The Winner Takes It All

 

The following is the English translation of a Face Book post published by Tal Gilad on September 2nd, 2020 and translated by Bat-Zion Susskind-Sacks

Columbus was not the first European who arrived in America. Today, we know that the Vikings already arrived there about 500 years before him. It bears no significance as they did nothing other than to settle and leave after a short while. Columbus’s discovery is the one that bore international significance, political and economically and opened for Europe a new horizon to the New World. Therefore, credit was given

To Columbus and justly. Erikson and the Vikings remained in the realm of an anecdote, nothing more.

Magellan was not the first to   orbit the earth. In fact, he himself did not complete the voyage as he was killed in the Philippines. His Malaysian interpreter, defected the expedition and probably returned to him homeland after the death of Magellan and this way, in fact, became the first person who encircled the earth – from Malacca to Spain, from Spain with his crew around America and then back to Malacca. His adventures interest no one since his “operation” had no strategic, international, political, or economic significance. The credit was not even given to Sebastian Elcano, the captain, who completed the entire round aboard the only ship that remained. Magellan was the initiator, leader of the expedition, the organizer, therefore the glory is his and rightfully so.

 

Alexander Graham Bell was not the only one and possibly not the first one to invent an apparatus which served as a basis for the telephone. The 19^th century was a century of amazing inventions which accompany us until this very day in modern variations, the light bulb’ the camera, the train and more. Quite a few people worked on all these discoveries at the same time. The Italian, Antonio Meucci, invented a similar device, twenty years before Bell. Six hundred people claimed to have come up with a similar invention and filed suits against the recognition of Bell as the inventor of the telephone. All of those are irrelevant (though the U.S. recognized Meucci’s “contribution”) since they never turned their invention – real or otherwise - into something useful for general use and meaningful to the entire human race. The credit was given to Bell and justly so, even though he was getting tired of all the lawsuits, the gossip and after his retirement, he refused to hear about the matter.

Benjamin Netanyahu is not the first Yisraeli who has visited the Emirates and not even the first leader who has met with leaders from that region. He is the first one who has made it meaningful when he brough Yisrael to a powerful economic, political, and strategic position through clear vision and an understanding that the agreements between the countries rest on mutual interests and not the sentiments of the Left which a political insight of a tofu. He is the firs one  who has brought about a formal visible agreement, diplomatic and commercial relationships on the table meaningful agreement to all of Yisraeli citizens , he is the first one who turned the negotiations from “covert” ones to normalization, to a clear and official given which all factors in the region have to take into consideration from now on. If Shimon Peres or Joe Blo did at one point flew over to the Emirates and sang Kumbaya, it bears no relevance and it had no “preparation” to anything.

Therefore all the wailing from Leftists claiming that it was actually Peres who started it all, and that who needs this peace and how it hurts that Netanyahu is successful- these are just background noises which will fade out to the complainers’ section in the basements of history. The credit will be given to Netanyahu and rightfully so. Thank you for listening. Hopefully, it has been understood.

A Son of Zion

He was born in a small town in Belarus in the latter part of the 19^th century. His father, Yitzchok, was a distinguished rabbi. His mother, Tscherna, was a hard-working woman who raised him and his eleven sisters and brothers in the finest way .

As the years went by, one by one, several of his siblings left the nest to roam in greener pastures, overseas. Unlike them, he elected to stay and get certified as a Jewish ritual slaughterer.

These were not easy times for Jews in the Russian Empire. Many were exposed to the Haskalah ( Jewish Enlightenment Movement) which promoted the use of Hebrew, in Literature, instead of Yiddish, exposed many to the noble ideas of the French Revolution which ignited their political and social involvement and pushed a great number of them  to follow the Marxist doctrine and even attempt to set up a Marxist party in Minsk in 1898. He was one of them.

As someone who is opposed to any form of such doctrines, I try to rationalize this young man’s political and social choices. These were times when the Marxist ideology seemed like the ultimate panacea for injustice, inequality, and illiteracy. No one, including our young hero, had expected that it would fail and fade into the realm of utopia and in such a short period.

