Interesting essay. I, too, have always thought the root cause of anti-Semitism was that Jews go against the natural bloodlust and barbarism which too many humans are unwilling to give up. The author links it with the ancient worship of blood-thirsty deities. But it amounts to the same thing. Today, the worst anti-Semites are those who try to hide their bloodlust behind phony concern about victims supposedly created by Israel. They do this to destroy the morality that Judaism is famous for. Their leaders want to drag us back into the caves with them. To confuse us. To break our spirit and our faith. But regardless of what they do or say - and what the world thinks - we must not let their lies get to us. We must not compromise what is right - our survival - because of some neurotic sense of "Jewish guilt". Glen Beck, a well-known pro-Israel commentator remarked, in a video, that at a time when many people haven't a clue about who they are, the Jewish people do. Jews know who we are. We have thousands of years of laws, traditions and faith in G-d to support us. A covenant with G-d. A promised land. All of this binds us to G-d and to each other, giving us the confidence that others don't have. As we celebrate Pesach this year, let us bolster this confidence in ourselves and in G-d. For we, unlike most of humanity, are no longer slaves.
Yes, Susan, it's ironic, frustrating, and outrageous that the value system created by the Jews is precisely what's being used in the war against the Jews. This moral framework has been weaponized and turned against the people who created it! This is a core theme of my book 'Paradigm Wars' from which the present essay is drawn.
Wonderful! I wish you the best with your book, Sam. I've been a professional freelance writer/analyst of media trends for 40 years (semi-retired now). So it wasn't hard for me to figure out the psychology behind the Islamo/Leftist spin. Of course it’s not only Jews who are susceptible to this gaslighting. The entire Western world, besotted with sentimentality over anyone depicted as a “victim” is fair game. Their willingness to set facts aside in favor of phony videos and unprovable claims suggests that Marxism’s “long march through Western institutions” is nearly complete and will soon achieve its goal to destroy Western civilization unless a critical mass of opposition occurs.*
This opposition must come not only from Jews who are sufficiently grounded in Torah to inform others about what is “moral” – and what isn’t – from the Jewish point of view during war. It must also come from non-Jewish thinkers whose views about wartime morality and the use of phony victims shatters the Islamo/Leftist hype.
In the meantime, let us pray that in Israel and the Diaspora, a groundswell of faith and confidence in true Jewish morality silences the leftists and Islamophiles among us. That it gives Israel’s leaders the brains and the batzim to win this war.
*Note: I’ve been studying the Islamo/Leftist alliance (a.k.a. Red/Green alliance) for almost 25 years, beginning with the ramblings of Palestinian activist Edward Said (a self-admitted Marxist). I always wondered what would happen if, G-d forbid, they “won” the West: socially, politically and militarily. Since each is an ideology that does not play well with others I can only imagine they would fight each other until Western nations resemble some apocalyptic nightmare.
They do indeed fight each other, eventually. Imagine Stalin's surprise when his Nazi partners in crime suddenly turned and invaded Russia. Imagine the surprise of the Iranian leftists who made common cause with the Mullahs to bring down the Shah when suddenly they found themselves being arrested and executed after the Shah's downfall. The list of such betrayals is long. The alliance only lasts until the existing order is brought down, then it's time for a fight to the death to become the new Top Dog.
Fascinating and an "eye-opener". Particularly when you speak of Jews wanting to live a peaceful life and not antagonize their "neighbours". And yet, for thousands of years, your neighbours have hated you and sought your annihilation. The ancient hate has always and will always be hiding in the shadows. I do not see it going away any time soon. I am sure that you know about this curse from Balaam: "Behold, they are a nation that shall dwell alone..." [Num. 23:9].
