And the Top Five Misconceptions Are…

By Michelle Sikorski
University of Colorado – Colorado Springs

I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which seems to be one of the Christian capitals of the world. There are two synagogues and roughly 283 Christian churches. Yom Kippur passed and nobody knew why I wasn’t at school that day, except for my teachers, whom I told in advance. For some of you reading this article it may seem unbelievable, but I know there are others out there like me. It’s hard when you don’t have a sense of the Jewish community, and it always seems like you’re defending your beliefs. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. So by that motto and my own experiences, I have the opportunity to share five common misconceptions I have encountered about Judaism, and dispel the myths unknown to the general public in Colorado Springs; if not other places as well.

The first misconception I present to you is that all Jews are the same. Dark curly hair, a big nose, rich, smart and carry the same traditions. Yes, some Jews are very smart, but not always rich and just like other cultures, we too are diverse. While all Jews have a connection to one other, Jews do have unique differences depending on where they come from and how they were raised. There are Ashkenazi Jews (Jews of Eastern European descent) and Sephardi Jews (Jews of Spanish and Middle Eastern descent) with different traditions and rules. There are also Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jews—different movements which teach different ideologies and ritual observances. There are even Jews from Ethiopia who are people of color who are Jewish. See we really aren’t all the same.

The second misconception: Jews believe that there is no messiah. I actually hear this from Mormons more than anyone else. This is interesting because Mormons respect the Jewish religion and even call Jews the Chosen People. Sometimes it’s quite entertaining to see their faces when I say, "I hate to break it to you, but yes, there will be a messiah: that person just hasn’t come yet." There is not much else I can say after that because the person is embarrassed, apologizes and then tells me that they will have to study it. The main idea of the coming of the messiah is from Judaism -- we just are waiting for the arrival, while Christians are waiting for the second coming.

Third Misconception: Keeping kosher is just not eating pork. Really, I have heard this. All right, so maybe most people know that part of keeping kosher is not eating pork, but that’s about it. In fact, most people I talk to are astounded that I don’t eat pork. But not eating pork isn’t even half of keeping kosher. Keeping kosher is a way of life with its own rules and traditions. When asked about keeping kosher, I try to explain it in the broadest terms. Not only are there certain foods such as pork that are not to be eaten, but different foods also have to be kept separate. You cut your meat on one cutting board and your cheeses on another. Dairy products are never to be mixed with meats during a meal or for a certain time afterward so that they don’t mix in the stomach. Along with not eating pork, keeping kosher means staying away from shellfish. There are rules stating that you need two sets of dishes, one for meat and one for dairy, never mixing the two and many other rules which revolve around keeping meat and dairy separate.

Fourth Misconception: Messianic Jews are the same as Jews. First of all, I really am going to try and keep my feelings about Messianic Jews out of this article, but I can’t promise anything. However, I really love it when people ask me, "What’s the difference between Jews and Messianic Jews, and why do most Jews grind there teeth when the topic of Messianic Jews come up?" Now before I go any further I have to put in a disclaimer – to the Mormons and whoever else may be offended, what I say next in no way represents what I or Jews as a whole think of the Mormon religion. As far as I’m concerned, if you believe in Christ as your Savior, then you’re Christian! All right, now that is out of the way. When a Christian asks what the difference is, my response is, "It’s very similar to your feelings about Mormons claiming to be Christians." Like I said, I don’t see a difference, but boy, I love the response that I get from non-Mormon Christians because for some reason they completely understand what I mean. Try it sometime and you will end up with a person staring at you saying, "Oh I see what you mean." Then I go on to explain a key difference: Jews don’t believe in the New Testament or that Jesus was the Messiah, and Messianic Jews believe in Jesus and the New Testament. In my mind Messianic Jews are actually Christians in disguise, who still practice the old traditions. This does make sense because Christianity was born from Judaism.

Fifth Misconception (and the one I really hate): Jews killed Jesus. Now this one is hard to explain away. It doesn’t matter that the Pope refuted these claims: he is just one small part of the larger Christian religion. When someone really believes something, sometimes they are blind to everything else, even to history. Mainly, I have found that trying to change a person’s view on this is like hitting your head against a brick wall over and over again. Not only does my head start to hurt, but also I find myself getting irritated. If the person seems willing to listen, then I’ll try to explain it. Otherwise, I have learned to smile, maybe tell that person to read up on their history, and then walk away. Unfortunately history has a funny way of being put forth by the strongest group around at the time. To suggest that Jews (rather than the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate) killed Jesus, implies reading history backwards rather than forwards and placing blame at the feet of a perceived enemy (who was never an enemy at all!).

There are obviously quite a few more misconceptions, but we would have to write a book to cover them all. In fact, I’m sure there are some books out there that relate to this topic. In spite of this, I hope that you have been able to take something from this article, even if it was a little chuckle from something I wrote. It’s not always easy to be a Jew in America, but I would rather be a Jew here than anywhere else (except Israel).

Michelle is a senior at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and an alum of the KOACH birthright israel program. She is graduating in May of 2007 with a Business degree -- emphasis in Marketing -- and a Minor in Economics.　

[Posted 10/24/06]