His strong desire to make the world a better place also drove this inquisitive young man to travel to Warsaw in order to meet and befriend Dr. Zamenhof, the Jewish linguist who invented Esperanto. The idea of a world without wars, without religious or linguistic barriers which could be materialized by the use of an international, easy to learn language which would be accessible to all, pushed him to master it almost to perfection. He became one of its most avid advocates and supporters.

In the early part of the twentieth century, this ambitious young man decided to join his sister, Hilda, who had moved to London several years earlier and try his luck there. He started his way as an encyclopedia salesman, albeit not with much success. There were days, I was told, when he suffered hunger and cold. During those times, he would deliberately break a window merely to be arrested, spend the night in a warmer jail cell where he would also get to eat a free hot meal.

Sales, obviously, were not his strong suit. He left London and moved to Oxford. There, our brilliant hero earned a PhD in English Literature.

At the onset of world war I, he was deployed by the British army. During the war, he travelled with the navy all the way to southeast Asia. He did not like what he witnessed there. In his outspoken manner, he criticized the colonial endeavour and protested the way the British treated the locals.

For me, he was an early version of George Orwell.

His words, protests and harsh condemnation of British imperialism did not go unnoticed. He was dismissed from the army and forced out of the kingdom.

Left with no choices, our young man moved back to Russia where the early buds of the Bolshevik revolution were beginning to sprout. Being a firm believer in the Marxist ideology, he joined the effort.

A short while after the onset of the Revolution, disorder settled in. Our intelligent perceptive hero realized that it was a dream which would never come to fruition. He was a living witness to its collapse and the unavoidable conclusion that as attractive as the solution  that it offered to end world maladies, it was doomed to failure.

Shattered by what he observed, he decided to move to Poland.

One day, during a train ride to Vilna, he noticed Sarah, that was her name as he learned later, sitting  across the aisle from him and instantly fell in love with her. Her green, lovely eyes and her red wavy hair mesmerized him. Sarah was on her way to get betrothed to a young man that she had never met. When their glimpses met, they both knew that she would never reach her destination.

Sarah was the daughter of a very wealthy wholesale merchant. Our young man joined him, soon after he married Sarah, learned the art of trade, and eventually ran the whole business together with his fiery wife Sarah.

Yesterday’s Marxist became a capitalist and he loved it. He raised two brilliant talented children. They had everything money could buy, maids, nannies, trips and a summer home.  They even had a radio where they would listen to the finest operas while our man would describe to his children in, as vivid a manner as possible, the various scenes as he experienced them at Covent Garden or other concert halls. Poland, Polania (in Hebrew translates as “here G-d slept”) for him, was just that, the land of milk and honey.

Unfortunately, history had other plans in store for our protagonist. Twenty years later, the world was thrown into chaos when World War II started.

The infamous Riventrop-Molotov agreement of September 1, 1939, put him and his family at harm’s way. Luckily for some, not for our man and his family, though, they were situated in that part of Poland which fell into the hands of the Russians. As a business owner, a rich bourgeois, our man suddenly became the enemy of the state. “Criminals,” like him deserved only one fate. They should be sent to the Gulag where they would be placed in forced labour camps. On September 3^rd, the “culprit” was already on a howling train which made its way eastward to the unknown. He never came back.

This great man was my maternal grandfather, Ben – Zion (son of Zion, in Hebrew). I, Bat-Zion, am named after him and I pledge here and now that I will never desert his legacy and will continue to share his story with the world.

Shanah Tova, Am Yisrael <3

Yes to Brit Mila Simply Because We Are Jews

This article was written by Tal Gilad in Hebrew and was published first in Walla on November 29^th, 2013, during a public debate that was raging over on the subject of Brit Milah  which ensued following a fine imposed on a woman who refused to have her son circumcised. It was translated into English by Bat-Zion Susskind-Sacks.

I am circumcised. My son is circumcised. Anyone that I know in my close surrounding is circumcised. I presume that with certainty even though I never checked. Not one of us remembers his circumcision as a horrible and traumatic event since we were only eight days then and no one remembers anything of that age.

