About TEJ’s Founder

I am an island Jew, thus a minority Jew by raising. I grew up in the non-white communities of Hawaii (the Filipino, Samoan, Hawaiian communities). My first language is Hawaiian Creole English, followed by English and Hebrew. Despite my Scandinavian-Hungarian appearance, it is within this brown-skinned worldview that my understanding of life was formed.

Jewishly, I am of the Sephardi camp with a Mizrahi perspective on Judaism. The local esnoga that influenced me and taught me how to *be* a Jew was a synagogue that imbued חופשי chofshi “free, unrestricted” Judaism. Theistic without halacha policing, and heavily vested in fusing all expressions of Judaism, with a focus on unpressured Jewish education and faithfulness to Hebrew-only liturgy.

As a career, I joined the U.S. military, Air Force and Army, and medically retired from service as an Army Staff Sergeant. Since then, I’ve been struggling to repair and rediscover myself (a work still in progress!). I live in rural Texas, near the Seventh Day Adventist “Holy City.” So, no directly Jewish communities near me, nor many Jews without considerable driving. My hobbies are reading, writing posts, thinking (sometimes too much thinking), occassional yardwork, and walking the dogs. I remain a stable force of personality for my wife and three children. I am married to an African-American BADventist (a secular black woman, Christian-raised), who is Jewish now through marriage to me (as is ANE to modern Jewish tradition).

More about me, the Founder of TEJ, if your interested:

My name is יוסף בן דוד וקרן ابن يهودا (אבן יהודה) Yosef ben David v’Keren child of Judea, aka יוסף צפניהו פרקשדי Joseph Tsefanyahu Farkasdi, and known online by my avatar, Tsefan Josef. I am married to מלכה בת בת־שבע Malka bat Batsheva, and our daughter is עליה בת מלכה Aaliyah bat Malka.

I am a Levantine Jew by the blood of every father before me. I share the same Y-haplogroup G as a significant third portion of my Portuguese Sephardi brethren share to this day. But, having the same forefathers before me – indigenous forefathers, whose Y-chromosone developed directly in the Levant – as fellow Sephardi Jews, does this make me halachically Jewish, meaning Jewish by Talmudic halacha standards (codified Oral law, not Torah law)?

The answer is, “No!” Having Jewish ancestry in itself only makes me Jewish by ancestry. And, Talmudic Jewish law requires that one’s mother must be Jewish, as well. An understandable law, because the fear is that halacha will not be observed in a family where the mother is not Jewish (the temptation to break halacha is just too great!). So, there is more to being Jewish than just who your parents/ancestors are. There is the inculcating of Jewish ethno-religious identity and Jewish law to consider, along with who your parents are/were by blood.

So, what makes one a Jew by halachic Jewish standing, then? Rather than just a Jew by ancestry alone? Perhaps my family’s life story will shed some light on this for you. For we are the very definition of an American Jewish tragedy!

My great-grandparents immigrated to the United States prior to the rise of Nazism in Europe. They travelled under fictious given names (Christian names not given to them, but which they kept post-immigration in the USA). After immigrating, they changed their surname to a place name soon after settling – as was customary for Hungarian Jews immigrating to the USA at this historical time. Farkas was the surname of our family, which means “wolf,” turned into Farkasdi in the USA, which means “place/clan of the wolf.”

To great lament for my generation, my Great-grandparents took all knowledge of their origins in Europe to the graves with them. A mystery, I know, and more on this in a moment! Leaving only what ritual items they brought with them – which the next two generations kept as heirlooms, and now, sadly, these items are gone, too (probably, sold or trashed by an ailing Aunt before her death). My Grandparents, our family’s first generation Americans, witnessed the Holocaust inflicted upon their Hungarian relatives and embraced their parent’s mindset of hiding knowledge.

Thus began our family legend of being Hungarian “royals,” as my Grandparents publicly embraced Hungarian Catholicism (a behavior typical of Crypto-Jews, and a legend that unsettles my blood!). At this time was the Era of Prohibition in the USA, and one of my Grandfathers died from his involvement in the illegal Gangster moonshine trade. My father, himself, grew up knowing the horrors and damage of this poor immigrant’s America firsthand – and, further adding to his pain, knew nothing of his Grandparent’s world.

