Jewish whiteness and its others

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Israel, this article explores the politics of language choice as a part of the negotiation of Haredi identity. Yiddish choice can be a subtle resistance to the Zionist project, of which Israeli Hebrew is a part. Certain Hasidic groups, and some very strict Lithuanian Haredi Jews, speak Yiddish, while others have adopted Israeli Hebrew. These choices illuminate ideologies of these groups, attitudes towards the State, and the levels of the community’s and individual’s civic-mindedness. Haredi attitudes towards the State exist on a spectrum, which may or may not correlate to the community’s language choice. Instead, language choice illuminates how Haredi individuals negotiate their minority identity and their relationship with the State and Zionist ideology. Language choice clarifies how internal divisions are negotiated, identities are formed and reformed, and how these choices impact the Haredi world’s interaction with the State of Israel.

show abstract

Beyond Racial, Religious, and Political Binaries: Toward Antisemitism Literacy

Grayson

2024

Journal of Literacy Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Literacy studies scholarship and pedagogy have not attended comprehensively to Jewish cultural literacies or the discursive operations of anti-Jewish hate. As a result, antisemitic rhetoric may be employed, strategically or accidentally, by people who do not see themselves as antisemitic—and who, regardless of their critical and cultural literacies, cannot accurately identify that rhetoric as such (see Grayson, 2023 ; Grayson & Chriqui Benchimol, 2023 ). In this article, I draw upon existing research, both mine and other scholars’, as I explore how histories of Jewishness and antisemitism disrupt binary understandings of race, power, and partisanship; explicate how these disruptions complicate efforts to recognize and understand antisemitic rhetoric; and identify strategies for moving forward with greater awareness of antisemitism as a rhetorical system and deeply situated cultural ideology. This article gestures toward the development of teachers’ and students’ antisemitism literacy.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Jewish whiteness and its others

Cited by 4 publications

References 21 publications

“Liberated” Ethnic Studies: Jews need not apply

“Liberated” Ethnic Studies: Jews need not apply

The Politics of Language Choice in Haredi Communities in Israel

Beyond Racial, Religious, and Political Binaries: Toward Antisemitism Literacy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About