SUPERB JOSHUA! THANK YOU! All our Jewish brothers and sisters should be proud of their wonderful heritage. They are still here while others have long ago perished. They're still strong, and they're still blessing the entire world. Hooray for the Jewish people!!!
Re: "Judaism gave the world a moral language that later flowed through Christianity and Islam"
As far as I can see none of Judaism's moral language forward through Islam. Unlike Judaism's rabbinic tradition, which allows for the reinterpretation of the Torah, Islam apparently has no equivalent change mechanism. This is why they remain stuck in the 7th-century, barbaric and hateful thinking of their founder.
Just because you have a book that talks about a god and claim connectedness to earlier actual religions shouldn't qualify you as a religion, at least not in the way we think of Judaism and Christianity.
When a group of people adopt a supremacist ideology that all non-believers must be killed, converted, taxed or enslaved, or that the highest reward you can earn is as a martyr, that is not a religion. It is a death cult.
Fortunately, there is a growing Muslim Reform Movement and they are speaking out. (Christianity went through reform, too. Historically, they were also believers of "convert or die. And Catholics and Protestants--oy vey. And let us not forget the Crusades). The reformed Muslims interpret the Quran quite differently than the Islamists and they refuse to regard the Hadiths as religious law. They interpet the Quran with focus on peace and co-existence, and with acknowledgment that Muhammed said Israel belongs to the Jews. Only the reformed Islamic ideas are allowed to be preached in the United Arab Emirates/Dubai and it is working fabulously. The moderate Arab states are working with the UAE to make the same changes and have made great strides in preparation for what will be the New Middle East. It can be done. As one UAE official said last year, "It is now safer to be a visible Jew in the UAE than it is to be a visible Jew in New York City."
The crusades were provoked by Muslim invasion of Christian lands.
And when Christianity lost its way during the dark ages, it was because they failed to follow the teachings of Jesus. So Christianity was never in need of being reformed. It was in need of returning to the teachings of Christ and his disciples as recorded in the Bible.
In contrast the atrocities committed in the name of Islam ☪️ are done by following the teachings of the prophet of Islam recorded in the Koran. A reform of Islam requires the rejection or denial of explicit verses in the Koran.
good points. And the Muslim reformers ARE rejecting parts of the Koran, the same way Jews and Christians have rejected parts of the Old Testament (slavery, have many wives, "an eye for an eye," and so on.)
I don’t want to be argumentative, I just want to be clear about the difference between a “reform” that rejects the teaching of the prophet of Islam and Christianity. It is Jesus himself that gave a new covenant to his followers. Jesus taught that Moses gave the law (from God) but Jesus himself fulfilled the law and so his followers obey him (and God) by living as Jesus lived (easier said than done). So Christians do not reject or “reform” the Old Testament, they obey Christ. It is Christ himself who rejected parts of the Old Testament as no longer relevant.
In contrast the reform of Islam requires rejecting the prophet of Islam himself.
Hopefully when Muslims realize this they will go all the way and reject all of Islam.
But I see that you are hopeful that a reformed Islam will be less violent. I am afraid that it is really a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
No! You are a Jew; NOT a Jewess, which is pejorative. No member of any other ethnic or religious group describes the women in a way separate from the men . Once Black women were called Negresses. No one would dream of doing that now.
Good invitation. Now how do you take that invitation off the digital page and turn it into an action? Invite people to enjoy a Shabbat dinner or lunch at your home. Start a small Torah study group. Send questions on the weekly parsha for friends to ask at their own Shabbat table. Help them put up mezzuzot in their homes. Bring them to your neighbourhood shul and to meet the rabbi. Anybody have other ways to act?
Excellent article about truth that many choose to ignore or hide from. Israel exists, and the debate stops there. Israel is the greatest civilization ever on earth in my eyes. Never allow others to criticize what G-d has freely given you yet demonstrate that humility and knowledge he taught you. My closest friends are Jewish and I'd give my life defending them and the state of Israel.
