Why are Jewish people so disproportionately successful

[Renee_RL]

@monstro

Can I ask a question?

In the “Does society have a skewed view on what constitutes a good income?” thread, I relayed this anecdote:

When I asked her why she thought her grandchildren were so mediocre, I expected to hear the “normal” complaints of older people. Like kids today are spoiled and don’t know the meaning of hard work.

But what she said raised an eyebrow. She blamed her grandchildren’s mediocrity on the fact her son-in-law isn’t Jewish. Or rather, that he wasn’t born Jewish. He converted before marrying his wife (her daughter).

Ouch. I mean, not only does it must suck to have your mother-in-law think your mediocrity has tainted her progeny, but that she’d also be…I don’t know what the right word is. A culture snob? But it seems to me it’s more than snobbery. I can’t imagine anyone else saying something like this without coming across as bigoted. But the way she said it, it was like she expected me to say, “Of course! We goyim ARE stupid. Please forgive us.”

Is this a widespread belief amongst Jewish people, that marrying gentiles or converts threatens Jewish achievement? Or is this woman an analomy?

My parents didn’t want me to marry my husband who isn’t Jewish…nothing to do with intelligence, but rather from history. Most of parents generation grew up with stories of the holocaust and the persecution of jews. Most of them faced anti semitism in their lives and my father feared it from my husband, he once, to my shock, said, “when you have a fight hell call you a dirty Jew”…we’ve been married over 40 years and he has called me many things …but never that if you marry a Jew he felt I would be spared that. PS he adored my husband