Scenes from the streets of Los Angeles and New York this weekend are symptoms of Jew hatred worldwide and the Jewish community must respond in kind, by continuing to train in the use of legal weapons and by learning how to fight back. Jews are under attack and it is literally open season on Jews. Ze’ev Jabotinsky — the ideological forefather of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party — wrote in 1932: "It is very, very sad that Jews are compelled to learn to shoot. But we are compelled and it is useless to argue against the compulsion of historic reality. That compulsion says you may be well educated, you may learn to plow the land and to build houses, you may speak Hebrew… but if you do not at the same time know how to shoot there is no hope. That is the lesson of the reality of our time and that is the prospect for the lifetime of our children. Where it is a question of war you do not stand and ask questions as to what is 'better,' whether to shoot or not to shoot. The only permissible question in such circumstances is on the contrary 'what is worse' to let yourself be killed or enslaved without any resistance or to undertake resistance with all its horrible questions. "For there is no 'better' at all. Everything connected with war is bad, and cannot be 'good.' When you shoot at enemy soldiers do not lie to yourself or persuade yourself that you are shooting at 'guilty' ones. If you start calculating with what is 'better' the calculation is very simple; if you want to be good let yourself be killed and renounce everything you would like to defend: home, country, freedom, hope. "The blackest of all characteristics is the tradition of the cheapness of Jewish blood.” The words of Ze’ev Jabotinsky remain relevant today. As Jabotinsky said in “The Idea of Betar,”it is necessary “to create that type of Jew which the nation needs in order to better and quicker build a Jewish state.” Max Nordau made a similar point, when he discussed the need for “muscular Judaism.” He believed that we needed a “new Jew” who had mental and physical strength in order to serve Zionism. Today we need to remind ourselves of the need for this kind of Jew. As Jabotinsky wrote in Shir Betar (The Song of Betar), “ “Silence is Despicable!” Jabotinsky saw Jewish pain and suffering in Europe before the Holocaust and called our people, so many of whom did not listen - Save yourselves, liquidate the diaspora before the diaspora liquidates you. Today this is too relevant. American Jews need a plan B – consider an Israeli passport and consider aliya. The Jewish people must teach our youngsters today to be strong, and show them pride and power. (And Jabotinsky once said “My instinct is that the only kind of children I have ever loved are the mischief makers.”) Jews today need some more mischief makers – make mischief. We know Jewish history. Stand up. Fight. The Jewish people must never forget the need to protect the Jewish people. Ronn Torossian is a Public Relations executive.
