Lech Lecha 2025: Jewish vs. Jew-ish
by devadmin | October 30, 2025 7:20 pm
Raboyseyee and Ladies,
There are weddings and there are weddings and this past Tuesday evening, the heylige Ois and eishes chayil attended one fantastic storybook wedding. We begin with big mazel tov wishes to our dear friends Jenny and Joey (Dr. Joseph) Felder upon the wedding of their beautiful and radiant daughter Jillian, to Idan Ben Hamo. Mazel tov as well to the entire extended Felder family; siblings, aunts uncles and many cousins.
And MAZAL TOV to Malka and Pinchas Ben Hamo, parents of the CHATAN, they of Natanya, Israel, and to their entire family. May Jillian and Idan be zoche to many happy years of blissful marriage, and may they build a great family together.
Jewish vs. Jew-ish
George Santos was back in the news last week. Who is he, you ask? Shoin, in case you’ve been living under a rock (or in some yeshiva without Wi-Fi) for the past two years, he’s the colorful gentleman who ran for Congress as a Republican from right here in New York — and, lo and behold, he won! Givaldig! Ober, a few months later, the gantze macher was expelled from Congress faster than you can say “ethics committee.”
That’s not for now; what is for now is this: while campaigning — and on more than one occasion — he claimed that he was Jewish. Yes, a full member of the tribe! So, what’s the big deal? The big to-do was that this wasn’t emes, not at all. When chapped in his web of lies, he very cleverly said azoy: “What I meant to say is that I’m Jew-ish.” Ut azoy! Just like that — clever, smooth, and totally on brand for our times. But what, taka, is the difference between being Jewish mamish and Jew-ish? Let’s unpack.
To be Jewish mamish means you’re halachically Jewish — your identity isn’t a vibe, it’s a status. Either you were born to a Jewish mother or you underwent a kosher geirus (conversion) according to all rules and regulations. It means you’re bound — willingly or not — by the mitzvis and avada the avayris (Thou shalt not do, many of them), by the heylige Shabbis, kashrus, rules of loshon horo, Yom Kippur fasts, Pesach cleaning -though going to a hotel in Florida, or Mexico is just as acceptable. Some say that bidieved -if one has no choice- one may -once only- also attend a program in Connecticut). Being Jewish also includes all the glorious loopholes and mishigas that make us who we are. One gets all the above in the Jew package.
Avada, if you were born a male, you “gave some at the office” on day eight, and the package, if you chap, is suddenly a bit downsized. Shoin, small price to pay. If born a female, you were taught how to shop incessantly (daily Amazon deliveries, unnecessary trips to any mall, and a strong desire to share every detail of everything), and much more. Shoin, of course I’ll be hearing from a few female readers; relax, it’s just some humor injected into this week’s givaldige review. The bottom line: being Jewish is a reality, not a feeling. Whether you’re observant, an atheist, or, chas v’sholom- worshipping avoido zoro -which the RBSO mamish abhors, say it’s not so please, the halocho states — as does the heylige Gemora (Yevamos 22a):
“ישראל, אף על פי שחטא, ישראל הוא”
A Jew, even if he sins, remains a Jew. Wow! Born in or converted in, and you’re in for life. The bottom line: Getting out? Not so simple!
That stated, when one is but Jew-ish, that telling little -ish — that’s the wink-wink, tongue-in-cheek version. It’s the vibe, not the lineage. It’s what George said when caught fibbing: “I said I was Jew-ish, not Jewish.” Meaning, he didn’t claim actual halachic membership — just a faint cultural or genealogical sympathy. Kind of like saying, “I’m vegetarian-ish — except for chicken.” I’m orthodox-ish and observe shabbis except for texting. It’s the kind of Jewishness you wear when it helps politically, or when you like bagels, Seinfeld, Curb, and Yom Kippur guilt — but without the fasting or the shul. The bottom line: Jewish mamish = essence, covenant, and neshomo, while Jew-ish = association, sentiment, PR strategy.
Shoin, efsher you’re wondering why the heylige Ois is even discussing George Santos in this week’s parsha post? How did this goy make it in? Grada, he’s mamish relevant because our parsha and the next few — introduce us to Avrohom Avinu, the very first of our forefathers and, according to some, the very first Jew. But was he? Mamish? Let’s see….