Thus, for descendants of my age (mid-fifties now), this history and our Great-grandparent’s travelling under fictious given names, effectively cut off ties to any retrievable records about them in Europe … (well, almost). From what I have been able to gather from years of long research into documents available to me through public records, is the following:

Our family immigrated from a specifically Jewish area of Hungary. Our Great-grandfather, from the best document evidence I’ve found, was born David Farkas and lost his father, Lajos, at a very young and formative age in life. His mother was Hani Schneider. David immigrated to the USA as Niklos Farkas. He was married to Juliana Gancz, her maiden name being literally Yiddish in origin, גאנץ‎. As well, when I was a youth, I learned a history story being passed down through the mothers, that the Kish family and the Farkas(di) family came to the United States on the same ship together. Kish is a Hungarian Jewish name derived from Kis that means “small.” David’s son, Louis, married Edith Kish – and, it is here, with her son, that this history gets lost for demonstrably understandable reasons – considering Dad’s dirt poor and violent upbringing.

Now, the Ashkenazim have a saying: דאָס פּינטעלע ייִד / dos pintele yid. I am the Jewish spark (or soul) of my אנוסים / anusim family. The one who has always known himself, who has always known *intuitively* things he could not have learned from others (due to upbringing). So, without being able to properly explain this to others (for lack of conscious education into historical matters), I represent the modern awareness of (limited, but hintful) genetic memory.

As I was fond of saying in my younger days, “the blood speaks” – even though I was raised בתינוק שנשבה לבין הנכרים / as captive among Christian gentiles. I was born an angry and troubled child, just ask my Mom! As soon as I was able to in life, to get away from these idol worshippers, I embraced and inculcated myself in all aspects of Judaism. Thankfully, yes Mother, I fully remember!

I have my mother to thank for this! For, she was the one who taught me my first Hebrew words in life, and she was the one who personally drove me as a young man to my first synagogue experience. She inspired me to embrace Jewish Torah and to identify with Jews! Thus, all my life – regardless what crazy state of mind or lifestyle I’m struggling with – I study Torah daily (anything all things Jewish), and I observe and I wrestle with halacha.

Now, to the subject of this page, is this uniquely Jewish upbringing plus my inherent genetic ancestry enough to make me Jewish by halachic standards? Still yet, the answer is still, “No!” Why?! Because, a Jewish community that observes Jewish halacha (what is called “Orthodoxy” in the West) has not confirmed my halachic status in life (even though many non-Orthodox Jewish “denominations”, aka “movements,” do recognize my Jewishness!).

But, on this page, I’m going for the holy Talmudic “grail” (to borrow a phrase), acceptance of my Jewishness that is “Orthodox” level. Why? Because Sephardi communities do not have “denominations,” and my blood by my fathers before me comes from the Iberian Penisula, which is only preceded by the Levant. Without Sephardi community acceptance, it really doesn’t matter how devoted I am to Sephardi tefilla, halacha, cuisine, and minhag – if there is no Sephardi community that accepts me as halachically Jewish.

But, here is the rub! This only means that I am authentically Jewish on the Ashkenazi side of the camp – which most of the Western world identifies as quintessential “Jewish.” Go figure, no?!!! So, does this mean that I must “convert” to “Orthodox” Judaism, in order to be Jewish by halachic standards? Well, the answer is: “yes,” “no,” “it depends”! – aka, “it’s complicated!” Depends on the legitimately Jewish community that you are asking to answer this question!!!

So, since it *is* this complicated, let us let the halachic Sages – our ancestors – answer this question, and further questions on halachic Jewish status. First, I am a Jew by legitimate in-the-blood ancestry – so says *every* father before me! And, the Gemara makes very clear that Jewishness is *inherited* – meaning *forever passed down* through the generations. But, since the 2nd century CE, unlike 1,300 hundred years of Jewish history beforehand, Jewishness is only passed down from generation to generation strictly through the mother – whether she is a Jew by “birth,” or a Jew by religious “conversion” (meaning, born as a *gentile*).

So it has been for 2,000 years in Talmudic Judaism, which modern Jews have begun to rightfully question. If Jewishness is inherited, then it doesn’t matter if it is the father or the mother or both who are Jewish, yes? Let’s look at what the talmid chacham, the Sages/Poskim, have to say on this matter:

Yevamot 17a says, “The Gemara asks: Aren’t there Jewish girls who were captured by gentiles, whose children are considered to be Jews? And Ravina said: Learn from this that the son of your daughter from a gentile is called your son. If so, the descendants of Jewish women captured by gentiles would indeed be Jews.” But, the same does not extend from this point forward in historical time to father Jews who marry a non-Jewish wife by birth (despite historical precedence!).