I'm a Christian Zionist and I stand with Israel Israel 🙏🇮🇱 Glory to Hashem 🙏🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
Thank you Israel and may G-d continue to guide you and keep you FOREVER.
Thank you for the encouragement to explore Judaism more deeply. My experience of going to Hebrew school after a full day of public school 3X a week until I was 12 y/o hardly qualifies as a meaningful Jewish education.
The fact that Reform, negligible in other countries in the Diaspora, which chose to be a social activist sect in the late 1990s, with Tikkun Olam as their tinge of Judaism has brain washed decades of children and young people by Reform leaders and many rabbis who demonized Israel, ramping it up in the past decade, and hate for religious Jews. It has had a major influence on what we see now amongst American Jewish young people and those even into their thirties. When one teaches hate of other Jews, and how evil and horrible they are, what do you expect will happen? They will eventually start hating their own identity of being Jewish, blame Israel for the world's problems and often support the Hamas atrocities. Reform stands up for every minority except other Jews who do not have Progressivism as their new religion and now especially, Marx as their god. This was seen in NYC a few years ago, when religious Jews were being physically attacked. Reform was enraged. When it emerged that indeed they were not Neo Nazis but Black and Hispanic, Reform became stone silent, never to even whisper any condemnations against the attackers. We still see that even more today.
There is a Reform in the U.K… are you aware of that?(not the political party)I’m told that it’s different to your Reform, and similar to the US Conservatives, though I’m not sure. So, you may want to look into it. It’s not my thing, nor is the US Reform. I don’t really fit into any particular ‘variety’, but I do feel the need to point out that the ‘negligible in the diaspora’ Reform ain’t the same thing.
When I said it was negligible, that means it is present but tiny compared to the US where it is now dominant. But you are correct in that the Reform as it is called in Canada is not quite what it is in the US. We have some in Canada often started by American academics who came to teach in the 1970s and 1980s but also tiny in comparison to the Conservative and Orthodox presence. In Britain it is usually called a Liberal synagogue, but also tiny. Reform in Canada is more towards the Conservatives as I imagine it is in Britain as well. American Reform rabbis that come to Canada are shocked often at that there is often two days of services for Rosh Hashanah, and more traditional as well in other ways to Conservative and not as much English.
Exactly. "Tikkun Olam". And many in the "Reform" only understood "the Holocaust" --Spielberg is a good example. Now he supports Mamdani--he is blind to the threat of Islam. He doesn't understand how antisemitic Marx was. Only "Hitler" and White Nationalists" are-- in his view --to be feared. He's the type who confuses Trump's nationalism with "White Nationalism". He is not a perceptive man.
Joshua Hoffman I still struggle with god (even so I am almost 80) and I have learned that it has nothing to do with my Jewish pride!!! at all the achievements and accomplishments and inventions that have come from my Jewish heritage! I am just amazed at the way you put it in writing and with such eloquence it gave me a very simple way to look at it and not always question (even so we always question! It’s in our DNA) thank you so much for clearing it in a simple and beautiful way……thank you Joshua!
Joshua, another Yasher koach! Here’s one topic that resonated with me;
“They were told what Jews suffered, but not what Jews built. They were taught how Jews died, but not how Jews lived. They learned about antisemitism before they learned about Jewish civilization. They were taught to remember the Holocaust before they understood what was nearly destroyed.”
I’ve complained about this for a long time. It’s a source for people loving and memorializing dead Jews, while loathing and condemning fighting Jews. Failing to educate our children about all the beautiful aspects of Judaism you describe with such eloquence explains why so many Jews wear kaffiyahs and shout “free Palestine.” Then I consider the useful idiots who chant “from the river to the sea” not knowing what river or which sea and am reminded that our society has failed to educate multiple generations of children. As always, as society breaks down over these failures, Jews are the first to suffer existential consequences.
For Jews, I see a clear path. As it says in Shema, “we must teach OUR children.”
I grew up a lot like Joshua, and because my early years were filled with Jew haters (in the deep South), I learned to hide, feel ashamed, try to prove I was one of the "good" one. And I learned to fight--it was survival. But decades later, I'm like Joshua now, too.
