Friendly October reminder not to put Spock or other Jewish characters in costumes with horns
to clarify: it is an antisemitic idea that Jews have horns (dating to a mistranslation of karan (shone) v keren (horns) ) which was perpetuated in art by the likes of Michelangelo. this is not a thing of the past–some gentiles still believe that jewish people have horns, and putting jewish characters in costumes/aus with horns is insensitive at best and also really fuckin gross
also do not depict Jewish characters as demons there is a very long history of Jews being seen as demons and that being used to kill us
please do not dress Jewish characters in costumes that are priest outfit or nun outfit or with crosses
Just to give y’all an idea of how modern the horn issue is: My dad, when he went to college in the early 1980’s, was asked by someone who had never met a Jew before where his horns were. In the 1980’s. My dad was asked where his horns were. This was only 30 years ago. I have been lucky not to deal with that particular stereotype in my lifetime, but that was less than a decade before I was born. And I know other Jews in areas where Jews are scarce have dealt with this much more recently than the 80’s.
Yup. When my mom went to college, her freshman year roommate woke up the first Sunday and started getting dressed for church. My mom was still in bed, so the roommate came over and woke her up.
Roommate: Did you want to come to church with me, or do you have your own church you’re going to?
Mom: Well, I don’t really go to religious services, but if I did I would go to a synagogue, not a church, because I’m Jewish.
(Long silence. My mom opens one eye to see her roommate staring in shock.)
Roommate: You … you don’t look Jewish.
Mom: (Who looks VERY Jewish) What do you mean?
Roommate: Well, my pastor always told me that Jews have horns and a tail.
Long story short: they didn’t end up getting along very well.
I’ve been asked about my horns as recently as 1997. In a public school in New Jersey.
It would b cool of my non-Jewish followers to reblog this!!! Spread this bc it’s scary and real and you should know!
I see a lot of people in the comments focusing on the fact that it’s Spock in the OP example, and asking what he has to do with it since Spock is a Vulcan, not Jewish.
Apart from the fact that Leonard Nimoy is Jewish in real life – which should be enough all by itself since despite Zachary Quinto’s excellent turn as the character Nimoy is still the iconic cultural precept – but he also heavily and explicitly used his heritage to influence Spock as a character.
Spock’s outsider role on the Enterprise and among other Vulcans due to his mixed ancestry is based on assimilation issues and prejudice faced by Jews in American society.
Many aspects of Vulcan philosophy were based on various Rabbinic and Talmudic teachings.
The infamous Vulcan Salute itself is based on the raising of the hands during a blessing.
Spock as a fictional person might be a member of an alien species and not technically a follower of the Jewish faith, but the character was based on and embodies several aspects of Judaism in general and Leonard Nimoy’s experiences as a Jew in particular. As the original and basis for all later Vulcans, it extends to the rest of them as well. That doesn’t mean he can’t be portrayed participating in non-Jewish events and celebrations – I eat candy on Halloween and I join friends for Christmas dinner every year – but you can’t ignore the background and history of the character.
Remember that when you’re including him in Halloween or Christmas stories.
I’m about 90% sure that there’s a Star Trek novel that made Spock’s mom canon Jewish, so there’s that too.
The-Lounge 