What makes it all so tricky is that the values themselves are noble and praiseworthy. The problem lies in the belief that we can model these values and that the ghouls and zombies that surround us will be transformed by our shining light. The fate of our martyrs, alas, suggests otherwise. Chag Sameach
late ta the pahrty but enjoyin' the company belatedly... The Passover celebration is the first / prime holiday ta commemorate the follerin':
a) story tellin'! our story, our way, with drama, song, good food, an' wind up frogs an' an' toy cock-a-roaches to approximate the locusts if ya roll like our fam duz ('been to many a seder an' nobuddy would dare ta claim our tale fer Jesus 'er Jehoshaphat--jumpin' 'er not!) We OWN this holly-day an' we excel at story tellin' so Passover is also our annual performance (Purim is more of a mummer show, less talk, less fressin'...) Stories are "who we are" an' how we know ourselfs so this ain't chopped liver! Anybuddy wonder how the "Friars Club Roasts started?" -- come to a seder!
b) "our own show"--re the above, it's the also only time joos can be ourselfs (more prolix than terse) uninterrupted---an' not git shouted down... "We were slaves" (so we say) an' nobuddy objects an' sez "yer genocidal occupiers!" or "but what about Islam?" or any other malarkey.... Also we "read responsively" an' all join in an' take turns... this is a lesson in private (generalized to public) discourse!
c) it's our annual lesson in critical thinkin' an' as such it starts young! Each child asks "qvestions" which is, of course, a celebration of the word "we" invented (ha ha) WHY? In other faiths children must be seen/not "hoid"--an' askin' is impudent--but us? Practice pipin' up soon as ye can!--it's encouraged even fer the little pischers.
d) schedules be damned, we all eat together! this is sumthin'--we're all so bizzy--but these rituals are a form of family bonding.... no longer in bondage to "da man" (who called himself Pharoh) but bound to each other... I'm sure wanderin' fer 40 years helped with the bondin' too. It's also, I'm sure, why I have a horrible innate sense of direction!
e) It's the one important time we "pass down tradition" tellin' our story--tradition is no small thing b/c it keeps us together (we the motely race or faith or whatever the heck we are when folks tell us we "ain't"--but we are. An' as in yer hippie passover tale, however motley, we KNOW each other! Plus we have fun! Perhaps there's no botkin present but there's always kids on a treasure hunt! A search (for food no less! I'm sure that was no joke once in the desert....) all made inta a game fer the kinder... We celebrate, especially on this holiday, to "teach our children well"
f) last but not least, just as a seder has its order the entire "event" takes order, organization, an' plannin'--preparin' the house fer the more frum, preparin' the dishes, pullin' out the real silver pieces (heigh ho!) an' findin' all the stuff (our seder plate moves annually ha ha)--no other jooish holiday takes so MUCH in the makin'--it's a good lesson!
Well, Miss Daisy, you would've fit right in to our Mendocino California '73 seder and they would've signed you up to deliver the preamble for Seder '74. And I would gladly ceded that honor to one so much more gifted at the gab than yours truly. Many thanks for your profound and illustrious comment which nearly qualifies as a gantze megillah in its own write!
wull shucks, that's such a nize comply-mint I'll let it savour but fer sure Sam ye gotz the same gift've gab yerself. As I said, goes with the terry-tory (wouldn't be no hollywood without all've ve natch'ral born schtory tellers!). I'd a been proud ta attend that seder, would'a been glad ta "co-emcee!"--sounds right up mah alley had I not been in diapers at the time (lol). The merry crew of "we" motley joos, hoverin' 'round the left but never too schtoopid ta take up hammer 'n sick-all (the former only ta cobble together funky livin' spaces an' broken stuff) wuz sumthin'!--now I barely wreck-og-nize "us"--I'll humbly suggest we all need a lot more seders ta bring us all back 2gether, yet wanderin' in a desert of a different composition--more like quicksand! ;-)
THANKS Sam. The concept of monotheism wiping out idolitary and human sacrifice caught my attention. Judaism's one G_d makes the horde of "old gods" angry. I will get your book ASAP - I am sure that it will "fill in gaps,"
Music to my ears! As an author, hearing from someone that really gets what you're saying makes all the hours at the keyboard well worth the effort! Thanks for the feedback
I've been collecting ideas regarding the origin of anti-semitism for the past few months. This essay made me stop everything and whisper, "wow". Gotta read Hilt's book, as well as Johnson's and Rivkin's. I hear you regarding how do we go on? I suppose Israelis have the answer. They exemplify the new Jew, created post-Holocaust in the land of Zion. We retain a sense of the dignity of humanity, while fighting like the devil those who don't share that view. We are tolerant, except of intolerance.
