Before I became an observant Jew, I was “that guy.”  You know the one I am talking about, the one in the airport that got bumped up to first class because of a smile or a smirk.  That guy that was given a free dessert or appetizer at a restaurant.  That guy that, well, sorry for sounding conceited, people wanted to be around.  That guy that people liked.

After putting on my yarmulke (beanie), tsit-tsit (the fringes) and growing my peot out  (sidelocks), I started to notice slight differences in how the world perceived me.  This was most apparent while traveling to and from Israel, specifically when I had layovers in Europe or the UK.

Suddenly, I was no longer “that guy”, but had become, “that Jew.”  When asking for assistance from an airline gate agent, no longer was I to be greeted with a smile.  I can’t even say I was greeted.  The airline employees had suddenly become curt with me and often times, just plain rude.

While traveling to the United States with my (then) three year old son, we had a brief stopover in Amsterdam.  Just as we had deplaned in Amsterdam, I took my son to the side, knelt down, tucked in his fringes and placed a baseball cap on his head.  Europe is not the most “Jew friendly” place these days so I wanted to protect my son as best as I could during our layover.  I was concealing our identity.

While kneeling on the ground helping my son, three men approached me and started shouting at me in Arabic.  I quickly stood up, eased my son behind me and stood in their faces.  In perfect, elegant English I told them to “fuck off”.  As this was happening, I noticed airport cops passing by, looking my way, and continuing on about their business.  They neither stopped nor did they care about what was happening to me and my boy.

These men didn’t know if  I was from Israel, America or Europe.  They simply knew I was a Jew.

Certainly, I didn’t need any more proof. It became quite clear that I am no longer “that guy.”  I had become, “that Jew.”