Pretty good. I've started a brand-new website and newsletter with a mish-mash of the best and most important articles about Israel and the Jews, and including humor, even recipes. It will also feature Christian support for Israel, and Christian writers with their stories of why they support Israel and the Jews. Check it out: SchmoozeAndNews.com. Sign up for the free newsletter!
Great piece. I’ve never been one of those you describe… the opposite, rather: I’ve always been proud of my Jewishness, and treasured it, despite not having been brought up in an observant way according to any tradition. I absorbed a great deal from my grandmother, and clung on to that throughout my life, and only began my own personal Jewish practice in 2011. Long story, but it was a personal ‘moment of clarity’ which I believe was given to me, in preparation for something which was due to happen in my life which I’d not have got through without G-d. I got a little lost along the way - lockdown had its own specific and strange effect on me - but it was always there, and October 7th brought me back(I was sitting watching the news on tv on the Saturday morning, and the first reports came in: I took screenshots of the reports, as I thought I must be mistaken/misinterpreting, and that was only the very beginning: I still can’t describe the feelings in words.
So, I’ve never been an ‘as a Jew’, or in any way apologetic or anything other than grateful. Again, I can’t exactly explain why. I started trying to learn Hebrew last year; by no means perfect, and while I can read, I’m not great at understanding (though that increases with practice) It seemed to appear like a memory, which probably sounds silly, but is how it was for me, much like my 2011 experience… the feeling of something being given to me that was already there but hidden. An understanding, awareness, a sense of belonging and wonder. There’s no way, by myself, that I could manage to learn to look at the Hebrew words and be able to make them ‘sound’: I wish I could explain it better.
Apologies for the late evening ramble. Not sure if I should post it but will anyway. Thanks for your wisdom… all the best from Scotland from this unorthodox oldie
We must remain vocal and hold accountable those within our community who act against the safety and interests of Jewish people in Israel and globally.
The self-erasing Jews need to be named one by one for helping the enemy to harm Jews and they need a reminder that Zionism did not invent the Jewish connection to Israel. But following the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, modern nations such as Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia were established and granted Zionism, the right to self-determination—a right that is never questioned for these countries. The Jewish right to self-determination through Zionism has to be viewed in the same historical context.
This is lovely, but those Jews who now have deep shame and even hatred for their people (or outright denial of peoplehood) are not able to read it. They have trained themselves to not allow any discussion that causes their biases to tremble. They feel it is a testament to their moral purity to alienate family members who disagree with their adherence to the antizionist hate movement. It may be fear deep beneath, but they experience it as bravery.
"Above all we pride ourselves on the education of our children, and regard as the most essential task in life the observance of our laws and of the pious practices, based thereupon, which we have inherited."
Jewish ethics form the true DNA of causes like human rights. "The Jewish tradition is a tradition of law and justice. “The Ten Commandments and the teachings of the prophets are a source of inspiration for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," according to René Cassin, who drafted the Declaration itself.
Contrary to the above, European society deposited its education in the hands of religious elites who locked themselves in secluded monasteries and dark cathedrals, forbade themselves from having children and refrained from educating the multitudes.
Jewish culture placed extraordinary emphasis on education, literacy, learning, self-improvement, and intellectual achievement.
Education to the Jews was and still is a cultural trait, a religious decree, a social norm, and national law since time immemorial.
SUPERB JOSHUA! THANK YOU! All our Jewish brothers and sisters should be proud of their wonderful heritage. They are still here while others have long ago perished. They're still strong, and they're still blessing the entire world. Hooray for the Jewish people!!!
Re: "Judaism gave the world a moral language that later flowed through Christianity and Islam"
As far as I can see none of Judaism's moral language forward through Islam. Unlike Judaism's rabbinic tradition, which allows for the reinterpretation of the Torah, Islam apparently has no equivalent change mechanism. This is why they remain stuck in the 7th-century, barbaric and hateful thinking of their founder.
