THE REFORMATION ROLLS ON:

A smart Jewish friend recently raised the question of a connection between the ongoing struggle over black identity in the United States and the story of Jewish assimilation. "Jews," he said, "have paid in lost identity in order to gain assimilation, and the price has been steep. For many, there's barely anything left to cling onto," beyond bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, and "the love of a few Jewish foods." In short, Jews "lost some self" in order to gain entrée to the American mainstream. My friend wanted to know, could blacks now be facing a similar bargain?

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