So, a Jewish woman can produce a mamzer, a bastard child, through marriage to a gentile, but a Jewish male who has children through marriage with a gentile woman, since Talmud period onwards, produces *gentile* children into this world? Seriously?!!! Are we forgetting here what makes a Jew legitimately a Jew?! It’s not by blood birth alone. Elsewise, no gentile born woman married to a Jewish male would have produced a nation of Judea-Israel to talk about in this age.

The traditional myths of “all in the family” is just this! An unsustainable reality biologically, proven by modern science! Jews have been ad-mixturing with local populations for 3,500 years – adding to the Jewish gene pool. Save for those periods of Jewish ghettoization that limited spouse choices strictly to the same familiar sets of families. Okay, so let’s closely look at the *questionably* Jewish amongst us:

Igros Moshe on Even HaEzer 4:83 says, “It is not possible for a Jew to become a non-Jew. The Mumrim (apostate) and their children are complete Jews and one cannot join the opposing opinions even as a Safek. The Mahrashdam made a grave error by writing otherwise.”

Beit Yosef on Even HaEzer 157:6 says, “The children and all descendants of a Jewish mother who became a Mumar [remains Jewish and their Kiddushin is valid] even after many generations. This matter is an obvious Jewish law and those students who wrote differently, should have been persecuted by the Sages and excommunicated , as certainly these matters have no root and branch to rely on, and woe to one who is lenient in this.”

And, since I am, by very definition of historical reality, a תינוק שנשבה tinok she’nishba by way of political גזרת שמד gezerat shemad (a systematic attempt to force Jews to convert for survival) resulting in recent אנוסים anusim disruption of our family line and traditions, further resulting in the loss of vital historical records, let’s hear our Sages further:

Shavuot 5a says, “Rav Pappa said to Abaye: But how can you explain the halakha that is taught in the mishna: For cases in which he did not have awareness at the beginning but had awareness at the end? According to your explanation, is there anyone who does not have the elementary knowledge of the halakhot of ritual impurity that he gained from his school? Abaye said to him: Yes, you find it in the case of a child who was taken captive among gentiles, who never received even the most elementary level of knowledge.”

Shabbat 68b says, “And it was stated as follows: It was Rav and Shmuel who both said: Even a child who was taken captive among the gentiles and a convert who converted among the gentiles have the same legal status as one who knew and ultimately forgot, and they are liable to bring a sin-offering for their unwitting transgression, even though they never learned about Shabbat.”

Rashbash 89 says bluntly, “Since it is clear that these (anusim) [who still, yet, have lived Jewish lives] are not to be considered proselytes, we do not need therefore to enumerate to them all the commandments and their punishments. This is obvious, since, if you were to say to him that, should he (the anusim) not wish to accept the commandments, we would dismiss him and he would be free to them as if he were a gentile – God forbid that this should even come to mind. Because he is already in duty bound to fulfill them just as we are.”

In other words, absolutely no dati/”Orthodox” conversion is necessary for an *already* observant anusim, only the recognition within the community he resides of his/her *halachic* Jewish status! A community recognition of tshuvah – preferably in written form for the childrens’ sake – for he/she is keeping them within Judaism!

Okay, still not enough? Let’s get to a modern revered world-wide legitimate Jewish Posek (an esteemed “decisor” of Jewish law, meaning a legal scholar who determines the position of Talmudic halakha)! I literally fulfill Rav Moshe Feinstein’s requirements of halachic Jewish status, which he made in an Israel case:

Opinion of Rav Moshe Feinstein, brought in Psak Din of Beit Din Rabbani Haifa case number 588549/1 suggests the following criteria for determining Jewishness of one claiming his mother was/is a Jew:

1 – “Checking the legal identification cards of the person or his mother, and seeing if it says that he or she is Jewish.”

Check my military records and dog tags (I was a career soldier), for they have always said that I am “Jewish” in *any and every* part of the world I’ve been in (yes, I’ve personally met my Arab brothers in the Middle East!).

