You are SO not invited to my bat mitzvah - movie on netflix

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The poster claiming that Hebrew schools are white is also being offensive because for most of history jewish people have not being viewed as white and most people don’t consider themselves so.

Sephardic Jews do not look white and there are plenty of them in the US and it is also offensive to gloss over them being white to support your point. Many of them look darker and the ones from Latin America look like the population there.

Reform Judaism does not focus solely on the religious component of it, they believe in the tribe too and but has expanded the definition. Whether you agree or not it is now the largest growing Jewish group and the movie is a reflection of what their synagogues are like.

Sephardic Jews do not look substantially different from Ashkenazi Jews. And none of us look that different from Italians, Lebanese Christians, or Algerians.

"The ones from Latin America" look like the communities their grandparents immigrated from in (usually) Eastern or Southern Europe.

Sure. Tell that to my Sephardic Jewish grandparents that were heavily discriminated against for being too brown.

Well my Ashkenazi mom is often mistaken for Hispanic, and my Guatemalan contractor once griped about my Ashkenazi neighbor while calling her "that Spanish woman," so...

I don't know the specific circumstances, but the "color" thing is not so relevant in Jewish history where inter- or intra- relations are concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The poster claiming that Hebrew schools are white is also being offensive because for most of history jewish people have not being viewed as white and most people don’t consider themselves so.

Sephardic Jews do not look white and there are plenty of them in the US and it is also offensive to gloss over them being white to support your point. Many of them look darker and the ones from Latin America look like the population there.

Reform Judaism does not focus solely on the religious component of it, they believe in the tribe too and but has expanded the definition. Whether you agree or not it is now the largest growing Jewish group and the movie is a reflection of what their synagogues are like.

Sephardic Jews do not look substantially different from Ashkenazi Jews. And none of us look that different from Italians, Lebanese Christians, or Algerians.

"The ones from Latin America" look like the communities their grandparents immigrated from in (usually) Eastern or Southern Europe.

Sure. Tell that to my Sephardic Jewish grandparents that were heavily discriminated against for being too brown.

Well my Ashkenazi mom is often mistaken for Hispanic, and my Guatemalan contractor once griped about my Ashkenazi neighbor while calling her "that Spanish woman," so...

I don't know the specific circumstances, but the "color" thing is not so relevant in Jewish history where inter- or intra- relations are concerned.

The “color” thing is relevant here because there are literally people here claiming that the Jewish experience in the US is white and the movie wrong for showing a diverse class when that is clearly not the case. (Asides from NJ Hebrew schools) which I have no clue on. My Sephardic relatives get mistaken for hispanic all the time. So is it crazy to see Hispanic faces in class? Answer is no.

To add injury to insult most jews don’t even consider themselves white and have been told to their faces they are not white.

[Anonymous]

Wow, there is a war going on here
In terms of race, there is only white, black, red, yellow, mulatto and mestizo.
If this offends you then you are taking it too seriously

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, there is a war going on here
In terms of race, there is only white, black, red, yellow, mulatto and mestizo.
If this offends you then you are taking it too seriously

Race is a social construct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The poster claiming that Hebrew schools are white is also being offensive because for most of history jewish people have not being viewed as white and most people don’t consider themselves so.

Sephardic Jews do not look white and there are plenty of them in the US and it is also offensive to gloss over them being white to support your point. Many of them look darker and the ones from Latin America look like the population there.

Reform Judaism does not focus solely on the religious component of it, they believe in the tribe too and but has expanded the definition. Whether you agree or not it is now the largest growing Jewish group and the movie is a reflection of what their synagogues are like.

Sephardic Jews do not look substantially different from Ashkenazi Jews. And none of us look that different from Italians, Lebanese Christians, or Algerians.

"The ones from Latin America" look like the communities their grandparents immigrated from in (usually) Eastern or Southern Europe.

Sure. Tell that to my Sephardic Jewish grandparents that were heavily discriminated against for being too brown.

Well my Ashkenazi mom is often mistaken for Hispanic, and my Guatemalan contractor once griped about my Ashkenazi neighbor while calling her "that Spanish woman," so...

I don't know the specific circumstances, but the "color" thing is not so relevant in Jewish history where inter- or intra- relations are concerned.

