Can I be Jewish for Halloween?

[rosends]

People can choose their religion.

Tell that to Michael Jackson. and Eddie Murphy.


I didn't choose my religion; I was born it and it is who I am.

 

[Midnight Rain]

My point is that there is nothing which is "dressing Jewish" or else most Jews have been doing it wrong. What there is, is a stereotype of a particular geographically based subset of a certain group of Jews. Dressing up in their clothes is not being Jewish any more than putting on a Kebaya is "being a Muslim." And what is a "Rabbi uniform"? I have been a rabbi for a bunch of years and have yet to receive a uniform.

so what you are telling me is that you are upset because someone dressed as a specific type of Jewish sect and didn't specify that specific Jewish sect? Really?

 

[rosends]

No,

so what you are telling me is that you are upset because someone dressed as a specific type of Jewish sect and didn't specify that specific Jewish sect? Really?

I am annoyed that people think that dressing up like a specific group is somehow "being a Jew" in dress thus ignoring that what they are adopting isn't integral to what Jewishness is. Would you wear a cowboy hat and spurs and say "I'm dressing up like a North American" and expect someone from Nova Scotia to say, "Yeah...that makes sense."

 

[Thana]

and when it comes to costumes, what is the difference between race and belief? Can I dress up as a nationality? I don't see a difference between making yourself look like someone based on "race" and "anything else."

Umm.. like everything?
People dress up as Priests, as Muslims, as Monks, as Witches/Wiccans, As Satanists, as the opposite sex as any number of things but apparently dressing up in Jewish apparel is crossing the line?

Yeah... no.

 

[rosends]

Umm.. like everything?
People dress up as Priests, as Muslims, as Monks, as Witches/Wiccans, As Satanists, as the opposite sex as any number of things but apparently dressing up in Jewish apparel is crossing the line?

Yeah... no.

I don't recall saying that dressing like the others ISN'T crossing the line. Please, don't impute a double standard on to me when none exists.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

so what you are telling me is that you are upset because someone dressed as a specific type of Jewish sect and didn't specify that specific Jewish sect? Really?

This is either pathetically stupid or childishly disingenuous.

 

[Midnight Rain]

No,

I am annoyed that people think that dressing up like a specific group is somehow "being a Jew" in dress thus ignoring that what they are adopting isn't integral to what Jewishness is. Would you wear a cowboy hat and spurs and say "I'm dressing up like a North American" and expect someone from Nova Scotia to say, "Yeah...that makes sense."

I would say you are dressing as a cowboy. However most cowboys don't dress in the stereotypical dress but is understood as the reference. Thus dressing as the stereotypical orthodox Jew would also provide the reference. Thus the point of the whole thing. I don't think anyone here actually equates that stereotypical dress to the religion itself. I would like to think that it is very well understood that Jews mostly wear the normal clothing for whatever area they are in.

No one is saying that this represents all of the Jewish faith.

 

[Aquitaine]

Tell that to Michael Jackson. and Eddie Murphy.

Michael Jackson suffered from Vitiligo, Eddie Murphy was portraying a white character.

I didn't choose my religion; I was born it and it is who I am.

We're all born non-religious. Sorry buddy, but unless you're born in to and currently live with a religious cult which harms/murders apostates, religion is a choice.

 

[Thana]

I don't recall saying that dressing like the others ISN'T crossing the line. Please, don't impute a double standard on to me when none exists.

Honestly, It would have been better if you admitted a double standard.

 

[rosends]

I would say you are dressing as a cowboy. However most cowboys don't dress in the stereotypical dress but is understood as the reference. Thus dressing as the stereotypical orthodox Jew would also provide the reference. Thus the point of the whole thing. I don't think anyone here actually equates that stereotypical dress to the religion itself. I would like to think that it is very well understood that Jews mostly wear the normal clothing for whatever area they are in.

No one is saying that this represents all of the Jewish faith.

The "stereotypical Orthodox Jew"? I have on jeans and a t-shirt right now. Why is that particular Chasid (there are many different types) more representative than I am? I live in a fairly Orthodox city. No one dresses like the guy in that picture. In fact, if you do the math, you will find that most Othodox Jews don't dress like that. So if the OP asked "is it offensive to dress like a Breslover or a Munkatcher" then you have a different question which deserves a different answer.

 

[rosends]

Honestly, It would have been better if you admitted a double standard.

Better for whom? It would make me a liar; I can't see that as better.

 

[rosends]

We're all born non-religious. Sorry buddy, but unless you're born in to and currently live with a religious cult which harms/murders apostates, religion is a choice.