A baby eight days old does not possess enough awareness to be afraid of what they are about to do to him, develop trauma or treat this pain as no more than a momentary unpleasant discomfort. He does not fear the consequences it might bear on his sex life, on his masculinity or his male identity. He does not see it as an attack on his legal rights as a human being. He does not know anything about any of these issues. All he knows is that it hurts during that moment and then it stops and that is all because he is merely eight days old. That is why the ceremony is performed when he is eight days old.

I do not wish to enter the issue of the penalty which the rabbinical court decreed. I do not know all the details and wish to avoid the issue of whether any institution has the jurisdiction to impose that. That is not the topic.

Brit Mila (circumcision) is a directive that Jews have been following for four thousand years. It does not cause any medical problems (possibly the opposite) and poses no national or personal tragedy that is imprinted on  the memory of our genetic code.

I need to confess that I, too, was nervous during the Brit Milah of my son. I also remember that I felt like hitting everyone. The bottom line, however, is that we are Jews and it would be more stupid and selfish if, because of my belligerence he will have to face this predicament of whether to do or not do it at the age of twenty, with all the fears that were mentioned earlier which are nonexistent at the age of eight days. I do not wish to mention another faith which performs this ceremony when the boy is thirteen, when one is fearful and is forced to go through that. This way, it is one unpleasant minute for the baby, one nervous minute for the parents and over.

It is by far less worse than other events that the child undergoes in his life, starting with birth, a scary experience in itself, through ear aches, teething aches, inoculations, fear and sadness during those moments when a determined brave mother who refuses to circumcise her son goes out to have a good time because it is her right and no one will decide for her. There are other more traumatic events in a person’s life such as, the first day in the nursery, kindergarten and a whole host of occurrences which are far less pleasant than Brit Milah which one overcomes and continues to grow.

And no contentious organization sees in it anything that hurts the child’s rights.
That is so, perhaps since it does not carry the intoxicating  scent of was against religious imposition and no one can bask in the words, “primitive ritual.”

By the way, interesting to notice that part of the primitive and cruel People that lives in America do the same to their children without the noise and the commotion and human rights. Oh, those cruel Gentiles 😉

One Should not be afraid to speak of the Palestinian Naqba

Yom Ha’atzmaoot and what surrounds it has turned into a teasing holy day in recent years. A high-profile memorial service for the terrorist (sorry, for “all victims”) and soon Naqba Day slowly approaching to be commemorated on the same Gregorian calendar date as Yisrael’s Independence Day.

I have no issue with the Palestinian point of view. All they want is to live calmly, cultivate their land and slaughter the Jews like any normative nation that is contented with its lot. One can understand their anguish at the fact that they have been deprived of that right. Likewise, one can understand the crocodile’s disappointment when the antelope fled and now it is left without breakfast. It is also easy to understand how difficult it was for the Nazis to witness their dream to destroy the Jews shattering in front of their very eyes when the Russians and Americans liberated the camps. It must have really hurt. It is alright. This is how they see it when the stress is on the word “see.” The problem begins when the victim starts sliding from understanding to empathy and from there justifying those who come to slaughter him and his family. How unfortunate is the crocodile, perhaps I should give him half of my derriere? I will manage. I will sit on my side.

There is no doubt that the Palestinians have experienced a tragedy. So did the Nazis. Mistaken is the person who does not think that the next stage is a joint and flattering Yom Hashoah for “all victims.” It will happen. The deranged ones among us will ensure it does.

The Yisraeli empathy towards the Palestinian failure is a twisted version of the American and European guilt feelings regarding colonialism. We copied it, albeit as a response to the wrong question. The Yisraeli sees himself as a cavalier who is destoying a Native American village and stealing its land or hauling Africans to a slave ship. Except, in this case, it is just the opposite, Watson. Here we are the Native Americans, the one in a thousand cases in which the intended victim was able to overcome the murderous attacker and push him back.

