This article was produced as part of (JEWISH REVIEW)’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
The last time the Pew Research Center checked, in 2020, 17% of American Jewish households include a child or adult who is non-white or multiracial. While many teenage Jews of color cherish these identifies, they also speak of challenges, from having to “prove” or explain their Jewishness to feeling excluded or unwelcome in synagogues and other Jewish settings.
Some teams find friends and allies across the siloed communities of high school, while others find it more difficult to navigate their fragmented identities.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency recently asked four multiracial Jewish teens to talk about traversing spaces where other people expected them to fit into one single identity. They shared experiences of having their personal identity questioned, and finding pride in celebrating multiple cultures and traditions all at once.
The as-told-to remarks are based on conversations with the authors. They have been edited for length and clarity.
Raiva Lessing, 17, Indian and Ashkenazi Jewish, Francis W. Parker High School, Chicago, Illinois
When I was younger, I was confused about what the difference between religion and race was. So I’d be like, “I’m Indian and Jewish.” But, kind of exploring that more, I’ve seen that your ethnicity, your race, and your religion are all separate things. So now I will just be like, “I’m half Indian, half white,” or I’ll be like, “I’m half Hindu, half Jewish.” I don’t like that people just assume; they don’t really ask.
Freshman year, I tried to go to the Jewish affinity group because I was exploring the school. One of the kids was like, “You can’t be here, you’re Indian.” And I was like, “I’m literally Jewish.” And they’re like, “Recite a prayer.” So I recited a prayer, and then they were like, “Translate it.” I’m like, ‘Could you translate it? I don’t think so.’ Also, why do you need to question me?”
Whenever I’m eating, they ask me, “Oh, is that kosher?” I feel like I’m being tested all the time, which is kind of weird.
A lot of people say, “You’re not actually Jewish, your dad’s Jewish,” but that’s so old-fashioned. And you’re allowed to identify how you want to identify.
My grandpa is a Holocaust survivor, and he did a talk at my school, and that’s kind of when people were like, “Oh, come to the Jewish Student Union.” But before, they weren’t really accepting me as much.
I told my grandpa about this, and he said, “I didn’t go through all that for them to just say that. My mom was in a concentration camp, and I was in hiding for four years. They can’t take that away from you — that’s history, that’s ancestry.
I get being curious, like those who ask me, “What do you practice?” But a lot of people, because I’m Hindu and Jewish, will say, “How can you practice two religions?” I don’t know. I just do. It’s not really anyone else’s business how I choose to identify. And I don’t think it’s a problem celebrating two religions. That’s the beauty of religion, that you know, it can be whatever you want it to be.
My grandpa actually didn’t know he was Jewish until the Holocaust started. He was 8 years old and didn’t even know what Judaism was because they weren’t religious. He became very religious after the war. Through his stories, I’ve connected a lot more and try to identify more with that culture. When I was younger, we would go to synagogue, and I noticed that my brother and I were the only brown kids in the entire room. I feel looked at, even if I’m not being looked at.
I’ve never felt like I’m more one identity than another. I wrote an essay about having two races and two religions, and I kind of ended it with an analogy that being biracial is like walking on a tightrope. You kind of swing from side to side. You can lean more towards one side, but you’re still like balancing, and you’re still like walking on the tightrope, and that’s kind of how I think of being biracial and having two religions.
Gabriel, 17, Hispanic and Jewish, New Jersey
Gabriel is in the process of a formal Orthodox conversion, which he fears could “introduce unnecessary complications and scrutiny from the rabbinical court” if his full name were used.
None of my parents is Jewish, but I was raised with an uncle who was a convert. I was raised practicing Shabbat, practicing all the holidays, and since I was a kid. I’m not Jewish according to halacha [rabbinic law], but in the process of converting right now.
I feel I have become more observant over the years [since I moved from Venezuela to America four years ago].
There was a Jewish community in Venezuela before the dictatorship came. But then President Chavez came to power, and was really, really antisemitic.
He wasn’t persecuting people directly, but many said his rhetoric was responsible for attacks on synagogues. I was just [practicing Judaism] with my uncle. My uncle lived right next to my house, so I started going to Shabbat and all the holidays all the time.
