Colors of Jews

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz is Adjunct Professor in Comparative Literature and Women's Studies at Queens College of CUNY and has taught in the Bard Women's Prison Initiative. She is a feminist scholar and poet whose many books include The Issue Is Power: Essays on Women, Jews, Violence and Resistance; My Jewish Face & Other Stories; and The Tribe of Dina: A Jewish Women's Anthology (with Irena Klepfisz). She lives in Elmhurst, New York.

• ContentsPrefaceA Note on LanguageAcknowledgments1. Are Jews White?What's WhiteThe People of ContradictionsApartheid/American StyleJews: Race or Religion?Christian Centricity2. Black/Jewish Imaginary and RealReal 1: The Black/Jewish TangleReal 2: Am I Possible?Imaginary 1: ExodusImaginary 2: Media CoverageImaginary 3: Media HypeReal 3: SolidarityReal 4: Nationalism and Feminism3. Who Is This Stranger?The Cultures of JewsMizrahimSephardimPost-Colonial JewsFeminist RitualAshkenazimDe-AshkenizationU.S. Jews4. Praying with Our LegsFighting Slumlords, Building Coalitions: Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (Chicago)Confronting Power in the Jewish Community: Jews United for Justice (St. Louis)Trying to Change Congregational Life: Jewish Community Action (Minneapolis)Bringing Our Bodies to the Picket Line: Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (New York)The Place to Go for a Progressive Jewish Voice5. Judaism Is the Color of This RoomThe Temple of My Familiar: Ayecha (National)Crossing Many Borders: Ivri-NASAWI/Levantine Center (International)A Mixed Multitude: Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation (Chicago)Respect and Knowledge: Beta Israel of North America (International)Hospitality Is the First Principle: Congregation Naharat Shalom (Albuquerque)Jews Were All People of Color: Center for Afro-Jewish Studies (Philadelphia)I Promised Them It Wasn't Going to Happen Again: Central Reform Synagogue (St. Louis)Jews of Color Speak OutTransformation in Partnership6. Toward a New DiasporismIf I Forget Thee O JerusalemIf I Forget Thee O Doikayt, O Haviva OttomaniaHomeDiasporism and the HolocaustIsrael and DiasporismAnti-Semitism and DiasporismA Jewish Tradition: Radical Justice-SeekingTo Change the Way Racism Is Fought: Shifting the CenterDiasporism and the Colors of JewsNotesBibliographyIndex

"In the aftermath of 9/11 and the volatile politics of the Middle East, this carefully researched and compelling study is timely and sure to provoke debate in various circles. It is an important contribution to our understanding of the Jewish diaspora and contemporary race relations writ large."—Beverly Guy Sheftal, co-author (with Johnnetta Betsch Cole) of Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African"Kaye/Kantrowitz is a courageous activist and thinker and her invigorating, illuminating book does what all great political writing should do—it refreshes your mind and spirit by effectively discombobulating habitual complacencies, and re-acquaints you with the world."—Tony Kushner, Pulitzer Prize-winning, author of Angels in America"Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz is among our most creative, provocative and courageous thinkers and writers..In The Colors of Jews, she once again upsets our applecart of easy assumptions and expectations, challenging us to go beyond the usual lines that limit and divide us."—Si Kahn, Executive Director, Grassroots Leadership"Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz has long been an astute interpreter of Jewish culture and politics. Her new study The Colors of Jews is fascinating and provocative, filled with original insights. It will both inspire and challenge its readers to think more deeply and act more forcefully."—Susannah Heschel, author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus"Every once in a while a book comes along and smacks you in the face with its wisdom, intelligence, and compassionate politics. The Colors of Jews is such a book. Its documentation of radical, anti-racist Jewish history, its unwavering commitment to the practice of solidarity across deeply divisive borders, and its elegant interweaving of personal, communal, activist and scholarly voices in mapping a complex and visionary landscape of struggle make this an invaluable book for our time."—Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Professor of Women's Studies Syracuse University, author of Feminism Without Borders, Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity"The activist intellectual Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz has written a mind—stretching, moving and pragmatic book..This is a book of hope, based on experience. It deserves wide circulation and serious discussion."—Adrienne Rich is the prize winning author of many books of poetry and essays