In Lech Lecha we meet the heylige future Avrohom Ovinu, he the idol-smashing, RBSO-discovering, and the spiritual trailblazer who launched Team Israel. But let’s be real (and when is the Ois not?): There is one tiny problem — was he even Jewish? Was Avrohom the founding father of what became the Jewish people? Or, was he but the precursor to Moishe? Who’s your daddy? Was he around before Matan Toirah? He was! Was he around many hundreds of years before Sinai? He was! He was born in the year 1948 from Creation, while Matan Toirah (Revelation) took place in the year 2448 from Creation. The bottom line: he was around before the heylige Toirah, before shabbis candles, before tefillin, before cholent, herring or kugel, before gefilte fish, and maybe even before sponge cake. What was happening in Judaism? It did not exist! Gornisht, mamish nothing!
Says the Rambam (Hilchos Avodah Zarah 1:3) that back when Avrohom was still “Avrom,” he discovered the RBSO all by himself — no help from the Daf-Yomi app, none from the Yeshiva of Shem & Ever, no second year in one of the myriad Israeli yeshivas or seminaries, and no one around to help him “shteig!”
“כיון שנגמל זה הקטן… ידע שיש שם אלוה אחד והוא מנהיג הגלגל והוא ברא הכל…”
When this small child was weaned, he began to think… until he recognized that there is one G-d who created all, and that there is none beside Him.
The bottom line: Avrohom figured out the RBSO by himself. No Sinai, no mitzvis —he was still technically a Ben Noiach. And the Rambam adds elsewhere (Moreh Nevuchim III:25):
“ואברהם היה הראשון לאמונה בה’”
Avrohom was the first to have faith in Hashem, the RBSO.
Believer? Absolutely. Ober a Jew? Not yet. It’s taka emes that he smashed idols, warred with kings, and introduced monotheism —all nice Jewish behavior. He was also a nice family man. Hec, according to some, he went back and married Hogor, she, the woman and mother of Yishmoel whom Soro initially chased out and later had Avrohom banish her for good. Ober (that being said), we will come to learn that he still paid full price for Chevron real estate. In two weeks, Parshas Chayei Sarah, we will read of the entire transaction where Avrohom buys the Me’oras HaMachpeilah and pays full retail. Proof, says the heylige Ois, that he couldn’t yet have been halachically Jewish. No self-respecting Yid ever pays sticker price! Jew-ish, not Jewish. Case closed!
בראשית כג:טז:
“וישמע אברהם אל עפרון וישקל אברהם לעפרון את הכסף… ארבע מאות שקל כסף עובר לסוחר.”
And Avraham listened to Ephron and weighed out the silver… four hundred shekels of silver, accepted by merchants.
Says Rashi: “למדך שהיה נאהב בממון – שלא רצה לקבל בחנם.”
He wanted to pay — he didn’t want a gift. Is that the Jewish way? Says the Ois: Retail-ish behavior? OMG! Nu, he was still a work in progress. The man’s faith was wholesale; his shopping style, retail-mamish.
Ober the Ramban softens the Rambam’s rationalist edge with this: רמב״ן בראשית יז:ז:
“כי שם נתחייבו להיות מיוחדים לשמו יתברך ושלא יתחללו בגוים…”
There they became bound to be unique to His Name and not to be mingled with the nations.
Translation: the covenant didn’t make him halachically Jewish, but it made him spiritually distinct — a proto-Jewish franchise already in beta testing. He teaches that while halachic Jewishness began at Sinai, Avrohom’s bris milah (circumcision) at age 99 and his bris bein habesarim (a covenant he entered into with the RBSO) created a spiritual lineage — a “zera Avrohom” already designated for holiness. Gismak.
In fact, when the malochim came -post bris- to visit Avrohom (next week in Bereishis 18:8), what did Avrohom serve them? Pareve Sushi? Fish? Not! he served them tongue with some fresh milk (not oat or almond, the real stuff). Would a nice Jewish guy serve meat and milk together?
“ויקח חמאה וחלב ובן הבקר אשר עשה ויתן לפניהם”
Says the heylige Gemora says (Yoma 28b): Avrohom Ovenu was old and sat in a yeshiva. “אמר רב – אברהם אבינו זקן ויושב בישיבה היה…” The man was kosher-ish before kosher was even a thing. The angels might’ve been lactose-intolerant, but Avrohom’s table was pure intention.
