One Jew took that mandatory high school 4 year self-defense course that he/she had to pass in order to graduate and can definitely kick ass if he has to. He/she has never tried to understand the anti semite. He/she has no desire to psychoanalyze the anti semite.
The other Jew went to a school that did not offer the self defence course and doesnt know how to fight and protect him/herself. However, he/she has read so much about anti semitism and about the different kinds of anti semites blah blah blah.
Anybody want to guess who the anti semite will not bother with?
Bingo!
That was the easy part. Now comes the very hard part.
Can you get all the Yeshivas, Jewish Schools etc. unified to offer this 4 year defense course that is mandatory?
Rabbi Meir Kahane wrote the textbook for your course, Jerry…backed up by King David. How can one man be so fearless in battle and so soft and humble to write the songs he did…
I miss the Rebbe terribly. I had the pleasure of having lunch with him twice and he truly loved his people with all his heart. I understand his politics became extreme in Israel but what he did for us in New York was make us a force to be reckoned with and gave us a sense of pride. I will never forget how I felt as a teenager joining the JDL. papa j
My best friend was a leader in the JDL and good friends with the Rebbe. We all called him the Rebbe. One of the most charismatic people I have met in my life. Then again, I was 16-18 years old at the time so you tend to idolize people. Now I am a cranky old cynical bastard and idolize nobody. LOL.
I think of Einat Wilf's contention that the conspiracy theory that is antisemitism is largely the projection of a society's unresolved issues onto the scapegoat, hence South Africa accuses Israel of apartheid, progressives in the US accuse Israel of colonialism (excuse me? every single non-Native American is by definition a colonialist) and racism (because we're lily-white, no we're only white-presenting, no half the Jews in Israel are brown or black, no they're all whiter than white), the list goes on and on. Facts don't matter if they contradict the narrative.
As to "the Jew is an idea not a person," no, I've had a few close ex-friends, people who knew me well and who said repeatedly that they loved me, say straight to my face, looking in my eyes with this daring expression as if they're being heroic by finally — FINALLY — telling the Real Truth, that Israel or the Jews are the source of all evil, once someone they respect (e.g., Chris Hedges or some fundamentalist pastor or the UN) tells them all their problems are due to the Jooz. And this of course is worse if they then quote an As a Jew to prove that oh no, *they're* not antisemitic, a Real Jew said these things. Giving The Jew a face doesn't deflect antisemitism, I've encountered this since I was a child.
I think you're onto something when you talk about people needing to explain to themselves why they have had difficulties in life, and offloading personal responsibility onto a scapegoat can be such a relief. Offloading collective responsibility for unresolved societal ills plays the same role; Wilf notes that having the Jooz around to accuse allows a society to continue to avoid addressing their problems. It all comes down to a kind of cowardice and refusal to do what is necessary to change the problem.
There is also the historical pattern that a leader will blame the Jooz to deflect hostility and maintain his own hegemony when he's hated for something he's done or not done. Perhaps he has the added incentive of reneging on paying debts owed to Jews, or collecting the assets of the Jews he eliminated when he has inflamed the situation to a flashpoint of violence, see Edward I of England but it's happened so many times. Right now in the US, both far left and far right are constructing different narratives to offload personal responsibility for personal and societal ills, and these two groups that abhor each other meet with agreement that hey all of your problems must be due to the all-powerful Jews. This has happened pretty much every 50 years for 2500 years and we haven't figured out a strategy to stop it yet. I think that's because anything we say interferes with the nice pat worldview that clears people of the necessity to change things or accept that they caused their own problems, so we're not heard.
I strongly suspect that anti-semitism is a particular expression of a more general type of phenomena. If you’re an American Jew, be leery of letting anti-semitism sensitivity separate you from other Americans. We have a lot of good that we can collaborate on if we resist the urge to cross our arms and retreat to our respective camps. An analogous problem is ordinary, non-Jewish Americans disliking policy determined by high status individuals and then assuming that all Jews are the same as high status individuals. I live within the evangelical community, and we seem strongly immune to this tempting error, but I have been surprised to see more secular Americans taken in by the error “high status = Jew”.
Bottom line: I love America and I dislike the peddling of “difference” in the political sphere. We are differently abled, but when it comes to national life, we’ll only survive if we continue to have a sense that we are one.
“…the focus of conversations about antisemitism ought to be on sound, effective arguments, which naturally emerge from having strong Jewish and Zionist identities.”
Another well-written, thought-provoking, and valuable work Joshua. There is much truth contained therein, and no blatant falsehoods, at least as far as I can detect in my initial reading. BUT…
But, as a Bible-believing, Christian Zionist, I would agree with Marcel 4 Zion above; the spiritual dimension is the ‘key’ to understanding and dealing with this great evil, yet virtually ignored.
