Spotted in Shibuya: Japanese “black woman” handing out fliers

There are Jews from many different walks of life, and there is no single defining trait to identify Jews by, because by traditional Jewish law (and to this day secular Jewish culture) you are Jewish only if your mother is.

Jews in America may consider themselves white because they’ve come from a long ancestry of diasporic communities from Europe. Jews with closer historical ties to the Middle East probably don’t consider themselves white. For me personally, my father descends from a non-Jewish European line, and my mother (who is Jewish) exhibits more typically Middle Eastern traits, so some people see me as being just an average white guy, but at the same time I’m often asked if I have a Middle Eastern background. (I have dark brown hair that starts to curl when it grows long, and green eyes)

The Jewish identity is a very interesting concept to study. My identity isn’t in a racial trait, but instead in two cultures that I ultimately identify with – I’m Jewish (raised in a secular Jewish community), and I’m Southern Californian. I feel disconnected from any greater identity, meaning that my citizenship is not a defining characteristic, nor is the color of my skin.

You might also be interested to know that I feel a close tie to the Filipino community in the U.S., as I attended school in the largest community of Filipinos outside of the Philippines. (In San Diego, the town is called Mira Mesa, but everyone refers to it as “Manila Mesa”) I’ve had my fair share of halo-halo and lumpia.