Hungary and Slovakia refuse, and tenaciously, to accept Muslim immigrants. Anyone who is incensed at them for not partaking in the festival of European guilt feelings towards anyone whose skin is slightly darker than theirs, does not know that there, the story is different: Hungary was conquered and enslaved, in the past, by the Turkish Muslims who pushed them northward and only after many generations were liberated by the Austrians. The Hungarians and the Slovaks never conquered one centimeter of Africa or Asia and did not burn Native American villages. Neither did we. They do, however, remember what happened to them five hundred years ago. We, on the other hand, have forgotten what happened to us merely seventy years ago. The fact that we are successful at constantly our neighbours’ plan to destroy us, does not make us conquering colonialists in the microscopic tiny piece of land resting at the heart of 13 million square kilometres which are inhabited by 300 million Arabs.

What characterizes the Arab – Yisraeli wars is its totality. One side comes out with a declared goal to destroy the other side entirely. Not winning, not subduing, not imposing demands of conditions or to conquer land. Annihilate everyone to the last one. They lost? They deserve it. Suffering, let them do some reflections, learn from their mistakes and rebuild their lives. Damn, a thousand organizations and states funnel aid and assistance, incessantly, solely for that purpose. The Palestinians, though, have for four generations have been making a living off misery and at the same time refuse to give up the dream of extermination They refuse to disembark this monstrous idea. They are already lying on the ground with broken limbs, without teeth and, still, what preoccupies them is not getting to the emergency room but instead obstinately insists “now, I will really kill them.” Just like the dark knight of Monty Python.

On Yisrael’s Independence Day, one should not be intimidated to talk about the Palestinian Naqba. On the contrary, it should be taught quite openly. Here once stood an Arab village. Its residents fled because of a war that Arabs started. Here was another one and now stands in its place a flourishing Jewish town, founded by the ones destined to an impeded slaughter. Ah, and there, too, was some small village. Alas, what can one do? This is the fate of the villain that muddles with Yisrael.

Sorry, dear world, the show is over. Sorry, dear neighbours but the slaughter of the Hevron Jews, the slaughter of Zefati Jews, khybar, khybar Ya Yahud and the eradication of an entire Jewish entity, raping and forcefully Islamizing its women and children – all this will only remain in your harsh nostalgic rhymes. And from year to year, as Yisrael gets stronger and mightier, this is getting less and less attainable. Sad, but c’est la vie.

Goodbye New Zealand

“To live in New Zealand” is the name of a song praising and glorifying life in New Zealand, written and performed by a Yisraeli group called “Ethnix.” It is a dream of many, I am told. I guess I am one of the lucky ones who lived to fulfill that dream. It lasted ten years. It had good moments and not so good ones.

What we see New Zealand transforming into these days is, I guess, what I would categorize as the “not so good ones.” Already then (mid 1990’s to mid-2000), I could see the buds of what New Zealand has turned into nowadays. In a way, I am glad I no longer live there.

The red light for me was turned on following the terror attacks on 9/11. In their aftermath, many members of the Muslim faith were attacked, unjustly, I might add, simply because the attacks were carried out by Muslims.

We, members of the Canterbury Hebrew Congregation, immediately enlisted ourselves to a campaign to support New Zealand Muslims. We issued a statement of support and embraced the Christchurch Muslim Community. So did other groups. Among them, were lecturers of the Canterbury University in Christchurch where I was teaching at the time.

Towards that goal, we set up a group on campus, which was entitled, “The Coalition for Justice and Understanding,” a euphemism for an effort to bash America and Yisrael, if you ask me. Some even dared to admit to me, knowing full well that I am a proud American citizen, that America “deserved” 9/11.

Let me interject here that Canterbury University, as I mentioned before, had already been infected with anti Yisrael sentiments spread by some lecturers (https://wingnsonawildflight.blogspot.com/2017/12/time-to-drain-university-swamps.html). I remember the time when Dr. Josef Olmert, a Yisraeli lecturer, visited the campus and partook in a panel where he brilliantly responded to each of their attacks. Following the panel, he asked me, “How can you work with such a hostile faculty staff?”  The fertile ground was already there for the fruition of what we witness today.

During one of our meetings, the aforementioned Coalition decreed to petition to America not to enter Afghanistan for various reasons which I will spare the readers. I objected. I thought that it would have been wiser to turn first to Afghanistan and ask its leaders to extradite Osama bin Laden rather than let the architect and perpetrator of such a crime against innocent people go on free to carry out more. My suggestion was mocked and brushed off as futile and a waste of time. I accused those present of appeasement. “Yes,” I recall retorting at them, “blame the victim and let the criminal get away with murder.”