In common with any professing ‘Bible-believing’ Christian (G-d only knows how many identify as ‘Christians’ who don’t share my definition of ‘Bible-believing’), I believe that both the Tanakh, and the Brit Hadasha, are the Word of G-d. However, whether one’s belief in the Bible as the Word of G-d is restricted to the Tanakh, or extends to include the Brit Hadasha, the key issue is, ‘How is the Word of G-d to be interpreted, understood, and applied?’.
There are vast numbers of people worldwide who reject the Tanakh and/or the Brit Hadasha as truthful or trustworthy. There are vast numbers who profess belief that have virtually no knowledge of what either Book actually says, much less ‘rightly dividing’ the contents. We could go on, continuing to slice the pie into smaller and smaller discreet ‘pieces’ of belief.
But the essential point remains; the Bible, ‘rightly divided’ is the ultimate source of Truth in a world of full of ignorance, misunderstandings, errors, lies, and evil deceptions; the Rock against which all such things crash and are broken. Whether one believes or rejects this fundamental Truth, has less than zero bearing on that reality itself. But the fate of the world; of nations, and of individuals, all ultimately hinges on knowledge of, and responses to, the revelations of G-d.
Genesis 12:1-3
1 The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.”
The best way of fighting anti Semitism is to live a committed Jewish life in which you demonstrate that Judaism is relevant regardless of the surrounding secular culture
This is a great argument for Jews , particularly those of us in the Diaspora, to share with our non- Jewish friends stories about our Jewish lives and culture. I have found in this way our friends develop a connection to us rather than just to me.
I agree with most of what you said but paragraph 2. Yes, people not Jewish may know "a jew", even several who are friends but they disassociate that friendship from the broader narrative of anti-semitism. I mean to say the stereo-type of a jew. So your friend(s) tell you,
"But you're not like the others". That's what is meant by the Jew as an idea.
Two Jews walk into a bar .....
One Jew took that mandatory high school 4 year self-defense course that he/she had to pass in order to graduate and can definitely kick ass if he has to. He/she has never tried to understand the anti semite. He/she has no desire to psychoanalyze the anti semite.
The other Jew went to a school that did not offer the self defence course and doesnt know how to fight and protect him/herself. However, he/she has read so much about anti semitism and about the different kinds of anti semites blah blah blah.
Anybody want to guess who the anti semite will not bother with?
Bingo!
That was the easy part. Now comes the very hard part.
Can you get all the Yeshivas, Jewish Schools etc. unified to offer this 4 year defense course that is mandatory?
ahima, papa j
Rabbi Meir Kahane wrote the textbook for your course, Jerry…backed up by King David. How can one man be so fearless in battle and so soft and humble to write the songs he did…
I miss the Rebbe terribly. I had the pleasure of having lunch with him twice and he truly loved his people with all his heart. I understand his politics became extreme in Israel but what he did for us in New York was make us a force to be reckoned with and gave us a sense of pride. I will never forget how I felt as a teenager joining the JDL. papa j
O I cannot believe you got to meet him. ❤️😎🕎
My best friend was a leader in the JDL and good friends with the Rebbe. We all called him the Rebbe. One of the most charismatic people I have met in my life. Then again, I was 16-18 years old at the time so you tend to idolize people. Now I am a cranky old cynical bastard and idolize nobody. LOL.
Love it. 🩷
I think of Einat Wilf's contention that the conspiracy theory that is antisemitism is largely the projection of a society's unresolved issues onto the scapegoat, hence South Africa accuses Israel of apartheid, progressives in the US accuse Israel of colonialism (excuse me? every single non-Native American is by definition a colonialist) and racism (because we're lily-white, no we're only white-presenting, no half the Jews in Israel are brown or black, no they're all whiter than white), the list goes on and on. Facts don't matter if they contradict the narrative.
As to "the Jew is an idea not a person," no, I've had a few close ex-friends, people who knew me well and who said repeatedly that they loved me, say straight to my face, looking in my eyes with this daring expression as if they're being heroic by finally — FINALLY — telling the Real Truth, that Israel or the Jews are the source of all evil, once someone they respect (e.g., Chris Hedges or some fundamentalist pastor or the UN) tells them all their problems are due to the Jooz. And this of course is worse if they then quote an As a Jew to prove that oh no, *they're* not antisemitic, a Real Jew said these things. Giving The Jew a face doesn't deflect antisemitism, I've encountered this since I was a child.