There is obviously a huge difference in how Jews and Christians view the word "Passover ". Christians are taught it means the Angel of Death "passing over" your home during the time of the plagues. Two totally different things!
That IS the Jewish story, specifically the passing over the homes of Jews so as NOT to murder the first born of their households. There was another responder, whose comments I can no longer find, who insisted that Passover was a pre-cursor or some how pointing to Christianity. This responder stated that the Jews gave up human sacrifice under duress. And I want to say, not really. The story of the binding of Isaac is a central story taught in yeshivot to elementary school children. At least these days (I mean within the past 30 years when my kids when to yeshiva), it is my understanding that it is very much anti-human sacrifice. The responder also said that animal sacrifice only ended because the second Temple was destroyed. Rest assured, if the rabbis had wanted to find a way to institute animal sacrifice somewhere else, they would have found a way. It was simply time to move on from that. That's my feeling. I'm not a scholar, granted.
Passover is to celebrate the passing over of the death angel during the plagues in Egypt. By painting the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the doorposts of their home the death angel would pass over their home and they would escape God's killing of the first born of each family and all livestock. I guess in that way it is "sort of" related to the escape from Egypt, but the whole point is being missed. Jesus is our sacrificial lamb and it is by identifying with His shedding of his own blood that we are "saved" from our slavery to sin. I hope this increases your understanding of the commemoration of Passover.
Carol, what you describe very succinctly is the Christian reading of the Exodus story as it was incorporated into Christian theology. I have no problem with that. Any Jew who reads the New Testament with an open mind can appreciate the various ways that themes from the Hebrew Bible were explored and developed and woven into a new framework of religious belief. Where you cross a red line for Jews is when you suggest that the Christian reading is definitive and that the Jews don't really understand the book that they wrote. I think that Jews and Christians need to strive for a pluralistic vision within which both traditions may thrive without recrimination or disdain. As an American Patriot expressed it in the face of the British threat, "Either we all hang together, or we shall each hang separately."
The idea of Jesus dying on the cross seems to me a kind of left-handed return to human sacrifice, the very opposite of what Hilt is talking about. The idea of someone else being punished for your sins is the essence of that which we today consider unethical. At the very least, Jesus apparently takes on the role of a scapegoat. Judaism gave up human sacrifice, and then animal sacrifice. Christianity seems to return to the human sacrifice -- in a new iteration, to be sure -- but it is definitely NOT the essence of Passover. (Interesting that you consider the crucifixion the shedding of "his own blood"; so the Jews didn't commit deicide then. Good to know).
Judaism gave up human sacrifice only reluctantly, and only gave up animal sacrifice due to the destruction (multiple times) of the temple, hence no more animal sacrifices. If you miss that the Passover pointed forward to Jesus, you miss the whole thing. And it isn't that Christianity returned to human sacrifice, it's that God did!
No, actually it is the Jewish version where the Angel of Death passes over the Israelites' homes that were marked with blood, sparing the first born from the fate of their Egyptian counterparts (one of the plagues). Apparently, Christianity has taken the story and revamped it to mean that the blood of Christ (rather than the blood of the paschal lamb) liberates all of humanity from sin. He wasn't even a gleam in anybody's eye when this story occurred. But, if they must they must. No Jew I know cares about how Christians re-think the story. It's completely irrelevant as far as I'm concerned.
Interesting essay. I, too, have always thought the root cause of anti-Semitism was that Jews go against the natural bloodlust and barbarism which too many humans are unwilling to give up. The author links it with the ancient worship of blood-thirsty deities. But it amounts to the same thing. Today, the worst anti-Semites are those who try to hide their bloodlust behind phony concern about victims supposedly created by Israel. They do this to destroy the morality that Judaism is famous for. Their leaders want to drag us back into the caves with them. To confuse us. To break our spirit and our faith. But regardless of what they do or say - and what the world thinks - we must not let their lies get to us. We must not compromise what is right - our survival - because of some neurotic sense of "Jewish guilt". Glen Beck, a well-known pro-Israel commentator remarked, in a video, that at a time when many people haven't a clue about who they are, the Jewish people do. Jews know who we are. We have thousands of years of laws, traditions and faith in G-d to support us. A covenant with G-d. A promised land. All of this binds us to G-d and to each other, giving us the confidence that others don't have. As we celebrate Pesach this year, let us bolster this confidence in ourselves and in G-d. For we, unlike most of humanity, are no longer slaves.
