I don’t know that it helps to write this, but when you see all these pro-palistine protests on college campuses, you know why the wine industry doesn’t want to take a position. College campuses and rich, white enclaves are the home of antisemitism in America, and the wine industry is reluctant to piss them off.
I try to keep politics out of my glass, but it’s hard.
I really did start reading thinking that this article would be about your pride in the wine industry, your industry, and wanted to find our what actions were taken to inspire your pride! I’m sadly disappointed, if not surprised. It raises the question: were the industries rapid responses to other tragedies just about the bottom line?
Beautifully thought and expressed. We have entered a horrendous period of conflict, terrorism and war that seemingly engulfs the whole Near East. Our responses need to be measured, considered and above all compassionate and humanitarian.
You know my feelings on this and I thank you so very much for writing what I can't. There are no words to describe what happened last Saturday and, as I told you separately, it is amazing to me that Jews are the only people who experience something like that and then are immediately blamed for it. We are scapegoats but we are taught to keep a low profile and just stay vigilant -- no Jew I know isn't aware that there is a constant possibility we could be targets in any situation.
Why have I not posted anything? When my 77 year old father begged me not to say anything so I stay safe, but then told me he has wept over the images he's seen, it created an absolutely impossible situation. American Jews have tried so hard to assimilate but when things like these happen (and they happen every day across the world, just not at this scale. The media don't cover antisemitism) and the reaction to it is NOT universal shock, we realize we are very much on an island and haven't come that far.
TBH, it is really scary to say anything publicly about this. I will post on my private community tomorrow now that I'm not so depressed that I can't think straight, but there will be nothing public, except for a podcast on Israeli wines done as a nod to these events. I have a sense that a lot of the Jewish winemakers I know have the same fear. As for the non-Jewish players, the large ones who are all about diversity and standing behind whatever the issue of the day is, I am beyond appalled. Either they think it doesn't matter, or we don't matter and neither of those situations is good. But this really reveals the truth -- we are only 1% or less of the population in this country and we don't drive enough money to their bottom line to matter. In the end: message received.
If you are reading this and are unaware of how much this has impacted the Jewish community, and you actually care, please know that we are reeling from this as we imagine all of our family members in the same scenes we have heard about or seen on TV. It may be hard to understand if you are part of a group that hasn't experienced this, but when you hear of family friends being brutalized and their bodies discovered in horrible conditions, things become very real, very quickly. Empathy, not politics is needed now. We don't want innocent Palestinians to die either, but when people practice medieval tactics to kill a group of people to which you are connected, it's beyond description.
I hope your post does something to wake up the wine industry. I'm not hopeful that other Jews will come forward (I won't out of fear) and I'm not hopeful any of the larger players will say anything either. Good for Southern. They may suck in every other way, but they have the right priorities on this and I am also grateful to them.
And with regard to Jews having to carefully look over their shoulder, it should not go unnoticed that Hamas called for today to be a day of Jihad. No one believes that means anything other than "go kill jews everywhere." Is there another group that is targeted in this way?
What is so disappointing about how our industry is reacted is that it is such a light lift to condemn ethnic cleansing and anti-semitism. Moreover, the consequences for doing this amount to nothing. It's shocking.
I sympathize with your newly discovered jewishness. My wife Susie only discovered she was jewish at the age of 45, as her parents, fearful of antisematism, simply didn't tell her. All she knew was there were a lot of blintzes and chopped liver around growing up. I'm as Anglo as they come, but being from Jersey, I know a schlemill from a schlamozal, and we had a lot of fun studying the traditions. I can recommend Jewish for Dummies and Michael Wey's hilarious "Born to Kvetch" (must do as an audiobook). We still observe the Jewish sabbath, i.e. no work from Sunday Friday to Sundown Saturday, only spiriutual things, which we define rather broadly. Not one Christian in a hunred knows that we go to chusrch on Sunday BECAUSE IT ISN'T THE SABBATH!
As for the current conflict, I have almost unbearable sympathy for the unbelievable suffering on both sides. Beyond that, I'm simply confused. While I am a strong supporter of the right of Jews to have a homeland, the baffling popular support that the hardline stance of Netanyahu, a criminal madman, enjoys is hard for me to stomach. The man is in no way a peacemaker and while intentionally pouring gasoline on the fires of conflict is really the greatest ally of the Hamas terrorists. A pox on both their houses.
Still, I'm sure that if I knew how, I would strongly support the alleviation of suffering. Maybe some bucks to the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.
The silence is deafening. I’m shocked - but on the other hand, I know I shouldn’t be. In my heart, I expected exactly this.
Kathleen, I think it's important to leave open the possibility that it is shock that has delayed the coming response. Perhaps.
The sounds of silence
Sorry Tom.
Very disappointing, but not a surprise to me.
