On Being Jewish--Yet Again

   You have surely noticed that quite a few posts on my blog pertain to Jewishness—mostly mine. I have only lately become aware of this fact and am unclear why that has become such a theme for me. While three of the four people I live with here in Mexico are Jewish—my daughter and my grandchildren (who were bar- and bat-mitzvah)—none of us is seriously observant. (While I have been much more so in the past—when still under the influence of my fairly strict father, but shrinkingly so as time went by.

   But then, you can be Jewish without practicing or believing what is prescribed for Jews: to be a non-observant Jew is not a contradiction. We are not inclined to refer to a non-observant Catholic, but would rather say that a person was born a Catholic but has left the church. You don’t really get away with saying that a Jew who was baptized, like many German Jews in the 19^th and early 20^th century, is no longer Jewish. Felix Mendelssohn, born into a Jewish family was baptized at the age of seven and remained a Jewish composer until he died. Just check out Richard Wagner’s outburst! (See my blog post of December 29, 2015.¹)

   Why has Jewishness recently become such a theme for me? I chalk up a lot of what has been happening to my mind to old age—not just the weakening of my memory. I have not spoken German regularly (it had been my only language until I was twelve when we left Heidelberg for New York) since my mother passed away about thirty years ago. But recently, German phrases have been popping into my head, together with simple German songs from my childhood, inadequately remembered. This may not be a symptom of old age, but it certainly is not nostalgia. While I did not particularly suffer under Hitler, my parents certainly did. In any case, I am sharply aware of the fact that my being Jewish characterized all of my life, from that Nazi period on.

   I was appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University in 1973. That made me the first Jewish dean, indeed, the first Jewish administrator above the departmental level. While I noticed and a few others did, no note was really taken of that fact. The president and provost who hired me had been leaders, in their previous roles, of the revolt against a Northwestern admissions officer who was known to have opposed Jews to come to Northwestern. “New Yorkers” was then the euphemism.

   I was dean for thirteen years and being Jewish seemed to make no difference at all. I’ve now gone from Northwestern for almost thirty years and am still in touch with six former NU colleagues, an economist, a philosopher, a chemist, and a professor of English literature, plus a retired dean’s office denizen whom I had hired in 1974, plus my biggest faculty catch and become friend, Garry Wills.  All except for the last two, I’ve belatedly come to realize, are Jewish!  Two of them had been appointed by me to serve as associate deans in the College’s office.

   Until now, I was completely unaware of the commonality of their Jewishness. While I am in no way an ideologue pushing Jewish causes, at least not consciously, I find these facts to be a startling post-fact revelation.

   That’s the story. I’m always grateful for comments.

_________________                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ¹http://rhweingartner.blogspot.mx/2015/12/richard-wagner-on-music-by-jews.html