What upset me most about some of the expressions then, though, was that one lecturer, a Pakistani woman, a very intelligent one, responded to my mention of Auschwitz as one of the lessons that helped shape my life with the following, “The ovens of Auschwitz are cold.” Imagine saying that to a daughter of two Shoah survivors???? Some “justice and understanding,” Eh?

The greatest shock, however, came several months or about a year later when the Christchurch Mosque opened a new wing. The Chairman of its Board, Ibrahim, with whom I had good relations, invited two members of the Canterbury Hebrew Congregation for its house warming. I was one of them.

After we were greeted by the Imam, whom I also knew and with whom I jointly partook in “Interfaith” events, the two of us walked around the mosque. The amount of anti-semitic publications laid out on the tables was shocking. We left with much disgust and a vow to never set foot there again or communicate with any of its Board members.

I could burden you, dear readers, with more examples, all pointing towards one direction. New Zealand was slowly but surely paving its way to its own destruction, to an oblivion that threatens to drown it, its beauty and anyone’s dream to go live “on a green island in a faraway ocean,” as the lyrics of the song by Ethnix submit.

Trump and Nationalism

“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.” Charles de Gaulle

The basic definition of the term “Nationalism” provided by Merriam-Webster is "loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its own culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations.”

Unlike English, Hebrew has a distinction between what de Gaulle defines as “Nationalism” in the sense of Patriotism (Leumi), loyal to one’s People versus "Leumani" which would consist of the second part of his quote “hate for other People.”

The first, Leumi is what I would hope citizens of EVERY country should be, great patriots and loving their Nation first. I know I am one. The second, Leumani, no sovereign country, no Nation should possess.

Why did I suddenly choose to write about and discuss this term, you might ask?

Someone just sent me a clip of a speech by Trump where h declares himself as “a Nationalist.” For me, that amounts to nothing more than saying, “I put America First!” President Trump is merely declaring his loyalty to America, its economy, its citizens and their well-being first.

Who among us would not want their leader to have their interest in mind FIRST before those of others? Should it be an unacceptable trait of anyone’s leader? Should that word be a modern day “Scarlet letter?” Should it constitute a “four letter word?

Not for me, dear readers.

I am a proud “Jewish Nationalist.” I am a proud Zionist which for me is akin to  “Jewish Nationalist.” My People, My Nation comes first. Does that mean that I qualify for the second part of de Gaulle’s quote which means I hate others?

Not at all!

My busy schedule which is considerably less busy than that of President Trump, only allows me to dedicate all my efforts, time, energy, money and other resources for OUR Jewish People first. Yes, I do care about the pain and suffering of others. However, my charity begins at Home, here in Eretz Yisrael. That makes me a Leumi. I have always vowed that if our Jewish People and all Yisraelis live in safety and security and I am free to care and do something about eliminating the pain and suffering of others, I will gladly dedicate my self to helping them. Until then, I am and will forever remain a “leumi" in the de Gaulle sense of “patriotism!”

Likewise, President Trump puts America and Americans first. Putting one’s People first just like myself and many others does not constitute hatred or racism towards others. It simply means he is a Leumi (a patriot) and not, Leumani (a bigot whose “hate of people other than” his “own comes first”).

That is my kind of President. Isn’t it yours?

Some of us are not only Jews, we are also Jewish

This article was written jointly by Roger Froikin and Bat-Zion Susskind-Sacks

As far as we are concerned, there is a difference between the two. They are not always one and the same.

A Jew, according to the Oxford definition is “A member of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and who trace their origins through the ancient Hebrew people of Israel to Abraham.”

We are not going to enter a debate here on who is a Jew. This definition merely addresses what a Jew is.

That same source defines Jewish as :” Of or relating to the Jews or their culture or religion.”

What begs to be concluded from these two definitions is that in order to be Jewish, one needs to be a Jew first. To be born a Jew or to become a Jew, one is automatically admitted into the Covenant that G-d entered with Avraham.

