Jews are known to be self-deprecating. Jews have always good-naturedly accepted jokes about themselves with a great sense of humor. Self-ridicule and put-downs are common occurrences and, generally, we do not make a "big issue" of barbs aimed at us. We just shrug it away or laugh at ourselves until it hurts. There are times that a joke may hurt or insult, but we, as Jews, have a way of shrugging at the intended sarcasm as simply another foible uttered in jest. In general, we don't create waves and do not allow these jokes to overly spoil our composure and good sense. After all, it's just a joke.
However, there are those instances when a statement hurled into the air (especially by our own) makes one wonder whether one should laugh, cry or simply ignore it. There are times when ignorant buffoons mis-speak and thus create a quicksand of gullibility and sheer nonsense from which they, the buffoons, can not extricate themselves. Hearing a statement that is utterly bereft of sense makes one wonder whether this attempt at "joking" was said in jest or is it the sorry effects of encroaching senility. At times, when such outlandish statements are left floating within the range of idiocy and ignorance, a response is called for. To keep silent in the face of such gullibility and total stupidity is deemed nothing less than criminal.
Such misstatement of global stupidity entwined tightly with ignorance and elitism has been shamelessly placed on the table by none other than our example of perpetual failure, Shimon Peres. In a speech to high school students, Mr. Peres, whose consistent anti-Israeli antics have created the havoc Israel and world Jewry today find themselves in, continued on his nonstop rampage of destroying Judaism, in every possible way. If until this moment his obnoxious delusions presented physical dangers to Jews, the latest Peresism is far more dangerous, as it proposes to alter the spiritual. In his latest outrage, Peres ostracized the rabbinical powers for ?usurping? the right of determining the legitimacy of a person's Judaic connection. "If the rabbis demand the right to determine who is a Jew," said Peres, "Then we will determine who is a rabbi." It seems that allowing the Oslo War to continue undeterred during his various tenures as Israel's ambassador to the world, and his latest stage-clearing exit from Israel's government, has not diminished his egomaniacal desire for self-aggrandizement. It seems that the blood-letting unleashed by his pro-Arafat shenanigans were not enough to chastise his inflated ego. Having failed in his false grand scheme to usher in a utopian "new Middle East", at the bloody expense of Israel and Jews, Mr. Peres has plunged, head first, into attempts to de-legitimize Judaism. His asinine comments continued as he declared that a "legitimate" Jew is one who studies Judaism, serves in the army and perhaps dies for the country. It matters not, according to Peres, whether the person?s mother is Jewish or if a male is ritually circumcised - studying in Israel or, G-d forbid, dying in her defense is quite enough to absorb anyone into the folds of Judaism.
Laughing at these quirky, mentally-hyphenated remarks is not in order. Were these remarks merely the words of a fading old-man who is attempting to postpone his incarceration in an old-age-home, one would attempt to understand. However, these statements were not meant as a joke, but rather as a supplement and addition to the steady and on-going trend of de-legitimizing Judaism and advancing the total disappearance of true Judaism as both a national identifier and a religion. Mr. Peres' formula of "expanding the ranks" is a gross attempt at obliterating our people once and for all.
Analyzing immediate past history will reveal the fallacy of such attempts at re-casting Jews in the image of the rest of the world. Those intermingling and assimilating are not apt to infuse a proud sense of Judaism, but rather we witness a quick build-up of open resentment and rejection. Mr. Peres, whose failed political fortunes have consistently embarked on a path inconsistent with the tenets of our religion and clashing with its values, is attempting once again to resurrect his fading future by lobbing semi-incoherent absurdities. As old dogs can never learn new tricks, so does Mr. Peres continue on the path of other "enlightened liberals", who are resolved to transform Judaism into a non-religion. He thus has raised aloft the sword designed to cut off our tradition from its roots. This clash that he is launching with his own "pizzazz", intended to make it palatable to the masses of non-Jews already assimilated in Israel, will never happen. Others tried and failed, so shall he.
