Is the refernece "he/she looks very Jewish" benign or an insult?

[Anonymous]

I think either your friend needs to be more specific ("He's got that typical Ashkenazi look") or not mention it at all. I agree that you should ask the friend to clarify exactly what she means, next time she says it.

Of course, context matters quite a bit, and whether this friend has grown up around a lot of Jews, because sometimes people pick up on the way their friends talk, without realizing that as a non-Jew, it may be awkward for others to hear her talk that way.

(I'm Jewish from former USSR, where everyone tried to figure out who was Jewish based on appearance, and I fit the stereotype.)