'Jewish' or 'Jewy'? A guide for the perplexed

"I come from a long line of Jewy-looking Jews. My dad was twice-named Schnoz Magazine's 'Man of the Year.'" — comedian and talk show host Scott Rogowsky, HEEB magazine

"'My partner Rob Wilder and I both grew up Jewish and eating a lot of European Jewy style food,' [Chef Anthony] Rose explains to us." — "Shalom Life" (Toronto)

"Howard Jacobson promised to make his conversation with David Baddiel at the Cheltenham Literature Festival yesterday 'not too Jewy,' as they discussed Jacobson's latest, Booker-nominated book, J." — London Evening Standard

Funny, you don't look Jewy. Or maybe you do. Long black coat, black hat, beard? To some, "Jewy" means unmistakably Jewish or, even, "too Jewish."

Or maybe you have tight brown curls, wear a Star of David around your neck, and used to shop with your mom at Loehmann's. That's Jewy too, in the sense that you'd rather spend a Sunday afternoon watching Adam Sandler movies with your old Camp Ramah friends than go sailing. Or hunt.

"Jewy" may not be the new black (or even black hat), but it is a word to be reckoned with. The examples above appeared just last week alone. JTA, the venerable Jewish news service, reported on the "Top three Jewy moments at the Oscars." Jill Soloway, who created the series Transparent for Amazon, told Rolling Stone that an actress "just seemed too Jewy" to play a character conceived as tan and blonde.

So nu — what's with Jewy?

The first thing to note is that the word is not anti-Semitic — or not necessarily. The second thing to note is that it is mostly, if not exclusively, used by Jews to talk about other Jews or Jewish phenomena.

The Urban Dictionary defines Jewy as "referring to the outward manifestations of Jewish identity such as appearance, clothes, accent, or religious observance." That's a start.

The Jewish English Lexicon, the crowd-sourced, on-line glossary, digs a little deeper. Initially, it defined Jewy as "demonstrating stereotypical or conspicuous appearance or behaviors that identify one as a Jew." At some point I added, "Highly identified Jewishly, either outwardly in terms of actions and affiliations, or inwardly based on self-definition." And, amateur lexicographer that I am, I added this usage note:

      "There are two distinct senses of 'Jewy.' The first can sometimes be disparaging, since it refers to stereotypical behaviors or qualities. The second suggests someone or something that is the opposite of assimilated, and can be either positive or negative, depending on the user."

The distinction is subtle. You may use "Jewy" out of embarrassment, like the Jewish guy who sees the mitzva tank up ahead and crosses the street because it’s too “Jewy.” But it can also be neutral or admiring. Your college friend who usually had dinner at Hillel on Friday nights before heading out to the parties? Jewy. The tech magnate who endowed the Holocaust study program at his alma mater? Jewy.

I asked Uriel Heilman, a senior writer for JTA and its former managing editor, how and when he uses Jewy:

      "In many things, Jewish is an objective adjective. A person is either Jewish or not (for argument’s sake); a food can be Jewish or not. A play can be Jewish or not. Jewy speaks more to the amount of Jewishness in the subject. If you’re not sure if a food is Jewish, saying it’s Jewy might be a way to hedge it.

 

      "Marc Zuckerberg is Jewish, but he’s not Jewy. Woody Allen is Jewish and Jewy. (That is to say, Allen is more publicly involved with his Jewish identity than Zuckerberg, and presumably does more Jewish things.) Seth Meyers isn’t Jewish, but I think he’s a little Jewy — looks it, talks it.

“Don’t Mess with the Zohan” is a Jewy movie, though I’m not sure you’d say it’s a Jewish movie."

A profile of Soloway in the Forward is a primer on "Jewy," and not just because it sets a record for using the word and its cognates, starting with its title: "How Jill Soloway Created 'Transparent' — the Jewiest Show Ever."

Author Debra Nussbaum Cohen distinguishes between Transparent and other series with Jewish themes or characters, where "Jewishness amounts to little more than pairing Jewish touchstones like babkas and brisses with ambivalence about Jewish identity and ritual as the fulcrum for jokes."

By contrast, she writes, Transparent depicts a family "connecting with Jewishness in fits and starts, treating Judaism in an intimate and lovingly familiar way." The show even features a "fully-fleshed out" female rabbi.

"It is so Jewy," agrees Soloway. "We got away with that much Jewiness? I can't believe it."

Soloway's background reinforces the distinction between Jewish and Jewy. There are plenty of Jewish Jews in Hollywood; Soloway is Hollywood’s rare Jewy Jew, in that she is active in regular Jewish activities. She is a cofounder of East Side Jews, which calls itself "an irreverent, upstart, non-denominational collective." It offers informal Friday night meals, alternative High Holy Day services, and weekend retreats called "LA Exodus." Its members may not be deeply observant, but they are hardly "secular" in the sociological sense.

The Pew study found that 62 percent of Jews say being Jewish is "mainly a matter of ancestry and culture." Only 15 percent say it is "mainly a matter of religion." That would suggest a stark choice between secular and assimilated on one hand, and religious and observant on the other.

But "Jewy" suggests something in between. To be labeled "Jewy" means you don't just identify as a "cultural Jew," but that you affirm that identity in consistent and meaningful ways. A Jewy Jew may belong to a synagogue, but might get together once a month with a havura for potluck. A Jewy Jew may count himself as a good progressive, and remain attached to Israel, often strongly. A Jewy Jew plays in a rock and roll band, but not on Friday nights.

"Jewish" is static — it describes an accident of birth or upbringing. "Jewy" is dynamic — it assumes affirmative Jewish choices, or an unmistakable quality that impels others to recognize your Jewishness.

With apologies to Lenny Bruce, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Daniel Radcliffe are Jewish; Natalie Portman and Mayim Bialik are Jewy.

Elizabeth Taylor: Jewish.
Sammy Davis Jr.: Jewy.

Upper West Side: Jewish.
Riverdale, NY: Jewy.

Tel Aviv: Jewish.
Jerusalem: Jewy.

Benjamin Netanyahu: Jewish.
Menachem Begin: Jewy.

Stephen Breyer: Jewish.
Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Jewy.

John Oliver: Not Jewish, but Jewy.
Jon Stewart: Jewish, but not Jewy.

Go and discuss.

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Andrew Silow-Carroll is the editor in chief and CEO of the New Jersey Jewish News, an award-winning weekly newspaper published in four editions and on the web