Says the Maharal (Gevuros Hashem ch. 3-4) azoy:
“ישראל נבראו לעם במעמד הר סיני… קודם לזה היו יחידים קדושים, אבל לא היה זה שם עם.”
At Sinai, Israel was created as a people; before that, they were only holy individuals. And Rav Tzadok adds (Pri Tzadik, Lech Lecha 2): Avrohom already carried the “Jewish soul,” which became fully activated in his descendants at Sinai. Interesting, as both these luminaries agree that Avrohom was not Jewish, only Jew-ish. Finally, we quote the Chasam Soifer (Yoreh De’ah Responsa 356) who famously says:
“אברהם אבינו היה הראשון שנתגייר – לא מדת אחרת לדת אחרת, אלא מן הטבע אל האלהות.”
Avrohom Ovinu was the first to convert — not from one faith to another, but from nature to Divinity. Real pshat: Avrohom was the first convert — not to Judaism per se, but to the RBSO’s consciousness. Says the medrish Bereishis Rabbah 64:4 this about Avrohom: “Avrohom kept the entire Toirah before it was given.”
“קיים אברהם אבינו כל התורה כולה עד שלא ניתנה”
He didn’t have a rebbe or Shulchan Aruch, but his gut Yiddishe neshomo told him what to do. The original Jew-ish to Jew upgrade!
As an aside, and maybe a topic to be covered in the coming weeks, is this: if Avrohom was but Jew-ish because he came along before Matan Toirah, then, by extension, neither were Odom, Chava, Soro, Yitzchok, Rivka, Yaakov and Leah. Neither were Rochel -everyone’s favorite, or her boys, Yoisef and Binyomin. The list goes on. In fact, not one personality we met or will meet in Sefer Bereishis, no matter how great and dedicated they may have been to the RBSO, was Jewish. Say it’s not so but if it is, and seemingly it is, based on what was quoted above, we may ask this slightly uncomfortable question: if Avrohom, Yitzchok, Yaakov, and their wives weren’t Jewish, then what exactly is Chevron? A Jewish cemetery? Or the world’s most sacred non-Jewish burial plot? Yikes! If Jewishness, halachically speaking, began only at Sinai with Revelation, then everyone buried in the Me’oras HaMachpeyloh —Odom, Avrohom, Yitzchok, Yaakov, Chava, Sarah, Rivka, and Leah — weren’t technically Jews at death. Jew-ish, maybe but not Jewish. Yet millions of Yiddin flock there to daven, cry, and light candles. What’s pshat? And may a kohen enter? Shoin, as I said, that topic for another day.
The bottom lines: Avrohom started as a Jew-ish — philosopher, risk-taker, believer — and became more Jew-ish at heart (and below) with his bris, and faith. Jewishness isn’t about when the paperwork was stamped — it’s about when the journey began. The RBSO looks not at the birth certificate but at the direction of the walk.
So if you ever feel but Jew-ish in your observance and who at times doesn’t, if you’re but kosher-ish with a kosher kitchen at home but eating chazir trief out, or you find yourself at any other level of ish…in other words, your observance is far from perfect, relax. That’s exactly how it started. Every Jew’s story begins in the “-ish” zone. From faith-ish to faith-mamish, from mitzvah-ish to mitzvah-mamish, from shul-ish to shul-mamish; that’s the whole journey of us chosen people. So happens that at times, we veer off the road. Even pure Avrohom acted but Jew-ish at times especially so when he had Soro lie and tell the luring sexually charged Egyptians that his wife was but his sister. More on that another time. The good news: the RBSO understands the journey and forgives -if you ask nicely- most such not Jew-ish behaviors.
Avrohom went from idol-breaker to bris-maker. From Jew-ish to Jewish-mamish. George Santos claimed to be Jew-ish while Avrohom lived Jew-ish — meaning he was becoming one of the RBSO’s people. That’s the difference. Santos wore it as a costume; Avrohom wore it as a calling.
The final bottom line: Orthodox-ish is doing some, looking right, feeling right, but not mamish halachically committed. Avrohom taka started Jew-ish, Santos stayed Jew-ish. On the other hand, let’s give George credit. At a time when many were running away and hiding -some wanted out, for some reason -even if purely political- he wanted in. Crazy world we live in!
A gittin Shabbis!
The Heylige Oisvorfer Ruv
Yitz Grossman
Source URL: https://oisvorfer.com/lech-lecha-2025-jewish-vs-jew-ish/