Story has 4 Ashkenazim characters as the main cast. Two are Orthodox immigrants from Ukraine (both women), one is Reform from NYC (non-binary, but initially seen as a man), one is a mostly secular woman from an interfaith family. One of the Orthodox women goes through a lot of culture shock in the US and is prone to commenting on others' habits (not nagging, more like a detective). As I'm not Jewish, what intracommunity issues should I avoid bringing up? (1/2)
The secular woman is an accomplice to a murder at one point and has ties to organized crime, but is trying to leave that life. Her arc does not end tragically, though she does flee NY to avoid legal repercussions. Any potential implications for her arc I should keep in mind? The setting is NYC, 1920s. (2/2) (Since I have a bit of extra space: thanks for all the hard work you all do!)
1920’s NYC, Jewish characters
I’m a little curious how someone who isn’t Jewish winds up populating their story with an entirely Jewish cast of leads in the first place. I hope you’ve read some of our literature first just to get a feel for how we work when we tell our own stories. (Recs with settings that might help you specifically: The Golem and the Jinni, set in 1900’s NYC; @barrydeutch ’s Hereville graphic novels, set today but starring an Orthodox girl;Mystery Midrash collection of Jewish mysteries, especially the NYC-immigrant set “Mom Remembers”.)
>> As I’m not Jewish, what intracommunity issues should I avoid bringing up?
Since you’re an outsider you probably shouldn’t take sides using your Jewish characters as a mouthpiece for yourself on whether or not to choose full Orthodox observance vs. Reform practices – as long as both are depicted as a valid personal choice within the story you’ll probably avoid ruffling the most of our feathers. Don’t go out of your way to make Orthodox Jews look un-feminist; there are Orthodox Jewish feminists who have probably made any argument you can think of already not only from within Judaism but within Orthodox culture specifically.
Also, and I can’t stress this enough, we are not “going to hell” if we don’t keep kosher. Jewish people’s relationship with our own rules is not the same as Christianity’s. It’s different in ways many Christians/Christian-born atheists don’t even realize religions can be different. So if your Orthodox character is looking down on the Reform character for some reason it’s probably going to have more of the flavor of “shame you aren’t personally helping keep the tradition alive” than “you are a naughty pangolin and G-d doesn’t love you” – although, like I said, I’d be more comfortable if they didn’t get into those sorts of conflicts at all.
The way I address this kind of difference in observance level in my upcoming f/f novella Knit One, Girl Two is that the secular MC, Clara, keeps making awkward comments about Danielle’s eating habits, since Danielle (who is Reform) goes to services every Friday night and keeps “kosher-lite.” It makes her self-conscious about being so secular, but Danielle reassures her “you think about the way I eat more than I do.” I’ve been in plenty of groups both online and in person where the level of observance varied, and everyone just kind of rolled with it.
I’m not sure I have enough information to spot anything problematic about the secular woman who’s forced to flee NYC. If she’s secular but still has a strong Jewish identity, having her flee to another place with the kind of heavy Jewish presence as NYC would ring true. That way she’ll still be able to get the foods she craves, be around people like her if she runs into period-accurate discrimination, etc. I’m not sure what those places would be in 1920 but my gut is saying “Big cities and possibly Charleston, SC.” If you want me to delve into that more and can’t find it on your own, send a separate ask just saying “where were the Jewish enclaves in 1920’s North America.”
As for what kinds of interesting observations the Orthodox woman could make about her new environment that sound detective-y, I guess make a list of all the things that would be different between shtetl life and NYC at that time period – she’s probably not encountered Italians before, for example – and then go down the list and pick all the ones that don’t make her look like a jerk? I mean, she’s gonna notice a heck of a lot besides just “that woman is showing parts of her body my culture doesn’t show.”
–Shira