Just because you have a book that talks about a god and claim connectedness to earlier actual religions shouldn't qualify you as a religion, at least not in the way we think of Judaism and Christianity.
When a group of people adopt a supremacist ideology that all non-believers must be killed, converted, taxed or enslaved, or that the highest reward you can earn is as a martyr, that is not a religion. It is a death cult.
Fortunately, there is a growing Muslim Reform Movement and they are speaking out. (Christianity went through reform, too. Historically, they were also believers of "convert or die. And Catholics and Protestants--oy vey. And let us not forget the Crusades). The reformed Muslims interpret the Quran quite differently than the Islamists and they refuse to regard the Hadiths as religious law. They interpet the Quran with focus on peace and co-existence, and with acknowledgment that Muhammed said Israel belongs to the Jews. Only the reformed Islamic ideas are allowed to be preached in the United Arab Emirates/Dubai and it is working fabulously. The moderate Arab states are working with the UAE to make the same changes and have made great strides in preparation for what will be the New Middle East. It can be done. As one UAE official said last year, "It is now safer to be a visible Jew in the UAE than it is to be a visible Jew in New York City."
The crusades were provoked by Muslim invasion of Christian lands.
And when Christianity lost its way during the dark ages, it was because they failed to follow the teachings of Jesus. So Christianity was never in need of being reformed. It was in need of returning to the teachings of Christ and his disciples as recorded in the Bible.
In contrast the atrocities committed in the name of Islam ☪️ are done by following the teachings of the prophet of Islam recorded in the Koran. A reform of Islam requires the rejection or denial of explicit verses in the Koran.
good points. And the Muslim reformers ARE rejecting parts of the Koran, the same way Jews and Christians have rejected parts of the Old Testament (slavery, have many wives, "an eye for an eye," and so on.)
I don’t want to be argumentative, I just want to be clear about the difference between a “reform” that rejects the teaching of the prophet of Islam and Christianity. It is Jesus himself that gave a new covenant to his followers. Jesus taught that Moses gave the law (from God) but Jesus himself fulfilled the law and so his followers obey him (and God) by living as Jesus lived (easier said than done). So Christians do not reject or “reform” the Old Testament, they obey Christ. It is Christ himself who rejected parts of the Old Testament as no longer relevant.
In contrast the reform of Islam requires rejecting the prophet of Islam himself.
Hopefully when Muslims realize this they will go all the way and reject all of Islam.
But I see that you are hopeful that a reformed Islam will be less violent. I am afraid that it is really a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Good points. But it IS working extremely well in the UAE, and those who are reinterpreting--well, they are doing it. They believe it. I'll take it.
Spot on re: UAE et al.
The real problem lies with the West where the worst of humanity within every tribe is emerging.
Don't count on that very small exception
Fantastic piece. Should be read & studied in public high schools across the US.
You make me proud to be a JEWESS!
No! You are a Jew; NOT a Jewess, which is pejorative. No member of any other ethnic or religious group describes the women in a way separate from the men . Once Black women were called Negresses. No one would dream of doing that now.
Good invitation. Now how do you take that invitation off the digital page and turn it into an action? Invite people to enjoy a Shabbat dinner or lunch at your home. Start a small Torah study group. Send questions on the weekly parsha for friends to ask at their own Shabbat table. Help them put up mezzuzot in their homes. Bring them to your neighbourhood shul and to meet the rabbi. Anybody have other ways to act?
Excellent actions. I share my family’s traditional recipes, and I invite friends, peers plus Hillel students, to my kitchen. (זִכְרוּ מִי אֲנַחְנוּ )
Excellent article about truth that many choose to ignore or hide from. Israel exists, and the debate stops there. Israel is the greatest civilization ever on earth in my eyes. Never allow others to criticize what G-d has freely given you yet demonstrate that humility and knowledge he taught you. My closest friends are Jewish and I'd give my life defending them and the state of Israel.
I'm a Christian Zionist and I stand with Israel Israel 🙏🇮🇱 Glory to Hashem 🙏🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
Thank you Israel and may G-d continue to guide you and keep you FOREVER.
