I've written dozens of articles. So have others. The subject, its development and subsequent tragic consequences were discussed in detail. Thousands of words conveyed the pain and painted the grim picture. No detail was spared.
"I'm sorry to reject your latest article, but we've decided that the expulsion, its trauma and aftermath have been played out long enough. For weeks now, all we did was cover the subject from every possible angle, analyzed every aspect of the tragedy and have concluded that enough is enough. There are other subjects that need attention and we are shifting our focus to those areas."
The above is more or less the e-mail conversation I had regarding another of my articles that railed and raged in frustration. However, the editor is right. More than enough has been said and written, rivers of tears were shed and the story has lost interest. I need to refocus on a more pertinent and immediate problem or situation, which may threaten, or already does infect, our people or our very existence. And what is more persistent than the ever-flowing poison of anti-Semitism? Let's delve into it.
Anti-Semitism is almost as old as the world itself. Throughout the ages, this raging, all-enveloping sentiment has devoured millions of our brethren, destroyed thousands of thriving Jewish towns, created millions of refugees and obliterated communities. Our people have witnessed pogroms initiated at will, murder committed without remorse, flogging, torture and autos-de-fe carried out with the enthusiastic participation of the general populace. Jews were expelled from country after country, their businesses, homes and possessions confiscated. Spain threw us out and so did Portugal. And Belgium and France and England and... the list is far too long.
We've been cast as immoral, treacherous and conniving. Wealthy or poor, Jews were treated like dirt, cast aside like so much refuse and forbidden from acquiring basic needs. They hurt us, tortured our bodies and souls, determined to erase our existence. They devised every possible torture, invoked every imaginable decree and proceeded in every possible cruelty. But as if to spite, where other civilizations have long become the fossils of history, Jews continue to thrive and write new pages and volumes of our history. We survived.
'You killed our lord,' screeched the Christian demon in justifying the crucifixion of our brothers and sisters, and justifying the atrocities committed by the 'gallant' Crusaders. The Black Plague was 'your fault,' was the accusation. So was the Great Depression, the starvation in Poland and the general misery in Europe during the Dark Ages. The Russian Czar's corruption was the result of Jewish advice and instigation (you didn't know that?). And World War II was the volcanic eruption of the resentment compressed within the German society in response to the Jewish strangulation of the German economy following World War I, which was (what else?) a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. The urgent need to purify the air from the stink of Judaism saw the rise of the Inquisition and the unrelenting Jewish determination to control the universe gave rise to the Holocaust. Not to be outdone, Muhammad's bloodthirsty hordes - otherwise known as members of the 'peace-loving world of Islam' - have fined-tuned the Nazi doctrine of the 'Final Solution' and raised the flag of anti-Semitism to heights never seen before.
Throughout the generations, we cried and lamented. We tore our clothes in mourning and wept at our misfortune. Then we'd get up and begin the task of rebuilding our shattered lives. Communities were rebuilt, lives re-constructed and our faith rekindled. In the knowledge and belief that G-d knows best and He will avenge the misdeeds of our enemies, we picked up the pieces and moved onward. We were united in faith, in suffering and in the determination to survive no matter what. Destined to suffer oppression under the thumb of anti-Semitism, we knew that Jews, though individuals, can never be separated from the collective of Judaism. We are one. (Or are we?)
And so, we came home. 'Never Again' shall anti-Semitism be allowed to create the damage it did with impunity. Should the snake raise its head again, anywhere in the world, the State of Israel will stand up to refute, rebut and to repel. It will strike the head and exorcise the venom. Never again shall anti-Semitism be allowed to inflict its pain.
Never again shall anti-Semitism prevail... except in Israel.
"I'm sorry to reject your latest article, but we've decided that the expulsion, its trauma and aftermath have been played out long enough. For weeks now, all we did was cover the subject from every possible angle, analyzed every aspect of the tragedy and have concluded that enough is enough. There are other subjects that need attention and we are shifting our focus to those areas."
The above is more or less the e-mail conversation I had regarding another of my articles that railed and raged in frustration. However, the editor is right. More than enough has been said and written, rivers of tears were shed and the story has lost interest. I need to refocus on a more pertinent and immediate problem or situation, which may threaten, or already does infect, our people or our very existence. And what is more persistent than the ever-flowing poison of anti-Semitism? Let's delve into it.
Anti-Semitism is almost as old as the world itself. Throughout the ages, this raging, all-enveloping sentiment has devoured millions of our brethren, destroyed thousands of thriving Jewish towns, created millions of refugees and obliterated communities. Our people have witnessed pogroms initiated at will, murder committed without remorse, flogging, torture and autos-de-fe carried out with the enthusiastic participation of the general populace. Jews were expelled from country after country, their businesses, homes and possessions confiscated. Spain threw us out and so did Portugal. And Belgium and France and England and... the list is far too long.
We've been cast as immoral, treacherous and conniving. Wealthy or poor, Jews were treated like dirt, cast aside like so much refuse and forbidden from acquiring basic needs. They hurt us, tortured our bodies and souls, determined to erase our existence. They devised every possible torture, invoked every imaginable decree and proceeded in every possible cruelty. But as if to spite, where other civilizations have long become the fossils of history, Jews continue to thrive and write new pages and volumes of our history. We survived.
'You killed our lord,' screeched the Christian demon in justifying the crucifixion of our brothers and sisters, and justifying the atrocities committed by the 'gallant' Crusaders. The Black Plague was 'your fault,' was the accusation. So was the Great Depression, the starvation in Poland and the general misery in Europe during the Dark Ages. The Russian Czar's corruption was the result of Jewish advice and instigation (you didn't know that?). And World War II was the volcanic eruption of the resentment compressed within the German society in response to the Jewish strangulation of the German economy following World War I, which was (what else?) a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. The urgent need to purify the air from the stink of Judaism saw the rise of the Inquisition and the unrelenting Jewish determination to control the universe gave rise to the Holocaust. Not to be outdone, Muhammad's bloodthirsty hordes - otherwise known as members of the 'peace-loving world of Islam' - have fined-tuned the Nazi doctrine of the 'Final Solution' and raised the flag of anti-Semitism to heights never seen before.
Throughout the generations, we cried and lamented. We tore our clothes in mourning and wept at our misfortune. Then we'd get up and begin the task of rebuilding our shattered lives. Communities were rebuilt, lives re-constructed and our faith rekindled. In the knowledge and belief that G-d knows best and He will avenge the misdeeds of our enemies, we picked up the pieces and moved onward. We were united in faith, in suffering and in the determination to survive no matter what. Destined to suffer oppression under the thumb of anti-Semitism, we knew that Jews, though individuals, can never be separated from the collective of Judaism. We are one. (Or are we?)
And so, we came home. 'Never Again' shall anti-Semitism be allowed to create the damage it did with impunity. Should the snake raise its head again, anywhere in the world, the State of Israel will stand up to refute, rebut and to repel. It will strike the head and exorcise the venom. Never again shall anti-Semitism be allowed to inflict its pain.
Never again shall anti-Semitism prevail... except in Israel.