Why do people in NYC ask if you are Jewish? not racist question!?

Question

Sorry if this is long: I am from the North, North East in a little town. I recently started college/ orientation at a pretty big famous school in NYC.

I am of Irish decent, & I have dark hair.

Ever since I've been in NY, I keep having people come up to me and it seems like the 2nd question on everyone's tongue is "are you jewish?"

No one has ever asked me that before, so I'm a little taken aback.
Is this normal in NY?

There seem to be a lot of Jewish girls in my dorm. They are very nice & I like them.
But whenever I am introduced to them, they ask my name, my major, and within 5, no 2 minutes, the question is "are you Jewish?"

Why do they ask so much?

Also I get the feeling they are always trying to find out in the first 5 minutes if you are or not, and sometimes they throw in things like "oh, Temple XXX is really good" and quickly look at you to see your reaction, or am I imagining thing?

thank you & I do not mean this to be racist in any way. tara

mr moose, I'm in a very good college & I do not believe I stated I believe the Jews to be a "race."
If anything, the askers are the ones who think it is a race because they assume I may be Jewish based on my name or face or whatever.

Answer 1

Cuz there's hella Jews in NYC. NYC is like Disneyland for them.

Answer 2

They probably ask depending on how orthodox they are. They want to feel comfortable around others that understand their religion and there customs. Fridays is their sabot, for example and in some neighborhoods it is like a ghost town until Saturday after sunset. These are part of their beliefs.

I would only be offended if they stopped talking or associated with me based on religious beliefs.

There are cliques no matter were you go and are formed on all types of similarities in reguard to economics, religion, race, etc...

Answer 3

I would probably have the same reaction as you to the question. Since you did not say what your last name was (nor should you), perhaps these people are just "assuming" your religious heritage based on how you look.

I guess the follow-up question would be, "Why do you want to know something as personal as that?"

I did not think your question was racial in any way.

Answer 4

i'm german/swiss decent, but look italian. i've been asked by a lot of italians if i am too...... it's just curiosity and a search for something in common... and blood lines are interesting conversation pieces.... especially if it's done with good humor.

Answer 5

You are in college and think Jewish is a race? What happened to education???????????????