Bubbe Knows Best

Traditionnnnn. Tradition!

This story is from Elton, a 28-year-old architect in NYC, as told to Raz:

I met Melissa on OkCupid. She was Jewish. My dad is Jewish; My mom is not. I consider myself Jewish, but I definitely don’t think it’s necessary that my significant other share my religious beliefs. Melissa didn’t agree.

They say you should never talk about religion on a date, but she brought it up! So I told her the reason that I would never judge a woman based on religion: Basically, my grandmother never forgave my father for marrying a woman who wasn’t Jewish. She was very sweet to my father and to me—and I loved her very much—but she was always negative towards my mother. My grandmother passed away a couple years ago, and to this day my mother regrets that she was never able to forge a relationship with her mother-in-law.

When I finished what I thought was a very heartfelt story, Melissa waved it off.

“I have to say,” she said. “I agree with your grandmother.”

“Wait, what?”

“What was your father thinking throwing away his religion to marry someone outside the faith?”

Was she seriously dissing both my parents on a first date? I was speechless. But it didn’t end there.

“Now that I think of it,” she continued. “This whole situation is actually your grandma’s fault. After all, if she’d done a better job raising her son, he would’ve never been tempted to marry a non-Jew in the first place.”

So there it was. With one conversation she’d effectively shunned my mother, my father and my dear departed grandma.

I decided that date should be our last. After all, she wasn’t exactly someone I could bring home to the family.