I don't think you can understand this to mean he just found out he's Jewish! He's been playing the Jewish character since "The Graduate"!
From Wikipedia: Hoffman was born on August 8, 1937 in Los Angeles,[2] the second son of Lillian (née Gold; 1909-1981) and Harry Hoffman (1908-1988). His father worked as a prop supervisor (set decorator) at Columbia Pictures before becoming a furniture salesman.[4] Hoffman was named after stage and silent screen actor Dustin Farnum. His older brother, Ronald, is a lawyer and economist. Hoffman is Jewish, from an Ashkenazi family of immigrants from Ukraine, Poland, and Romania (the family's surname was spelled "Goikhman" in the Russian Empire).[5][6][7] His upbringing was non-religious; he has said, "I don’t have any memory of celebrating holidays growing up that were Jewish", and that he had "realized" he was Jewish at around age 10. Chances are his mother was Jewish, with a name like Lilian Gold. Also, in the 1930's, even the Reform did not accept Patrilineal descent. Another fact: intermarriage was much, much lower in the 1930's.
David is correct. Everyone has always known that he is Jewish. Of course, intermarriage at that time (early to mid 20th century) was a fraction of what it is, r'l, today. Many were the children or those who came from the great immigration to the U.S. the late 19th century to early 20th century from Europe and many of the uneducated Jews amongst them threw away their Yiddishkeit when they arrived to the new free land, and so children and grandchildren grew up knowing little of Torah Judaism. The reform movement also had a great impact on American Jewry.
I don't think you can understand this to mean he just found out he's Jewish! He's been playing the Jewish character since "The Graduate"!
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia: Hoffman was born on August 8, 1937 in Los Angeles,[2] the second son of Lillian (née Gold; 1909-1981) and Harry Hoffman (1908-1988). His father worked as a prop supervisor (set decorator) at Columbia Pictures before becoming a furniture salesman.[4] Hoffman was named after stage and silent screen actor Dustin Farnum. His older brother, Ronald, is a lawyer and economist. Hoffman is Jewish, from an Ashkenazi family of immigrants from Ukraine, Poland, and Romania (the family's surname was spelled "Goikhman" in the Russian Empire).[5][6][7] His upbringing was non-religious; he has said, "I don’t have any memory of celebrating holidays growing up that were Jewish", and that he had "realized" he was Jewish at around age 10.
Chances are his mother was Jewish, with a name like Lilian Gold. Also, in the 1930's, even the Reform did not accept Patrilineal descent. Another fact: intermarriage was much, much lower in the 1930's.
David is correct. Everyone has always known that he is Jewish. Of course, intermarriage at that time (early to mid 20th century) was a fraction of what it is, r'l, today. Many were the children or those who came from the great immigration to the U.S. the late 19th century to early 20th century from Europe and many of the uneducated Jews amongst them threw away their Yiddishkeit when they arrived to the new free land, and so children and grandchildren grew up knowing little of Torah Judaism. The reform movement also had a great impact on American Jewry.
ReplyDeleteso why is he only "discovering" it now?
ReplyDelete