I was standing in a school cafeteria in Middlebury, Vermont, surrounded by Jews of every flavor, as well as many Israelis with a very “Sephardic” look. And then, someone said something to one of the teachers, a 50-or-60-something-year-old woman who has spent most of her life in Israel.
Repeatedly, I heard her say,”You? A convert? No!”
The teacher then proceeded to pull someone else over and ask, “Who looks more Jewish? Me or her?” All the while, she was pointing at me.
She repeated the words “She looks so much more Jewish than me” about thirty times in Hebrew.
I was mortified. (Yeah, no kidding.)
There is no one Jewish look. There isn’t one way to “look” Jewish. The beauty of Judaism is the patchwork fabric of its people.
For more words of wisdom, check out Chaviva‘s blog or follow her on Twitter.
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 
I am not very Jewish looking, I am white. The fact that I look like the Europeans that my Ashkenazi ancestors lived amongst shows that either someone converted or that someone slept with someone they should not have.
LikeLike
That's beat. We come in every color, shape and flavor. I'm cherry ices with lots of freckles. Total mutt. I love it.
LikeLike
I hear that – blazing red hair with green eyes and freckles here. You'd think I was that creepy nerdy guy from Family Guy who's in love with Meg.
LikeLike
Amen, folks!
Thanks for this, Aliza 🙂
LikeLike