Haggis to Bagels
I think I described my Dad's side of the family pretty well when I said it's like "The Sopranos", except there's no talk about "whacking" anybody! My Mom's side of the family is another story. For many years I thought Mom's family (the Kents who were Scottish and the Wiles who were German) were 100% WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant), but a few years ago I discovered that my Grandfather (Harold Kent) was actually adopted by his stepfather in South Africa when he was four years old. My Grandfather's real name was Harry Cohen, which means he was probably Jewish (a South African Jew to be precise - they do exist!) and that actually makes a lot of sense if you know my Mom's family and their sense of humor. It's a little warped (in a good way) to say the least!
Most of my family reacted to this news in one of four ways:
1) Interest - Most of the family were surprised to say the least, but they were definitely interested in finding out more about our heritage.
2) Mock Anger - This is how my Aunt Joan reacted to the news that she was half Jewish. Not because she's anti-semitic, but because she lives near Ft. Lauderdale and the last thing she wants to be is an old Jewish lady living in Florida. It's such a stereotype (well at least on the East Coast it's a stereotype) and if there's one thing Aunt Joan is not, it's a stereotype. This is a woman, whose husband died from bone cancer back in the 50's when their daughter was still a toddler. Over the years she worked her way up to upper management at a large automobile company, while raising her daughter by herself. I realize now how lucky I was to have people like Aunt Joan in my life. I was surrounded by positive role models like her growing up and the success I've achieved in my life certainly has a lot to do with that.
3) Anger - My Mom had been researching the Kent family tree for over 30 years when she heard the news. Needless to say she was pretty ticked off (Mom would never say she was pissed!) at the news that she wasn't a Kent. 30 years of research down the drain. Of course since then she's calmed down and now she wants me to find out more about the Cohens, so she can add them to her research.
4) Denial - Since finding out that we're 1/4 Jewish, my brother Jimmy has been trying to convince me that Cohen is:
a) An Irish name. (It could be, if you're an Irish Jew!)
...or
b) Misspelled on the documents that I found. He swears it's really Cohan, which is an Irish name.
Personally I think he's just looking for an excuse to celebrate future St. Patrick's Days a little more. Not that Jimmy needs an excuse to drink beer!
As for me I thought it was great, especially since it didn't change my wife's perception of me. When my wife and I first started going out she introduced me to her Scottish family as a "cheap flirt", based on the fact that I was Scottish (hence the cheap) and Italian (yep the flirt). Now that I'm actually Jewish and Italian, the description really still fits me quite nicely! Of course I'm also 1/4 German but we tend not to say too much about that around the older members of my wife's Scottish family. They still haven't quite forgiven Germany for WW II!
I guess if there's a lesson to be learned here it's that it's futile to hate someone because of their heritage (not that I ever have), because you just might find out that you share that heritage. My kids are 1/4 Italian, 1/4 Scottish, 1/8 German, 1/8 English-South African Jew, 1/8 French and 1/8 Okie (okay really English, but I like to give my Father-in-Law a hard time about being an Okie!).
So within my children's DNA are nationalities that have fought countless wars against each other (e.g. France vs England, Germany vs France, Germany/Italy vs France/England, Germany vs the world!), but now make up these two incredible kids. More than anything else that knowledge gives me hope for the future of the world.
FYI: I'm sure somebody would have pointed this out, so I figured I'd do it myself. While my Grandfather was most likely Jewish, his children (including my Mom) technically were not since his wife was a Gentile. If your mother is Jewish then so are you, if she isn't then you are not, even if your father is Jewish.
Most of my family reacted to this news in one of four ways:
1) Interest - Most of the family were surprised to say the least, but they were definitely interested in finding out more about our heritage.
2) Mock Anger - This is how my Aunt Joan reacted to the news that she was half Jewish. Not because she's anti-semitic, but because she lives near Ft. Lauderdale and the last thing she wants to be is an old Jewish lady living in Florida. It's such a stereotype (well at least on the East Coast it's a stereotype) and if there's one thing Aunt Joan is not, it's a stereotype. This is a woman, whose husband died from bone cancer back in the 50's when their daughter was still a toddler. Over the years she worked her way up to upper management at a large automobile company, while raising her daughter by herself. I realize now how lucky I was to have people like Aunt Joan in my life. I was surrounded by positive role models like her growing up and the success I've achieved in my life certainly has a lot to do with that.
3) Anger - My Mom had been researching the Kent family tree for over 30 years when she heard the news. Needless to say she was pretty ticked off (Mom would never say she was pissed!) at the news that she wasn't a Kent. 30 years of research down the drain. Of course since then she's calmed down and now she wants me to find out more about the Cohens, so she can add them to her research.
4) Denial - Since finding out that we're 1/4 Jewish, my brother Jimmy has been trying to convince me that Cohen is:
a) An Irish name. (It could be, if you're an Irish Jew!)
...or
b) Misspelled on the documents that I found. He swears it's really Cohan, which is an Irish name.
Personally I think he's just looking for an excuse to celebrate future St. Patrick's Days a little more. Not that Jimmy needs an excuse to drink beer!
As for me I thought it was great, especially since it didn't change my wife's perception of me. When my wife and I first started going out she introduced me to her Scottish family as a "cheap flirt", based on the fact that I was Scottish (hence the cheap) and Italian (yep the flirt). Now that I'm actually Jewish and Italian, the description really still fits me quite nicely! Of course I'm also 1/4 German but we tend not to say too much about that around the older members of my wife's Scottish family. They still haven't quite forgiven Germany for WW II!
I guess if there's a lesson to be learned here it's that it's futile to hate someone because of their heritage (not that I ever have), because you just might find out that you share that heritage. My kids are 1/4 Italian, 1/4 Scottish, 1/8 German, 1/8 English-South African Jew, 1/8 French and 1/8 Okie (okay really English, but I like to give my Father-in-Law a hard time about being an Okie!).
So within my children's DNA are nationalities that have fought countless wars against each other (e.g. France vs England, Germany vs France, Germany/Italy vs France/England, Germany vs the world!), but now make up these two incredible kids. More than anything else that knowledge gives me hope for the future of the world.
FYI: I'm sure somebody would have pointed this out, so I figured I'd do it myself. While my Grandfather was most likely Jewish, his children (including my Mom) technically were not since his wife was a Gentile. If your mother is Jewish then so are you, if she isn't then you are not, even if your father is Jewish.
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