Stopping anmti-semitism
Can we stop antisemitism?
Jews
have a tendency to view antisemitism as inevitable, as a fact of life.
Like blue skies, sunrise, sunset, it can’t be changed. We assume we
have no control over this hate we face our actions are explanatory,
defensive, denying. We shrink from calling those dedicated to our
extermination enemies and allow them to set the agenda.
As a
group Jews do not unite and fight antisemitism, We allow opportunities
to pass by and when our enemies take advantage of every possible
opportunity, we don’t expose them We reject action and deny
antisemitism exists. We allow others to control the agenda .We adopt the
causes of others and often put them above our own.
Our
problems are not the result of lack of skill in persuasion. Our
accomplishments prove we have the skill. Something holds us back and
prevents us from fighting our battles and it is called diaspora
Thousands
of years in diaspora took their toll. We developed a national psychology
that allows others to take advantage of us. There may have been a time
time when believing that we should never start a fight, that others
set the rules , that we must adapt, watch what we say and do was
necessary as a survival mechanism.
The world
around us changed. We have a country to be proud of, the venture
capital of the world,with an excellent economy, medical system, &
educational system, that has absorbed more people than any other
country on earth and that gives every Jew the 'right of return' as
protection against antisemitism. The majority of Jews in diaspora live
democracies that guarantee rights and give us ways to fight when
denied. We have the right to control the narrative, to act strongly at
the first sign of danger. We don't.
Changing a
cultural behavior pattern thousands of years in the making is very
difficult. A tortured nation is like a battered child or captive. who
has been released. and doesn't just snap into normal mode. A history
of control by others, being told you are worthless and undeserving, of
being physically harmed weakens the captive ; He accepts negative
views of himself. He has little control over his fate; other than
pleasing his caeptor. (' If we do better this time, then they will
accept us)and this takes root in his psyche as an imntemse desire tom
please enemies and not recognize them for what they are
For Jews, the torah, the belief in being "chosen" and
other aspects of Jewish religion provided an alternative perspective
that emotionally sustained them - pride in learning, the ability and
priority placed on logical reasoning , rejecting the 'goyish' violence
and embracing the moral high ground. are some examples of norms, that
became part of our religion but that create problems for us today
In
Biblical times, before norms developed to accomodate life in diaspora,
Israelites avoided war, but when war war was necessary they settled for
nothing less that unconditional surrender. Enemies were called enemies
and those with genocidal intent ( Amalek) were eliminated completely.
including possessions and animals.
Today,
we avoid blaming those who wish and do us evil. We find it difficult to
describe groups dedicated our destruction as enemies. We see things
from their point of view.. Clinging to that moral high-ground we find
reasons to excuse behavior we would never tolerate in another Jew.
Nations
openly declare their desire to exterminate us. They call us Nazis,
genocidal, apartheid, hold up flags with swastikas replacing the star of
David. Jews are being murdered all over the west. There is anger,
ridicule, explaiions from ning, but what have we done? kept a count of
violence against Jews and perpetrators?, demanded that the department of
justice act against antisemitism? learned self defense? Where are the
demonstrations, and law suits, the pressure to remove antisemitic
content from education and on and on. How different are our actions
from those of Jews in Germany before the war?
I was a child in the aftermath of WWII. My friend’s parents were
holocaust survivors. ‘why did you let it happen?’ ‘Why didn’t you do
something? why did you wait too late? We asked again and again; the
response always silence, In a movie theater, in a newsreel, we watched
a transport of Jews to a concentration camp, a death march and
thinking. There were so many more Jews than Nazis. Even though Nazis had
guns we could have stopped them. Now I stand on the cusp of another
breakout. I will NOT be one of the people who have only blank stares to
offer when children ask me about what I didn’t do. Then words never
again are more than a hashtag, They are a promise to our descendents
and a commitment to action.
Does your head spin when you hear about terrifying things happening to Jews every day - accusations & insults, BDS,
campus antisemitism, murders, destruction of Jewish property, threats.
Mine does. Where do you begin? What can make a difference? The burden
seems impossible to handle.
Our history is one of accomplishing the impossible. If, a Jewish man and
his niece defeated the a king's decree to exterminate the Jews of
Persia, if Matityahu, and his sons, won a war against the Roman army,
if Jews built Israel from its' ashes after millenia, we can unite
against antisemitism with enough power to win.Jewish history. after all,
is a tale of people accomplishing the impossible.
I can hear the skeptics, all the reasons we cannot succeed and will make
no attempt to convince. Those who are compelled to act know. History
shows is that a small group of people can put a plan in place and ignite
actions that work. Success is contagious.
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