Thank you for sharing your story and being a catalyst for me to take action and not stay on the sidelines.
I don’t know that it helps to write this, but when you see all these pro-palistine protests on college campuses, you know why the wine industry doesn’t want to take a position. College campuses and rich, white enclaves are the home of antisemitism in America, and the wine industry is reluctant to piss them off.
I try to keep politics out of my glass, but it’s hard.
There must be a variety of reasons the industry is relatively silent, Greg. Very few of them are good reasons.
I really did start reading thinking that this article would be about your pride in the wine industry, your industry, and wanted to find our what actions were taken to inspire your pride! I’m sadly disappointed, if not surprised. It raises the question: were the industries rapid responses to other tragedies just about the bottom line?
It's a similar story in England. Just so depressing.
Beautifully thought and expressed. We have entered a horrendous period of conflict, terrorism and war that seemingly engulfs the whole Near East. Our responses need to be measured, considered and above all compassionate and humanitarian.
You know my feelings on this and I thank you so very much for writing what I can't. There are no words to describe what happened last Saturday and, as I told you separately, it is amazing to me that Jews are the only people who experience something like that and then are immediately blamed for it. We are scapegoats but we are taught to keep a low profile and just stay vigilant -- no Jew I know isn't aware that there is a constant possibility we could be targets in any situation.
Why have I not posted anything? When my 77 year old father begged me not to say anything so I stay safe, but then told me he has wept over the images he's seen, it created an absolutely impossible situation. American Jews have tried so hard to assimilate but when things like these happen (and they happen every day across the world, just not at this scale. The media don't cover antisemitism) and the reaction to it is NOT universal shock, we realize we are very much on an island and haven't come that far.
TBH, it is really scary to say anything publicly about this. I will post on my private community tomorrow now that I'm not so depressed that I can't think straight, but there will be nothing public, except for a podcast on Israeli wines done as a nod to these events. I have a sense that a lot of the Jewish winemakers I know have the same fear. As for the non-Jewish players, the large ones who are all about diversity and standing behind whatever the issue of the day is, I am beyond appalled. Either they think it doesn't matter, or we don't matter and neither of those situations is good. But this really reveals the truth -- we are only 1% or less of the population in this country and we don't drive enough money to their bottom line to matter. In the end: message received.
If you are reading this and are unaware of how much this has impacted the Jewish community, and you actually care, please know that we are reeling from this as we imagine all of our family members in the same scenes we have heard about or seen on TV. It may be hard to understand if you are part of a group that hasn't experienced this, but when you hear of family friends being brutalized and their bodies discovered in horrible conditions, things become very real, very quickly. Empathy, not politics is needed now. We don't want innocent Palestinians to die either, but when people practice medieval tactics to kill a group of people to which you are connected, it's beyond description.
I hope your post does something to wake up the wine industry. I'm not hopeful that other Jews will come forward (I won't out of fear) and I'm not hopeful any of the larger players will say anything either. Good for Southern. They may suck in every other way, but they have the right priorities on this and I am also grateful to them.
And with regard to Jews having to carefully look over their shoulder, it should not go unnoticed that Hamas called for today to be a day of Jihad. No one believes that means anything other than "go kill jews everywhere." Is there another group that is targeted in this way?
What is so disappointing about how our industry is reacted is that it is such a light lift to condemn ethnic cleansing and anti-semitism. Moreover, the consequences for doing this amount to nothing. It's shocking.
Stay safe, Elizabeth.
It comes down to money. We're not worth enough to even acknowledge. It's just the truth.
I sympathize with your newly discovered jewishness. My wife Susie only discovered she was jewish at the age of 45, as her parents, fearful of antisematism, simply didn't tell her. All she knew was there were a lot of blintzes and chopped liver around growing up. I'm as Anglo as they come, but being from Jersey, I know a schlemill from a schlamozal, and we had a lot of fun studying the traditions. I can recommend Jewish for Dummies and Michael Wey's hilarious "Born to Kvetch" (must do as an audiobook). We still observe the Jewish sabbath, i.e. no work from Sunday Friday to Sundown Saturday, only spiriutual things, which we define rather broadly. Not one Christian in a hunred knows that we go to chusrch on Sunday BECAUSE IT ISN'T THE SABBATH!
As for the current conflict, I have almost unbearable sympathy for the unbelievable suffering on both sides. Beyond that, I'm simply confused. While I am a strong supporter of the right of Jews to have a homeland, the baffling popular support that the hardline stance of Netanyahu, a criminal madman, enjoys is hard for me to stomach. The man is in no way a peacemaker and while intentionally pouring gasoline on the fires of conflict is really the greatest ally of the Hamas terrorists. A pox on both their houses.
Still, I'm sure that if I knew how, I would strongly support the alleviation of suffering. Maybe some bucks to the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.