O pinion
the Basis of Sex” and Kathryn
Hahn’s upcoming turn as Joan
Rivers in “The Comeback Girl.”
“There’s this long tradi-
tion of non-Jews playing Jews,
and not just playing people
who happen to be Jewish, but
people whose Jewishness is
their whole being,” Silverman
opined. “One could argue, for
instance, that a gentile playing
Joan Rivers correctly would be
doing what is actually called
‘Jewface.’” Silverman goes on to say that
“if the Jewish female character
is courageous or deserves love,
she is never played by a Jew.

Ever!” Now, I’m not here to comment
on whether Hollywood’s
portrayal of Jewish women as
being controlling, nagging or
whiny is a problem (it is), nor to
question the dubious wisdom of
Silverman speaking out against
“Jewface” and anti-Semitic
misogynist tropes when she
herself has flippantly engaged
in racist portrayals of other
ethnic groups, including herself
donning “blackface,” without
holding herself accountable.

Silverman’s own short-
comings aside, she’s not the
originator of the problematic
term “Jewface” nor the first
Jewish woman to raise the
issue. This is a valid discussion
and problem to be discussed,
which speaks to represen-
tation, who gets to tell their
own stories and the very
same “identity politics” that
Silverman, ironically, finds to
be “f–king annoying.”
However, what I find inter-
esting is the centering of
Ashkenormativity in the term
itself, and the curious fact
that the specter of “Jewface”
has — without fail — only
reared its head when white
actors portray white Jews, and
otherwise largely ignores when
the characters or actors are
non-white. In a recent Twitter thread,
I pointed out various Jews of
color who have been portrayed
on screen. Dr. Christina Yang
of “Grey’s Anatomy” is Jewish.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM The actress who plays her,
Sandra Oh, isn’t. Ato Essandoh
isn’t Jewish, yet he’s played
both Dr. Isidore Latham on
“Chicago Med” and Kwesi
Weisberg-Annan on “Away.”
Luke Youngblood isn’t Jewish,
but Sid from “Galavant” is.

Where is the dialogue and
outrage about “Jewface” in
those cases?
(Interesting aside: While
Tracee Ellis Ross’ character
on “Black-ish” isn’t Jewish, the
actress is, and the actors who
play her siblings are also Black
and Jewish: Daveed Diggs and
Rashida Jones.).

Silverman isn’t alone in
erasing Jewish women of color,
or implying that when we say
“Jewish” we mean white and
Ashkenazi. Too often, white Jewish
women are cast as Jews when
playing comic relief or Jewish
mother stereotypes (thanks
Philip Roth), and too often aren’t
seen as desirable or bankable
when it comes to playing Jewish
heroines, protagonists or histor-
ical figures. Yet on the flip side,
actresses like Tracee Ellis Ross,
Rashida Jones, Maya Rudolph,
Tiffany Haddish, Laura London,
Zoe Kravitz, Lisa Bonet, Sophie
Okenedo and Jurnee Smollett
are seen as attractive, strong
and lovable, but only as black
women, not as Jews.

Even fictional characters are
subjected to this bifurcation of
identity. Jewish-but-not-Black
actress Jenny Slate famously
stepped down from the role of
voicing the Black and Jewish
character of Missy Foreman-
Greenwald on “Big Mouth,” yet
her replacement, Ayo Edebiri,
is Black but not Jewish.

However, judging from the
replies to my Twitter thread,
instead of engaging holisti-
cally in the conversation about
which aspects of identity and
Jewish representation are
important, the mainstream
American Jewish community
would rather do anything but
acknowledge Ashkenormative
centering. In my original thread, I
apparently made the egregious
mistake of off-handedly
mentioning that a significant
contingent of Jewish “Star
Trek: The Next Generation”
fans (see this podcast and this
article) considers the possi-
bility that the Klingon officer
Worf is Jewish. Which do you
think generated more dialogue:
the general issue of “Jewface”
ignoring Jews of color, or
whether or not Worf’s parents
and “yellowface” frequently
raise their head — whether
in acclaimed and historic
pieces of Jewish representation
such as “The Jazz Singer,” or
in costumes seen every year
during the holiday of Purim.

The term and debate around
“Jewface” (as opposed to
simply referring to the practice
as “whitewashing”) comes off
as not only performative, but
also derails what is a larger and
more important conversation
about what it means to “look,”
represent and simply be Jewish.

None of us will be correctly
cast until all of us are correctly
cast. l
Manishtana is the pen name of
Shais Rishon, an African-American
Orthodox rabbi, activist, speaker
and writer. He has written for Tablet,
Kveller, The Forward, Jewcy and
Hevria. Too often, white Jewish women are cast as Jews when playing comic
relief or Jewish mother stereotypes (thanks Philip Roth), and too often
aren’t seen as desirable or bankable when it comes to playing Jewish
heroines, protagonists or historical figures.

were coded as Ashkenazi or
Russian? In other instances, debates
arose around whether the
actors I listed were “real” Jews
(despite me having made no
reference to halachic defini-
tions of Jewishness) or whether
the characters I listed were
“really” Jewish.

One commenter declared
that Dr. Christina Yang “barely
identified” as Jewish, despite
the character’s famous line of
“I’m Jewish. I know food and
death” and her frequent habit
of giving detailed explanations
of Jewish ritual and tradition
to her co-workers. (Meanwhile,
the white Jewish charac-
ters on “Friends,” Ross and
Monica Geller —with three
mentions of Chanukah and a
bat-mitzvah rap between them
— and Rachel Green — whose
Magen David necklace makes
one appearance — somehow
escape the branding of “barely
identifying” as Jewish. Also
curiously, Ross and Monica,
whose mother is not Jewish, are
considered “real” Jews by fans
who might otherwise question
the Jewish authenticity of
certain Jews of color. An inter-
esting double standard).

The additionally problem-
atic layer to this dialogue is how
in too many Jewish communi-
ties “blackface,” “brownface”
JEWISH EXPONENT
KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
How is Pork Different Than Bacon and Ham?
DAVID ZVI KALMAN’S DEFENSE of the Orthodox Union’s
refusal to certify Impossible Pork as kosher (“Judaism Often
Thrives on New Technologies. That Doesn’t Mean Impossible
Pork Should Be Kosher,” Oct. 14) would have been more
convincing for me if he had explained why they certify Empire
turkey bacon as kosher. Vegetarian ham slices also carry a kosher
certification. Why do kashrus-observant Jews need to be protected from
the word “pork” and not from “bacon” and “ham”? If we can
be trusted to shop appropriately for the latter two, why not the
former? I am not comfortable with the Orthodox Union as a language
gatekeeper and suspect there’s a political dimension to their
decision: fear of creating a new opening for derision of their
entire kashrus certification operation by the yeshiva and Chasidic
communities. Steve Goldman | Bala Cynwyd
Politics Cloud Rabbi’s Mind
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat has let her politics cloud her judgment
(“Rabbis Are Supposed to Offer Hope on the High Holidays.

What if I Can’t?”, Aug. 12).

Does she fear letting hundreds of thousands unvaccinated
illegals enter our country as much as she fears her fellow citizens
who do not want to wear a mask? l
Robert M. Rubin | Huntingdon Valley
STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER
We are a diverse community. The views expressed in the signed opinion columns and let-
ters to the editor published in the Jewish Exponent are those of the authors. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Publishing
Group, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia or the Jewish Exponent. Send
letters to letters@jewishexponent.com or fax to 215-569-3389. Letters should be a
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published. OCTOBER 21, 2021
13