I didn't say I was born religious. I was born Jewish. There was no choice about it. And FTR, were you offended when Eddie Murphy performed in white face?

 

[Midnight Rain]

The "stereotypical Orthodox Jew"? I have on jeans and a t-shirt right now. Why is that particular Chasid (there are many different types) more representative than I am? I live in a fairly Orthodox city. No one dresses like the guy in that picture. In fact, if you do the math, you will find that most Othodox Jews don't dress like that. So if the OP asked "is it offensive to dress like a Breslover or a Munkatcher" then you have a different question which deserves a different answer.

I don't ever recall stating that all orthodox jews do anything. I don't recall saying all Jews of any kind do anything. But if I were to show up in jeans and a t-shirt would you guess I was dressing as "Jew"? Or would you assume I wasn't in costume? If someone showed up in a costume dressed like that what would you assume? You asked a question I don't believe was serious and I answered it with a joke picture.

Did you seriously not know what someone was talking about when they asked permission to dress up as a Jew for Halloween? Did you really have no idea what so ever? Was it out of confusion and innocent ignorance? Or was it baiting?

 

[Midnight Rain]

I don't recall saying that dressing like the others ISN'T crossing the line. Please, don't impute a double standard on to me when none exists.

You clearly represented people dressing up in witches costumes as less representative of being offensive to Wiccans than the original subject matter.

 

[rosends]

I don't ever recall stating that all orthodox jews do anything. I don't recall saying all Jews of any kind do anything. But if I were to show up in jeans and a t-shirt would you guess I was dressing as "Jew"? Or would you assume I wasn't in costume? If someone showed up in a costume dressed like that what would you assume? You asked a question I don't believe was serious and I answered it with a joke picture.

Did you seriously not know what someone was talking about when they asked permission to dress up as a Jew for Halloween? Did you really have no idea what so ever? Was it out of confusion and innocent ignorance? Or was it baiting?

I know exactly what was being asked. And I answered it quote thoroughly early on. Did you not read all the responses and consider them?

I did, however, after that, take issue with the intimation that a particular mode of dress is, in some way, "being a Jew" an idea that even with all your equivocation, you still seem to fall back on. If someone dressed up as a Chasid I might come to one conclusion, but it wouldn't be that the person was trying to "be a Jew." Do you really, really think that wearing the garb of a particular village from 19th century Poland is "being a Jew"?

 

[rosends]

You clearly represented people dressing up in witches costumes as less representative of being offensive to Wiccans than the original subject matter.

Actually, in post 66 I surmised that it might, indeed, be offensive. I am not Wiccan so I can't be sure and I work hard not to speak for anyone else, but it makes the same sense to me that it would be. I don't recall ever saying "dressing up in Jewish apparel is crossing the line" whereas anything else isn't crossing a line.

 

[Midnight Rain]

I know exactly what was being asked. And I answered it quote thoroughly early on. Did you not read all the responses and consider them?

I did, however, after that, take issue with the intimation that a particular mode of dress is, in some way, "being a Jew" an idea that even with all your equivocation, you still seem to fall back on. If someone dressed up as a Chasid I might come to one conclusion, but it wouldn't be that the person was trying to "be a Jew." Do you really, really think that wearing the garb of a particular village from 19th century Poland is "being a Jew"?

I believe it would be understood and recognized at a costume party. Which, again, is the point. If i saw someone wearing an obvious costume at a Halloween party I wouldn't assume that they were actually a Jew.

 

[Midnight Rain]

Actually, in post 66 I surmised that it might, indeed, be offensive. I am not Wiccan so I can't be sure and I work hard not to speak for anyone else, but it makes the same sense to me that it would be. I don't recall ever saying "dressing up in Jewish apparel is crossing the line" whereas anything else isn't crossing a line.

The context of your post was clear. If you wish to amend it or perhaps clarify it then so be it. Lets reitify then.
Is it wrong or offensive for someone to dress in a costume that was designed to look like a commonly held if not false stereotype?

 

[Curious George]

Really? So if I have my tzitzit inside so you can't see them, and I have on a baseball hat, I am not dressed like a Jew? There is no particular way to "dress like a Jew" because there is no singular "Jew" to look like.

I am not suggesting that there is a particular way to look like a Jew. I am suggesting that the costume at hand is only that which has been declared.

 

[rosends]

I believe it would be understood and recognized at a costume party. Which, again, is the point. If i saw someone wearing an obvious costume at a Halloween party I wouldn't assume that they were actually a Jew.

That's not the question -- the question to me is what it means to dress as a Jew and I a saddened that people thing that dressing like a Chasid from Lubov is what it means.