on the matter is none of my business, and it's fine that we disagree. If I have to choose between my heratige and my faith in Christ, to renounce my Jesus in order to be considered a Jew in your eyes, then consider me a Gentile. I love my people, but I love my God more, and I will not turn from Him. I only ask that you consider me a foreigner in your midst and allow me to continue to be in this place. If however you are one of those who consider me a Jew despite my faith in Christ, then I thank you, thank you for how welcoming you have been to me in this community.
I still consider myself a Jew. I have no other way to describe my heritage on my mother's side. I am also very visibly Jewish if you saw my face (I have all the stereotypical Jewish traits, particularly those associated with Ashkenazi Jews). I am also very vocal in person about my heritage. Everyone who knows me well knows my heritage. If the antisemitic violence spreading around the world right now reaches where I live, I will inevitably be a target.
I still love my people, whether or not they consider me to be one of them. That will never change. I will still be here, and I will still be proud of my heritage. I hope you don't think me entitled or selfish for clinging to my ethnicity this way. Consider me an outsider if you wish, but to me you will always be my people.
