Millions of people of all convictions express their hostilities against the Jewish nation, unsympathetic to its faith or state. Their religious and racial prejudice against our people has reached an apex, so much so that many nations of the world passionately declare and brashly hope for the same as our adversaries, the inserting our people into a black container of eradication. Recognizing this can be of assistance to us in dealing with this new unreasonable upsurge of anti-Semitism in all corners of the earth.
The Prevalence of Hatred
There are many anti-Semitic acts that most of us are not aware of since they do not make it to the headlines. In Russia, in the early part of this year, some 50 graves in the Jewish cemetery in St. Petersburg were desecrated, some of them having swastikas daubed on them. A group of young Muslims in London, the Soul-Silah Band, have recently released a new rap-style recording. A song on the recording praises Bin-Laden, Hizbullah and Hamas, and promotes the idea of an anti-West Jihad. The CD jacket also sports a swastika.
In the Ukraine, recent published results of a survey among Ukrainians conducted by the Sociological Institute in Kiev show a more drastic trend. In answer to the question as to whether Jews should be allowed to live in Ukraine, only 17% answered "yes". This is a drastic drop from the data 10 years ago, when 76.5% of those asked said that the Jews should be allowed to live in Ukraine.
Graham Cannon, ADL Director of Marketing and Communications, believes that a slogan such as that of the "Anti-Semitism is Anti-Me" campaign somehow will cut short the antipathy. Record-breaking multitudes over a span of many weeks have viewed Mel Gibson's film in every major and far-flung US locale, and not one American synagogue has been torched or Jewish cemetery vandalized by the faithful who have seen the movie. If the media didn't succeed in provoking and escalating, why should it work to bring anti-Semitism to a halt?
What can be done?
An Illogical Phenomenon
Is there a remedy this irrational hate and bigotry? Many Jews misguidedly anticipated that after the Holocaust tragedies, at least the civilized nations of the world would look upon our survival as a kindness, or perhaps in sympathy to atone for their previous acts of iniquity and injustice. Clearly, this didn't happen. The more historians try to understand the Jews in every generation and the attitude towards them, the more they stand wondrous in despair seeing the intentional aggression against them in all times and in many countries. Abuse, degradation and mass murders are for some reason part of the history of this nation.
Anti-Semitism is absurd, wrote the historian Martin Gilbert in 1978. Of all types of jealousy that control human nature, there is nothing as absurd as anti-Semitism. For the anti Semites, a Jew cannot do anything truthful or straightforward; if he's rich, it must be that he pilfered, and if he's poor, he is grubby. If they ask for peace, it's because they're cowards.
This tendency is so excessive that it draws one to the conclusion that the "nature" of the nations towards the Jewish people is beyond logic. But as we consider our place in history, we may conclude that there is a divine message in the ridiculous and illogical attitudes of the nations towards us. Without this illogical anti Semitism, the intermarriage predicament we are facing would be further advanced out of control.
A statistical study analysis predicts that in 10-20 years, the Jewish population in the United States will plummet from roughly five million to two million - half of whom will be Orthodox. In other words, there is a quiet, settled Holocaust going on, however unintentional, that, G-d forbid, could fulfill the objective of our enemies - the shredding of the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism forces us to be awake and reestablish our identity.
The root origin of intermarriage is the loss of Jewish uniqueness and identity starting with our youth. When asked "What is a Jew? What makes you Jewish?" College students remain silent, high school children scratch their heads; where are their answers? It defies reason that the college campus, where the greatest seeds and actions of anti- Semitism are spreading, is the abode of our youth. Students go so far on the campuses to side with our enemies in order to screen their identity.
Ask any Jewish college student after a few years and see where his theoretical Judaism went: we are connected to the Jewish people since we have a mutual Holocaust that we must keep alive. Jewish identity is eroding at a high-speed tempo, and "a museum of death is not an answer for the living." The loss of Jewish identity and increasing intermarriage swells anti-Semitism.
The Prophet Yechezkel
The prophet Yechezkel visualized a message to our people with the rules of preservation of our Jewish identity, with all our thoughts of imagining of a new nation, a new Israel. (Chapter 20:32-4) "And that which came into your mind [to act freely], it will not come to pass, that you say we will be like the other nations, like the families of other nations and G-d promises surely with a mighty hand and outstretched arms. And with passion poured out, I will rule over you. And I will bring you out from among the others, and I will gather you out of the countries with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, and with fury gush out."
Can the Nations of the World Benefit from the Jewish People?
The Midrash describes: the Jewish nation is analogous to fire, and the nations of the world are like water. If there is a barrier between the water and the fire, then the nearby waters are kept warm by the fire. So, too, when there are barriers between us, the nations of the world "enjoy" the company and the warmth of the Jewish people. The moment the barrier is broken down or removed, the water flows furiously and wipes out the fire it once looked for to keep it warm. A straightforward way to halt this vicious anti-Semitism is to "put the barriers up again, secure our Jewish identity and our individuality."
We are assured that under all circumstances our identity as the Jewish Nation would never be lost. Predictably, we suffer anti-Semitism in proportion to our loss of Jewish identity. We can and must return to our roots by studying the history of our people and its culture, by securing barriers, opening the pages of our sages and learning their logic. We are a nation predestined to be isolated; if preserved with self-esteem, we can justifiably avoid further possible anguishing anti-Semitism, and the fervor of anti- Semitism would melt away.