Mr. Peres, like a splinter embedded in the skin, continues to be bothersome, an irritation and a nuisance. May I suggest, therefore, that Mr. Peres swallow hard before these tasteless words of absurdity become too deeply lodged in his windpipe. May I further suggest that, perhaps, its high time for Mr. Peres to simply fade away into the sunset of his life.
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Isaac Kohn writes from Brooklyn, New York.
However, there are those instances when a statement hurled into the air (especially by our own) makes one wonder whether one should laugh, cry or simply ignore it. There are times when ignorant buffoons mis-speak and thus create a quicksand of gullibility and sheer nonsense from which they, the buffoons, can not extricate themselves. Hearing a statement that is utterly bereft of sense makes one wonder whether this attempt at "joking" was said in jest or is it the sorry effects of encroaching senility. At times, when such outlandish statements are left floating within the range of idiocy and ignorance, a response is called for. To keep silent in the face of such gullibility and total stupidity is deemed nothing less than criminal.
Such misstatement of global stupidity entwined tightly with ignorance and elitism has been shamelessly placed on the table by none other than our example of perpetual failure, Shimon Peres. In a speech to high school students, Mr. Peres, whose consistent anti-Israeli antics have created the havoc Israel and world Jewry today find themselves in, continued on his nonstop rampage of destroying Judaism, in every possible way. If until this moment his obnoxious delusions presented physical dangers to Jews, the latest Peresism is far more dangerous, as it proposes to alter the spiritual. In his latest outrage, Peres ostracized the rabbinical powers for ?usurping? the right of determining the legitimacy of a person's Judaic connection. "If the rabbis demand the right to determine who is a Jew," said Peres, "Then we will determine who is a rabbi." It seems that allowing the Oslo War to continue undeterred during his various tenures as Israel's ambassador to the world, and his latest stage-clearing exit from Israel's government, has not diminished his egomaniacal desire for self-aggrandizement. It seems that the blood-letting unleashed by his pro-Arafat shenanigans were not enough to chastise his inflated ego. Having failed in his false grand scheme to usher in a utopian "new Middle East", at the bloody expense of Israel and Jews, Mr. Peres has plunged, head first, into attempts to de-legitimize Judaism. His asinine comments continued as he declared that a "legitimate" Jew is one who studies Judaism, serves in the army and perhaps dies for the country. It matters not, according to Peres, whether the person?s mother is Jewish or if a male is ritually circumcised - studying in Israel or, G-d forbid, dying in her defense is quite enough to absorb anyone into the folds of Judaism.
Laughing at these quirky, mentally-hyphenated remarks is not in order. Were these remarks merely the words of a fading old-man who is attempting to postpone his incarceration in an old-age-home, one would attempt to understand. However, these statements were not meant as a joke, but rather as a supplement and addition to the steady and on-going trend of de-legitimizing Judaism and advancing the total disappearance of true Judaism as both a national identifier and a religion. Mr. Peres' formula of "expanding the ranks" is a gross attempt at obliterating our people once and for all.
Analyzing immediate past history will reveal the fallacy of such attempts at re-casting Jews in the image of the rest of the world. Those intermingling and assimilating are not apt to infuse a proud sense of Judaism, but rather we witness a quick build-up of open resentment and rejection. Mr. Peres, whose failed political fortunes have consistently embarked on a path inconsistent with the tenets of our religion and clashing with its values, is attempting once again to resurrect his fading future by lobbing semi-incoherent absurdities. As old dogs can never learn new tricks, so does Mr. Peres continue on the path of other "enlightened liberals", who are resolved to transform Judaism into a non-religion. He thus has raised aloft the sword designed to cut off our tradition from its roots. This clash that he is launching with his own "pizzazz", intended to make it palatable to the masses of non-Jews already assimilated in Israel, will never happen. Others tried and failed, so shall he.
Mr. Peres, like a splinter embedded in the skin, continues to be bothersome, an irritation and a nuisance. May I suggest, therefore, that Mr. Peres swallow hard before these tasteless words of absurdity become too deeply lodged in his windpipe. May I further suggest that, perhaps, its high time for Mr. Peres to simply fade away into the sunset of his life.
--------------------------------------------------------
Isaac Kohn writes from Brooklyn, New York.