Why Did Sen. George Allen Deny His Jewishness?

It took the Forward newspaper of New York to “out” Sen. George Allen of Virginia as being of Jewish descent. Wait, scratch that. He’s not of Jewish descent, but is actually Jewish. Judaism determines Jewish identity by matrilineal descent, and George Allen’s mother is Jewish.

Surprised that a high-profile Republican senator who promotes conservative and religious values would deny his own religious heritage? Don’t be. The denial of one’s Jewishness has been a time-honored tradition among Jews, who often feel that they are out of the mainstream and will therefore do almost anything to garner acceptance by either erasing their distinctive Jewish identity through assimilation, or by denying they were ever Jewish in the first place.

is, of course, a famous example of someone who embarrassed herself by doing just that.

This denial of one’s identity has tragic consequences, not only for the individual in question, who is leading a liar's life, but for society in general because, by denying his or her distinctiveness, the individual is robbing the country of the enrichment that comes from contributing a unique, cultural gift.

Many people believe America is a melting pot society where distinctive ethnic and religious differences are lost amid the general coalescence into a single indivisible whole. That, of course, is not only undesirable, but also highly inaccurate. What has made America the greatest, most powerful, most colorful, most inspiring nation in the world is the phenomenal diversity that it incorporates.

Travel to Scandinavia and you will not see anything near the ethnic diversity of the United States. Travel to the Middle East, and you certainly will not see anything of the ethnic diversity. Indeed, one of the reasons Israel is so hated by Arabs is that they see the Jewish citizens of Israel as “European interlopers” who have usurped Arab land. Many of our Arab brothers unfortunately do not feel enriched by diversity, but feel that non-believers are contaminating Islamic lands.

But America always welcomed immigrants with open arms, not only in the belief that everyone deserved a better life and access to the American dream, but even more important, in the belief that diversity leads to greatness. America believes that a colorful mosaic made of different pieces leads to a far more beautiful picture then the entire scene being comprised only of purple, white, or black.

Continued on page 2: Ethnic differences should only be stomached... »