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Stephen Schecter's avatar

Lovely and simply put. The takeaway: Israel has to utterly defeat the Palestinians in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, obliterate southern Lebanon, destroy Beirut and environs, and take out Iran, with nuclear strikes if necessary. Then the antisemites the world over, and especially in the West, can think about what they did to produce such an outcome; and if they still don't get it, their societies will simply self-destruct.

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Mike Perceval's avatar

Your piece was very interesting in various respects Masha, and I think it would be wonderful to sit and explore the subject further with you. But, this will have to do.

As a Christian Zionist; one who loves the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Land of Israel, and the Chosen People worldwide, I appreciate the nuanced and fair way you portrayed Christian anti-Semitism, and the tragic and inexcusable history of the professing Church and the Jewish People. That history is both shameful and abhorrent to me.

That said, I would like to point out, for the benefit of some who might be unaware and interested, that there is a corresponding history of Christians persecuting and killing other Christians. In many cases in was the Catholic Church versus Protestants, but it was also Protestants against Protestants. In the latter case, those who were persecuted and put to death were generally Christians for whom the Bible was the ultimate authority in all matters it touched upon - not any Tradition(s), Religious Institution, or Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. The point is that these were Christians who held truer to the teachings and prophecies of the entire Bible, as understood through the grammatical, historical, and literal hermeneutic. And that made them lovers of Israel (which they understood would be restored by G-d), lovers of the Chosen People, and serious threats to those who had gained control over Christendom and corrupted the Christian Faith.

“…without understanding the motives of hatred, it is impossible to challenge them and defending effectively against hate is harder without understanding the nature of these motives.”

I believe you have well described many of the ‘motives of hatred’ that energize and propel anti-Semitism, but only on the natural/materialistic level. And I submit that ‘the Longest Hatred’ cannot be truly understood without recognizing the greater, spiritual origins that underlie, empower, and direct its course.

It is understood that many readers may be, or consider themselves to be, secular atheists, humanists, or agnostics. Many others who identify as Christian or Jewish persons of faith, probably would not agree that the entire Tanakh, or the Tanakh and Brit Hadashah, is the inspired, authoritative, Word of G-d.

But, for those who have reached that point; those who do regard, and honor, the Bible as the ultimate, authoritative source of Spiritual Truth, a clearer, deeper understanding emerges from the texts. And, here it is:

1) A spiritual war has been raging in the Universe, commencing sometime prior to the Creation of mankind on Earth. That warfare has been waged between the forces of G-d, and ‘the Adversary’; the fallen Angel originally known as ‘Lucifer’ (Light Bearer), who was transformed into Satan when he rebelled against G-d, taking one-third of the angelic hosts with him in that rebellion.

2) The creation of mankind was in response to this rebellion, and intended by G-d to be the means by which it would ultimately be defeated, and the will and purposes of G-d fulfilled. Satan was aware of this, and promptly began efforts to destroy mankind, to thwart his own defeat and doom.

3) In the progressive revelation of the Bible, it eventually became clear that G-d’s intention was to fulfill His will through the seed of one man; Abraham, with whom He entered into an unconditional Covenant; ‘the Abrahamic Covenant’. The terms of that Covenant were reiterated to Isaac, then to Jacob, and then extended to the entirety of the twelve Tribes. This focused Satan’s hatred of G-d, and his efforts to escape his doom, on the Chosen People, and it is only through the power and grace of G-d that they have survived.

4) Over the course of Biblical time, many prophetic pronouncements, linkages and ‘clues’ made it abundantly clear what the course of history would be. Most importantly, it became crystal clear that Satan’s upcoming defeat and doom was inextricably linked to the Jewish people being back in the Land from the Dispersion, in full control of the Jewish nation and, specifically, in control of the Temple Mount. And it is that fact alone, which undergirds the fierce and unrelenting hatred of ‘the world’ against the Jewish people - inspired by Satan, manipulating the weaknesses of fallen human nature, with the ultimate goal of destroying Israel and, thereby, ‘defeating’ the prophecies. As strange and difficult as it may be to believe, everything that is currently happening in the world is ultimately related to that one singular goal; the destruction of the Jewish State, and Jewish control over Temple Mount.

For the benefit of any who have followed me thus far, the Biblical record also makes it clear that Satan will fail, and all of the promises G-d made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will be fulfilled to the finest detail. Between here and there, however, lies the ‘time of Jacob’s travail/trouble’; the greatest testing of the Jewish people in their long and storied history.

So, what can be done about it? These things are written; they will come to pass. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t, or shouldn’t bother to, fight against this evil scourge upon the world. On the contrary, G-d is bringing many adopted sons and daughters to glory, and ‘the just shall live by their faith (Habbakuk 2:4). We are to trust in Adonai, love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength, and yield our very lives to His Providential care.

May G-d Almighty give Israel might, power, protection, provision, wisdom, discernment, and victory over her enemies, whether from within, or without, the Land of Israel.

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