(This takes three minutes to read.)
Another element raised by the informants is the general lack of knowledge about Jews and Judaism, even among religion teachers. All informants tell stories of teachers who are ignorant of central aspects of Judaism, such as rituals or concepts. As a result, the pupils need to step in to correct the teachers, provide a “key” for the classmates, or at times even take over the teaching — they stop being “pupils like the rest of the class” (John, 19 years old), and feel exotified and excluded.The informants also protest the lack of knowledge about what it means to live Jewish in Sweden today. The teachers’ ignorance results in the pupils having to take responsibility for filling the knowledge gap.
In class, it is well known that I am Jewish. When we have talked about Judaism in the class, everyone asks me about everything, including the teacher. I constantly added to what he said and developed it, and it ended up with him looking at me when he taught, as [if] to ask me if he was right. And all the classmates asked me and wanted me to help them. I didn’t really like it but I did it anyway so they would stop bothering me.It has always felt that way — when we learn about Judaism, I stop being a pupil who is there to learn, but instead become like a kind of answer. It felt so strange — they talked about it in terms of ‘them’, as something separate from us in the class, but I was one of ‘them’! Sara, 14 years old
(Emphasis added.)
I feel like clarifying that merely asking Jews about Judaism is generally not a problem. However, many people (especially children) would feel overwhelmed needing to answer so many questions in one day. If I had umpteen things to ask then I would prefer to let somebody know beforehand, and I would let them know that they can stop me if I am overwhelming them.
Of course, the real eye-catcher here is the educators’ embarrassing incompetence regarding a subject wherein they should have some expertise, almost outsourcing their jobs to a few pupils.
Even though the schools that my informants go or have gone to are non-denominational, in many schools only the Protestant holidays are celebrated, while some schools try to pay attention to other religious holidays that might be relevant to their pupils. The informants say that they usually go to church at school graduations.In a conversation with a small group of elementary school pupils, they told me that they think it is unfair to anyone who is not a Christian that the Christian holidays, traditions, and places of worship get attention while their own traditions and religious places remain unknown.
[…]
The young pupils describe that when they were younger, they even found it hard to understand that they were Jewish, since everything around them in school was based on Christian traditions. The pupils also experience that they may end up in a vulnerable position in the school canteen when they tell others that they do not eat pork. They were also not certain of being able to get time off from school to celebrate Jewish holidays (the Swedish calendar and school year are built around Protestant holidays).
[…]
Generally, the pupils do not recognise themselves in the image of the orthodox Jew, as their own experience of being Jewish is not very religious. Instead, they feel alienated by the images of Jews, who are also often portrayed as old-fashioned and with conservative gender rôles.
Ruth, 18 years old; Ella, 20 years old; and Julia, 19 years old, tell me that in connection with teaching about Judaism, they have been questioned based on the traditional gender rôles that are portrayed as linked to Orthodox Judaism but do not resemble the Judaism that they live by. The informants also tell me that they have not encountered different orientations of Judaism in their religion education. Ruth laughs when I ask if she thinks she can identify with the images of Jews that she encountered in school.
I am sad to say that this reminds me of the predominantly Ashkenazi schools that fail to accommodate their non-Ashkenazi students, particularly the Sephardim. To be fair, such schools are slowly making progress accommodating their minority students, but in any case I think that non-Ashkenazi Jews who grew up in predominantly Ashkenazi environments can easily understand how frustrating the situation is here.
grob (teeth era) 🇺🇦🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •levampyre
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •wnter
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •PrinterAngel🏳️🌈
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •Pfui bäh!🤢
𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓯 𝓓𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓽
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •Warum sollten wir deren Spiel mitspielen und so was als "diffamieren" annehmen. Nehmen wir ihnen doch die Worte wieder weg, indem wir sie selbstbewusst als Label tragen!
Ich bin z.B. stolz, ein Gutmensch zu sein. Weil Bösememschen gibt es eh genug auf der Welt.
Dann sind wir eben "Systemlinge" die "das System", also die freiheitlich demokratische Grundordnung unterstützen. Bin ich gerne und sie entlarven sich dann selbst als Antidemokraten.
#AfD #SPD #Zentrum #NSDAP
Enea Lecas
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •DerSchulze
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •U.Lancier
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •Wieder ein Beispiel für „Neusprech®“ (© 1984) der Faschisten.
Der korrekte bürgerliche Begriff ist „#Demokrat:in“
Osterhase
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •Mittelstand Wirtschaft und x andere partikular Interessenverbände sind da, aber die leute die unsere Demokratie verteidigen wollen finden sich nicht zusammen,kämpfen allein.
NoBorg
in reply to Ruprecht Polenz • • •