The “color” thing is relevant here because there are literally people here claiming that the Jewish experience in the US is white and the movie wrong for showing a diverse class when that is clearly not the case. (Asides from NJ Hebrew schools) which I have no clue on. My Sephardic relatives get mistaken for hispanic all the time. So is it crazy to see Hispanic faces in class? Answer is no.

To add injury to insult most jews don’t even consider themselves white and have been told to their faces they are not white.

You're responding to me. The source of their not-whiteness is the Jewishness, not the Sephardicness. DNA testing shows the same amount of European genetic material in Sephardic Jews as Ashkenazi Jews, and it dates back to the initial phase of exile in Rome in both cases. Since branching apart in the early Middle Ages, both groups have been mostly endogamous. We look a lot like each other. I dont consider myself white as an Ashkenazi Jew, but America typically does.

[Anonymous]

My does everyone assume that because they go to Jewish day school they are Jewish? I went to a catholic school and I wasn’t catholic- I went to confirmations and mass as part of school. It’s about a good education sometimes and not just about religion.

[Anonymous]

Def meh for me but tween DD enjoyed.

[Anonymous]

I’m Jewish, blonde with blue eyes, I had Jews telling me I don’t look Jewish feeling up all the time. I think the diversity of this show was fine.

I thought Mateo was not Jewish but went to school there? That’s why he didn’t know how to pronounce challah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is Jewish and he rolled his eyes at the tremendous diversity in the Hebrew school scenes. While we understand and support representation in movies, it wasn’t realistic and to a certain extent co-opts what is a singular Jewish experience. (I’m Catholic so I don’t have a dog in this fight.)

He also pointed out that Jewish mothers spend a year+ planning the event (while the movie made it seem like they are thrown together, including shopping for the dress at the last minute).

I would have loved to see Sara Silverman or Seinfeld or another Jewish comedian make a cameo. Missed opportunity.

I was very distracted by this.

It's so sad that diversity throws off some posters. I love to see it in movies and it makes more people feel included.
We've watched it twice with groups of middle schoolers who could not get enough. Watching it the second time I caught more cute details that really cement this one as a quotable classic. I think it will be one they all watch several times.

?

Diversity isn’t throwing off viewers.

Rather, actual Jewish people thought it was odd to see so much diversity at Hebrew school. The film centers around scenes at Hebrew school, which is a unique rite of passage for Jewish people.

Beyond being unrealistic—which is expected to a large degree with Hollywood films—it simply isn’t representative of *Jewish people* and their experience.

That’s legit criticism.

A few (adopted) Asian kids would have made sense. But black kids at Hebrew school? Latinos? Not a chance…especially in NJ.

From a reform synagogue on the west coast and the Hebrew school is pretty diverse. There are Asian, black and hispanic looking kids, mostly through intermarriage. So I don’t see it out of the norm.

In fact thinking about it there’s a teaching assistant in one of the Hebrew classes that is black and the another that has Hispanic heritage. Not every Jewish experience is white focused.

But about 98% of Jews are white. And we all know the reason for the multicultural cast wasn’t to provide a realistic representation of today’s Jewish population. It was done for the same reason as every other movie shows diversity in roles where it doesn’t make sense, so as not to receive scathing criticism from the diversity police.

Exactly this. God forbid they show mainly white Jews, because you know, Jews are (for the most part) white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is Jewish and he rolled his eyes at the tremendous diversity in the Hebrew school scenes. While we understand and support representation in movies, it wasn’t realistic and to a certain extent co-opts what is a singular Jewish experience. (I’m Catholic so I don’t have a dog in this fight.)

He also pointed out that Jewish mothers spend a year+ planning the event (while the movie made it seem like they are thrown together, including shopping for the dress at the last minute).

I would have loved to see Sara Silverman or Seinfeld or another Jewish comedian make a cameo. Missed opportunity.

I was very distracted by this.

It's so sad that diversity throws off some posters. I love to see it in movies and it makes more people feel included.
We've watched it twice with groups of middle schoolers who could not get enough. Watching it the second time I caught more cute details that really cement this one as a quotable classic. I think it will be one they all watch several times.

?

Diversity isn’t throwing off viewers.

Rather, actual Jewish people thought it was odd to see so much diversity at Hebrew school. The film centers around scenes at Hebrew school, which is a unique rite of passage for Jewish people.

