We welcome back Heather J. Matthews today! Heather's focus on representation--especially concerning Judaism--can help classroom teachers consider how their own students can critically examine whole-class or independent texts.
Dr. Matthews is an assistant professor of literacy at Salisbury University. She specializes in diverse representation within children’s and young adult literature. Heather can be reached at [email protected].
The state of Orthodox Judaism’s representation in YAL by Dr. Heather Matthews
In writing this post, I am making a major assumption. I assume that you, the reader, are familiar with the Bechdel Test, named after its creator, cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Bechdel observed in the mid-1980s that representation of women and girls in movies was seemingly unbalanced – that is, characters who were girls or women seemed only to serve the purpose of furthering a man’s narrative. The Bechdel test, as it is now known, asks consumers three questions about the media in question: are there are least two women, do those women talk to one another, and whether their topic of conversation about something other than a man (BechdelTest.com, n.d.). If the movie cannot pass through these three requirements, it fails the Bechdel test. While the Bechdel test was originally applies to movies, the rules can be applied to most forms of media, like television shows or books.
I have been obsessed with the idea of the Bechdel test for a long time, and would highly encourage you, dear reader, to play around on the Bechdel test’s website to check for your favorite movie. I think you may be surprised.
But what does this have to do with young adult literature? While I assumed that the Bechdel test is well known, I assume that the subsequent representation tests which examine other identity aspects are not. There are a multitude of other media representation tests like the Bechdel test, which you likely haven’t heard of – for example, the Waithe test, which requires that Black women who must 1) be in a position of power, and 2) is in a healthy romantic relationship (Wide Angle Youth Media, 2020). There are tests for gender, sexuality, race, ability, ethnicity and religion, as well as other identity aspects and identifiers. Of importance for this blog post is the Josephs test, which seeks to examine representation of Orthodox Jews (Levy, 2021).
For those who are not in the know of Judaism and its spectrum of beliefs, let me give you a quick and dirty overview: There are many denominations, or streams, of Judaism. However, three streams are more well-known due to their population size and/or visibility. These streams can be imagined on a linear spectrum from more to less observant of the practices of Judaism. On one end of the spectrum is Reform Judaism, which tends towards liberal observation of practices – Reform Jews tend to be less observant of ceremony, and tend to allow for exceptions and modernization in practices. In the middle of the spectrum is Conservative Judaism, which has some Reform aspects (for example, women can be rabbis) but also follows tradition and ceremony more closely than Reform Judaism (for example, attending religious services more often). On the other end of the spectrum is Orthodox Judaism, which tends to be stricter in terms of the ways in which Judaism is practiced on a daily basis; dietary rules, gender rules, dress rules, and other religious rules are closely followed. Because Orthodox Jews are most visible due to clothing and hair practices, they tend to attract the most attention in public and in the media.
With this in mind, the Josephs test deals specifically with Orthodox Judaism representation. Like the Bechdel test, there are several requirements that a piece of media must pass through to pass or fail: 1) Are there any Orthodox characters who are emotionally and psychological stable, 2) Are there characters who are Orthodox whose religious life is a characteristic but not a plot point or problem, 3) Can the Orthodox character find their Happily Ever After as a religious Jew, and 4) If the main plot points are in conflict due to religious observation, have any of the writers done the research required (Levy, 2021). While I would posit that the Josephs test can, and should, apply to all Jewish representation, the test’s origins specifically name Orthodoxy, and so this blog post will focus specifically on Orthodox Jewish representation in young adult literature.
I have been obsessed with the idea of the Bechdel test for a long time, and would highly encourage you, dear reader, to play around on the Bechdel test’s website to check for your favorite movie. I think you may be surprised.
But what does this have to do with young adult literature? While I assumed that the Bechdel test is well known, I assume that the subsequent representation tests which examine other identity aspects are not. There are a multitude of other media representation tests like the Bechdel test, which you likely haven’t heard of – for example, the Waithe test, which requires that Black women who must 1) be in a position of power, and 2) is in a healthy romantic relationship (Wide Angle Youth Media, 2020). There are tests for gender, sexuality, race, ability, ethnicity and religion, as well as other identity aspects and identifiers. Of importance for this blog post is the Josephs test, which seeks to examine representation of Orthodox Jews (Levy, 2021).
For those who are not in the know of Judaism and its spectrum of beliefs, let me give you a quick and dirty overview: There are many denominations, or streams, of Judaism. However, three streams are more well-known due to their population size and/or visibility. These streams can be imagined on a linear spectrum from more to less observant of the practices of Judaism. On one end of the spectrum is Reform Judaism, which tends towards liberal observation of practices – Reform Jews tend to be less observant of ceremony, and tend to allow for exceptions and modernization in practices. In the middle of the spectrum is Conservative Judaism, which has some Reform aspects (for example, women can be rabbis) but also follows tradition and ceremony more closely than Reform Judaism (for example, attending religious services more often). On the other end of the spectrum is Orthodox Judaism, which tends to be stricter in terms of the ways in which Judaism is practiced on a daily basis; dietary rules, gender rules, dress rules, and other religious rules are closely followed. Because Orthodox Jews are most visible due to clothing and hair practices, they tend to attract the most attention in public and in the media.
With this in mind, the Josephs test deals specifically with Orthodox Judaism representation. Like the Bechdel test, there are several requirements that a piece of media must pass through to pass or fail: 1) Are there any Orthodox characters who are emotionally and psychological stable, 2) Are there characters who are Orthodox whose religious life is a characteristic but not a plot point or problem, 3) Can the Orthodox character find their Happily Ever After as a religious Jew, and 4) If the main plot points are in conflict due to religious observation, have any of the writers done the research required (Levy, 2021). While I would posit that the Josephs test can, and should, apply to all Jewish representation, the test’s origins specifically name Orthodoxy, and so this blog post will focus specifically on Orthodox Jewish representation in young adult literature.
