The Jewish Princess

My family is one of the oldest Jewish families that exists and can be traced right back to the Tribes of Judea with Cohen's (Kohen) being the patrilineal ancestors of the priests of the Temple of Jerusalem. The Kohanim have continued throughout history in many Synagogues - my father and grandfather are both part of the Kohanim in our Orthodox Jewish Synagogue. The Kohanim are also the last living descendants of the Tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes of Israel (then Judea). While many still reside in Israel, slavery and war resulted in the Jewish Diaspora. The Jewish Diaspora is the dispersion of Jews/Israelites across the globe and away from our ancestral homeland. Now, you may see a large number of Jews whose ancestry only takes them back so far which created a number of Jewish ethnic divisions; Ashkenazi (German/Russian/European), Mizrahi (Asian/African), and Sephardi (Hispanic Jews - Spanish/Portuguese heritage). My family, in particular, belongs to the Mizrahim with some family members having Ashkenazim and Sephardic roots.

Due to the fact that a large proportion of Ashkenazim Jews are in the media today, many see Jews as being 'white'. However, this is far from fact - Jews are an ethnic group in themselves as well as a large majority of us being Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, African, etc. Like with all races, we come in varying different shades - I myself am relatively light-skinned thanks to a combination of health problems and living in a cold country with very little sun. My father and grandfather on the other hand are both very dark and my sisters could pass as being totally white with fair skin, light brown hair, and hazel eyes - the complete opposite of myself and our father who all have darker skin, almost black hair, and dark eyes with Jewfros to boot.

My family is one of the oldest Jewish families that exists and can be traced right back to the Tribes of Judea with Cohen's (Kohen) being the patrilineal ancestors of the priests of the Temple of Jerusalem. The Kohanim have continued throughout history in many Synagogues - my father and grandfather are both part of the Kohanim in our Orthodox Jewish Synagogue. The Kohanim are also the last living descendants of the Tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes of Israel (then Judea). While many still reside in Israel, slavery and war resulted in the Jewish Diaspora. The Jewish Diaspora is the dispersion of Jews/Israelites across the globe and away from our ancestral homeland. Now, you may see a large number of Jews whose ancestry only takes them back so far which created a number of Jewish ethnic divisions; Ashkenazi (German/Russian/European), Mizrahi (Asian/African), and Sephardi (Hispanic Jews - Spanish/Portuguese heritage). My family, in particular, belongs to the Mizrahim with some family members having Ashkenazim and Sephardic roots.

Due to the fact that a large proportion of Ashkenazim Jews are in the media today, many see Jews as being 'white'. However, this is far from fact - Jews are an ethnic group in themselves as well as a large majority of us being Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, African, etc. Like with all races, we come in varying different shades - I myself am relatively light-skinned thanks to a combination of health problems and living in a cold country with very little sun. My father and grandfather on the other hand are both very dark and my sisters could pass as being totally white with fair skin, light brown hair, and hazel eyes - the complete opposite of myself and our father who all have darker skin, almost black hair, and dark eyes with Jewfros to boot.

While there have been no Jewish nobilities since the first recordings in the Torah, there were some Jewish Kings, Queens and other royals. There are 41 in total belonging to the; Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) - 1047BCE-930BCE, Kingom of Judah/Judea - 930BCE-587/6BCE and Kingom of Israel (Samaria) - 930BCE-720BCE, Hasmonean Dynasty - 140BCE-37BCE, and the Herodian Kingdom of Judea - 37BCE-4BCE. The Herodian Kingdom of Judea is the last recorded Jewish monarchy so, how did the phrase 'Jewish Princess' come about and what does it mean?

Growing up, I was always called a 'Jewish Princess', the phrase was used by my Bubba (great-grandma), my grandma, and a large number of other older family members and friends. I remember asking my Bubba why she always called me that as a young child and I'll always remember the answer. 'In America, it means a brat but it goes much further back than that'. The phrase actually comes from the fact that Queen Esther (also known as Hadassah), from מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר - Megillat Esther, aka The Book of Esther, was beautiful, decisive and divinely ordained to save her kingdom from Haman. The story of how Esther becomes Queen contributes to the phrase as much as her personality and heroicism does - the King is looking for a wife and Esther attends the ball dressed in her usual peasant clothing but, taken aback by her beauty, he marries her. She then uses her new standing to order the hanging of Haman who had been a court official but with plans to destroy the Jews of Persia. Esther, as a Jew, wanted to protect her people and brought about the destruction of Haman.

Not only was Esther incredibly beautiful but she was also strong, brave, loyal, confident, and true. She emanated grace and always strived to protect her people. My Bubba would always tell me that, that was why she called me a Jewish Princess and that it meant she was saying I was all the things that Esther herself was. Despite having come out as trans-masculine non-binary, I still love referring to myself as a Jewish Prince(ss). To me it was the highest of compliments and I live my life trying to be as brave, strong, confident, loyal, and true as Queen Esther was. Growing up I also had a lot of insecurities and so being compared to someone as beautiful as Esther had been, with her fundamentally Jewish features, was a compliment higher than any other. To this day I remain proud of my Jewish features and my heritage and will continue to use the phrase Jewish Princess. I will also teach my future children the actual origin of the term so that they can pass it down generations as it was passed down to me.