UMass Boston's Chancellor Finally Acknowledges the Existence of a Jewish Holiday
But misses out on a few important details. A guest post by Dr. Strangelove
Dear Chancellor of color, Emperor of the Sun, Father of the nation,
For years, ever since you assumed office, we have been watching with envy as you would send one campus-wide holiday greeting after another for the Muslim, Hindu, Persian, African American and Chinese holidays, but completely ignoring us Jews and our Christian brethren. Why didn’t you bestow your divine blessings upon us too? Could it be because the Social Justice movement, that you have aligned yourself with so religiously with, considers anything Judeo-Christian as “Western” and hence unworthy?
Speaking of which, don’t you find it funny that the same social justice movement has totally redefined words like “Western”, “oppressor” and “colonizer” when Jews are concerned? Not to mention “white”? But we digress.
It’s not that we REALLY need your validation - our people have survived and are still surviving much worse things, but what kind of Jews would we be if we didn’t kvetch a little every once in a while?
Anyway, a month ago a glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon. An Easter greeting from you landed in our mailboxes! Finally, a recognition of a Christian holiday! Passover was still a month away, and so for a whole month we speculated - will he greet us too or will he, ehm, pass over us again? Bets were collected, nails were bitten to the bone with anticipation. We didn’t want to ramp our hopes up too high only for them to be crashed once more against the cold and harsh reality of your indifference. You see, on one hand - we Jews have a holiday for every time the goyim tried to kill us and failed. This means we have A LOT of holidays - even we can’t keep track of them all. But on the other hand - Passover is a really important one. Even more so than Hanukkah, believe it or not.
And then, on April 22, it finally happened! An email from you titled “Celebrating Passover” graced every inbox on campus. We were so thrilled! We finally felt like the cool kids! We felt included! But upon a closer inspection we realized that you had omitted several important details. It may appear somewhat nitpicky, but in light of everything that is going on these days, we cannot let it go.
Therefore, we give you a little quiz. Beware - these are trick questions. Do not look up the answers on social media.
In your email you said:
At sundown today, April 22, Jewish people around the world begin the Passover observance, eight days commemorating their ancestors’ exodus from slavery.
Where did our ancestors journey after being freed from slavery? Please mark the correct answer:
America
Russia
Poland
Israel
Hint: The aforementioned events took place long before 1948.
You also said:
It is a time for Jewish people to join in long-established rituals and offer prayers that celebrate the renewal of hope in a world that witnesses so many forms of oppression and suffering.
In the end of the Seder we say “Next year in…”
Jerusalem
New York
Warsaw
Kyiv
Hint: We have been saying it since long before 1948.
By the way, we don’t mean it THIS way:
You ended your email by saying:
And on this Passover, I offer thanks to all of you and for UMass Boston’s mission, which has never been more vital. Every day, we see that our work has the power to alleviate suffering, improve lives, and deepen the ethic of care that anchors our community.
This is an open-ended question: If ethic of care is so important to our community, how come you and your team are yet to seriously address the multiple instances of Antisemitism that have come out of our campus and beyond?
Best regards,
UMass Boston’s Jewish faculty, staff and students