Our Hidden Jewish Heritage

By: demnan
Published On: 9/22/2006 8:01:30 AM

It was discomforting to see George Allen's recent reaction to the suggestion that his grandfather was Jewish.  It brought back to me a time when I used to have political arguments with my conservative father, and one time, when he was making an anti-Semitic statement I told him he was probably Jewish and he looked Jewish.  Little did I know I had unearthed perhaps a very guarded family secret.  For it stopped him in his tracks.  He knew his original surname was very common among German-Jewish people, even though, at the time I didn't. 
Then my mother told me that his father's family were Germans who had settled in Indianapolis and his father, a photographer for the Chicago Tribune, was considered the black sheep of the family.  My grandparents were divorced, and that cut us off from knowing anything about the family.  My grandmother had remarried and my father had taken her husband's name providing us with an English last name.

I've never been able to find out much about my father's family, even though I have searched them on the Internet.  My best friend is Jewish and the first time I showed her a picture of my grandfather, she said, Nancy, you never told me you were Jewish but I've always suspected you were."  She felt that my intellect and my face bore a link to a Jewish heritage.

Howard Stern used to have a contest called "Who's the Jew" on his radio program.  He would point out many people, celebrities, who had Jewish heritage that was perhaps surprising, due to the names, present religious affiliations, etc.  This also comes up in every election.  Remember when Kerry was accused of claiming an Irish heritage when he had German (and perhaps Jewish) roots?  Kerry was gracious and acknowledged his family proudly.

My favorite story of discovery is Madeline Albright.  Her discovery of her Jewish heritage seems typical of the upper class German-Jewish variety.  Everyone around you seems to know you're Jewish before you do!  But her parents tried to protect her from a heritage they sadly felt was very dangerous.  But when she went to Israel she was openly welcomed as a sister.  I just think that's really neat.  She learned something late in life about herself.

So this night on Rosh Hashanah, I'd just like to acknowledge that there are probably many thousands of people in America, especially in the Midwest, who are unaware of their Jewish roots.  George, you should have embraced this idea, because from wherever we come as Americans, it will always be a cool and free thing to discover.  You should never be ashamed of who you are and where you come from.

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