Thursday, April 18, 2019
Elder of Ziyon
There are two kinds of people who
hate strong Jews: your run-of-the-mill Jew haters (classical antisemites) and
colonized Jews.
2000 years of living as unwelcome
guests in other people’s lands have taken a toll on the Jewish People. Putting
your head down, being quiet in the face of abuse and minimizing signs of
Jewishness have become habits, so deeply ingrained that many fail to recognize
their existence. Judaism upholds the sanctity of life and, because of this,
actions taken by Jews to hide their Jewishness in order to survive were
approved. Even religious traditions were changed in order to adapt to the
realities of living in places where it was not necessarily a good idea to be
“too Jewish” – for example lighting and placing the Hanukah candles inside the
home rather than in a public place where everyone passing by can see.
The re-establishment of the Jewish
State led to a new alignment of powers. Now the classical antisemites can
direct their Jew hatred at the Jewish State rather than their Jewish neighbors.
The oldest hatred has been reborn with modern branding: “I don’t hate Jews, I
just hate Israel.” Or, an even more sophisticated version: “I don’t hate Jews
or Israelis, I just hate the Israeli government.”
For colonized Jews the statements are
different. The fact that these are said by Jews and seem more “nuanced” makes
them harder for most people to address: “I love Israel, that’s why I hate the
policies of the Israeli government.” Or “Why does Israel have to make waves and
cause problems? Why was it necessary to move the embassy to Jerusalem? Pass the
Nation State Law? Those things were obvious and just upset people.”
Colonized Jews hate being told that
they are colonized. The idea that the culture of the land in which they live
dominated and swallowed up their Jewish identity is repugnant. Historically
Jews have preferred to believe that are happily integrated and welcome in the
society in which they live (“I’m not Jewish, I’m a German of the Mosaic faith”).
Historically it has been non-Jewish neighbors who taught Jews otherwise.
Colonization is a harsh definition,
it is more common to hear the softer terminology: “diaspora mentality” which
means having the mentality of a scattered people, living at the mercy of
others. In other words, this is the mentality of people who are not sovereign
and lack the power to determine their own fate.
It is important to note that while Jews who live in
the diaspora are more likely to have a diaspora mentality, there are plenty of
Israelis with the same mindset.
This terminology enrages those who it
most aptly describes.
I believe this rage comes from fear
because it leads to the necessity of making a terrifying choice: become a
proud, public Jew and risk being ostracized and any hate or violence that could
ensue or allow your identity to become completely erased.
It is hard to be hated, pushed aside
and seen as “the other.” Over the centuries many Jews sought to appease the
haters by abandoning their Jewishness. Although it is not something that is
discussed I believe, somewhere deep down, it is understood that those who chose
the “easy route” eventually disappeared while appeasement does not actually
diffuse hate – in fact it increases animosity and disrespect of those willing
to abase themselves in this way.
Israel just re-elected Prime Mister
Benjamin Netanyahu, for his fifth term. How could one man be so hated and yet
so loved?
In my opinion this seemingly
paradoxical situation is a result of both supporters and haters seeing him in
the same way – only one likes what he represents and the other does not.
Netanyahu is the embodiment of a strong and unapologetic Jewish State, something
that is repugnant to Jew haters and scary for colonized Jews, afraid of having
attention drawn to their Jewishness.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Linda Sarsour,
Robert Francis O'Rourke ("Beto"), any of the American Jewish
organizations or rival Israeli politicians who denounce Netanyahu as “racist”
and “not representative of the Israeli people.” The Israeli people elected Netanyahu
over and over and accusing him of evil qualities, is by extension, an
accusation of all his voters. Over and over Jew haters and “progressive” Jews
alike ignore the fact that it is the Israeli people who chose this man to
represent the Jewish State. To them this is incomprehensible, he most have
“stolen” the elections, tricked the public somehow... Israelis must be racist
or just stupid…
In Israel we are told of the widening
divide between us and diaspora Jews. Usually this is said in an accusatory
fashion, as if somehow we are to blame.
Jews of diaspora mentality, Americans
and many Israelis, were horrified when Netanyahu publically denounced the
policies of the Obama administration, particularly his speech against the Iran
deal in the US Congress. They insisted it would be safer for Israel to bow
down, go along to get along.
Jews of diaspora mentality were
horrified when Netanyahu enraged the French following the 2015 terror attack in
the Hyperkascher by telling the Jews of France that he represents them too and
Israel is waiting for them with open arms.
Jews of diaspora mentality (including
some of my own relatives) were terrified of “triggering” violence by moving the
US embassy to Jerusalem.
On the other hand, strong Jews who
have shed the shackles of colonization are frustrated that Netanyahu has not
implemented bolder policies.
It should be obvious, not something
that takes exceptional courage, to implement Israeli sovereignty on all of
Israel and equally apply the law to all of her citizens. It should be obvious,
not a political calculation of “how much we can upset the world” that attacks
on Israeli civilians are utterly unacceptable and must be squashed with swift
and inescapable might. Jews should be able to pray freely in the holiest place
to the Jewish People which happens to be located in the heart of the capital of
the Jewish State. Isn’t that obvious?
A sovereign nation owes no
explanations to foreign “masters” or patrons.
Passover is the holiday of Jewish
freedom, the historical moment when the world learned that slaves do not have
to remain slaves forever. Israel’s national anthem speaks of the “2000 year old
hope to be a free nation, in our own land.” The hope still remains because we
are not yet completely free.
Usually when we speak of not yet
being free, we refer to the need to fight our would-be killers. I say that
freedom of the Jews will come when our Jewish brothers and sisters shake off
their fear of being who we are. The divide of the diaspora is not an issue of
Israeli policies, it is a lack of acceptance of Jewish freedom and sovereignty.
It is the shackles of the mind that
are truly preventing freedom. No matter what Jews of diaspora mentality (or the
world powers) say, we will not willingly join them in their bondage but our
hands are outstretched to pull them into freedom.
“Next year in Jerusalem, rebuilt!”
is the end of the Passover Haggadah because THAT is the true end of the journey
from slavery to freedom.
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