As part of the Birthright Israel Next Monologues, Ruby Marez riffs about her upbringing in a Puerto Rican and Ashkenazi Jewish family in St. Louis.
Thanks for Interfaithfamily.com for this clip.
P.S. I think Jewrican isn’t as cool as “Jewyorican” (Jew plus New York plus Puerto Rican) or “Jewricua” (Jew plus Boricua). I got these cool new terms from Twitter friends, @Jewyorican and @Yonitdm.
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 
She’s very cute and very funny,but what about halacha. We have boundaries. She may have Jewish blood, but Jewish she aint, though she could sign up if she really wanted to.
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And if she was for real, we’d love to have her. We could use more cute funny people on our team.
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To concede to your point, I will change the subject line of the post. Of course, I know the halakha. I think it was still important for people to see this cute girl’s monologue because there were a lot of rich issues she touched upon in it.
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Is it not enough that this talented, witty and intelligent chica who reconnected with her Jewish roots recently became a Bat Mitzvah? Mazel for your passion regarding the Jewish faith and for getting accepted to perform for the top Jewish organization!
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Unfortunately, Ali, I know that Anonymous’s response will be “No,” it’s not enough. But as I said, this woman has an important story that needs to be heard.
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I agree that her message is important. She is speaking for a reason. To me, she embodies all that is right in respect to religion and faith. An openness and acceptance for all people in addition to her own personal passion. When did the anonomous “team” become so mighty enough to decide who is and isnt Jewish, or the levels of what is appropriate?? As a Jew (or so I call myself), this position saddens me deeply.
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I am unsure as to why an individual would refer to the Jewish law to in order to state that someone is not in fact Jewish. Hey “Anonymous”, who died and left you an Orthodox Rabbi?
As a people, we as Jews must embrace other Jewish people, as well as people from any other religion. That is what Jewish law teaches us. To be kind and do mitzvot. Not to exclude a girl from our faith merely because her blood is not one hundred percent Jewish. Furthermore, who are you to say what someone can or cannot believe based on whether they have enough Jewish blood in them? If she chooses to practice Judaism, then who are you, or anyone for that matter, to tell her that her beliefs and her blood are not valid? That to me is a real disgrace, and quite contrary to the true Jewish law.
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Guys, we’re getting into that age old fight: Who is a Jew?
I think Anonymous meant to point out that according to halakha (Jewish law), this wonderful woman is not Jewish. And that I as an Orthodox blogger should have made note of that to my readers.
I think, I hope, that was all that Anonymous meant to point out. It is a point that Marez herself makes in the video when she says “Some people don’t consider me Jewish because my mother isn’t.”
I think she is pretty damn gutsy to open that can of worms herself and I for one am glad that all of you are posting on this issue because it is an important one. It is an issue that is divisive but I hope that it is not an issue that closes off dialogue completely between Jews from all streams. As I said before, we all have something really important in common here and that is an unabashed, pure, astounding love of Judaism.
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BTW, it would be so much easier if people use initials of some sort instead of Anonymous. It’s hard to keep track of who is who. Thanks for reading.
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Question: Is it important whether or not she is Jewish? Is her story less valid? Less poignant?
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