The Romans didn’t invent crucifixion. The Persians did, or perhaps the Assyrians before them. Alexander the Great learned it from the Persians and, in line with his character, though it a fitting punishment and propagated in throughout his empire. The Romans learned it from the Carthaginians who had brought it from Tyra. Only slaves were crucified under Roman law.
How about the female form: Jewess? Is that considered kosher?
I googled around last night some, and found something that talked about ‘Jewess’. According to that one article, it’s not considered offensive, but is outdated. I wouldn’t use it, because I don’t use gender specific words when describing ethnicity, religion, or nationality. The only comparable word that I can ever think of is Negress, but no one really uses Negro anymore, so it’s outdated in a different way.
Actually, I take that back. I’ll say latina for a female. Somehow Jewess sounds different. Don’t ask me why.
Great story, TV time. Kudos for your wife’s family for backing you up. I can’t believe there are parents out there who would tell their children that you had anything to do with killing Jesus. There’s no way a child that small would be able to figure out that you’re Jewish from looking at you. Somebody must have told her. Stupid people shouldn’t breed.
I think it sort of depends on context. The word “jew” as a verb, for instance, is certainly racist. “Goddam Jews” tends to be pretty much racist, too. Back in Cub Scouts, one of my fellow scouts said “JEW!” at me and spit, and I think that was probably not meant kindly.
The problem is that, for many centuries, the Catholic Church and then the mainline Protestant Churches blamed “the Jews” for killing Jesus, causing the black plague, infanticide, and bringing every disaster (natural and man-made) upon the world. In the minds (term used loosely) of the churches, some of those disasters were God’s punishment because “the Jews” were still alive; some of them were done deliberately, like causing bubonic plague by poisoning wells and killing Christian children for cannibalistic rites.
And, of course, there are plenty of loonies around who still believe these things. Sixteen hundred years or so of repetition in sermons is kinda hard to erase.
So, whether the term “Jew” is offensive or not depends on context.
My brother-in-law was born into a Jewish family, raised in the Jewish tradition, and practices the Jewish religion. He is a Jew.
My sister was born into a Catholic family, raised in a Catholic tradition, and coverted to Judaism before marrying her hubby. She is Jew-ish.
Is this what she calls herself? Because otherwise I’m not getting the distinction. If she converted, then she and your BIL are looked on exactly the same by Jews.
I think **Uncle Bill **may be saying that Jew conveys heritage and ethnicity, while Jewish implies only the practicing of Judaism.
Am I right?
Having worked with a lot of teachers and education administrators, who tend to be the deepest repository of what’s described as p.c.-ness, I’ve seen an abiding preference for adjectives over nouns. The idea is laudable - the use of 'Jew" suggests that relgion/cultural background is all you need to know, whereas “Jewish person” suggests that Judaism is one of many qualities that a person has. I don’t buy it completely, but I understand what people are getting at.
I’d be curious what the various stylebooks have to say about it - A.P., New York Times, etc.
Mithril:
Probably because it is not in common usage amongst English-speakers, even amongst English-speaking Jews (of either sex). The word mainly exists to provide an accurate translation for the Hebrew “Yehudis.” (The male equivalent, in Hebrew, is “Yehudi”, and that is translated simply as “Jew”.)
That might be what he’s saying, but that’s not how most Jews feel. We consider a convert to be a Jew, in the noun sense, as well.
Huh. I thought Bill was making a joke. Y’know, Bob showed up right at 7:00 pm on the dot; he showed up at 7. Lisa showed up at 7:15; she showed up at 7-ish.
Maybe I’m just looking for snarkiness where there is none.
Daniel
I, too, thought it was a joke. I smiled, anyway, at what appeared to be a clever play on words.
I’m Jewish and don’t usually mind being called a Jew. It’s all in context as has been stated above. There is, though, somehow a faint underlying sense of mockery in that term, even though to me it’s just an abbreviation. Interestingly, you can say a Jew is Jewish, but you can’t say a Cath is Catholic, nor is ‘Prot’ a term for Protestant and you can’t call a Muslim ‘a Muz’. Hmmmm…
Children of Israel. Duh.
–Cliffy
As soon as I hit submit I realized that was the wrong smiley to use.
;j
–Cliffy, again
I have always been uncomfortable about that. As I told my in-laws (they keep coming into these don’t they? - but they asked the question too), Would they mind being called a Baptistess or a Catholicess? Probably.
In my mind at least. it implies that the person (in this case a woman) is not good enough to qualify as the topic being discussed. ("You’re not quite a Jew, little lady, you’re a Jewess).
Don’t even ask me about Negress.
TV
I should expand on my post above: since English has gender-neutral nouns, the word “Jew” is commonly applied to Jewish people of either sex. Hebrew has no gender-neutral grammatical forms, so there’s a separate word “Yehudi” and “Yehudis”. “Jewess” in English exists to accurately translate the latter when appropriate, but does not enter into ordinary usage. Nouns (such as a Catholic or Protestant) which did not originate in a gender-specific language (or whose gender-specific origin is so antiquated, there’s no need for a specificansation form) never got the “-ess” treatment.
And why do I now have visions of P. T. Barnum hanging a sign that says “This way to the Negress”?
I have been thinking about the Jewess thing, and realized why it makes me uncomfortable. It’s reminiscent of lioness and tigress and all kinds of animal names. Granted, it can also be like princess or mistress, but the animal aspect is what shines through to me, at least.
Well, Spanish words have gender. The alternative to latina is latino, which is masculine. Jew is gender neutral.
Latina is different because it’s Spanish. In Spanish, most words are gendered. EG Rather than blonde you have rubio and rubia. So instead of asking “Have you seen a blonde man/ blonde woman?” you ask “Usted a visto un/una rubio/rubia?”
I don’t consider being referred to as a Jew insulting. I’m Jewish. This is mostly due to my being a Jew.
My entry was half in humor, and half based on my B-I-L’s mom’s catty attitude that my sister is still a shiksa (did I spell that right?). She is Jewish, in that she practices Judaism, but she is not an “ethnic” Jew. Hell, she was a state officer in the friggin CYO! (Catholic Youth Organization)
My personal view is that the term “Jew” describes someone ethnically and spiritually Jewish, with cultural and family ties to Judaism. The term “Jewish” expands that definition to include converts to Judaism (of which I have two in my extended family, commentary on the Vatican, perhaps?).
I see neither as offensive in any way, unless used offensively. Same as “Irish” or “Mexican”.