Apparently, I am a racist Scrabble player

[anilizzy]

lol, as a Jew, I really cant see what the problem is.. racist? Judaism is   not a race.. it is a religion. We here in Israel we have black Jews ,  north African Sephardic  Jews, Indian Jews, European Jews, Russian Jews , Argentinean Jews, Iraqi Jews Iranian Jews , Dutch Jews  American Jews.... AND  beautiful mixtures of them all. Jews who came form 100 different countries with all kinds of different looks... we are Jews because we practice the Jewish religion and are of the Jewish faith.  
Nazi Racial Ideology tried to  twist the religion into a race,  with a unique  different blood  and physical characteristics. but  they couldn't.
 So I would not be even remotely offended by the word Jew .... and if your friend is... I think he may have the problem of being prejudiced, if he thinks calling me a Jew is a bad name or a slur.. its just a fact of who I am.. and rather proud o be so.
 So poo on them.. stick to tiddly winks with them next time! lol

[Warbaby]

lol, as a Jew, I really cant see what the problem is.. racist? Judaism is   not a race.. it is a religion. We here in Israel we have black Jews ,  north African Sephardic  Jews, Indian Jews, European Jews, Russian Jews , Argentinean Jews, Iraqi Jews Iranian Jews , Dutch Jews  American Jews.... AND  beautiful mixtures of them all. Jews who came form 100 different countries with all kinds of different looks... we are Jews because we practice the Jewish religion and are of the Jewish faith.  
Nazi Racial Ideology tried to  twist the religion into a race,  with a unique  different blood  and physical characteristics. but  they couldn't.
 So I would not be even remotely offended by the word Jew .... and if your friend is... I think he may have the problem of being prejudiced, if he thinks calling me a Jew is a bad name or a slur.. its just a fact of who I am.. and rather proud o be so.
 So poo on them.. stick to tiddly winks with them next time! lol

Now there, friends and neighbors, is a person that I would truly love to meet and would be truly honored to know them.

This is an attitude that I would love to see many more people have; not only concerning their own ethnic group, but concerning all other ethnic groups. 

[Esther_bunny]

oh... THAT kind of scrabble.




I was expecting a much more interesting question. 

Me, too!

[sparksals]

Add me to the camp thinking this was about the other "Scrabble"! lol

[TychaBrahe]

lol, as a Jew, I really cant see what the problem is.. racist? Judaism is   not a race.. it is a religion.

In the US, we often refer to Jews as a race because we aren't as precise as we should be.  We tend to have quite a lot of Eastern-European Jews, and as such they represent an ethnicity, not a race.  That is, they have behaviors/diet/philosophies in common.  And while some of these have crossed over (you can buy bagels at almost any grocery store, for example) some have not.  Catholics do not, generally, eat hamentaschen.  Even where ethnic behaviors cross into the mainstream, they are often still recognized as ethnic.  Many people eat tacos, yet they are still recognized as a Mexican food.  Many people say, "Oy veh!" but that is still recognized as a Jewish behavior.

As for Sephardic and other types of Jews, many non-Jews associate potato pancakes with Hanukkah, but do not similarly associate jelly doughnuts with Hanukkah.  (To the non-Jews, it is the tradition to eat fried foods during Hanukkah because of the association of oil for the Light and foods cooked in oil.  In central and northern Europe, and now in the US, this is done with latke, or potato pancakes.  In areas where the potato did not flourish, such as Spain and North Africa, the jelly doughnut is synonymous with Hanukkah.)

[Thriving ~ the next adventure]

Add me to the camp thinking this was about the other "Scrabble"! lol

meee tooo 

[MOM21SON]

You guys are killing me, please PM me and tell me what other kind there is?

[Venus193]

I have the E-Games version which is called Word Connect, and it accepts "jew" as a word.  It also seems haunted to me because the first time I used the word "jew" it answered with "shtick."

The software must have been written by a New Yorker.   

