Ashkenormativity

Ashkenormativity refers to a form of Eurocentrism within Ashkenazi Jewish culture that confers privilege on Ashkenazi Jews relative to Jews of Sephardi, Mizrahi, and other non-Ashkenazi backgrounds, as well as to the assumption that Ashkenazi culture is the default Jewish culture. Ashkenormativity often overlaps with white privilege, as most Ashkenazi Jews are white and derive ancestry from around Europe. However, the terms are not synonymous as Ashkenazi Jews of color do not benefit from white privilege. Certain non-Ashkenazi Jewish groups, such as Sephardic Jews, are white and benefit from white privilege. For example, Sephardic Jews who are Southern European and from said countries (i.e., Spain and Portugal) are white and thus benefit from white privilege. Sephardic Jews who are North African and from such countries, however, are not white and do not benefit from white privilege, experiencing racism. The term is most common in the United States, where most Jews are Ashkenazi. Ashkenormativity allegedly also exists in Israel, where Ashkenazi Jews experience cultural prominence despite no longer constituting a majority.[1][2][3]

Demographics

In 2021, Ashkenazi Jews were the majority of American Jews, with Ashkenazi Jews making up 66% of the Jewish population, with another 6% having a mixed Ashkenazi/non-Ashkenazi background (such as Sephardi or Mizrahi). 63% of all American Jews identified as non-Hispanic white Ashkenazi Jews. 1% of American Ashkenazi Jews were non-Hispanic Black, 1% were Hispanic, and 2% were mixed or of some other race (such as Asian). According to Ilana Kaufman, executive director of the Jews of Color Initiative, the "dominance of Ashkenazi heritage (associated with Central and Eastern Europe) in American Judaism can make Jews who don't share that background feel out of place in synagogues and other Jewish settings."[4]

Ashkenazi Jews of color

According to "Understanding Antisemitism", a document produced by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Ashkenazi Jews of color "benefit from the normalization of Ashkenazi culture within the Jewish community." However, racism prevents Ashkenazi Jews of color from "access to the institutional power that tends to come with cultural dominance."[5] Jewish Voice for Peace believes that many Jewish-American organizations "focus on white Ashkenazi history when discussing antisemitism" and thus erase the "existence of Ashkenazi Jews of Color" and their experiences of antisemitism.[6]

Definition

The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia defines Ashkenormativity as the assumption that "Jewish life and culture is limited primarily to the experiences and customs of Ashkenazi Jews". The encyclopedia asserts that most American Jews, both Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi, have internalized Ashkenormative views due to the historical prominence of Ashkenazim within American Jewish life.[7]

The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance defines Ashkenormativity as "an Ashkenazi, or European Jewish, centricity in relation to dominant formulations of Jewish culture".[8]

Early examples of the term in print include a 2014 article in the Jewish Daily Forward by Jonathan Katz entitled Learning to Undo 'Ashkenormativity' [9] and a 2016 article by sociologist Analucía Lopezrevoredo and law professor and political scientist David Schraub entitled An Intersectional Failure: How Both Israel’s Backers and Critics Write Mizrahi Jews Out of the Story.[10]

Examples of Ashkenormativity

Norman Stillman, an academic in Oriental studies, wrote about the "Ashkenazification" of Sephardi religious life in Israel.[11] Daniel J. Elazar said that Ashkenazified Sephardi yeshivot in Israel emulate Eastern European Ashkenazi forms of Judaism at the expense of their own Sephardi heritage, with Sephardi rabbis experiencing pressure to adapt to Ashkenazi norms.[12]

Companies offering "ancestry reports" through genetic testing have been accused of Ashkenormativity, as many of these companies only provide reports on Ashkenazi Jews while excluding non-Ashkenazi Jews.[13]

The Jewish environmental advocacy organization Hazon, whose staff is predominantly Ashkenazi, described terms such as "Jewish looking" or "a Jewish dance" as "Yiddish-centric/Ashkenormative".[14]

Common stereotypes about Jews, such as having pale skin or wearing black hats, are often stereotypes about Ashkenazi Jews specifically rather than Jews as a whole. These stereotypes apply to white Ashkenazim rather than Black, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews.[15] Another example of Ashkenormativity is assuming that iconic aspects of Ashkenazi culture, such the Yiddish language, media such as Fiddler on the Roof or Indecent, or staples of Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine such as bagels and gefilte fish, are representative of all Jews.[16]

Many kibbutzim in Israel are or were historically majority Ashkenazi. Lihi Yona, writing for +972 Magazine, said that the Ashkenazi-dominated kibbutz movement "contributed to the vast socio-economic gaps that characterize Israel today" because "Ashkenazim enjoy near-unadulterated privilege and access to land and natural resources, which in turn yield significant economic opportunities. Meanwhile, Mizrahi “development towns” that sprang up around them house tens of thousands of people in small, cramped geographic areas that offer little opportunities for economic advancement."[17]

Criticism

Given the dominant status of the Hebrew language within Israeli-Jewish culture, and the de-emphasizing of Yiddish culture, Jordan Kutzik questioned the extent to which Ashkenormativity exists, particularly within Israel.[18]

See also

References
  1. "Ashkenormativity in the Jewish Community". Sefaria. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  2. "Frequently Asked Questions". Ammud.org. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  3. "Beyond the Critical Framework of Ashkenormativity: Reimagining Jewish Solidarity and Klal Yisrael". Zaman Collective. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  4. "9. Race, ethnicity, heritage and immigration among U.S. Jews". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  5. "Understanding Antisemitism: An Offering to our Movement" (PDF). Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  6. "Fighting Antisemitism 2016". Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  7. Butnick, Stephanie; Lebovitz, Liel; Oppenheimer, Mark (2019). The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar's and Everything in Between. Artisan Books. p. 20. ISBN 9781579658939.
  8. Jackson, Naomi M.; Pappas, Rebecca; Shapiro-Phim, Toni (2021). The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 700. ISBN 9780197519523.
  9. Jonathan Katz (November 5, 2014). "Learning to Undo 'Ashkenormativity'". Jewish Daily Forward.
  10. "An Intersectional Failure: How Both Israel's Backers and Critics Write Mizrahi Jews Out of the Story". Tablet. 2016-01-25.
  11. Stillman, Norman A. (1995). Sephardi Religious Responses to Modernity (The Sherman Lecture Series , Vol 1). Milton Park: Harwood Academic Publishers. pp. 76, 84. ISBN 9783718656998.
  12. "Can Sephardic Judaism be Reconstructed?". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  13. "Jewish Racialization, the "Jewish Gene," and the Perpetuation of Ashkenormativity in Dir enormativity in Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Ancestr o-Consumer Genetic Ancestry Testing in the United States". Georgia State University. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  14. "Equity and Justice Statement". Hazon. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  15. "Mizrahi Students Talk: Are Campus Communities Ashkenormative?". New Voices. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  16. "Black and Jewish Speakers Discuss Race with B'nai Israel". Baltimore Jewish Times. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  17. "The story of Israel's Ashkenazi supremacy in one river". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  18. Kutzik, Jordan (January 8, 2019). "Opinion: Ashkenormativity? What about Israel-Centrism?". The Forward. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
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