2 – “Verifying the Jewish names of the person and his family.”

Farkas, which means “Wolf,” was the first surname assigned to Jews in Hungary, and was established just prior to the expulsion of Jews from Spain. As was customary of Hungarian Jews of the time, my Great-grandparents that immigrated to the USA changed their surname to a place name, Farkasdi, thus signifying Jewish origins.

3 – “Knowledge of Yiddish, and acting like a Jew or knowledge of Jewish customs.”

From my very first minyan experience, I was exposed to Hebrew only siddurs, and have lived my life with wrestling with the words of Torah, prefering to wrestle through understanding of the Hebrew. I observe kashrut, ritually chant in Hebrew on a daily basis, and sanctify Shabbat.

Opinion of Rav Moshe Feinstein ז״ל‎:
“The person in question must fulfill at least two of the above three conditions to be considered a Jew, and there must not be any other reason to cast doubt on his Jewishness.”

And, this is how I can claim *proudly* that I am a Jew by halachic standards, beyond by any lineage alone! My Mom is indigenous Sardinian – the indigenous Europeans that well proceded Christianity’s intrusion upon her ancestor’s lands. And, whether she fully knows this or not, she knows the Jewish heart! After all, she married, in true Torah style, a Jew by legitimate parental birth, and had the *chutzpah* to ensure her son knew who he was! Even if she didn’t fully understand. (Am I not properly circumsized in this life? Is my very own son not?!)

Is there any other reason to not be acknowledged as a halachically observant Jew by dati/”Orthodox” Judaism and Jewish halacha? Not really, regardless the obsessive monetary interest in the *enterprise* of requiring Jewish “conversion” for any Jew who may be suspect and/or in *question*. I wonder personally about the motivation of that, than who is *legitimately* Jewish in this world! We Jews have been ever evolving since our birth as an ethno-religious identity in the 13th century BCE. It is now the 21st century CE and, if we are to remain relevant (aka, non-extinct as a people!), then we need stay relevant in our understanding of who is legitimately Jewish.

Okay, before we finish this page of thoughts and admissions and just pleasurable Talmudic struggle, let me share a little bit more of my family’s origins:

Sleuthing for historical records has revealed a surprise on the number of Maramaros Jews (Heredi) of Hungary with the surnames Gancz and Farkas that married each other. Interesting to me, since many are located primarily in Szatmár-Bereg county – and, to this day, you can find Farkas hasidic families in Brooklyn USA. As well, records tie my Great-grandparents, the Farkas and Gancz families, to the regions of Pápa and Szergény, and the Kish family to Budapest and Békés. So, my blood may be Sephardi by fatherly descent, but we brothers are family tied into Ashkenazi through our mothers.

Just, in our case – our Great-grandfather, one of those poor Jews without a father (thus without craft profession), chose to seek out the “black gold” of West Virginia, instead of the derech socially expected of him, and that was appropriately followed by other Jews. IOWs, for survival he followed the path of Hungarian gentiles. … A terrible mistake, I say, if you intended on getting rich for this. But, also knowing actual Heredi life*, probably this was a smart move, even if still a very poor move … since the pintele yid is actually a real thing.

* – I asterisked above because, Satmar (in Hungarian, Szatmár) issues have always caught my attention through the years without my fully knowing why (just felt connected somehow to this *particular* community, until research revealed “Hungary”). Though I’m not Heredi (and have no desire to be “Heredi” in lifestyle!) and, without knowing why, I was compelled in youth to buy the Concise Book of Mitzvot / Sefer ha-Mitzvot ha-Katzar to wrestle with, and I’ve always felt “off the derech” – which is not my fault or doing, rather it’s an inherited trait, so I’ve learned. But, (like a Heredi,) I don’t need any Jew telling me that I am needing or that I am seeking to “convert” to what I already am! Only that you embrace me, if I’m seeking to reside for awhile within your community – and that my *family* is acknowledged as being present as legitimate Jewish members – yes, fully yisrael!

