I’m a product of the Jewish Asian Super Babies Project! My mom’s from Hong Kong and my dad’s from...Westwood. My mom converted to Judaism prior to them marrying (they’re now divorced) so me and my siblings could be born Jewish.
However, I’m not very Jewish nor very Chinese. I only went to public school so no supplemental Chinese school or Hebrew school for me. I only speak English.
A far as superpowers are concerned, knowing where to get both the best Chinese food and the best deli food within the San Fernando Valley is not bad.
Team ChayaLeah on Christmas! 🤘🏼Jews celebrating on their own is horrifying.
I’ve been reading modern Yiddish literature and the theme of assimilation is strong. I’m in the middle of The Brothers Ashkenazi by IJ Singer, brother to Isaac Bashevis (author of Yentl!). Highly recommend it. It’s about Jewish factory workers in Łódź in the early 1900s. It’s interesting to see the struggle pre-WWII and is giving me a lot to think about.
Re: marrying non-Jews. My sister always dated Irish guys in high school and my dad would threaten to disown her. Spoiler: she married a Catholic and everything is fine.
My grandpa, who was probably the most religious out of us, married a Filipina (his second wife). She converted to Judaism and all was great. They had a son and he was bar mitzvah’d. I forget the number but I believe most secular American Jews are married to non-Jews. This makes me sad, personally, but we must think of the poor deprived goyim thirsting for us.
So I’m a product of an interfaith multi cultural marriage -- moms a Long Island Jew and my dad is French from a very working class alpine farming culture. And idk I feel lucky to have grown up with both perspectives and between both countries, which are very different but both valuable.
I also just got married to a non Jew (on January 6 lmao) -- he is Brazilian. And he really appreciates when I share Jewish culture with him. One of the first things he told me on our first date was that there are two religions he greatly admires and the first was Judaism bc we value learning and education and the second was Catholicism bc they’re good bureaucrats (this is mostly bc it’s his heritage and it’s just so tied to Brazilian identity but he wasn’t raised catholic at all)
we have both agreed to raise our kids with a bit of religious values, not so much bc we are not religious but just bc we think it’s good to have a bit to be well rounded + community-- obviously I have a preference for it to be Judaism even though our kids will only be 1/4 jewish ethnically (though I guess fully by jewish logic bc it’s matrilineal lol). So yeah idk I sometimes feel bad bc I feel like other Jews will judge me for not being Jewish enough but honestly my partner is worth it and so special and so so good to me. I’ve never met anyone else like him. I’ve tried finding someone Jewish in the past but either the connection wasn’t there or I felt like they weren’t into it bc they were trying only for family pressure or even they just weren’t even nice bc they just saw me as a baby machine that would carry on their Jewish legacy or whatever.
Idk I always found Jewish dating complicated and so at a certain point I had to kind of just acknowledge that personal values and actions are more important than forcing things with someone I just shared a similar heritage with, and who I ended up finding is as perfect as it gets tbh -- we’re a really good match. I also think he kind of really admires Jewish culture / values more than a lot of Jews I meet bc I think when you come from a culture it’s easy to take it for granted or get annoyed by it even... I just CANNOT with the Uber woke Jews of north america (honestly wtf is wrong with them??) and then it probably would not ever work at all with more orthodox leaning. I’ve also been living outside the US — in europe and now Canada for the last 8 or so years so there’s just less people and sometimes more awkward cultural differences layered on in other ways.
idk if this resonates with anyone, perhaps these are liberal/reform Jew problems and being half American Jew and half euro maybe is also another layer of complication. But I notice with other Jewish friends dating that it’s difficult to find someone of a compatible religiosity that also shares values, attraction, things in common, etc all the other things one looks more in a compatible mate 🤷🏻♀️
Also just watched the trailer for that Jonah hill film and can’t tell if it’s gonna be wholesome or cringe lol
And I agree with Chaya Leah that thong bathing suits are lame! The vintage high waisted 2 pieces are much more attractive in my opinion 👙💅
I’m so happy for you that you found someone to love and who loves you!! Don’t feel badly or guilty about any of it! Your kids are Jewish so give them as much Jewish culture as you can and they will figure out the rest. What works for me and my community is not what works for everyone. I know the horrors of dating and trying to find a Jewish partner, you did your best! Love, CL
My niece and nephew are Cashews! (Catholic + Jewish). That’ll be fun to incorporate the two spiritually. I feel like both groups appreciate fancy ritual accessories. Mazel tov!
Can I just say how excited I am to see Ruby Rose ignore the haters and post enthusiastically about her trip to Israel 🥰 https://www.instagram.com/p/CnfncE0Neal/
One of the many baking book purchases inspired by the Jewish bakery in St. Paul. The poppyseed and cream cheese kolaches were a big hit!
And Chaya Leah, the kosher cookbook you told me about arrived! It looks amazing, so direct and illustrated beautifully with lots of personal details. Love it!
I’m a product of the Jewish Asian Super Babies Project! My mom’s from Hong Kong and my dad’s from...Westwood. My mom converted to Judaism prior to them marrying (they’re now divorced) so me and my siblings could be born Jewish.
However, I’m not very Jewish nor very Chinese. I only went to public school so no supplemental Chinese school or Hebrew school for me. I only speak English.
A far as superpowers are concerned, knowing where to get both the best Chinese food and the best deli food within the San Fernando Valley is not bad.