So, with the Josephs test in mind, I am naturally led to the question, “what is the state of Orthodox Judaism representation in YAL”? It won’t surprise you to know that the pool of YAL which features explicitly named Orthodox Jewish main characters is quite small – however, it does exist. Take, for example, Potok’s The Chosen (1967), which tells of two Orthodox Jewish teenagers living in New York during the mid-1940s as they grow into adulthood and their own identities. This book is popular where I am currently located, and many local 6th graders read The Chosen as part of their ELA curriculum (much to my surprise and delight). Potok’s body of work makes up a significant amount of the Orthodoxy representation within YAL, with The Chosen being his most well-known text.
Here is where the Josephs test comes in. Does The Chosen pass the Josephs test? Well, it really depends on who you ask. In regards to question 2 (is the religious life of the character a characteristic instead of a plot points), there is a major stumbling block. Both of the main characters, Reuven and Danny, are Orthodox Jews, but the entire story of The Chosen revolves around their embracing or rejecting Jewish practices and beliefs, to the point where family ties are tested and expectations comes short for most of the involved characters. In fact, by the end of the book, dual protagonist Danny has rejected the external markers of his Jewish practice by cutting his hair and beard. This symbolic rejection of his Jewish practices is the ending of a built up tension which dominated the entire plot of the novel.
Here is where the Josephs test comes in. Does The Chosen pass the Josephs test? Well, it really depends on who you ask. In regards to question 2 (is the religious life of the character a characteristic instead of a plot points), there is a major stumbling block. Both of the main characters, Reuven and Danny, are Orthodox Jews, but the entire story of The Chosen revolves around their embracing or rejecting Jewish practices and beliefs, to the point where family ties are tested and expectations comes short for most of the involved characters. In fact, by the end of the book, dual protagonist Danny has rejected the external markers of his Jewish practice by cutting his hair and beard. This symbolic rejection of his Jewish practices is the ending of a built up tension which dominated the entire plot of the novel.
Of course, a main issue with The Chosen is that the text is quite old, and the dual protagonists are thrust into situations which are not necessarily relevant to modern Orthodoxy. One must wonder how more modern portrayals of Orthodox Judaism in YAL stack up in terms of representation. As case study, I would like to propose Isaac Blum’s The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen (2022) and Leah Scheier’s The Last Words We Said (2021). These two books, published in the last two years, both feature Orthodox Jews as main characters. Yehuda (who goes by Hoodie) and Eliana (who goes by Ellie) represent modern Orthodox Judaism through realistic fiction, but both books take vastly different approaches in how Hoodie and Ellie’s Judaism affects their lives and the plot points of the story.
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These books made such a splash in their Orthodox Jewish representation that both books have won major literary awards, as well as a fair amount of buzz in the Jewish kid lit scene. But, do they pass the Josephs test? Can these young characters maintain their beliefs in the modern world? Are they emotionally and psychologically stable? Are their Jewish identities a characteristic instead of a plot point?
I would like to leave these answers up to you, and highly encourage you to seek out and read these books. I would also encourage you to critically examine the next Orthodox Jewish character you come across in media, and ask yourself about if this character would pass through the Josephs test – more likely than not, as the television show Nurses episode “Achilles Heel” proves, the answer will be no.
References:
Bechdel Test. (n.d.). Bechdel Test Movie List. https://bechdeltest.com/
Blum, I. (2022). The life and crimes of Hoodie Rosen. Philomel Books.
Scheier, L. (2021). The last words we said. Simon Pulse.
Levy, Y. (2021). Want to represent Orthodox Jews accurately? Take this test before production begins. Jew in the City. https://jewinthecity.com/2021/03/want-to-represent-orthodox-jews-accurately-take-this-test-before-production-begins/
Potok, C. (1967). The Chosen. Simon & Schuster.
Shafer, E. (2021). NBC removes ‘Nurses’ episode from digital platforms following backlash over Orthodox Jewish storyline. Variety. https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nbc-removes-nurses-episode-backlash-orthodox-jewish-storyline-1234914536/
Wide Angle Youth Media. (2020). Media tests for diversity and representation. Wide Angle Youth Media. https://www.wideanglemedia.org/blog/media-tests
I would like to leave these answers up to you, and highly encourage you to seek out and read these books. I would also encourage you to critically examine the next Orthodox Jewish character you come across in media, and ask yourself about if this character would pass through the Josephs test – more likely than not, as the television show Nurses episode “Achilles Heel” proves, the answer will be no.
References:
Bechdel Test. (n.d.). Bechdel Test Movie List. https://bechdeltest.com/
Blum, I. (2022). The life and crimes of Hoodie Rosen. Philomel Books.
Scheier, L. (2021). The last words we said. Simon Pulse.
Levy, Y. (2021). Want to represent Orthodox Jews accurately? Take this test before production begins. Jew in the City. https://jewinthecity.com/2021/03/want-to-represent-orthodox-jews-accurately-take-this-test-before-production-begins/
Potok, C. (1967). The Chosen. Simon & Schuster.
Shafer, E. (2021). NBC removes ‘Nurses’ episode from digital platforms following backlash over Orthodox Jewish storyline. Variety. https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nbc-removes-nurses-episode-backlash-orthodox-jewish-storyline-1234914536/
Wide Angle Youth Media. (2020). Media tests for diversity and representation. Wide Angle Youth Media. https://www.wideanglemedia.org/blog/media-tests
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