‘Jew Mask’

There is an expression that has been used over the past few years called ‘Jew Face’ which has two principle meanings: one is the proliferation of non-Jews playing the role of Jews in movies and shows, while the second has to do with using make-up to dress up these non-Jewish actors to ‘look more Jewish.’ The first category is seen in movies and shows like Golda, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the Lehman Trilogy all with non-Jewish actors, while the second can be exemplified by actor Bradley Cooper sporting a large nose to play Leonard Bernstein in Maestro.

There is a related phenomenon happening in politics called ‘Jew Mask,’ where politicians strut out a prominent Jew to “reeducate” Jews that they have no idea what’s really in their own best interest.

In July 2015, President Obama sent Treasury Secretary Jack Lew out to tell Americans that the Iranian nuclear deal (JCPOA) was a really “strong deal,” even when everybody on the planet knew that it was a farce that left the entire Iranian nuclear program intact. Sending out the Treasury Secretary – instead of the Secretary of Defense – to make the point added to the ridiculous spectacle. Everyone understood that Lew was paraded as the Jew Mask for Obama to convince the world that if an Orthodox Jew thinks that the Islamic Republic of Iran which had sworn to destroy Israel is now effectively neutered, it must be true.

The trotting out of a senior-ranking Jew to state what the president cannot say convincingly happened again this past week, as President Biden (who was Vice President when Lew did his 2015 performance) had New York Senator Chuck Schumer lambast Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Despite Israel having a civilian-to-terrorist death rate of less than 2:1 in urban combat during the current war from Gaza, when historic norms are closer to 9:1, Schumer excoriated Netanyahu on the Senate floor.

*New York Senator Charles Schumer berates Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu*

Obama and Biden sent Lew and Schumer to be their Jew Masks, selling a narrative which the majority of Jews don’t believe. They attempted to convince global Jewry that they are actually safe and America has made them so, despite Jews feeling terrified under attack and threat of annihilation.

Jew Face plays out in Hollywood and Broadway, an ugly annoyance of watching the replacement of Jews with non-Jews even though there are plenty of Jews in the performing arts. Conversely, Jew Mask happens in the real world, a terrifying spectacle of observing a prominent Jew under direction of a powerful boss, lie to global Jewry that imminent threats are not lethal, to get the paltry number of Jews to relinquish their basic right of self-defense.