That’s the kind of Reform Judaism I was raised in. Not really the kind of thing that engenders faith.
It seems that most if not all of the examples in the thread cement the point that Jew is only offensive in context, but it those contexts it would be equally offensive to say Jewish or Jewish person.
If I say he is a disgusting, filthy Jew lawyer, I don’t think it makes it better if I say he is a disgusting, filthy Jewish lawyer. Or if I say that all of the Jew writers in Hollywood want to harm traditional values, it’s no better if I say that the Jewish writers want the same thing.
The examples attempting to illustrate otherwise equivocate in one way or the other.
Cleared the verb form as in “he jewed me down” is offensive
Not exactly. “He’s a very good Jewish lawyer” is not offensive but “he’s a very good Jew lawyer” is.
I’ll concede that to an extent, the second example doesn’t sound as formal as the first, but both promote the stereotype that Jews or Jewish people are shrewd and cutthroat. Why is the race of the lawyer relevant in the first place?
The second is still more offensive. The first is about him being a good lawyer. The second suggests that he’s good at negative-stereotypical-jewish things, as a lawyer.
I think the first does that as well. Why am I mentioning that he is a Jewish lawyer? If we conjure up some non-stereotypical reasons, say a synagogue was talking about members of their congregation, then if they said, “He is the best Jew lawyer in the city” we wouldn’t think that was derogatory.
By that reasoning, the words black and the N word are equally offensive - if someone uses black in everyday language, they are racist for bringing up race at all; and if someone who is black is speaking, it doesn’t matter if they’re saying black or N word - it’s not offensive either way. I think that reasoning is flawed.
I’m nonpracticing, but I’m a Jew.
This.
But also this
and also this
Plus which, unless the lawyer’s religion or ethnicity is actually relevant, don’t mention it at all.
Just…no. Nobody is saying that only Jewish people can use the term “Jew.” Your analogy fails.
No, that would sounds weird even coming from a Rabbi.
You said it, or implied it:
If that example was meant to imply something else, I’m not sure what that was.
Weird but - one would assume - not antisemitic
(But I don’t think this situation would really come up. Maybe if instead of Rabbi, you said Mel Brooks?)
Fair enough, but you wouldn’t consider it derogatory. I’m trying to find an example where someone would feel the need to specify that a particular lawyer was a Jewish lawyer, for a non-stereotypical reason, where the meaning would then be derogatory for saying “Jew.” I’m having a hard time to find any reason for saying the race of the lawyer in a phrase.
You’re ordering catering to thank him for winning your case and someone warns you not to get shrimp cocktail.
So I would say, “This guy is great, but he’s Jewish (or he’s a Jew) so don’t send the shrimp cocktail.” It would be odd phrasing to say, “This guy is a Jewish lawyer so don’t send him the shrimp cocktail.” Nobody would say Jewish lawyer in that situation.
You could say “I love the Bagel Oven, it is run by a great baker and he’s a Jew”.
But I would just say, “I love the Bagel Oven, it is run by a great Jewish baker.”
Jew as an adjective just sounds weird in any context I think.
I would consider it very, very weird and probably some kind of slip of the tongue. I honestly can’t conceive of a Jew using that particular construction outside of satire.
If my mother says, “Johnny, when are you going to settle down with a nice Jewish girl?” I’m going to roll my eyes and tell her to find me one if she’s so adamant about it.
If she says, “Johnny, when are you going to settle down with a nice Jew girl?” I’m going to ask her if she’s feeling okay.
The point is that polite people simply don’t use “Jew” as an adjective because it is so often used as an explicit pejorative. Sure, a racist can put just as much invective in “Jewish lawyer” as “Jew lawyer,” but that’s just not how the language has really shaken out.
You’re arguing about what you think the usage should be while a bunch of Jews (but not “them Jew Dopers”) are telling you how it is.
Oh, this old saw again. In every one of these discussions three people on a left-leaning message board are representative of an entire group like there was an election or something.
However, not a single person has said it is derogatory. Some have said it is “weird” which I have conceded that it is.
Jew as an adjective is very derogatory and a number of people said so in this thread.
Eta: I think you might be confused because we said we’d think it was weird but not derogatory if a Jewish person used Jew as an adjective. That’s because it is universally derogatory, so if a Jew used it that way, they are either antisemitic (which would be weird) or confused.
I stopped going after 13 posts. Care to retract?