I went to The Walden School summer camp in New Hampshire. Like 40% of the kids were Jewish, but they never practiced Judaism. And since I was becoming more observant over time, I took candles and personally hosted these Shabbat gatherings and Havdalah ceremonies. I invited many of my fellow campers to join, and a large majority of them attended. It was a wonderful, fun experience where we brought people together, rather than a standard event run by the camp administration. It was beautiful.
There’s not a large Jewish population at my school; the majority are Black, Hispanic, Asian, Korean, and Indians. They say, “Is your mom Jewish?” Or “Why are you brown?” So it’s kind of crazy.
My dad lives in Spain, so most of the [Jewish] things I put on my mom. She’s really supportive. She helps cook for Shabbat dinners. Sometimes my mom has to go shopping on Saturdays. I have to be like, “Mom, I can’t help you today.”
It’s good that I get to invite my family to Shabbat dinners. It’s family time that usually doesn’t happen because everyone is busy, so I feel like an attempt to slow down.
Rania Levin, 15, Indian and Jewish, Francis Parker High School, Chicago
My mom is Indian, and my dad is Ashkenazi Jewish. I was raised in a multicultural household where we celebrate a bunch of Jewish holidays and high Holy Days, but also some Indian traditions, and we eat a lot of Indian food.
I’ve been to India and Israel, and I think that it’s really cool to see how both parts of my identity are celebrated. I felt very connected with both parts of my identity when I was in both of those places.
At school, I go to both meetings — the Jewish Student Connection meeting and the South Asian Student Alliance meeting. I don’t want to choose one over the other, because I see them as equal.
Broadcaster Malika Andrews, who recently hosted ESPN’s Wimbledon coverage, is a role model for other Jews of color. (Tim Heitman/Getty Images)
Abby Zarahn, 16, Chinese and Jewish, Burlingame, California
My mom is Chinese, and my dad is Ashkenazi Jewish. So I grew up celebrating many different holidays, like Lunar New Year, Passover, the High Holidays, and practicing various traditions. This meant that I got to eat a lot of various and delicious food, which is one of my favorite parts about being Chinese and Jewish.
My parents always just taught me that you’re not half and half. You’re Chinese and Jewish, not half Chinese, half Jewish. If you think of yourself as half, then you kind of force yourself into the mindset that only half your friends can be Jewish and only half your friends can be Asian, and you can only experience half of the things Asian kids do and half the things Jewish kids do. They made it very clear, you can think of yourself as half and half, because, genetically, you are, but you know, when you’re out there in the community, think of yourself as a part of both communities.
I was talking to this one kid in my class last year, and when he found out that my mom wasn’t Jewish, he was like, “Wait, so you’re technically not Jewish.” And I was like, “What do you mean? I went to a Jewish summer camp. I go to the temple almost every Sunday. I chose to come back and be a [teaching assistant] even though I didn’t have to anymore. So that was a little scary for me at first. It wasn’t until then that I found out that [Jewish identity] is traditionally passed down through the maternal side. That’s kind of shaped how I’ve seen myself and also how other people view me.
In my area, among the Jewish population, a lot of the people are Reform, [which considers a child Jewish if either parent is Jewish]. So I find that a lot of kids don’t have a Jewish mother. It changes your perspective a lot.
I go to Camp Newman in Northern California. It was super fun. And it was nice because my cabin was pretty diverse. There were some white kids, but then there was another Asian Jewish girl, and there was a girl who was Black and Jewish. I didn’t think about it then, but when I came back from camp, I realized I was among this really cool, diverse group of Jewish girls.
There’s a sports broadcaster named Malika Andrews. She’s Black and Jewish. This is someone who’s a woman in sport who’s also breaking into the male sports industry, which is very male-dominated. She’s a trailblazer. It’s really cool to see someone who’s a multiracial Jew.
Then there’s Rabbi Angela Buchdahl. She’s a famous Korean Jewish rabbi-cantor. Her mom actually isn’t Jewish. She lived in Korea for a few years, and then came to the US, and she currently works at this big synagogue in New York [Central Synagogue]. I’ve been reading her book, “Heart of a Stranger,” and it’s a really interesting story. She talks about the challenges of being a multiracial Jew, but also being a multiracial Jewish woman, and talks about the struggles I think a lot of us face in our lives, and she does it through a Jewish lens, so it’s super cool. Seeing someone who is Asian and Jewish in a position that’s so highly recognized in the Jewish community is really cool for me.
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