Beyond being unrealistic—which is expected to a large degree with Hollywood films—it simply isn’t representative of *Jewish people* and their experience.

That’s legit criticism.

A few (adopted) Asian kids would have made sense. But black kids at Hebrew school? Latinos? Not a chance…especially in NJ.

From a reform synagogue on the west coast and the Hebrew school is pretty diverse. There are Asian, black and hispanic looking kids, mostly through intermarriage. So I don’t see it out of the norm.

In fact thinking about it there’s a teaching assistant in one of the Hebrew classes that is black and the another that has Hispanic heritage. Not every Jewish experience is white focused.

But about 98% of Jews are white. And we all know the reason for the multicultural cast wasn’t to provide a realistic representation of today’s Jewish population. It was done for the same reason as every other movie shows diversity in roles where it doesn’t make sense, so as not to receive scathing criticism from the diversity police.

But it doesn’t have to represent all Jewish people everywhere. It’s set in one diverse school in a diverse area. Other settings would look different.

+1 I am from NY and I definitely see non-White Jews. I'm not saying it's common, but it's also not shocking.

It was definitely pumped up in the movie, and I think that's a good thing. Through intermarriage and conversion- yes, the Jewish people can and will see more diversity. It's not the same thing as filming Africans in Roots.

I remember when Schitt's Creek came to a close, they did that documentary where they explained, "what if we just had a world where there is no such thing as homophobia? the world as it should be."

I think this is similar. I don't have an agenda to remove European bloodlines from Judaism, and neither do the creators of this move. But if they want to show a world where a Jewish American community has a lot of diversity and is proud of it, good for them.

Conversion is not encouraged, mixed marriages are frowned upon
Blood lines matter in Judaism. That might not fit the narrative of Hollywood but it is what it is
Most Jewish communities are proud of being Jewish, not diversity

That’s your version of Judaism. As as this movie reflects the reality of Judaism in America is much different. And many Jewish communities consider these converts and mixed marriages Jewish.

Maybe some reformed temples do, but most do not.

Signed,

Catholic woman married to a Jew by a priest and Jewish cantor at a neutral site who was straight up told my kids wouldn’t be Jewish since I wasn’t and the faith follows the mother’s bloodline

I am sorry someone told you that and as with the previous poster you will find many attitudes like that. I have myself encountered attitudes like that, which I ignore.

But Reform Judaism which is the largest stream of Judaism here has for decades held that children of Jewish fathers are also Jewish. I am clear eyed about the opposition to it but there are plenty of synagogues out there who have accepted that. I don’t pretend to know what NJ Hebrew schools are like but that’s not the reality at least in california.

I can assure you NJ Jews are very different from CA Jews ;0)

I bet Sandler was raised in a conservative temple, not reform.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is Jewish and he rolled his eyes at the tremendous diversity in the Hebrew school scenes. While we understand and support representation in movies, it wasn’t realistic and to a certain extent co-opts what is a singular Jewish experience. (I’m Catholic so I don’t have a dog in this fight.)

He also pointed out that Jewish mothers spend a year+ planning the event (while the movie made it seem like they are thrown together, including shopping for the dress at the last minute).

I would have loved to see Sara Silverman or Seinfeld or another Jewish comedian make a cameo. Missed opportunity.

I was very distracted by this.

It's so sad that diversity throws off some posters. I love to see it in movies and it makes more people feel included.
We've watched it twice with groups of middle schoolers who could not get enough. Watching it the second time I caught more cute details that really cement this one as a quotable classic. I think it will be one they all watch several times.

?

Diversity isn’t throwing off viewers.

Rather, actual Jewish people thought it was odd to see so much diversity at Hebrew school. The film centers around scenes at Hebrew school, which is a unique rite of passage for Jewish people.

Beyond being unrealistic—which is expected to a large degree with Hollywood films—it simply isn’t representative of *Jewish people* and their experience.

That’s legit criticism.

A few (adopted) Asian kids would have made sense. But black kids at Hebrew school? Latinos? Not a chance…especially in NJ.

They weren't explicit about the location. Kyle Richards' kids were Latinos at Hebrew school and I doubt they were the only ones. I went to high school with a girl named Sophia Grossman from Colombia who would always be like, hey idiots there are Jews in Latin America. She looked and talked like Shakira! My tennis coach growing up was Black and Jewish.

