After reading the article in class about George Allen, and then reading the subsequent article further describing his actions, I am extremely disappointed with the manner in which this situation was handled. It is atrocious that Mr. Allen responded to the question of his family's Jewish roots in this way; trying to hide his heritage and openly mocking Jewish religious practices such as thos of kashrut. I am actually disgusted at the fact that in the article George Allen is quoted as saying "I still had a ham sandwich for lunch." In my opinion, it is up to the Jewish community to take a stand about people making a mockery of the Jewish religion in ways such as this one. In many instances before, politicians and other figures in the public sphere have uncovered links to a Jewish past, and clearly, there are better, and more respectful ways to handle such a discovery. George Allen handled this new information in an extremely poor manner, and as such, deserves whatever repercussions come as a result. It is unprofessional, and un-American to belittle the religion of others, and in my opinion, that is precisely what he does in this situation. Allen could have politely deferred questions to his publicist, or said something which would have handled his political situation in a beneficial light, while at the same time being respectful to all those around him.
It is interesting to me that George Allen has taken such an offensive stance on this issue. It is not as if a Jewish heritage would make Allen himself Jewish. Allen's mother is quoted as saying that it was her father that was imprisoned by the Nazis. As we discussed in class, matrilineal descent is the commonly accepted form of determining whether or not one is Jewish, and as such, George Allen would not be considered Jewish, because his mother is not Jewish (because her father, not her mother, was Jewish). To view a person as partially Jewish, according to bloodline, is almost a Nazi method of understanding Judaism, a practice clearly not accepted in Jewish life. It is facinating to me that a simple link to Judaism, through a grandparent, is enough to create such a stir in George Allen's life, and to cause him to be so rude, and altogether disrespectful in his actions.