(With this said: Sorry, Christians pretending to be Jews – aka, Messianic Jews or Jews for Jesus – you’re still not Jewish, by any Jewish standard! You and your idolatry are what historic Jesus warned fellow Jews about. …

You know, the historic *Jewish* Jesus of Nazareth who asked you to *follow* him, *not* worship him?. … If you’re Jewish, you never worship any of our Jewish demigods as G-d/”Father” himself! Innately, self-explanatory to a born/raised Jew!!! …

For your own “Jewish-“Christian benefit, I mention this, while *thanking* you for being *ger toshav*, despite your idol worship. Keep that up, please!!! …

Read the Jewish written Gospel of Matthew and the Jewish written book of Revelation – yes, we see you, “synagogue of satan”! If you *really* want to be legitimately Jewish, … we’re legitimately here for you! Just give up the idol worship, please. Then, we really will accept you as Jewish, at least at the halachically liberal Jewish level.)

————-

Update, July 2021: Since I brought it up, directly above….

Which edition is this? Do you know? … Seriously! Well before I ever knew that I am a descendant of Heredim, Szatmár, I knew to grab this book and purchase it upon its release. I studied it and struggled deeply with it!

I so wanted at that young age in life to not be a Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, but to be a Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan! But, life has dealt me a tongue that is plagued by an unfortunate lack of discipline, and a secular path along with this. So, unfortunate genes for me (too many keep telling me I should be a Rabbi – note, I’m in no position to be such, I am just thankful to be part of the Jewish community!)! Life has also dealt me a beyond human reality check (war and its unfortunate consequences!).

So! I still have this precious purchased edition of Sefer ha’Mitzvot ha’Katzar, and am still thinking of relating it to chiloni Jewish tradition. Without a direct relationship with the past, we are nothing as a Jewish people in the future! There is a balance to be found, a sharing of traditions. To be Jewish is to *wrestle* with Jewish history and halachic (mitzvot) tradition!

If you’re not wrestling with all aspects of Judaism, then rightfully Jews have a reason to question your Jewish status. It’s not a matter of your Jewish descendancy, it is *all* a matter of your commitment to the survival of Judaism (Judah-ism). Regardless your observancy regarding Torah and Rabbinic mitzvot (yes, there is a difference between these two!).

We Jews have a Maimonides answer to questioned observance among all of us Jews. It goes like this:

(Assuming true resistant to idol worship, then…)

אֲבָל בְּנֵי הַתּוֹעִים הָאֵלֶּה וּבְנֵי בְּנֵיהֶם שֶׁהִדִּיחוּ אוֹתָם אֲבוֹתָם וְנוֹלְדוּ בֵּין הַקָּרָאִים וְגִדְּלוּ אוֹתָם עַל דַּעְתָּם. הֲרֵי הוּא כְּתִינוֹק שֶׁנִּשְׁבָּה בֵּינֵיהֶם וְגִדְּלוּהוּ וְאֵינוֹ זָרִיז לֶאֱחֹז בְּדַרְכֵי הַמִּצְוֹת שֶׁהֲרֵי הוּא כְּאָנוּס וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁשָּׁמַע אַחַר כָּךְ [שֶׁהוּא יְהוּדִי וְרָאָה הַיְהוּדִים וְדָתָם הֲרֵי הוּא כְּאָנוּס שֶׁהֲרֵי גִּדְּלוּהוּ עַל טָעוּתָם] כָּךְ אֵלּוּ שֶׁאָמַרְנוּ הָאוֹחֲזִים בְּדַרְכֵי אֲבוֹתָם הַקָּרָאִים שֶׁטָּעוּ. לְפִיכָךְ רָאוּי לְהַחְזִירָן בִּתְשׁוּבָה וּלְמָשְׁכָם בְּדִבְרֵי שָׁלוֹם עַד שֶׁיַּחְזְרוּ לְאֵיתָן הַתּוֹרָה:

“The children of these errant people and their grandchildren whose parents led them away and they were born among these Karaities and raised according to their conception, they are considered as a children captured and raised by them. Such a child may not be eager to follow the path of mitzvot, for it is as if he was compelled not to. Even if later, he hears that he is Jewish and saw Jews and their faith, he is still considered as one who was compelled against observance, for he was raised according to their mistaken path.”

… Note, Karaite Jews consider themselves to be authentically Jews, just non-Rabbinic (no living by Oral Law). …

“This applies to those who we mentioned who follow the erroneous Karaite path of their ancestors. Therefore it is appropriate to motivate them to repent and draw them to the power of the Torah with words of peace.” – Mamrim 3:3

For halachic Judaism, this also applies to “Conservative,” “Reform,” “Reconstructing,” “Secular Humanistic,” and “Secular” Jews – who absolutely refuse to engage in idolatry (aka, another’s theistic religion worship of a false god, which includes any form of Christianity). So, Mamrim 3:3 states that all Jews devoted to Judaism are authentically Jews within the Jewish community, and *must* be accepted by *all* Jewish communities as such. And encouraged to more halachic in observance.

