As Senator Bernie Sanders' campaign has grown in national prominence, his ethno-religious roots have become an ever more popular topic. In the Forward, Daniel Katz argues that the Sanders' appeal lies not in "socialism," but in "Yiddish socialism." When he won the New Hampshire primary, my Jewish Facebook friends--of many different political stripes--cheered a "historic" moment for the Jewish people, as did the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Reading against the grain, Stephen Prothero argues that Sanders is "the most Christian" candidate in the campaign, but his interpretation is grounded in the Jewishness of Jesus.
No one is going to have the final word on Bernie's Jewish-ness, Christian-ness, Not Jewish Enough-ness, atheism, or spiritual-but-not-religious identity-- not even Bernie himself. Bernie Sanders is the ultimate Jewish Rorschach test of our cultural moment. We see what we want to--or expect to?-- in the inkblots. They tell us more about what we mean by "Jewish" or "religious" than they do about the candidate.
Does Brooklyn make you Jewish? In a campaign season where #newyorkvalues may or may not be a euphemism for "Jewish liberal," this notion is not beyond the pale. Similarly, a vast number of articles that have compared the senator to the author's grandfather, uncle, or other cranky relative--often one present at a Passover seder. Here, Jewishness is about clan. It is a cadence with a location. It is fundamentally associated with home-based religious practice. Passover is one of the most widely observed Jewish festivals, and seders are a site of rich cultural memory. It doesn't matter what Bernie believes. If we can picture him hunched over the haggadah, he just might be Jewish. We have welcomed him to our collectively imagined table: Elijah in the dining room, with the good china.
A slew of other litmus tests have been applied to assess Bernie's Jewish bona fides. High holiday observance? He campaigned at Liberty University last Rosh Hashanah. Support for Israel? Present. Complex. Did he become a Bar Mitzvah? Yes. The Holocaust? His father lost relatives back in Europe.
Does belief in God make you Jewish? Sanders has made broad statements about "spirituality" bringing people together. Many writers bring up the "a" word: atheism, which is perhaps the greatest electoral stumbling block in the land. Belief in a deity, however, is not the sine qua non of defining religion. The very notion of our term "religion" is historically based on Christianity, a religion in which faith is central. Other traditions do not always fit into this box so neatly.
Does democratic socialism make you Jewish? Does democratic socialism make you Jesus? Historically, American Jewish history is deeply interwoven with many political causes, including socialism and workers' rights. For some commenters, this is a badge of Bernie pride: Jewish ethics are why Bernie cares for the poor. Or, as Jay Michaelson puts it: "secular, progressive Judaism is, itself, a kind of religion." For other Jews, the revival of this history, however tame, is cause for concern: a Jewish democratic socialist on the national stage could spark anti-Jewish backlash. The 1950s and McCarthyism still loom large in the American Jewish imagination.
Social equality is also the key to interpretations of Bernie as a "Christian" candidate. Prothero appeals to Sanders' "prophetic" sensibility and to the deep similarities between Jesus and Bernie's economic plans. In the wake of Pope-and-Trump gate, Pat Bagley's Friday political cartoon portrays Pope Francis turning away from the GOP field, declaring, "I'm going with the Jewish guy." It has come to this: Christianity ironically superseded by Jewish adherence to Jesus' sense of universal justice (itself a rather Christian reading). Or is this trope the same old thing: a "good" Jew being claimed as, in fact, Christian?
Much of the fuss around Bernie's Jewishness relies upon the rhetoric of closeting. Headlines like "Bernie Sanders Finally Opens Up About His Jewish Childhood" abound. Is Jewishness still a skeleton in the family closet? Or is it as plain as the nose on one's face? Speaking to the Atlantic, Professor Jonathan Sarna quipped, "He could hardly run away from it--everyone knows he looks like Larry David." Does comedy make you Jewish? Most recent major candidates have appeared on a late night comedy program at some point, but was Bernie Sanders' meta-appearance with Larry David perhaps, somehow, different? What would it mean if Jews moved from the writers' room to Oval Office?
One thing is clear: some Jews want Bernie to be more out, loud, and proud. In one piece, Vermont Rabbi James Glazier is quoted as saying, "I know he's Jewish and I know he has a good heart, but give us something, make us feel proud of you ... He owns his own spiritual journey. But we need a Jewish hug from him every once in a while." However he is characterized, a level of Jewish liberal longing will follow him.
My own vote remains genuinely undecided, but I, too found myself playing this game the other day. Let's call it the Jewish grandparent trap. My brain conjured memories of my maternal grandmother, who was a deep part of my childhood education in democracy. She came of age in the 1930s. She was of the generation who spoke Yiddish, supported unions, and trended left.
Grandma Ettie told me you could always fight City Hall, and that you MUST vote. She was a good Jewish atheist who lit Shabbat candles and kvelled when I became a Bat Mitzvah. She was in no way a contradiction. Grandma Ettie would vote for Bernie, I thought. Or at least be very proud.
I guess it turns out that I want a piece of Bernie, too.