For Sen. Allen, Questions of Much More Than Faith

Yesterday he was back on the air on CNN's "Situation Room," saying that he just found out last month about his roots after reading the article in the Forward and asking his 83-year-old mom about it. Allen said his mom had made him promise not to tell anyone that she was born Jewish, and that he was keeping that promise when asked about it during the debate. (Allen's maternal grandfather, Felix Lumbroso, was imprisoned by the Nazis when the Germans took over Tunis during World War II, and his mom, Henrietta "Etty" Allen, has said she was always fearful that her children might go through what she experienced. She converted to the Anglican faith as a child.)

Sen. Allen teared up during the CNN interview.

"Now it's personal," he said, and by "it" he meant the fight against intolerance and anti-Semitism.

The controversy over Allen highlights an interesting puzzle about Judaism. Is Judaism a matter of faith or ethnicity? Orthodox rabbis will tell you that Jewish identity is passed through the mother. As Goldberg points out, Allen could move to Israel and become a citizen.

"From a Jewish perspective, he is as Jewish . . . as I am," says Rabbi Tzvi Weinreb, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, the largest association of Orthodox synagogues in the United States.

But if one does not consider oneself Jewish -- if one grew up identifying as a Christian, as Allen did -- Orthodox rabbis might not be a source of authority. Being Jewish, then, is not a definition on a piece of paper but a three-dimensional object that looks different depending on what direction you approach it from.

Another question: What must it be like to discover a family secret like this -- a secret, really, about yourself -- at the age of 54, and have it play out in public? And to know that your mother kept it from you to protect you, because the Holocaust so traumatized her that she still didn't feel fully safe being a Jew in America in 2006?

"The bottom line is you have a man who might become president whose mother believes that we live in a society where, in order to protect her son, she needs to conceal" her Jewish background, says Ami Eden, an editor at the Forward.

Maybe that's another reason why this whole thing matters. Because we need to have this conversation.

Question: Can the Jews find humor in all of this?

Another question: You need to ask?

This week, Rep. Barney Frank, who is Jewish, suggested "macaca"might have Yiddish roots, though his dissection of the word wasn't quite clean enough for a family newspaper. Jewish comedian Lewis Black, called for comment, demanded DNA tests to prove Allen was Jewish. "We're not claiming him," he said.

And Democratic strategist Paul Begala offered this line straight from the borscht belt: "Mel Gibson asked for his contribution back."

Bada-boom!

Which prompts more questions: Will George Allen be celebrating the Jewish New Year, which starts tonight?

And with the election coming up, will it be a good New Year for him?