Thank you 🙏🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
Thank you for the encouragement to explore Judaism more deeply. My experience of going to Hebrew school after a full day of public school 3X a week until I was 12 y/o hardly qualifies as a meaningful Jewish education.
The fact that Reform, negligible in other countries in the Diaspora, which chose to be a social activist sect in the late 1990s, with Tikkun Olam as their tinge of Judaism has brain washed decades of children and young people by Reform leaders and many rabbis who demonized Israel, ramping it up in the past decade, and hate for religious Jews. It has had a major influence on what we see now amongst American Jewish young people and those even into their thirties. When one teaches hate of other Jews, and how evil and horrible they are, what do you expect will happen? They will eventually start hating their own identity of being Jewish, blame Israel for the world's problems and often support the Hamas atrocities. Reform stands up for every minority except other Jews who do not have Progressivism as their new religion and now especially, Marx as their god. This was seen in NYC a few years ago, when religious Jews were being physically attacked. Reform was enraged. When it emerged that indeed they were not Neo Nazis but Black and Hispanic, Reform became stone silent, never to even whisper any condemnations against the attackers. We still see that even more today.
There is a Reform in the U.K… are you aware of that?(not the political party)I’m told that it’s different to your Reform, and similar to the US Conservatives, though I’m not sure. So, you may want to look into it. It’s not my thing, nor is the US Reform. I don’t really fit into any particular ‘variety’, but I do feel the need to point out that the ‘negligible in the diaspora’ Reform ain’t the same thing.
When I said it was negligible, that means it is present but tiny compared to the US where it is now dominant. But you are correct in that the Reform as it is called in Canada is not quite what it is in the US. We have some in Canada often started by American academics who came to teach in the 1970s and 1980s but also tiny in comparison to the Conservative and Orthodox presence. In Britain it is usually called a Liberal synagogue, but also tiny. Reform in Canada is more towards the Conservatives as I imagine it is in Britain as well. American Reform rabbis that come to Canada are shocked often at that there is often two days of services for Rosh Hashanah, and more traditional as well in other ways to Conservative and not as much English.
Exactly. "Tikkun Olam". And many in the "Reform" only understood "the Holocaust" --Spielberg is a good example. Now he supports Mamdani--he is blind to the threat of Islam. He doesn't understand how antisemitic Marx was. Only "Hitler" and White Nationalists" are-- in his view --to be feared. He's the type who confuses Trump's nationalism with "White Nationalism". He is not a perceptive man.
Joshua Hoffman I still struggle with god (even so I am almost 80) and I have learned that it has nothing to do with my Jewish pride!!! at all the achievements and accomplishments and inventions that have come from my Jewish heritage! I am just amazed at the way you put it in writing and with such eloquence it gave me a very simple way to look at it and not always question (even so we always question! It’s in our DNA) thank you so much for clearing it in a simple and beautiful way……thank you Joshua!
Joshua, another Yasher koach! Here’s one topic that resonated with me;
“They were told what Jews suffered, but not what Jews built. They were taught how Jews died, but not how Jews lived. They learned about antisemitism before they learned about Jewish civilization. They were taught to remember the Holocaust before they understood what was nearly destroyed.”
I’ve complained about this for a long time. It’s a source for people loving and memorializing dead Jews, while loathing and condemning fighting Jews. Failing to educate our children about all the beautiful aspects of Judaism you describe with such eloquence explains why so many Jews wear kaffiyahs and shout “free Palestine.” Then I consider the useful idiots who chant “from the river to the sea” not knowing what river or which sea and am reminded that our society has failed to educate multiple generations of children. As always, as society breaks down over these failures, Jews are the first to suffer existential consequences.
For Jews, I see a clear path. As it says in Shema, “we must teach OUR children.”
Am Yisrael chai!
I simply cannot understand these individuals.
