'Allyship' Is Not a Jewish Virtue

If you've been spared "unconscious bias" training at work, abstained from social media, and steered clear of university campuses, you may have avoided the demand to be a better "ally." But soon enough, you'll be feeling the pressure. In current parlance, "ally" now has the specific meaning of "one who supports the rights of a marginalized group of which one is not a member"; the term "allyship" scarcely existed 10 years ago, but now feels ubiquitous. On the surface, being this kind of ally would seem a good thing. But the demands of contemporary allyship have little to do with actually helping people and are much more about following a uniform script. Part of sports media? GLAAD teamed up with a group called Athlete Ally to instruct on being an ally to LGBTQ Olympic Athletes. In management? Harvard Business Review has guidance for allyship with women of color. Even the normally skeptical comedian Sarah Silverman bought in when she pleaded with her audience last spring: "Stop rolling your eyes and be our allies. It makes me sad to know that so many Jews that I know commit their lives to being allies . . . But who is here for us?"