Monica, an interesting and honest analysis, although, as a first-generation immigrant, I disagree with several presumptions and conclusions. Excellent writing.
This one resonates so much with me, Monica. As a child, I always felt out of whack, probably because I was and am an undiagnosed Autistic. Then, as a teenager, I was mercilessly bullied – at home, at school, anywhere – and I started to have recurring nightmares, where I was a Jew trying to escape the Nazis, running scared across roofs. I used to wake up tired and terrified! So yes, I guess Jewishness is a concept (an archetype?) that explains feelings of otherness and alienation, the sense of not belonging, and finally, the use of humor as a defensive weapon.
Thank you, Portia. Thoughtful and insightful as ever. The bullying as a trope of crypto-Jewishness is real. Plus, fed a diet of Elie Wiesel and Anne Frank and Primo Levi in the 80s in the US ... well, at some point a thinking person has to compare notes. That being said, I learned about the fuller history around al-Nakba somewhere around 2000, and it was eye opening.
Humor is for me the first and last choice when I feel threatened, internally or externally, imagined or otherwise. The great defuser, the universal salve. Bless the askance look and dry wit, the quick quip and self-effacement. Where I'd be today without a sense of humor, I have no idea. In a dark place, or a grave.
Humor is solace and the elixir of long life, thank God for it!
Though I abhor antisemitism, I've always been for the Palestinian people. Persecution and oppression are wrong, from whichever side they come.
I'm glad Primo Levi was read in the US, I was proud to live in Turin, like him. Unfortunately, those memories haunted him till his last moments. I hope he's resting in peace.
Monica, an interesting and honest analysis, although, as a first-generation immigrant, I disagree with several presumptions and conclusions. Excellent writing.
This one resonates so much with me, Monica. As a child, I always felt out of whack, probably because I was and am an undiagnosed Autistic. Then, as a teenager, I was mercilessly bullied – at home, at school, anywhere – and I started to have recurring nightmares, where I was a Jew trying to escape the Nazis, running scared across roofs. I used to wake up tired and terrified! So yes, I guess Jewishness is a concept (an archetype?) that explains feelings of otherness and alienation, the sense of not belonging, and finally, the use of humor as a defensive weapon.
Thank you, Portia. Thoughtful and insightful as ever. The bullying as a trope of crypto-Jewishness is real. Plus, fed a diet of Elie Wiesel and Anne Frank and Primo Levi in the 80s in the US ... well, at some point a thinking person has to compare notes. That being said, I learned about the fuller history around al-Nakba somewhere around 2000, and it was eye opening.
Humor is for me the first and last choice when I feel threatened, internally or externally, imagined or otherwise. The great defuser, the universal salve. Bless the askance look and dry wit, the quick quip and self-effacement. Where I'd be today without a sense of humor, I have no idea. In a dark place, or a grave.
Humor is solace and the elixir of long life, thank God for it!
Though I abhor antisemitism, I've always been for the Palestinian people. Persecution and oppression are wrong, from whichever side they come.
I'm glad Primo Levi was read in the US, I was proud to live in Turin, like him. Unfortunately, those memories haunted him till his last moments. I hope he's resting in peace.