Exposed

There for all to see. Our stereotypes. Our worst fears. What was going through these people's minds? What had we just said? I needed a time machine.

It was asked at one point, "Does being Jewish look fun?" There is a reason to try and have a sense of humor; because it is not.

We were assured that we had just given others a rare look into the Jewish community. What a frightening thought?! The rareness. The fact that we had given it. Were we given a choice? We must have been.

After being thanked by many, half of my fears were eased, the other half intensified. Why were we being thanked?

Jews are not a unified group; we hold many diverse points of view. This is obvious to me. Just come over to my house and listen to my family. We consist of three liberal secular Jews. We never agree on anything. Not even that 2+2=4. Ma still contends that it equals 5. My brother Ian and I have tried hard to convince her, but to no avail. Ian won't accept the fact that there is a G-d, and I cannot be convinced that there isn't a vast Christian conspiracy. Ok, a lot of that is not true, but you get the point.

The last time the three of us agreed on anything was 1988. We all liked popsicles. Specifically cherry. Even ma.

In my haste not to reinforce negative stereotypes, that's exactly what I was doing. A hard proposition to accept. I needed to talk to someone. Was being honest a good thing this time? Could being honest actually be harmful? We waited for the group's responses.