Yes, Susan, it's ironic, frustrating, and outrageous that the value system created by the Jews is precisely what's being used in the war against the Jews. This moral framework has been weaponized and turned against the people who created it! This is a core theme of my book 'Paradigm Wars' from which the present essay is drawn.
Wonderful! I wish you the best with your book, Sam. I've been a professional freelance writer/analyst of media trends for 40 years (semi-retired now). So it wasn't hard for me to figure out the psychology behind the Islamo/Leftist spin. Of course it’s not only Jews who are susceptible to this gaslighting. The entire Western world, besotted with sentimentality over anyone depicted as a “victim” is fair game. Their willingness to set facts aside in favor of phony videos and unprovable claims suggests that Marxism’s “long march through Western institutions” is nearly complete and will soon achieve its goal to destroy Western civilization unless a critical mass of opposition occurs.*
This opposition must come not only from Jews who are sufficiently grounded in Torah to inform others about what is “moral” – and what isn’t – from the Jewish point of view during war. It must also come from non-Jewish thinkers whose views about wartime morality and the use of phony victims shatters the Islamo/Leftist hype.
In the meantime, let us pray that in Israel and the Diaspora, a groundswell of faith and confidence in true Jewish morality silences the leftists and Islamophiles among us. That it gives Israel’s leaders the brains and the batzim to win this war.
*Note: I’ve been studying the Islamo/Leftist alliance (a.k.a. Red/Green alliance) for almost 25 years, beginning with the ramblings of Palestinian activist Edward Said (a self-admitted Marxist). I always wondered what would happen if, G-d forbid, they “won” the West: socially, politically and militarily. Since each is an ideology that does not play well with others I can only imagine they would fight each other until Western nations resemble some apocalyptic nightmare.
They do indeed fight each other, eventually. Imagine Stalin's surprise when his Nazi partners in crime suddenly turned and invaded Russia. Imagine the surprise of the Iranian leftists who made common cause with the Mullahs to bring down the Shah when suddenly they found themselves being arrested and executed after the Shah's downfall. The list of such betrayals is long. The alliance only lasts until the existing order is brought down, then it's time for a fight to the death to become the new Top Dog.
Beautifully said. I don't believe in god, but I fiercely identify with being Jewish; all that you say still works for me.
@Sam Hilt:
Fascinating and an "eye-opener". Particularly when you speak of Jews wanting to live a peaceful life and not antagonize their "neighbours". And yet, for thousands of years, your neighbours have hated you and sought your annihilation. The ancient hate has always and will always be hiding in the shadows. I do not see it going away any time soon. I am sure that you know about this curse from Balaam: "Behold, they are a nation that shall dwell alone..." [Num. 23:9].
When you once again feel inclined to be peace-loving and let your guard down, remember Moshe Dayan’s eulogy for Ro'i Rothberg in 1956, in particularly that he: "...was blinded by the light in his heart and he did not see the flash of the sword. The yearning for peace deafened his ears and he did not hear the voice of murder waiting in ambush." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Dayan%27s_eulogy_for_Ro%27i_Rothberg#:~:text=Beyond%20the%20furrow%20of%20the,us%20from%20his%20torn%20body.
Am Yisrael Chai!
