Asian-Pacific American Heritage

May is not only Mental Health Awareness Month; it is also Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month. What are we supposed to do with that information?

I am struck by the fact that we are told that there are certain months of the year that we are to celebrate the accomplishments of members of particular groups. It is reminiscent of the Tom Lehrer song “National Brotherhood Week”, which essentially says we can go back to our regular discriminatory behavior once the week is over, or in this case, the month.

Where is the mitzvah in this?  Each group takes pride in the accomplishments of members of their group and possibly takes note of the accomplishments of members of other groups, but that is not a mitzvah.

Rather than highlighting the accomplishments of highly competent members of each group, what about taking the time to learn more about one another? Why not learn more about the various strands of Judaism? Maybe we should wonder why Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans are put into the same category. May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad designation, Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia), and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).

Here is my challenge to you. Find out more about these places and the people who currently reside here and how they have impacted this country. It's even better if you have a conversation with someone you know and take the time to discover the commonalities and differences.

Just as being Jewish in America is not a single experience, neither is being Asian. When we hear one another’s stories, we go a long way in understanding one another despite the elements that separate us.