I think you're onto something when you talk about people needing to explain to themselves why they have had difficulties in life, and offloading personal responsibility onto a scapegoat can be such a relief. Offloading collective responsibility for unresolved societal ills plays the same role; Wilf notes that having the Jooz around to accuse allows a society to continue to avoid addressing their problems. It all comes down to a kind of cowardice and refusal to do what is necessary to change the problem.
There is also the historical pattern that a leader will blame the Jooz to deflect hostility and maintain his own hegemony when he's hated for something he's done or not done. Perhaps he has the added incentive of reneging on paying debts owed to Jews, or collecting the assets of the Jews he eliminated when he has inflamed the situation to a flashpoint of violence, see Edward I of England but it's happened so many times. Right now in the US, both far left and far right are constructing different narratives to offload personal responsibility for personal and societal ills, and these two groups that abhor each other meet with agreement that hey all of your problems must be due to the all-powerful Jews. This has happened pretty much every 50 years for 2500 years and we haven't figured out a strategy to stop it yet. I think that's because anything we say interferes with the nice pat worldview that clears people of the necessity to change things or accept that they caused their own problems, so we're not heard.
The look on people's faces change when they are told how small the world Jewish population actually is.
It really is quite extraordinary to watch the wheels in people's heads turn when this statistic is brought up.
Try it.
I strongly suspect that anti-semitism is a particular expression of a more general type of phenomena. If you’re an American Jew, be leery of letting anti-semitism sensitivity separate you from other Americans. We have a lot of good that we can collaborate on if we resist the urge to cross our arms and retreat to our respective camps. An analogous problem is ordinary, non-Jewish Americans disliking policy determined by high status individuals and then assuming that all Jews are the same as high status individuals. I live within the evangelical community, and we seem strongly immune to this tempting error, but I have been surprised to see more secular Americans taken in by the error “high status = Jew”.
Bottom line: I love America and I dislike the peddling of “difference” in the political sphere. We are differently abled, but when it comes to national life, we’ll only survive if we continue to have a sense that we are one.
“…the focus of conversations about antisemitism ought to be on sound, effective arguments, which naturally emerge from having strong Jewish and Zionist identities.”
Another well-written, thought-provoking, and valuable work Joshua. There is much truth contained therein, and no blatant falsehoods, at least as far as I can detect in my initial reading. BUT…
But, as a Bible-believing, Christian Zionist, I would agree with Marcel 4 Zion above; the spiritual dimension is the ‘key’ to understanding and dealing with this great evil, yet virtually ignored.
In common with any professing ‘Bible-believing’ Christian (G-d only knows how many identify as ‘Christians’ who don’t share my definition of ‘Bible-believing’), I believe that both the Tanakh, and the Brit Hadasha, are the Word of G-d. However, whether one’s belief in the Bible as the Word of G-d is restricted to the Tanakh, or extends to include the Brit Hadasha, the key issue is, ‘How is the Word of G-d to be interpreted, understood, and applied?’.
There are vast numbers of people worldwide who reject the Tanakh and/or the Brit Hadasha as truthful or trustworthy. There are vast numbers who profess belief that have virtually no knowledge of what either Book actually says, much less ‘rightly dividing’ the contents. We could go on, continuing to slice the pie into smaller and smaller discreet ‘pieces’ of belief.
But the essential point remains; the Bible, ‘rightly divided’ is the ultimate source of Truth in a world of full of ignorance, misunderstandings, errors, lies, and evil deceptions; the Rock against which all such things crash and are broken. Whether one believes or rejects this fundamental Truth, has less than zero bearing on that reality itself. But the fate of the world; of nations, and of individuals, all ultimately hinges on knowledge of, and responses to, the revelations of G-d.
Genesis 12:1-3
1 The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.”
Where do you get your information from? Hamas or Hezbolah or Oman?
I remember stories of Rabbi Kahane. I admired his bravery. I’ve always loved that David picked up that rock.
Self defense is common sense.
The best way of fighting anti Semitism is to live a committed Jewish life in which you demonstrate that Judaism is relevant regardless of the surrounding secular culture
Make the antisemites fear us so they won't mess with us.
This is a great argument for Jews , particularly those of us in the Diaspora, to share with our non- Jewish friends stories about our Jewish lives and culture. I have found in this way our friends develop a connection to us rather than just to me.
One approach that I would like to see spokespersons for Israel use is, when asked about proportionality, "How many dead Jews would make you happy?"
I agree with most of what you said but paragraph 2. Yes, people not Jewish may know "a jew", even several who are friends but they disassociate that friendship from the broader narrative of anti-semitism. I mean to say the stereo-type of a jew. So your friend(s) tell you,
"But you're not like the others". That's what is meant by the Jew as an idea.
These bullies are just racists with permission. And the flip side of every bully is a coward. Now you know what to do.