You're saying it was too much but I also think you're exaggerating the problem, given many of us know people like this.

DP. This is completely incorrect. Yes, Kyle Richard's husband grew up in Mexico - but he is not Latino. His last name is Umansky and he is of Russian and Greek descent. Their kids are not latina.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And considering there are Ethiopian Jews and Sephardic Jews and Jews from Latin America your version of Judaism being just white isn’t even accurate.

DP. In the US, well over 90% of Jews are white.
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/race-ethnicity-heritage-and-immigration-among-u-s-jews/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The poster claiming that Hebrew schools are white is also being offensive because for most of history jewish people have not being viewed as white and most people don’t consider themselves so.

Sephardic Jews do not look white and there are plenty of them in the US and it is also offensive to gloss over them being white to support your point. Many of them look darker and the ones from Latin America look like the population there.

Reform Judaism does not focus solely on the religious component of it, they believe in the tribe too and but has expanded the definition. Whether you agree or not it is now the largest growing Jewish group and the movie is a reflection of what their synagogues are like.

Sephardic Jews do not look substantially different from Ashkenazi Jews. And none of us look that different from Italians, Lebanese Christians, or Algerians.

"The ones from Latin America" look like the communities their grandparents immigrated from in (usually) Eastern or Southern Europe.

Sure. Tell that to my Sephardic Jewish grandparents that were heavily discriminated against for being too brown.

Well my Ashkenazi mom is often mistaken for Hispanic, and my Guatemalan contractor once griped about my Ashkenazi neighbor while calling her "that Spanish woman," so...

I don't know the specific circumstances, but the "color" thing is not so relevant in Jewish history where inter- or intra- relations are concerned.

The “color” thing is relevant here because there are literally people here claiming that the Jewish experience in the US is white and the movie wrong for showing a diverse class when that is clearly not the case. (Asides from NJ Hebrew schools) which I have no clue on. My Sephardic relatives get mistaken for hispanic all the time. So is it crazy to see Hispanic faces in class? Answer is no.

To add injury to insult most jews don’t even consider themselves white and have been told to their faces they are not white.

WTH? Speak for yourself. I don't know any Jews (and I am one myself) who don't consider themselves white. What a bizarre statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The poster claiming that Hebrew schools are white is also being offensive because for most of history jewish people have not being viewed as white and most people don’t consider themselves so.

Sephardic Jews do not look white and there are plenty of them in the US and it is also offensive to gloss over them being white to support your point. Many of them look darker and the ones from Latin America look like the population there.

Reform Judaism does not focus solely on the religious component of it, they believe in the tribe too and but has expanded the definition. Whether you agree or not it is now the largest growing Jewish group and the movie is a reflection of what their synagogues are like.

Sephardic Jews do not look substantially different from Ashkenazi Jews. And none of us look that different from Italians, Lebanese Christians, or Algerians.

"The ones from Latin America" look like the communities their grandparents immigrated from in (usually) Eastern or Southern Europe.

Sure. Tell that to my Sephardic Jewish grandparents that were heavily discriminated against for being too brown.

Well my Ashkenazi mom is often mistaken for Hispanic, and my Guatemalan contractor once griped about my Ashkenazi neighbor while calling her "that Spanish woman," so...

I don't know the specific circumstances, but the "color" thing is not so relevant in Jewish history where inter- or intra- relations are concerned.

The “color” thing is relevant here because there are literally people here claiming that the Jewish experience in the US is white and the movie wrong for showing a diverse class when that is clearly not the case. (Asides from NJ Hebrew schools) which I have no clue on. My Sephardic relatives get mistaken for hispanic all the time. So is it crazy to see Hispanic faces in class? Answer is no.

To add injury to insult most jews don’t even consider themselves white and have been told to their faces they are not white.

WTH? Speak for yourself. I don't know any Jews (and I am one myself) who don't consider themselves white. What a bizarre statement.

Considering just a few decades ago jewish people were banned from buying homes in fancy places such as La Jolla by white people it’s laughable you think Jews consider themselves white. Many don’t and weren’t treated like white people in the past. There is history behind this.

[Anonymous]

Can we go back to talking about the movie???

Tween DD loved it. I thought it was cute. DH tolerated. That is a huge, and rare, win in our house.