But, we in the traditional Jewish communities forget, it’s more than just family (proven familial ties, or a “conversion” to ensure this!). It’s about surviving for the sake of the continuance of עם ישראל “am yisrael,” however in greater societys’ demands that we must adapt to achieve this! We *will* survive, without prostration to a human imagined god, but of course!

Update 2023:

I am Yosef ibn Yehuda, also known by his Colonial assigned name, Joseph Tsefanyahu Farkasdi. I am having difficulty with being a Jew in this world, because I am also “on the spectrum”. For most of my life severely so, despite being able to “adequately” present in life (to happenstance survive through this life!) among the majority of humans around me. I’ve always had difficulty with living life in relationship with other human beings, being ever self-doubtful over my worth, my abilities, my rightful place in this human and Jewish world.

This was the way of my home, too. My dad was the traumatized son of a Prohibition era gangster. He’s lived his life with his own kind of baggage, and could not be the father that I needed him to be. He taught me nothing but self-preservation authoritarian perfectionism, because he could not adequately address his familial demons (despite being a “normal” kind of human that I have always strived to be). Like him, like I – just on the opposite sides of this human spectrum. Parallel, but opposite-leaning in our *lived* lives, only that I kept rebelling throughout life (and not knowing why).

What I did know is that I don’t know my name (it’s history and meaning [not yet!]), I don’t know my ancestral community (where *we* come from [not yet!]), and I don’t know why I live with such angst and feeling of separation (beyond the “on the spectrum issues”) even around those who I know (*without explanation*) are my community! Don’t get me wrong, here! Put me into a situation with a Rabbi of a community, and you can expect that I will (in all my spectrum-ness) have a view of Judaism that emotionally perplexes him, but is authentic. But, at the same time (everyday), I ever doubt my Jewishness.

Why? Because, I wasn’t raised properly traditional! Because, I learned our indigenous Canaanite Hebrew language (what that I know, outside of what my mother taught me as a child), and our halachot, and our mysticism in my own way. I wasn’t Yeshiva trained! (Remember, I am “on the spectrum” and from a household traumatized by the historical past). So, I *know* the feeling of self-doubt firsthand, and what it feels like to “lock up” verbally and ritually when surrounded by your own ethno-religious Judean indigenous kind. Fear, of being inauthentic, because you are not “perfectionism”. This is why I have never been able to commit to one specific Jewish community throughout my life.

As a born Jew, indigenous by bloodline to the Levant, I have never heard the words that I need to hear from other Jews: “You are obviously one of us. Why are you *not* a member of *our* Jewish community?” If I have to ask *you* for an audience!!! Then, even if you respond favorably to this Jewish outsider (extremely rare experience, for I’m most comfortable communicating online), I am already reclusing. (Remember, I am “on the spectrum” and my inherited Jewishness is *not* dependent upon whether you accept me into your community or not.) I’m used to being alone in diaspora! It’s difficult for me to not offend others, blessed with an established ideology. And, if given audience, I fear that I will embarrass myself with my imperfections.

So, here I am. A complicated Jew online with a post that expresses my Indigenous Judean heart:

“I am a Jew who is fully comfortable in his Indigenous Judean skin. I and every father before me is a Jew Indigenous to the Land of Israel! I don’t care whether I appear “holy” to Christians and Muslims, for we Jews are not here *for them*. I don’t care how much genetic admixturing my Indigenous Judean people have experienced from forced diasporas. I’ve been known to strap tefillin without shame. I’ve been called a Sadducee more than once in my life, and a “Reb” (no, I am not!)! I show love for only the deity of my ancestors, for the Name is One! (Not 3-in-one, not generic without a *name*, but ancestral land-based one!)” – Yosef ibn Yehuda, July 30, 2023

If we expect to survive fully decolonized as the Jewish people – free of antisemitic racism – then we need to start being aware of the Jews who seek this reality for our Indigenous Judean people! All the Jews, not just the familiar Jews.