Copyright July 2004
The Prevalence of Hatred
There are many anti-Semitic acts that most of us are not aware of since they do not make it to the headlines. In Russia, in the early part of this year, some 50 graves in the Jewish cemetery in St. Petersburg were desecrated, some of them having swastikas daubed on them. A group of young Muslims in London, the Soul-Silah Band, have recently released a new rap-style recording. A song on the recording praises Bin-Laden, Hizbullah and Hamas, and promotes the idea of an anti-West Jihad. The CD jacket also sports a swastika.
In the Ukraine, recent published results of a survey among Ukrainians conducted by the Sociological Institute in Kiev show a more drastic trend. In answer to the question as to whether Jews should be allowed to live in Ukraine, only 17% answered "yes". This is a drastic drop from the data 10 years ago, when 76.5% of those asked said that the Jews should be allowed to live in Ukraine.
Graham Cannon, ADL Director of Marketing and Communications, believes that a slogan such as that of the "Anti-Semitism is Anti-Me" campaign somehow will cut short the antipathy. Record-breaking multitudes over a span of many weeks have viewed Mel Gibson's film in every major and far-flung US locale, and not one American synagogue has been torched or Jewish cemetery vandalized by the faithful who have seen the movie. If the media didn't succeed in provoking and escalating, why should it work to bring anti-Semitism to a halt?
What can be done?
An Illogical Phenomenon
Is there a remedy this irrational hate and bigotry? Many Jews misguidedly anticipated that after the Holocaust tragedies, at least the civilized nations of the world would look upon our survival as a kindness, or perhaps in sympathy to atone for their previous acts of iniquity and injustice. Clearly, this didn't happen. The more historians try to understand the Jews in every generation and the attitude towards them, the more they stand wondrous in despair seeing the intentional aggression against them in all times and in many countries. Abuse, degradation and mass murders are for some reason part of the history of this nation.
Anti-Semitism is absurd, wrote the historian Martin Gilbert in 1978. Of all types of jealousy that control human nature, there is nothing as absurd as anti-Semitism. For the anti Semites, a Jew cannot do anything truthful or straightforward; if he's rich, it must be that he pilfered, and if he's poor, he is grubby. If they ask for peace, it's because they're cowards.
This tendency is so excessive that it draws one to the conclusion that the "nature" of the nations towards the Jewish people is beyond logic. But as we consider our place in history, we may conclude that there is a divine message in the ridiculous and illogical attitudes of the nations towards us. Without this illogical anti Semitism, the intermarriage predicament we are facing would be further advanced out of control.
A statistical study analysis predicts that in 10-20 years, the Jewish population in the United States will plummet from roughly five million to two million - half of whom will be Orthodox. In other words, there is a quiet, settled Holocaust going on, however unintentional, that, G-d forbid, could fulfill the objective of our enemies - the shredding of the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism forces us to be awake and reestablish our identity.
The root origin of intermarriage is the loss of Jewish uniqueness and identity starting with our youth. When asked "What is a Jew? What makes you Jewish?" College students remain silent, high school children scratch their heads; where are their answers? It defies reason that the college campus, where the greatest seeds and actions of anti- Semitism are spreading, is the abode of our youth. Students go so far on the campuses to side with our enemies in order to screen their identity.
Ask any Jewish college student after a few years and see where his theoretical Judaism went: we are connected to the Jewish people since we have a mutual Holocaust that we must keep alive. Jewish identity is eroding at a high-speed tempo, and "a museum of death is not an answer for the living." The loss of Jewish identity and increasing intermarriage swells anti-Semitism.
The Prophet Yechezkel
The prophet Yechezkel visualized a message to our people with the rules of preservation of our Jewish identity, with all our thoughts of imagining of a new nation, a new Israel. (Chapter 20:32-4) "And that which came into your mind [to act freely], it will not come to pass, that you say we will be like the other nations, like the families of other nations and G-d promises surely with a mighty hand and outstretched arms. And with passion poured out, I will rule over you. And I will bring you out from among the others, and I will gather you out of the countries with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, and with fury gush out."
Can the Nations of the World Benefit from the Jewish People?
The Midrash describes: the Jewish nation is analogous to fire, and the nations of the world are like water. If there is a barrier between the water and the fire, then the nearby waters are kept warm by the fire. So, too, when there are barriers between us, the nations of the world "enjoy" the company and the warmth of the Jewish people. The moment the barrier is broken down or removed, the water flows furiously and wipes out the fire it once looked for to keep it warm. A straightforward way to halt this vicious anti-Semitism is to "put the barriers up again, secure our Jewish identity and our individuality."
We are assured that under all circumstances our identity as the Jewish Nation would never be lost. Predictably, we suffer anti-Semitism in proportion to our loss of Jewish identity. We can and must return to our roots by studying the history of our people and its culture, by securing barriers, opening the pages of our sages and learning their logic. We are a nation predestined to be isolated; if preserved with self-esteem, we can justifiably avoid further possible anguishing anti-Semitism, and the fervor of anti- Semitism would melt away.
Copyright July 2004