For previous parts, click here.
PART FIVE:
Does the Big Bad Wolf Wear Tzitzit?
The hostility that progressive Jews subconsciously harbor toward their conservative, religiously observant counterparts is thereby displaced from themselves and projected onto their fellow Jews of faith. This is what prompts their distortion of the features of the Orthodox—rendering us into aggressive, hate-filled warmongers, when the opposite is true. Foisting too many pieces of potato kugel on Sabbath guests is as aggressive as most of us get.
Granted, there is a minuscule radical fringe of “Orthodox” Jews, who desecrate God’s name by violently protesting secular army service and immodesty. Yet this tiny deviant fraction, overexposed by the media, has come to define Torah-observers for the secular Jewish world.
Genuinely religious Jews are among the kindest, most peace-loving people on earth. Each one is involved in a personal quest to become more refined, more humble, more selfless, and more obedient to God. We fill our non-working hours feeding the hungry (even if they are our own children), learning and teaching Torah, defending the nation, giving charity, visiting the sick, praying for the well-being of the world, and raising our children to love and revere God. We absorb relentless Arab terror yet remain loyal to God and restrain even the most understandable instinct for vengeance. (Up to the time this was written, the sole proven, undisputed victim of vigilante Jewish retribution in the last decade was Muhammad Abu Khadeir, murdered just after the bodies of the three Jewish teens abducted by Palestinians were discovered in the summer of 2014; nevertheless, the deed was marked by universal Jewish-Israeli opprobrium.) Yet the left-wing Western secular press represents us as monsters.
Author and activist Sherri Mandell, who lost her beloved eldest son, Koby, to Palestinian terror and devotes herself to untold charitable endeavors in his memory, poignantly describes how US TV journalist Brian Williams tried to fabricate an image of the crude, violent settler by insisting that her husband, a rabbi, unlock and display for the camera the gun that he keeps only for self-defense.
Rather than waging a war against secular Jews (something that religious Jews are often baselessly accused of), representatives of classical Judaism are forced to defend their faith against ceaseless campaigns by assimilated American Jews to discredit, undermine, and dismantle Torah observance in Israel. Examples range from the theatrics of Women of the Wall to advocating non-halachic Jewish conversions, from urging Israel’s Supreme Court to grant citizenship to non-Jewish African economic migrants to pushing for increased government funding for Reform and Conservative Judaism. And the sponsors of these motions don’t even live in Israel!
Israel’s Orthodox Jews do not picket the country’s Reform synagogues or disturb their worship. Many of us open our doors, tables, and hearts to our secular siblings, free of demands, expectations, or judgment. Others work full-time to reach out to our kin with love and acceptance in organizations dedicated to Jewish education, such as Aish Global and Chabad. We do not confront nonobservant Jews on Israel’s streets, despite our awareness that Israel faces never-ending terror because we are not fulfilling the will of God, our Creator. Our suffering is precisely the punishment of which the Torah warns, should we fail to keep the covenant. Instead, we practice tolerance, forbearance, patience, and love of our fellow Jew. We wait for our brothers and sisters to return just as God waits for all of us to return.
Anti-Religious Israelis Masquerading as Progressive
The phenomenon just described is not unique to secular Western Jews. However, Israel’s Jewish Left—victimized by war and unremitting Arab terror—shrinks with every year, as our people slowly embraces its spiritual mission. Despite this trend, American and European antisemites need only quote the slanderous canards of religion-hating Israeli politicians, army generals, professors, moviemakers, and journalists to persecute Israel politically. The late David Landau, former editor in chief of Haaretz, admitted the fratricidal motive behind the benignly dubbed but ruthless Israeli disengagement from Gaza: “The real reason why the disengagement is so important…is because we crushed the religious-Zionist rabbis and settlers!” he bellowed to Canadian newspaper editors.
American Jewish Defense of Muslim Extremists
We can now understand the reasons why secular American Jews have been the first to object to naming Islamic supremacism as a signal threat in today’s world, and why progressive Jews are so quick to condemn any reasonable measures to contain and eliminate that threat. The sacredness of multiculturalism to assimilated American Jewry reflects the subconscious flight from the responsibilities of their own chosenness. And, as an added perk, the chief target of the Islamists is Israel, the Jewish state, toward which liberal Jewry feels a deep, unconscious animus. Left-wing Jews thus adopt the strategy “the enemy (Islamists) of my enemy (Israel) is my friend.” They do not extend their commendable tolerance to Christian conservatives or evangelical Christians, who are great friends of the Jewish state, because these players cherish the Bible, and thereby raise the specter of the Jews’ own biblical obligations.
I believe this is why any conservative American president (or presidential candidate) propels the assimilated Jewish Left into irrational panic. In the realm of the subconscious, where, according to Freud, the deepest fears lie buried, the Torah’s truth threatens their very legitimacy. (For the secular Jew, the Bible and its obligations lurk behind every Republican.) This terror, dubbed by the Right “Trump Derangement Syndrome” during President Trump’s 2016 administration, is actually a misguided fear-of-God and the duties of chosenness, compounded by an unwillingness to admit the folly of founding one’s ethics on atheism.
Months before the Hamas massacre in October 2023, we witnessed this same terror grip the Israeli Left, which plunged the country into violent demonstrations and crippling strikes at the prospect of modest judicial reform advanced by a democratically elected conservative government dotted with Torah-observant ministers. Without grounds or evidence, Jewish (and marginally Jewish) rioters claim that “dark religious coercion” was about to overtake the country. Some would argue it was this public weakening of Israel from within that galvanized our enemies to attack.