A Chinese Jewish friend once told me it's called a "Shang-Chai" !
That’s hilarious!
Team ChayaLeah on Christmas! 🤘🏼Jews celebrating on their own is horrifying.
I’ve been reading modern Yiddish literature and the theme of assimilation is strong. I’m in the middle of The Brothers Ashkenazi by IJ Singer, brother to Isaac Bashevis (author of Yentl!). Highly recommend it. It’s about Jewish factory workers in Łódź in the early 1900s. It’s interesting to see the struggle pre-WWII and is giving me a lot to think about.
Re: marrying non-Jews. My sister always dated Irish guys in high school and my dad would threaten to disown her. Spoiler: she married a Catholic and everything is fine.
My grandpa, who was probably the most religious out of us, married a Filipina (his second wife). She converted to Judaism and all was great. They had a son and he was bar mitzvah’d. I forget the number but I believe most secular American Jews are married to non-Jews. This makes me sad, personally, but we must think of the poor deprived goyim thirsting for us.
Speaking of Jewish TV, I am very wary of this one coming out at the end of the month. Seems like there are going to be some cringey moments and I’m not ready for it https://www.kveller.com/a-new-jewish-netflix-rom-com-explores-interfaith-in-laws-and-racial-tensions/amp/
I think ChayaLeah’s New Year’s resolution should be to join the squad in moving the Jews out of Israel.
Yael was 100% doing ChatGPT wrong. February meetup! 🙌🏼 keeping my calendar open!
"She married a Catholic and everything is fine." LOL!
😇
So I’m a product of an interfaith multi cultural marriage -- moms a Long Island Jew and my dad is French from a very working class alpine farming culture. And idk I feel lucky to have grown up with both perspectives and between both countries, which are very different but both valuable.
I also just got married to a non Jew (on January 6 lmao) -- he is Brazilian. And he really appreciates when I share Jewish culture with him. One of the first things he told me on our first date was that there are two religions he greatly admires and the first was Judaism bc we value learning and education and the second was Catholicism bc they’re good bureaucrats (this is mostly bc it’s his heritage and it’s just so tied to Brazilian identity but he wasn’t raised catholic at all)
we have both agreed to raise our kids with a bit of religious values, not so much bc we are not religious but just bc we think it’s good to have a bit to be well rounded + community-- obviously I have a preference for it to be Judaism even though our kids will only be 1/4 jewish ethnically (though I guess fully by jewish logic bc it’s matrilineal lol). So yeah idk I sometimes feel bad bc I feel like other Jews will judge me for not being Jewish enough but honestly my partner is worth it and so special and so so good to me. I’ve never met anyone else like him. I’ve tried finding someone Jewish in the past but either the connection wasn’t there or I felt like they weren’t into it bc they were trying only for family pressure or even they just weren’t even nice bc they just saw me as a baby machine that would carry on their Jewish legacy or whatever.
Idk I always found Jewish dating complicated and so at a certain point I had to kind of just acknowledge that personal values and actions are more important than forcing things with someone I just shared a similar heritage with, and who I ended up finding is as perfect as it gets tbh -- we’re a really good match. I also think he kind of really admires Jewish culture / values more than a lot of Jews I meet bc I think when you come from a culture it’s easy to take it for granted or get annoyed by it even... I just CANNOT with the Uber woke Jews of north america (honestly wtf is wrong with them??) and then it probably would not ever work at all with more orthodox leaning. I’ve also been living outside the US — in europe and now Canada for the last 8 or so years so there’s just less people and sometimes more awkward cultural differences layered on in other ways.
idk if this resonates with anyone, perhaps these are liberal/reform Jew problems and being half American Jew and half euro maybe is also another layer of complication. But I notice with other Jewish friends dating that it’s difficult to find someone of a compatible religiosity that also shares values, attraction, things in common, etc all the other things one looks more in a compatible mate 🤷🏻♀️
Also just watched the trailer for that Jonah hill film and can’t tell if it’s gonna be wholesome or cringe lol
And I agree with Chaya Leah that thong bathing suits are lame! The vintage high waisted 2 pieces are much more attractive in my opinion 👙💅
I’m so happy for you that you found someone to love and who loves you!! Don’t feel badly or guilty about any of it! Your kids are Jewish so give them as much Jewish culture as you can and they will figure out the rest. What works for me and my community is not what works for everyone. I know the horrors of dating and trying to find a Jewish partner, you did your best! Love, CL
You’re so sweet thank you ❤️ love the podcast
My niece and nephew are Cashews! (Catholic + Jewish). That’ll be fun to incorporate the two spiritually. I feel like both groups appreciate fancy ritual accessories. Mazel tov!
😂 they are both dramatic it’s true
Oh congratulations Elisa!
Thank you 💕
Can I just say how excited I am to see Ruby Rose ignore the haters and post enthusiastically about her trip to Israel 🥰 https://www.instagram.com/p/CnfncE0Neal/
Keep those links coming!
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/696063/new-european-baking-by-laurel-kratochvila/
One of the many baking book purchases inspired by the Jewish bakery in St. Paul. The poppyseed and cream cheese kolaches were a big hit!
And Chaya Leah, the kosher cookbook you told me about arrived! It looks amazing, so direct and illustrated beautifully with lots of personal details. Love it!