What makes it all so tricky is that the values themselves are noble and praiseworthy. The problem lies in the belief that we can model these values and that the ghouls and zombies that surround us will be transformed by our shining light. The fate of our martyrs, alas, suggests otherwise. Chag Sameach
late ta the pahrty but enjoyin' the company belatedly... The Passover celebration is the first / prime holiday ta commemorate the follerin':
a) story tellin'! our story, our way, with drama, song, good food, an' wind up frogs an' an' toy cock-a-roaches to approximate the locusts if ya roll like our fam duz ('been to many a seder an' nobuddy would dare ta claim our tale fer Jesus 'er Jehoshaphat--jumpin' 'er not!) We OWN this holly-day an' we excel at story tellin' so Passover is also our annual performance (Purim is more of a mummer show, less talk, less fressin'...) Stories are "who we are" an' how we know ourselfs so this ain't chopped liver! Anybuddy wonder how the "Friars Club Roasts started?" -- come to a seder!
b) "our own show"--re the above, it's the also only time joos can be ourselfs (more prolix than terse) uninterrupted---an' not git shouted down... "We were slaves" (so we say) an' nobuddy objects an' sez "yer genocidal occupiers!" or "but what about Islam?" or any other malarkey.... Also we "read responsively" an' all join in an' take turns... this is a lesson in private (generalized to public) discourse!
c) it's our annual lesson in critical thinkin' an' as such it starts young! Each child asks "qvestions" which is, of course, a celebration of the word "we" invented (ha ha) WHY? In other faiths children must be seen/not "hoid"--an' askin' is impudent--but us? Practice pipin' up soon as ye can!--it's encouraged even fer the little pischers.
d) schedules be damned, we all eat together! this is sumthin'--we're all so bizzy--but these rituals are a form of family bonding.... no longer in bondage to "da man" (who called himself Pharoh) but bound to each other... I'm sure wanderin' fer 40 years helped with the bondin' too. It's also, I'm sure, why I have a horrible innate sense of direction!
e) It's the one important time we "pass down tradition" tellin' our story--tradition is no small thing b/c it keeps us together (we the motely race or faith or whatever the heck we are when folks tell us we "ain't"--but we are. An' as in yer hippie passover tale, however motley, we KNOW each other! Plus we have fun! Perhaps there's no botkin present but there's always kids on a treasure hunt! A search (for food no less! I'm sure that was no joke once in the desert....) all made inta a game fer the kinder... We celebrate, especially on this holiday, to "teach our children well"
f) last but not least, just as a seder has its order the entire "event" takes order, organization, an' plannin'--preparin' the house fer the more frum, preparin' the dishes, pullin' out the real silver pieces (heigh ho!) an' findin' all the stuff (our seder plate moves annually ha ha)--no other jooish holiday takes so MUCH in the makin'--it's a good lesson!
chag sameah! (a leeeetle late...)
e.
Well, Miss Daisy, you would've fit right in to our Mendocino California '73 seder and they would've signed you up to deliver the preamble for Seder '74. And I would gladly ceded that honor to one so much more gifted at the gab than yours truly. Many thanks for your profound and illustrious comment which nearly qualifies as a gantze megillah in its own write!
wull shucks, that's such a nize comply-mint I'll let it savour but fer sure Sam ye gotz the same gift've gab yerself. As I said, goes with the terry-tory (wouldn't be no hollywood without all've ve natch'ral born schtory tellers!). I'd a been proud ta attend that seder, would'a been glad ta "co-emcee!"--sounds right up mah alley had I not been in diapers at the time (lol). The merry crew of "we" motley joos, hoverin' 'round the left but never too schtoopid ta take up hammer 'n sick-all (the former only ta cobble together funky livin' spaces an' broken stuff) wuz sumthin'!--now I barely wreck-og-nize "us"--I'll humbly suggest we all need a lot more seders ta bring us all back 2gether, yet wanderin' in a desert of a different composition--more like quicksand! ;-)
Excellent and profound analysis of the roots of the ancestral antisemitism and its present symptoms.
THANKS Sam. The concept of monotheism wiping out idolitary and human sacrifice caught my attention. Judaism's one G_d makes the horde of "old gods" angry. I will get your book ASAP - I am sure that it will "fill in gaps,"
Music to my ears! As an author, hearing from someone that really gets what you're saying makes all the hours at the keyboard well worth the effort! Thanks for the feedback
I've been collecting ideas regarding the origin of anti-semitism for the past few months. This essay made me stop everything and whisper, "wow". Gotta read Hilt's book, as well as Johnson's and Rivkin's. I hear you regarding how do we go on? I suppose Israelis have the answer. They exemplify the new Jew, created post-Holocaust in the land of Zion. We retain a sense of the dignity of humanity, while fighting like the devil those who don't share that view. We are tolerant, except of intolerance.
