Melissa's Place

My Jewish Brother-In-Law

Benjamin is a wonderful brother-in-law. One of the things I love about him (and there are many) is his ability to laugh about things. He can also make everyone else laugh, which is always enjoyable.

At Thanksgiving dinner, we were discussing the wonderful ethnic mixes that our kids will be. Maryann and Ben often giggle that their kids will be Chi-jews because Maryann is half chinese and Ben is...well....not Jewish. However, EVERYONE assumes that he is. The possibility does exist considering he had a mysterious, not-talked-about grandfather whose background is unknown. In fact, recently, Ben's mother said something about the fact that this grandfather may very well have been Jewish after all.

Ben used to be a tour guide for Ottawa. One day he was showing prospective students around the Ottawa University Campus when a gentleman leaned in to ask him a question somewhat privately. "You'll be sure to be able to answer this, I'm sure..." he began "What's the Jewish life like on campus?"

There was another time when Mary and Ben were guests at a lady's house. She took one look at him (and he has been said to have a Jewish nose...whatever that is), heard his name was Benjamin and said very matter-of-factly, "Well, I guess I won't be serving you any pork!"