The Abrahamic Covenant is an unconditional Covenant. G-d made promises to Avraham in Bresheet (Genesis) 15:18-21. That Covenant which requires nothing of Avraham deals mainly with the dimension of the Land that G-d promised to him and his descendants. The rite itself as described in Bresheet 12:1-3 reinforces the notion that it is an unconditional one as it is G-d alone who passes between the pieces of animals after causing Avraham to fall into a deep sleep. The sign of this Covenant is the Brit Mila, the ceremony of circumcision (Bresheet 17:9-14). All males in the Avrahmic line were to be circumcised so that they bear a lifelong mark of it upon their flesh. Any descendant of Avraham who is denied or refuses circumcision was naturally declared and destined to be outside of G-d’s Covenant. Entering the Avrahamic Covenant is one of the conditions of being a Jew.

There is another Covenant that every Jew enters either upon birth or when becoming one. It is one that has shaped Am Yisrael and our Jewish people into who we are today. It is the Mosaic one, the one we entered with G-d at Mount Sinai. Unlike the Avrahamic Covenant, this one is a conditional one.

A Law school professor might call it a “contract of adhesion” in which the terms are presented as non-negotiable and to be accepted by the people. G-d presented His law to Am Yisrael at Mount Sinai as described in Shemot (Exodus) 19:5. Their response was acceptance, saying, “נעשה ונשמע " We shall do and we shall hear!” (Shemot 19:8).

The Mosaic Covenant sets Am Yisrael and the Jewish People apart from other nations. It is in understanding the responsibilities and values that are inherent to the Covenant at Mount Sinai, being motivated by them, identifying with them and acting consistent with them, that turns the Jew into Jewish. It is important to note here, that though some of the values such as social justice and moral code dictated to Am Yisrael, at Mount Sinai are universal, Judaism itself is not universal. It belongs to Jews and Am Yisrael only.

Now, we would bet people reading this so far expect the next paragraph to include an endorsement that Jews become more religious. No, that is not the intent of this essay. Nor is the intent to define who is a Jew or what Judaism is beyond the statements above.

Instead, the idea is to alert Jews to a problem. There are those Jews who have excluded themselves from the Jewish People representing themselves as Jews, when often they are not under normative and historical Jewish definitions. These Jews represent their motivations as Jewish when they are not. These Jews claim their values as Jewish when they are not.

This not a new phenomenon. Only the titles have changed. Throughout history, when Jews have been a minority or under foreign rule, there have been those Jews who saw it in their best interest to join with the powers that be and the group they ruled. They did it, and too often, to prove their allegiance (sometimes required, sometimes not) to their new “friends” by opposing the interests of the Jewish People, by actively negating – or reinterpreting – their connection to the Jewish people.

For instance, in Iberia, between 1200 and 1500, some Jews converted to Christianity so as not to be persecuted. When the Inquisition came in 1492 (1496 in Portugal), many of these converts became the most anti-Semitic people in Christian Spain. Torquemada, the first grand inquisitor, is one example.

In the late 19th Century and early 20th, many Jews in Europe, in an effort avoid being subject to exclusion and persecution, converted to Catholicism, seeking safety and security in a change of ideology, dumping their Judaism for what appeared to them to be “universalism.” Other Jews joined political movements, socialism, communism, trading Judaism for these universalist movements, as if to hide and seek safety in a universal ideology.

Today, we see some Jews acting similarly, but with a bit of a change. It is no longer necessary to hide that one is a Jew. Thus, instead of denying that they are Jews and in order to fit in, they reinterpret what Judaism is and turn it into universal secularism. This way, they create the fiction which allows them remain Jewish under the claim that the ethics of Judaism are indistinguishable from the latest liberal universal definition of secularism. In short, they leave Judaism and Jewish concerns and interests behind to become the Jew who is a believer in whatever the latest fashionable approach to secularism is. Liberalism and all its clichés of the day has become their religion, though they falsely label it Jewish.

