For those of you who work in Jewish spaces, how do you talk about your job?
Jewish nonprofit workers, synagogue employees, etc...when someone asks what you do, depending on the vibe, do you tell them? Or do you have a "safe" lie ready to go?
I ask because, even though I've worked at different Jewish organizations before, I started a new job where it's kind of impossible to get around what we do. At parties and stuff where I'd be meeting new people who'd ask what my job is, when I used to work at a Jewish nonprofit, sometimes I'd just say "nonprofit organization" and, if pressed for details, I'd say "we provide aid to Holocaust survivors" (which was, like less than 20% of what we actually did, but it's a safe enough lie to satisfy people).
Now, though? I work at a rabbinical school. There's a Jewish word in the school's name. I'm not exactly comfortable just casually offering that info up to anyone who asks.
I can't be the only one who thinks about this stuff, right? What do the rest of you wind up doing in that situation?
Posted Jul 26, 2026, 11:37 PM UTC