The Last Night Of Ballyhoo is a charming play about southern Jews vs the New York Jew. Concisely, every year in the south there would be a Jewish dance . One of the attendees was a New York Jew. In the south the Jews were much more assimilated than the New York Jew. The play is set in 1939 Atlanta.
I thought about this play recently because I am from the midwest and I have lived in New York for a long time. It is still true that New York Jews are different than Jews elsewhere in the United States. It is a long time since 1939 , but I think that a lot is the same. Many New York Jews are more assimilated than they were in 1939 but there is still a large contingency of New York Jews who consider themselves cultural Jews. They may not be too ritually observant but they still have a big Jewish identity. A lot of people who are secular Jews have told me that they feel like an outsider when they are not living in the New York area because there are much smaller Jewish communities and the secular or less ritually observant Jews have less of a cultural Jewish identity than they do.
There most certainly is Jewish life outside of the New York area, but it is a lot different because the communities are smaller. You have to seek out Judaism more rather than just being a part of it when you are in New York. In New York many gentiles know more about Judaism than some reform and conservative Jews elsewhere.
There is one thing that Jews outside of New York know better though.They know anti-semitism is still alive and they act accordingly. In New York you know its here, but there are so many Jewish people here you don't think about it. When you don't live in New York you live in a smaller community you are a vital part of the community and people know you by your first name because there aren't so many in the community. In New York you barely know the people who live across the street from you.
I thought about this play recently because I am from the midwest and I have lived in New York for a long time. It is still true that New York Jews are different than Jews elsewhere in the United States. It is a long time since 1939 , but I think that a lot is the same. Many New York Jews are more assimilated than they were in 1939 but there is still a large contingency of New York Jews who consider themselves cultural Jews. They may not be too ritually observant but they still have a big Jewish identity. A lot of people who are secular Jews have told me that they feel like an outsider when they are not living in the New York area because there are much smaller Jewish communities and the secular or less ritually observant Jews have less of a cultural Jewish identity than they do.
There most certainly is Jewish life outside of the New York area, but it is a lot different because the communities are smaller. You have to seek out Judaism more rather than just being a part of it when you are in New York. In New York many gentiles know more about Judaism than some reform and conservative Jews elsewhere.
There is one thing that Jews outside of New York know better though.They know anti-semitism is still alive and they act accordingly. In New York you know its here, but there are so many Jewish people here you don't think about it. When you don't live in New York you live in a smaller community you are a vital part of the community and people know you by your first name because there aren't so many in the community. In New York you barely know the people who live across the street from you.
1 comment:
I'm from the south and have lived in the midwest, and I don't think I've experienced any more anti-Semitism than New Yorkers.
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