So how is this modern manifestation different from the former Jews who were anti-Semites in post 1492 Spain, for example ? Not at all. So, for instance, when we see a “Jewish Voice for Peace” sidind with those who call for the destruction of Yisrael and the murder of Jews, we need to understand what they are. When we see an organization like B’Zelem in Medinat Yisrael (Israel) make an effort to damage Yisrael’s security and give aid and comfort to those that wish it destroyed, because they worry about what Europe thinks, we’ve seen it before.

We have all seen these online debates in which some far left wing Jew that claims to be pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist is called a Kapo by those who oppose him. Not only is that kind of characterization unfair and inaccurate, but it is perhaps not strong enough. “Kapos” became Kapos, because they were trying to survive often when the alternative was death. Those who claim the title “Jew” today, but who ally themselves with anti-Semites, who support murderers of Jews, did not take that position for their own safety or that of their families, but for other reasons that are not nearly as noble. We believe that they are worse than Kapos by any measure.

Frankly, the Jewish nation does not need people who choose to endanger the Jewish people in favor of some left-wing universalist clichés. The Jewish People does not need those who want to solve their psychological and sociological problems by damaging the future for the rest of us. The last thing the Jewish People needs is the kind of Jew who laughs at Jewish heritage and dismisses it in some misguided effort to be liked by gentiles.

In the Passover Hagaddah, there is the allegory of the 4 sons. One of them asks, “what does all this mean to you” as if excluding himself from Judaism, its Heritage, history and its ethical and moral standards. It is those misguided Jews, we believe, that the Hagaddah addresses.

So what should the Jewish people do about these “Jews in Name Only” ?

The first step is to understand what we started this essay with --- that a Jew can choose to be Jewish or not. We, Jews, first and foremost, need to understand that merely being a descendant of the Avrahamic Covenant does not automatically make one a party to the one made at Sinai. Wishing our Jewish brothers and sisters a happy and blessed Pesach.

A Conflict of Loyalty

Years ago, when I first became an American citizen, I had to take the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. I remember how disturbed I was then when the thought of “What if the U.S. and Yisrael ever enter a political conflict,” occurred to me. I decided to push that thought away as far as possible into the creases of my sub consciousness.

Fortunately, it laid dormant for a long time until several years ago.

Comically enough, though, it was not so much the actions of America or the U.S.  government and its policies vis-a-vis Israel, Medinat Yisrael that served as the catalyst or the wake-up element for its disturbing resurgence. Rather, it is the American Jewish community that has brought that troubling thought of conflict of loyalty back into life.

As many here know, I care about my fellow Jews, first and foremost, wherever they are but I can only speak about those who live in the US. I have been following the American Jewish community for many years, first as one of its members and later as an outsider who had strong connections to it through family and friends. I was unhappy with the way those ties unfolded themselves to me.

I initially saw some cracks in Jewish unity and loyalty to our Jewish culture and heritage when I worked as a Hebrew and Sunday School teacher at one of the northern California synagogues. As part of my duties, I instructed a course entitled “Jewish customs and traditions.”

One day, I decided to dedicate the lesson to “Jewish Contributions to World Civilization.” Listing all the achievements and major contributions of Jews to the world was a good way, I felt, to start as I was hoping to instill great pride in young American Jews. “So, you see,” I concluded, “Jews have given many gifts to the world.”

“And so have Catholics,” answered one very outspoken student.

I was taken back by that response. “That is true,” I did not hesitate to say. I chose my words very carefully as I was trying to decipher the reason behind this unexpected comeback. “Of course, Catholics have contributed much to world civilization,” I continued, “but this is a Jewish class in a synagogue. “ I could feel my blood temperature rising. “Let Catholics discuss and teach their contributions to the world in their churches, in their Sunday schools. Do you think they bother to discuss the gifts of the Jews in their Sunday schools?” I calmly said, still trying to control myself.

I was proud. I was even more proud when I walked uprightly into the Rabbi’s office to meet with some angry parents.  Though I knew I had a job to keep, I was ready to face them and defend my position.

“We teach our children to be universal,” the head of the PTA started.”

