ABSTRACT

Based on a multi-sited study of five Messianic Jewish congregations in North America, this paper analyses the widespread tendency for gentile (non-Jewish) adherents to hint about having ‘Jewish DNA’. I argue that Messianic Judaism’s theology and social structures promote the search for Jewish roots while also suppressing it, which results in the grassroots circulation of hints in a ‘semi-public’ register. Bringing together work by Kim Tallbear on gene talk and Veena Das on rumours, I frame these hints as unfinished stories that may benefit believers within religious communities oriented around individual seeking. However, my second point concerns how such ‘hints’ serve as, what Ritchie Lowry calls, ‘a primary means for informal social control’. The semi-public genre encourages informal strictures, often based on the racialisation of ‘Jewish DNA’. I end by exploring another aspect related to registers of disclosure regarding my role as a fieldworker who conceals other people’s secrets.

摘要

基于对北美五个弥赛亚犹太教会的多地点研究，本文分析了外邦（非犹太）信徒暗示拥有“犹太 DNA”的普遍趋势。我认为弥赛亚犹太教的神学和社会结构促进了对犹太根源的寻找，同时也压制了它，这导致了“半公开”登记册中暗示的草根循环。将 Kim Tallbear 关于基因谈话的工作和 Veena Das 关于谣言的工作结合起来，我将这些提示框定为未完成的故事，这些故事可能会使宗教社区中以个人寻求为导向的信徒受益。然而，我的第二点关注这些“提示”如何发挥作用，正如里奇·洛瑞所说，“非正式社会控制的主要手段”。半公开类型鼓励非正式的限制，通常基于“犹太 DNA”的种族化。