The tapestry of the Jewish people
Growing up in an Irish and Italian neighborhood, I didn’t have many Jewish role models outside of family and some friends. Popular culture didn’t provide many either: There were the weak and nerdy kids, as in Stephen King’s “It” (the first novel I ever read) or a host of Hollywood comedies, always tormented by the bullies. Then there were the nebbish characters, especially in Woody Allen movies.
I don’t know what others thought (though I hope they agree), but I never saw myself as a Hollywood-style weakling, and I just couldn’t relate to the sort of humor Allen did; I was too young. As I happily learned from Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song,” a lot of my favorite actors were Jewish—but I had no way of knowing before.
I learned from tradition that there were (at least) four types of Jews: the four types represented by the etrog, the four types of children in the Haggadah and the several different lists of types in Pirkei Avot. All of those “fours” add up to a diverse community. I knew that intellectually, but I didn’t feel it. Putting together this issue of JRI, I felt in a profound way the tapestry of the Jewish people.
I always thought it was an oddity that my father was a Jew who was also, as my childhood friends describe him, a cool guy with a motorcycle—nothing like Woody Allen, thankfully. But then a story on the Lonsmen, a whole group of cool Jewish bikers, came across my desk.
There’s the stereotype that Jews don’t serve in the armed forces. My father tried to enlist, and I’m named after his best friend Danny Manzaro, an (Italian) Marine who died in Vietnam, so that slander has always been especially galling to me. I was therefore glad to read this issue’s article on Jewish war vets, and I was touched talking to a woman named Sharon on the phone. She called about her brother Kenneth’s obituary, and we had a lovely conversation about him, a proud Marine who asked that donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project in lieu of flowers.
And then there’s culture. This is our arts issue, so it highlights the amazing contributions of Jewish artists, including Irving Guyer, whose work will be on display at a local synagogue. The list goes on, as varied as farmers and filmmakers.
I hope that each issue of JRI will continue to provide that, a look at the vibrancy of the Jewish community – and I hope that you will see your story reflected.
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