Just as the the Turban identifies the wearer as a Sikh and the Kufi declares that the wearer is a Muslim, more than anything else, the Kippa proclaims I am Jewish.
Historically Jews have kept themselves apart from the majority culture and the non-Jew was more than willing to help us to achieve that goal. For centuries churches and mosques have preached anti-Semitism because of the refusal of Jews to accept Jesus as their Messiah or Mohammed as their prophet. Negative stereotypes inevitably evolved from Jews being the 'other' and the outsider, a price exacted because of our self imposed separatism combined with the intolerance of our fellow citizens.
Historically Jews have kept themselves apart from the majority culture and the non-Jew was more than willing to help us to achieve that goal. For centuries churches and mosques have preached anti-Semitism because of the refusal of Jews to accept Jesus as their Messiah or Mohammed as their prophet. Negative stereotypes inevitably evolved from Jews being the 'other' and the outsider, a price exacted because of our self imposed separatism combined with the intolerance of our fellow citizens.
People like to be accepted by other people. It is human nature. But the very nature of Judaism keeps Jews from being like everyone else. In the past Jews were very different from their non-Jewish neighbors - we lived in different neighborhoods (not always by choice) the foods we ate, the clothing we wore, we prayed in a foreign tongue, we went to synagogue, not church. We discouraged inter-marriage, we spoke Yiddish in addition to a our native national tongue.
I heard Jewish boys who said that they would not marry a Jewish girl because they are all JAPS, Jewish American Princesses, or spoiled brats. Many have kept their word. Even early Reform rabbis dressed like priests and ministers by wearing clerical collars in an effort to fit in with Christian society. Jews wanted to be like the everyone else so we dressed, ate, acted and even thought like everyone else. Some have gone even as far as adopting their nefarious traits such as hatred of Jews coupled with varying degrees of anti-Semitism. Most anti-Semites will claim they are not anti-Semites, just as Jews who hate being Jewish claim they are not self-hating Jews.
Unless Jews start acting and thinking like everyone else in their prevailing society there will always be anti Jewish feelings and resentment. When we learn to accept, integrate, assimilate and become part of the prevailing society we will of course stop being behavioral Jews, while we can still adhere to values promulgated by Judaism. I was once told that Jews bring envy and hatred upon themselves because they act with an air of superiority. They point out how many Nobel Prize winners they have produced and other achievements in numbers way beyond their percentage of the population. Of course that reason is false because throughout history Jews were hated and persecuted even when they were lowly slaves or powerless victims shoveled into the ovens of Europe.
It has been noted that Jewish youth have become more liberal than their elders. Is it due to enlightenment as some believe or is it to secularism which enables them to assimilate more easily. Denying ethics derived from Judaism or minimizing its influence is nothing more than an attempt to justify their alienation from Judaism – which is a result of the pull of assimilation (acceptance) by the vast majority of folks.