Anne Roiphe's Ambivalence: A Jewish Feminist Looks at Israel

Abstract

In a short piece which appeared in the New York Times in December of 1978, Anne Roiphe revealed that her secular Jewish family did not celebrate Chanukah and (worse yet) bought a Christmas tree each year. Her article prompted a hostile response from scores of Jews. Says Roiphe, Housewives, rabbis, lawyers, doctors, businessmen, all but Indian chiefs phoned or wrote in, furious that the paper had published an article that advocated assimilation, displayed ignorance of Judaism, and seemed to express contempt for the Jewish way of (Taking Down the Christmas Tree 58). Roiphe, by her own admission, would not have written the piece had she anticipated the public berating she would subsequently be forced to endure; however, she has reason to be thankful for the unsavory episode. The angry responses to her inflammatory article caused her to reflect upon the importance of Judaism in her life and to recognize that assimilation into the dominant culture had nearly stripped her of this central element of her identity. Roiphe immediately began to study Jewish history and the Talmud. Moreover, she began to explore Jewish issues overtly in her works. One must admire Roiphe's courage. She surely realized that several of those who excoriated her for expressing her alienation from Judaism, as embodied in her purchase of Christmas trees, would be eager to attack her chutzpahdik [nervy] exploration of Jewish issues (chutzpahdik since Jews who allow Christmas trees past their threshold know enough to expect a special kind of scrutiny from fellow