Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 25, 2021

Some Jews elected conversion to survive in 14th- and 15th-century Spain. Others did so for economic and social mobility, as attempted by the families of Benjamin Disraeli and Felix Mendelssohn, and by Gustav Mahler himself, or were motivated by real belief, as with Jean-Marie (born Aaron) Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris from 1981 to 2005, who proudly described himself as a Jew. In any case these converts were, in the end, viewed as suspect by many of their adopted faith.

As Diane Cole writes in her review of James McAuleys The House of Fragile Things (Books, May 8), wealthy Jews often attempted to gain acceptance to society through assimilation but, despite their riches, all their efforts proved of little or no avail.

John Gross, a former editor of the Times Literary Supplement, concisely summed up the predicament: To be Jewish is to belong to a club from which no one is allowed to resign.

Ira Sohn

New York

More here:

Jews Who Leave the Faith Are Still Treated as Jewish - The Wall Street Journal

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