The Greatest Existential threat we face is ourselves
Jewish history is a tale of assimilation. Every civilization we encountered seduced us, from Babylon, Rome, the renaissance, scientific revolution etc. In every instance, most Jew chose the exit door. Hellenist Jews stretched their foreskins to participate in Roman gymnasiums. Upper class Jews chose power and wealth over tradition. Former Jews became inquisitors, popes, politicians and Arab rulers. For many, the way of life around them was preferable to the isolation, restrictions, poverty, rejection and humiliation of being Jewish. Those who chose a Jewish life and passed it on through generations were small in number but strong in devotion. While we view assimilation as a threat, it is also responsible for our survival.
What happens when assimilation is no longer an option as in Israel today. If you are born in Israel we call you Jewish. But are you? Are people who embrace Palestinians but hate orthodox Jews, who have no interest in Jewish holy sites, who complain when Jewish holidays interrupt their lives, who make settler a dirty word, and want a Palestinian state in the west bank more than most residents there Jewish simply because they live in Israel? They continue to embrace Europe and the US democratic party ignoring their antisemitism, by accepting a narrative that blames Israel using words like apartheid, genocidal, by supporting a double standard and perpetuating the fiction that building on the west bank is what causes war. When a Jew kills a Palestinian they blame him and the ‘ extreme right wing’ group he is a member of but bury the numbers of Jews slaughtered by Palestinians terrorists.
Are these Jews’s or goyim who speak hebrew? In any other country, they would have assimilated. In the U.S. we call then Jews in name only, and other noncompliments. In Israel, they are national leaders who wield political power.
Benny Ganz and his gang of ‘pacifist’ generals are examples. They despise orthodox Jews but are considering forming a government with genocidal Muslims of the joint list . Ganz, a champion of purity of arms ( a doctrine that every soldier in the IDF must embrace,) that requires never killing civilians. He and others take pride in their superioir miorality, that protects lives of ‘innocent’ women and children. But how? at what price? The answer - by aborting critical missions if (people dressed like) civilians are present, by refusing to give soldiers permission to fire, and even come to the aid of other IDF soldiers. This policy sacrifices Jewish blood and puts Palestinian lives above our own. A nationwide attack of amnesia ignores his flagrant refusal to a make a plan for retaking Gaza because “there is no military solution to Gaza.”
This man has already rejected Judaism and Jews, and embraced a ‘replacement theology’ that has no room for observant, Jews especially those who staunchly refuse to look and behave like ‘everybody else’. The IDF is Israel’s most effective assimilation tool and forcing army service for Haredim at a time when their services are not needed (Overall, fewer soldiers are needed, draft dodging in Tel Aviv over 20% is ignored and national service positionsd are limited by job scarcity. Ultra -orthodox Jews understand the truie objective, perceive a threat and refuse to turn over their kids. Regardless of my personal point of view here (I believe in univerdsal service) , in Israel, a Jewish state, they are entitled to the same religious tolerance given to Muslims, whose disloyalty is expected and respected . To demonstrate ‘ tolerance for Islam’, IDF soldiers were prohibited from eating in areas where Muslims were present during Ramadan. The IDF has never given Jews the same religious consideration. A law suit charging the IDF with violation of religious rights would be reasonable and interesting.
This happened before, three thousand years ago, the last time Israel was our country. Israelites joined surrounding pagan groups, participated in their customs , religious rituals and intermarried. Relations between tribes, strained from the get go, erupted into wars with IDED by alliances of some tribes with foreign Canaanite countries as allies. Ignoring the warnings of prophets, Israelites did not retain their beliefs, values or unity. The Canaanite wives they took brought their religion with them and the fertility goddesses they worshiped are being excavated in the city of David as we speak, Solomon built temples for his pagan wives, with taxes that broke the backs of distant tribes. The Israelites split and over time military leaders (Jephthah) and Kings (Edomites -e.g. Herod) whose ties were tenuous or nonexistent ruled.
Weak in principals, national pride and crippled by internal hate, downfall was inevitable. The Rabbis tell us that the second temple was destroyed because of pointless hatred between Jews.