Yes, you heard it right, my cold-blooded friend. Honored to know you will be reading the book!
The last line of the essay especially made my blood run cold, as that is the Islamic cry. They are, then, a return to the pagan cults.
There is obviously a huge difference in how Jews and Christians view the word "Passover ". Christians are taught it means the Angel of Death "passing over" your home during the time of the plagues. Two totally different things!
That IS the Jewish story, specifically the passing over the homes of Jews so as NOT to murder the first born of their households. There was another responder, whose comments I can no longer find, who insisted that Passover was a pre-cursor or some how pointing to Christianity. This responder stated that the Jews gave up human sacrifice under duress. And I want to say, not really. The story of the binding of Isaac is a central story taught in yeshivot to elementary school children. At least these days (I mean within the past 30 years when my kids when to yeshiva), it is my understanding that it is very much anti-human sacrifice. The responder also said that animal sacrifice only ended because the second Temple was destroyed. Rest assured, if the rabbis had wanted to find a way to institute animal sacrifice somewhere else, they would have found a way. It was simply time to move on from that. That's my feeling. I'm not a scholar, granted.
Passover is to celebrate the passing over of the death angel during the plagues in Egypt. By painting the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the doorposts of their home the death angel would pass over their home and they would escape God's killing of the first born of each family and all livestock. I guess in that way it is "sort of" related to the escape from Egypt, but the whole point is being missed. Jesus is our sacrificial lamb and it is by identifying with His shedding of his own blood that we are "saved" from our slavery to sin. I hope this increases your understanding of the commemoration of Passover.
Carol, what you describe very succinctly is the Christian reading of the Exodus story as it was incorporated into Christian theology. I have no problem with that. Any Jew who reads the New Testament with an open mind can appreciate the various ways that themes from the Hebrew Bible were explored and developed and woven into a new framework of religious belief. Where you cross a red line for Jews is when you suggest that the Christian reading is definitive and that the Jews don't really understand the book that they wrote. I think that Jews and Christians need to strive for a pluralistic vision within which both traditions may thrive without recrimination or disdain. As an American Patriot expressed it in the face of the British threat, "Either we all hang together, or we shall each hang separately."
Thanks Sam - excellent and balanced answer from someone who has a right to be offended.
The idea of Jesus dying on the cross seems to me a kind of left-handed return to human sacrifice, the very opposite of what Hilt is talking about. The idea of someone else being punished for your sins is the essence of that which we today consider unethical. At the very least, Jesus apparently takes on the role of a scapegoat. Judaism gave up human sacrifice, and then animal sacrifice. Christianity seems to return to the human sacrifice -- in a new iteration, to be sure -- but it is definitely NOT the essence of Passover. (Interesting that you consider the crucifixion the shedding of "his own blood"; so the Jews didn't commit deicide then. Good to know).
Judaism gave up human sacrifice only reluctantly, and only gave up animal sacrifice due to the destruction (multiple times) of the temple, hence no more animal sacrifices. If you miss that the Passover pointed forward to Jesus, you miss the whole thing. And it isn't that Christianity returned to human sacrifice, it's that God did!
Yes yes I miss the whole thing then. Gladly missing the whole thing.
No, actually it is the Jewish version where the Angel of Death passes over the Israelites' homes that were marked with blood, sparing the first born from the fate of their Egyptian counterparts (one of the plagues). Apparently, Christianity has taken the story and revamped it to mean that the blood of Christ (rather than the blood of the paschal lamb) liberates all of humanity from sin. He wasn't even a gleam in anybody's eye when this story occurred. But, if they must they must. No Jew I know cares about how Christians re-think the story. It's completely irrelevant as far as I'm concerned.
Sam I agree wholeheartedly.