I grew up a lot like Joshua, and because my early years were filled with Jew haters (in the deep South), I learned to hide, feel ashamed, try to prove I was one of the "good" one. And I learned to fight--it was survival. But decades later, I'm like Joshua now, too.
How tragic. Never be
ashamed of who you are.
How are you Dana?
Pretty good. I've started a brand-new website and newsletter with a mish-mash of the best and most important articles about Israel and the Jews, and including humor, even recipes. It will also feature Christian support for Israel, and Christian writers with their stories of why they support Israel and the Jews. Check it out: SchmoozeAndNews.com. Sign up for the free newsletter!
Me too, I signed up!
If you have something to contribute, send it along for consideration! Email SchmoozeAndNews@gmail.com
I’ve signed up.
If you have something to contribute, send it along for consideration! Email SchmoozeAndNews@gmail.com
Fantastic I will check that out
Great piece. I’ve never been one of those you describe… the opposite, rather: I’ve always been proud of my Jewishness, and treasured it, despite not having been brought up in an observant way according to any tradition. I absorbed a great deal from my grandmother, and clung on to that throughout my life, and only began my own personal Jewish practice in 2011. Long story, but it was a personal ‘moment of clarity’ which I believe was given to me, in preparation for something which was due to happen in my life which I’d not have got through without G-d. I got a little lost along the way - lockdown had its own specific and strange effect on me - but it was always there, and October 7th brought me back(I was sitting watching the news on tv on the Saturday morning, and the first reports came in: I took screenshots of the reports, as I thought I must be mistaken/misinterpreting, and that was only the very beginning: I still can’t describe the feelings in words.
So, I’ve never been an ‘as a Jew’, or in any way apologetic or anything other than grateful. Again, I can’t exactly explain why. I started trying to learn Hebrew last year; by no means perfect, and while I can read, I’m not great at understanding (though that increases with practice) It seemed to appear like a memory, which probably sounds silly, but is how it was for me, much like my 2011 experience… the feeling of something being given to me that was already there but hidden. An understanding, awareness, a sense of belonging and wonder. There’s no way, by myself, that I could manage to learn to look at the Hebrew words and be able to make them ‘sound’: I wish I could explain it better.
Apologies for the late evening ramble. Not sure if I should post it but will anyway. Thanks for your wisdom… all the best from Scotland from this unorthodox oldie
We must remain vocal and hold accountable those within our community who act against the safety and interests of Jewish people in Israel and globally.
The self-erasing Jews need to be named one by one for helping the enemy to harm Jews and they need a reminder that Zionism did not invent the Jewish connection to Israel. But following the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, modern nations such as Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia were established and granted Zionism, the right to self-determination—a right that is never questioned for these countries. The Jewish right to self-determination through Zionism has to be viewed in the same historical context.
This is lovely, but those Jews who now have deep shame and even hatred for their people (or outright denial of peoplehood) are not able to read it. They have trained themselves to not allow any discussion that causes their biases to tremble. They feel it is a testament to their moral purity to alienate family members who disagree with their adherence to the antizionist hate movement. It may be fear deep beneath, but they experience it as bravery.
Sadly true. It's an emotional response--not intellectual.
Awesome essay!
I love your explanation of Judaism's contribution to the world. I have copied that part and I'm keeping on my desktop forever.
Josephus Flavius Apion 1:12
"Above all we pride ourselves on the education of our children, and regard as the most essential task in life the observance of our laws and of the pious practices, based thereupon, which we have inherited."
Jewish ethics form the true DNA of causes like human rights. "The Jewish tradition is a tradition of law and justice. “The Ten Commandments and the teachings of the prophets are a source of inspiration for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," according to René Cassin, who drafted the Declaration itself.
Contrary to the above, European society deposited its education in the hands of religious elites who locked themselves in secluded monasteries and dark cathedrals, forbade themselves from having children and refrained from educating the multitudes.
Jewish culture placed extraordinary emphasis on education, literacy, learning, self-improvement, and intellectual achievement.
Education to the Jews was and still is a cultural trait, a religious decree, a social norm, and national law since time immemorial.
Education starts at home!