I did not linger with my response. “How can we and our children be supporting the contributions of others if we are ignorant of our own?” I challenged them. “Dear Rabbi,” I said as I turned to face him, “you lost your eye as you were walking alongside Dr. Martin Luther King in Montgomery Alabama when you joined their fight for civil rights. Where are you and your loyalty to our people when they need the support for their rights to educate their youth to be proud of their heritage? How can we support the good fight of others when ours is still raging?” He smiled and ,lowered his eyes.

That was forty years ago. Little seems to have changed.  Now, as then, some of our Jews feel the need to fight the battles of others while neglecting the future of their own. Moreover, that support, on more than one occasion, is done while sacrificing our own on the altars of justice and universality.  

Why are Jews so keen to be like everyone? When will our fellow Jews realize that their loyalty should be primarily to Jews and Judaism, our heritage and our essence? After all, are not these values the ones that have kept us going for over two millennia? So why are we struggling so hard to, seek approval and recognition? Should the world not love us and be grateful to us for some of our gifts, ones that we shared so readily with it?  Why are Jews so eagerly  willing to give slices of our own in return for that approval, for that love, for being accepted and supported? Why are some of us so ready to betray the memory of those who died while protecting those values? What will it take for our fellow Jews to understand that we are not like everyone else, that we cannot be like other nations?  

We cannot, not because we are better, not because we are worse but because we are different.

A free People is a People free of conflict. As long as the internal conflict of loyalty in Judaism continues, we will never be free. We may well have physically left the Diaspora but the Diaspora, as it seems, has not yet left our souls.

Shabbat Shalom.

Healing

Healing is a process we each have experienced or will experience at some stage in our lives. It happens mostly on the personal facet, rarely on a national or universal ones. We all know how much it is needed in those two last realms. What is a better time than the Present?

Many of you probably guess where this message is leading to and hopefully will share its urgency with me.

Yesterday, a new President, Donald Trump, was sworn in. It is no secret that many do not like him and his proposed policies. I do. However, like many, I await to see the results. Deep inside I harbor hope and faith.

Hope and Faith, I have learned through some hard lessons in life are two of the the main ingredients of the Healing process. It is the faith in the goodness of people, in the hope for a better and rewarding future that has kept me going and striving. Faith and Hope are also what has kept our Jewish people alive through our ensanguined history. We came out of it stronger and better.

I wish Americans and their allies would adopt that lesson and use the process to make our country greater than ever. I am certain we all care about America and we all have America’s best interest at heart, each in their own way.

Yesterday, America, through its newly legally and constitutionally elected and inaugurated President, started the implementation of one of the ways many believe will help us reach that wonderful and noble goal. That path will guide America for, at least, the next four years. Not all have to agree with that path but we should all respect it and give it a chance.

I trust we all agree that this path is not easy. It must overcome many hurdles. We need to ask ourselves the following questions, are we going to put more hurdles? Are we going to plant more traps and land mines, one that may have our names on them? Are we going to do all we can to try and sabotage it? Are we going to let our own personal selfish pride dictate our moves and actions?

Alternatively, we can ask, do we care about our country? Do we want to see it thrive? Do we want to keep the great American legacy? Do we not owe it to our children to rear them in a safe and supportive environment?

There are never any guarantees in life. That, too, we all know and agree with. We are facing the unknown yet again. This is where Faith and Hope, two tools that we were given at birth, tools that are intended to help us at difficult moments on Life’s journey, play an important role.

We also need Courage. And if there is one least used gift we all have the potential to possess, it is Courage. Embarking the Healing process takes Courage. It requires a change of attitude. It demands that we all let go of old habits and learn to be more tolerant and accepting. Courage and Integrity is what it takes to board this so badly needed voyage of Healing of our torn, sadly divided and fractured great nation.

Time to stop the bickering, learn to dignify the difference and rise above our own personal agenda. There are forces outside of us that await our destruction. Are we going to let them succeed? Are we going to let the enemies outside hurt us? Are we going to allow differences leave us vulnerable as a nation? This is the time to unite and stand as one behind our elected leader. It is the only way we will ever be able to remain strong.

I will conclude with the wise words of a former U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt who wrote. They were true then and they are true today

"The point in history at which we stand is full of promise and danger. The world will either move forward toward unity and widely shared prosperity - or it will move apart. "