Of Jews and Genes
Regarding Jennifer Senior’s cover story “Are Jews Smarter?” [October 24]: You have to ask?
—Mort Sheinman, Manhattan
Is it possible that there is a genetic basis for Jewish mothering? As a psychiatrist, I find it unlikely that a few extra points of mathematics IQ could account for the preponderance of Jewish Nobel laureates. The home environment must be key. Perhaps in the Eastern European ghetto there was a selective advantage for those individuals with better parenting skills, who could buffer the stresses of poverty, discrimination, social ostracism, and frequent pogroms. The children of such families, one would think, would be more likely to survive and pass on such genes. So, maybe the scientific question should be “Do carriers of sphingolipid genes become better parents?” rather than “Do they score higher on math SATs?”
—David Hellerstein, Manhattan I am of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. It’s fun to play with the idea that we are somehow innate, cerebral superheros and that our Kryptonite is the susceptibility to certain metabolic disorders of fatty compounds in the brain. However, I think the impact of the Jewish mother is stronger than the impact of cerebrosides in brain tissue. If researchers will take the trouble to look around, they will find just as many Jews with low or average intelligence and ambition as there are in any other population group. We just keep them hidden so as not to spoil the image.
—Henry Kaminer, Manhattan
Though I was intrigued by the study of the Jewish brain, I was surprised by the patriarchal nature of the article. If the theory posited in this piece is correct, surely the female Jewish brain has evolved along similar lines as that of the male. A mention of such accomplished Jewish women as Susan Sontag, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Grace Paley, and Nadine Gordimer would have given your piece the seriousness and balance it was striving for and avoided the stereotyping it has perpetuated.
—Mary Morris, Brooklyn
It is amazing to me that “Are Jews Smarter?” makes no mention of what I believe to be a salient reason for Jews’ intellectual distinction: the history of compulsory literacy education for all Jewish male children. During Europe’s Dark Ages, having to learn to read the Torah by age 13 for one’s bar mitzvah, and to master the many languages of Europe, surely played a part in assuring the Jews’ survival.
—Shirley Fadim, Manhattan
I am a college-educated, nonreligious Jew. I’m ashamed of “Are Jews Smarter?” To perpetuate this myth of superior Jewish intellect will only make people scorn and hate us more. We have been exiled, enslaved, and murdered en masse on and off for 2,000 years—we can’t be that smart.
—Robert Liebowitz, Astoria
Bravo: in a single issue, you managed to delve into the stereotypes of both Jewish intelligence and black penis size [“Intelligencer: Hung Up on Size,” by Brian Keith Jackson, October 24]. As an intelligent Jewish man, I should thank you for not combining the two articles, for it surely would have led to the examination of yet another Jewish stereotype—one I do not believe in either.
—Len Blaifeder, Wayne, N.J.
Corrections
In “ Intelligencer: Can the Prius Replace the Towncar?,” by Aric Chen (October 3), OZOcar should have been identified as the city’s first all-hybrid fleet, not the country’s.
In “ Intelligencer: The Sky Keeps Falling on West 12th Street,” by Amy Zalneraitis (October 24), it was incorrectly stated that Diane Von Furstenberg Studio had filed suit against the company responsible for the lighting that fell at DVF’s fashion show last month. Also, it was incorrectly reported that the lot next door to the DVF offices was owned by Anna Anisimova.
In “Roman a Clef Watch!,” by Boris Kachka (October 24), hedge-funder Victor Niederhoffer was mistakenly described as bankrupt.
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