[Double Helix]

I agree that Judiasm is a religion (in which many Gentiles will convert).   Jews are actually a race.   I was born from a Jewish father and mother, so I remain a Jew until I die.

I have never thought of the word Jew being racist myself.

[ladycrim]

Well, at least you didn't use the word 'BAGEL'! 

I'm a Jew*, and I'm not the least bit offended.  In fact, a friend of mine used the word in an online Scrabble game the other day, and my only reaction was to be disappointed she had the 'J' tile.

OP, I think your friend either was looking for an excuse to lose you some points, or she is the type to get offended by the innocuous.

*I so desperately want to quote the "I'm not a Roman!" scene from "Life of Brian" right now, but that DOES contain offensive terms.

[Brentwood]

(Outposted a little).
Now I'm curious - what other "offensive, eg racist" words are allowed in Scrabble?  (no, don't post any, please - I'll go look at the dictionary).

There at least two racial and ethnic slurs that are allowed.

[nolechica]

I was really curious how one could be a racist "Scrabble" player...   However, I do see how one could be a racist Scrabble player, not in this instance though.

[RoseRose]

lol, as a Jew, I really cant see what the problem is.. racist? Judaism is   not a race.. it is a religion.

In the US, we often refer to Jews as a race because we aren't as precise as we should be.  We tend to have quite a lot of Eastern-European Jews, and as such they represent an ethnicity, not a race.  That is, they have behaviors/diet/philosophies in common.  And while some of these have crossed over (you can buy bagels at almost any grocery store, for example) some have not.  Catholics do not, generally, eat hamentaschen.  Even where ethnic behaviors cross into the mainstream, they are often still recognized as ethnic.  Many people eat tacos, yet they are still recognized as a Mexican food.  Many people say, "Oy veh!" but that is still recognized as a Jewish behavior.

As for Sephardic and other types of Jews, many non-Jews associate potato pancakes with Hanukkah, but do not similarly associate jelly doughnuts with Hanukkah.  (To the non-Jews, it is the tradition to eat fried foods during Hanukkah because of the association of oil for the Light and foods cooked in oil.  In central and northern Europe, and now in the US, this is done with latke, or potato pancakes.  In areas where the potato did not flourish, such as Spain and North Africa, the jelly doughnut is synonymous with Hanukkah.)

Now I miss sufganiyot (the Hebrew for those fried jelly donuts)!  I lived in Israel for a bit, and at my elementary class break, they'd have fresh ones we could buy.

Also, as being Jewish being a race/religion and the argument... well, I just typed a paragraph about it and realized I was opening myself up for saying lots of things that were borderline political/religious commentary.  I'll sum it up and say Judaism is complicated.

And, as a Jew, I don't find using it offensive.

[anilizzy]

sufganiyot !!!! lol.. 2 weeks before Hanukah they make their appearance en masse.. in schools, gans, work, friends houses, Chabad giving them out in the street.. even our bank gives you a sufganiya  when you go in to get extorted by them( lol) ... by the first day of Hanukah you begin to be sick of them...especially when they are a few hours old, get hard, and the sugar on top turns translucent.... by the end of Hanukah you are totally off them and can't even see one without getting a tummy ache ... until next Hanukah..lol
 In recent years, we've gotten sufganiyot with all kinds of " exotic" fillings.. like dulce de leche and chalva.... but  I still like the jams ones the best.
 and booooooooooooooooy are they fattening.

[iambe]

I'm a Jew, but I don't practice the religion. But my parents are Jews and my grandparents were and if I ever have children they will be as well. More than a religion, less than a race? Maybe "ethnicity" is the best word, I don't know.

In any case, I don't find the title "Jew" offensive any more than "American". It's the proper name for who I am. And as such, you wouldn't be able to use it under the "proper name" exclusion rule of Scrabble. I hadn't thought about the racist expression, though. Unless you are playing a particularly PC version of Scrabble, I would think that it would be acceptable under the rules.