My journey toward Jewish identification

My brother called me last night from New York. He recently visited our home with his new wife, who is not Jewish. He called to tell me how hurt they were by a few incidents that happened during their stay with my family. During a dinner conversation, my fifteenyear-old son Isaac said something about shiksas (non-Jewish women) and we all laughed. Another incident involved my twelveyear-old son Aarlo, who made a mention of an M-O-T (member of our tribe) and looked at his new aunt and said, "not M-Y-T (member of your tribe)." Both incidents were so insulting to my brother and his wife that he threatened not to return to our home. I am embarrassed by this form of Jewish attitude and behavior and continue to struggle against it. I am beginning to replace this separatist identification with a positive identification, and I have learned many important lessons along the way.