# Post your closest "Jewish influence" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 17, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917 "2015-10-17T18:18:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/81 "2015-10-18T17:29:23Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Jewish. See, **Count Blucher**? I didn’t even have to ask. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/82 "2015-10-18T17:40:37Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > See, **Count Blucher**? I didn’t even have to ask. Don’t take that to mean that you can’t bring me cheese burgers. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/83 "2015-10-18T18:08:29Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Inspired by [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=772269) Pit thread. > > While I’m a pagan, I work in a store owned by Chassidic Jews. My dad’s Jewish. Well. He doesn’t go to a synagogue, is married to a Catholic woman, all of us kids were raised Catholic, and he loves pork chops, which I guess means he’s Jew-ish. I’d say he’s been a pretty big influence on me, although I’m not a huge fan of pork chops. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/84 "2015-10-18T18:24:47Z")
My mom’s Jewish. I attended a Jewish preschool and went to temple/Hebrew school for a while, but stopped before having a bat mitzvah. I know the basics, and will sometimes do a little celebration for the fun holidays (make latkes and light candles for Hanukkah/eat challah and pomegranate at Rosh Hashanah, etc), but Yom Kippur gets shafted. Mainly, I’m just Jewish enough to make anti-Semites uncomfortable by going “actually, being Jewish . . .” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/85 "2015-10-18T18:28:21Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > My mom’s Jewish. I attended a Jewish preschool and went to temple/Hebrew school for a while, but stopped before having a bat mitzvah. I know the basics, and will sometimes do a little celebration for the fun holidays (make latkes and light candles for Hanukkah/eat challah and pomegranate at Rosh Hashanah, etc), but Yom Kippur gets shafted. Mainly, I’m just Jewish enough to make anti-Semites uncomfortable by going “actually, being Jewish . . .” 😉 I think the Catholic equivalent would be either an Easter-Christmas Catholic, or a Raised Catholic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/86 "2015-10-18T18:35:35Z")
We have a number of Jewish friends (one of whom is a dead ringer for Jason Alexander), but they are far from being orthodox, with some being totally unobservant. As for being influenced by them, I’d have to say that there has been little to none. They’re just people like everybody else. Well, the one husband is close to what I would call a Jewish stereotype. He’s constantly looking for deals, won’t go to a restaurant unless he has a coupon of some sort, and likes to talk about your money. He annoys me at times with all that. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/87 "2015-10-18T18:40:12Z")
A quarter to a third of students at my high school were Jewish. Occasionally some would incorrectly guess my religious heritage. I dated a Jewish woman for a while. I was profoundly influenced by the [Milgram experiments](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment) in high school which in turn were shaped by the holocaust. ETA: Also, I was once a member of the Illuminati, but I let my subscription run out. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/88 "2015-10-18T19:43:08Z")
I suspect my great grandmother was Jewish, given that her surname is predominantly Jewish. The surname also shows up with regularity on the concentration camp lists. Shifting borders in Poland and the secrecy of her life has made verification impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/89 "2015-10-19T01:56:01Z")
I taught in an Orthodox yeshiva for a while – they hired teachers (for the secular, state-required subjects only, obviously) from among the penurious adjuncts at a nearby university. Other than that, various friends over the years, including one woman who was studying to be come a rabbi when I met her, and then finished her studies and became a rabbi at a fairly conservative synagogue in New York. We had many, many fascinating discussions about religion (among other things) over the years, and she used to bring me to really interesting lectures at the seminary (is that the right word?) she was attending. I didn’t know many Jews until I was well into my college years, having spent the years before that in a Catholic bubble (Catholic schools from kindergarten through my first year of college). ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/90 "2015-10-19T03:38:20Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I know I’m supposed to be understanding and compassionate towards the mentally ill, but this is crazy talk. Mods, may we please move this to The Pit? I think Flea Market MD deserves a reply. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/91 "2015-10-19T04:20:15Z")
Other than a ton of Jewish friends? I listen to lots of Leonard Cohen. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/92 "2015-10-19T05:10:48Z")
Well, let’s see. I like Jonathan Miller a lot. However, in his own (joking) words, he’s “not really a Jew, just Jew-ish. Not the whole hog.” But seriously… 🙂 My brother was a music teacher, and one of his side jobs for many years was singing in the small choir of a Reform synagogue. My brother also was the accompanist for a soprano in the choir on her separate gigs. Occasionally the choir needed an extra tenor and I was good enough to sing with them as well. I even sang with them once for High Holidays. I can still recall bits of the music and prayers. The choir director, a woman, was an excellent musician. For a while I dated a Jewish girl. I think that made me a shegetz (male version of shiksa). 🙂 I was friends with a non-practicing Jew for many years. I read a poem when he married his third wife (non-Jewish). The marriage was officiated by a minister whose denomination I don’t remember. Because of my choir singing, my friend said I knew more of the music and prayers than he did. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/93 "2015-10-19T09:18:11Z")
18 years in the NYC metro. Being a jazz musician and music/pop culture historian. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/94 "2015-10-19T11:18:30Z")
Jews like Leon Schlesinger and Mel Blanc, when I was at a young, impressionable age. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/95 "2015-10-19T12:26:40Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I know I’m supposed to be understanding and compassionate towards the mentally ill, but this is crazy talk. This is well out of line for this forum. Tone it down, please. > [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I think Flea Market MD deserves a reply. As is this. Same instruction. And no, there’s no reason this needs to be in The Pit. If you folks want to snipe at each other, start your own Pit thread. Let’s keep this one civil. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/96 "2015-10-19T12:55:48Z")
Every one of my relatives (except my husband) is Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/97 "2015-10-19T13:17:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve been eating a lot of bagels this week. But they’re pumpkin flavored so I don’t know if that counts. If it’s a Halloween thing, isn’t that a Satanic influence? Halloween is based on Samhain, the highest of pagan holidays. It was the Christians who later labeled it “Satanic.” That really gets my blood boiling. Paganism is NOT, and never has been “Satanic.” My five favorite lyric writers are Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Jim Steinman, Kris Kristopherson, and Kinky Friedman. Three of them have Jewish roots. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/98 "2015-10-19T13:20:58Z")
There’s a Jewish carpenter that I talk to a lot. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/99 "2015-10-19T13:40:13Z")
My last DM was Jewish, I guess that would be it… ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917/100 "2015-10-19T13:42:37Z")
My best friend since fourth grade and her husband are Jewish. She has always been a good influence to me, and her husband helped my daughter get her job, which has saved her, I believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-closest-jewish-influence/734917.md?page=6)