Your Voice by Megan Ault | A response to Hillel's 'Kosher Porn' banner

I just walked down Locust Walk for the first time in a few days and noticed the banner for Sarah Rosen’s book and lecture, Kosher Pornok, which is being hosted by Hillel. The banner in general is great. It’s very engaging. It’s promoting two of my favorite things: Jewish community and sexuality. But I am deeply hurt by the tag line, “99 problems but a shiksa ain’t one.”

The truth is this: I love Judaism. I love its holidays, its culture. I take pride in hosting Passover Seders and hope to one day raise my child (or children) in a Jewish community. I am in a long-term relationship with a Jewish man whom I adore. But I am not Jewish. I am the shiksa of whom this banner speaks. And embedded in this cutesy tag line is the message that I am an other. And not in the sexy, femme fatale way that shiksa is sometimes thrown about, but in the sense that I am someone to be avoided, someone to be put aside, someone who is less than.

I recognize that intermarriage within the Jewish community is a loaded and controversial topic. But instead of opening the door to a thoughtful discussion, this banner casually sends an alienating and racist message. Imagine if a Christian organization on campus were to post an equivalent banner, with the tag line “99 problems but a Jewish girl ain’t one.” Is this a message that Hillel and the greater university community would be comfortable with? I hope not.

The message that non-Jews are unfit as romantic partners is all over mainstream Judaism. In a sense, I get it: It’s about preserving Jewish identity. Denigrating outsiders is, after all, an ancient and well-worn mechanism for promoting group cohesion. But Judaism is such a treasure. Why try to strengthen the Jewish community by putting others down, when there are so many other ways to promote this profound and beautiful tradition?

Sincerely,

Megan Ault

Master’s Candidate, N’15

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