I would add it is the same projection of their own hostility—on the part of religious non-Jews, jealous of our status as the chosen people, and ethical and sexual libertines, resentful of our Bible’s restraints, that powers the international ungodly hamstringing and browbeating of Israel for waging our self-defensive war against Hamas in the most moral, humane way possible—sacrificing more than three hundred of our precious young and family men’s lives to date to do so: Israel and its observant Jews remain the ultimate Rorschach for all the world’s sinners. “Settler violence” and Israeli genocide against the Palestinians are fictional bogeymen dreamed up in the minds of those who hate Orthodox Jews, Israel, and her Bible. No army in the world would wage war with such mercy and compassion as Israel, which supplies its enemies with humanitarian aid at its own peril and fights house-to-house to distinguish combatants from noncombatants, while receiving credit only from rare, courageous non-Jews such as Colonel Richard Kemp and Douglas Murray, who are prepared to stand up to the Islamist lies.
Christian Zionism
Nevertheless, we can hereby see why Christian Zionists are Israel’s main American defenders today. Christian Zionists are not blinded by Jewish secular messianism or anti-Orthodox animus. Sensible, righteous Christians recognize that rewarding Palestinian terrorism is immoral, while leftist Jews crusade to punish the victims of Palestinian terror. Such Jews resent the so-called settlers for prizing the Land of Israel, which they despise; and they resent the Haredim, the non-Zionist stringent Orthodox, who live for the Torah and dress funny. What these two groups—settlers and Haredim—share, is they keep the covenant that God made with the Jewish people.
Christians, of whom the Torah makes far fewer demands, would gain no psychological comfort from the disappearance of Israel or her Bible. And, ironically, Christian morality is still shaped by the source of divine wisdom—their “Old Testament”—which is dearer to them than it is to secular Jews! While many Christians respect the observant Jew, the noisy, glamorous, liberated Western Jew tries to persuade the world that modestly dressed wives and mothers and idealistic farmers who love the land are the enemies of postmodern civilization. Our consecrated lives in the Holy Land confirm that traditional Judaism is no anachronism!
Religious Christians proudly stage photo opportunities in Judea and Samaria, the biblical names for the areas labeled “occupied” by left-wing Jews. Christian lovers of Israel pump millions of dollars into our country, and are first and last to defend us in public forums, giving their time and energy to political action groups like Christians United for Israel and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Many Jews suspect, however, that in providing this support, Christians are merely trying to create the conditions for the return of their messiah, Jesus. I say, perhaps. Perhaps they may not even understand why they embrace us so ardently. Maybe it is because of their genuine quest to be as close as possible to spiritual truth and their attraction to its Source. (Indeed, their kindness may reflect the onset of the fulfillment of end-time prophecy, when the nations of the world will work together with the Jewish people to serve God.) When the Messianic Era unfolds, and what is already obvious becomes undeniable—our God, their God, and the God of the Muslims is the same—they will be the next in line to embrace the Lord: God is One.
I regard sincere Christians with respect and appreciation. Remaining attached to our Torah, which they believe is God’s first Revelation, they can still tell right from wrong. In their repudiation of unlimited abortion on demand, in their defense of the traditional family, and in their condemnation of Muslim terror, they are righteous Gentiles, and God loves them.
Yet the fact that members of the world’s two younger monotheistic faiths, Christianity and Islam are, like the Jews, waiting for a messiah is further vindication of the Jewish Bible. The Messiah for whom we all wait is one and the same: a Jew—parallel to Moses, the Torah’s original prophet and shepherd—who possesses the requisite humility, courage, and wisdom to unite the Jewish people in God’s service and become a catalyst for the redemption of the entire world! Discover the conclusion in Part Six…
PART SIX:
The Question Is “Why?”
How can liberal Jews with their sincere compassion go so far as to wish their fellow Jews harm (albeit subconsciously)—leading them to advocate positions lethal to our survival, against all logic and experience? Deep down, they understand that observance of the Torah threatens them with the death of their freedom. The apostle, Paul—an apostate Jew, and most influential among the followers of Jesus—was the first to characterize Torah observance as a “living death.” Tormented, perhaps, by standards he himself failed to meet, Paul sought to free other Jews from their divine “burdens” with the promise that simple faith in Jesus restores life.
But Is It Really Death?
I say, it is only the death of a mistaken philosophy. Awakening to the truth of God’s presence is so life-enhancing that it is like being born anew. It’s the death of existence in shades of gray and the birth of life in Technicolor.
Here’s a thought experiment: Imagine two worlds, both enclosed in hard transparent plastic, like the tiny old-fashioned snow globes that release a cascade of flurries when rotated. The contents of one world arose from soulless scientific processes, indifferent to humanity. In this world, there is no absolute truth, only subjective narratives adopted by each inhabitant—every one potentially hostile to those of their neighbors. Fate is capricious. The strong conquer the weak without genuine redress. (Doesn’t this remind you of our world, in which identity politics have unleashed the most savage instincts in defenders of “progressive values” and supremacist Islamic terrorists and their fans?)
The other world was specially constructed by a benevolent craftsman who designed it to meet the individual needs of its every inhabitant—each of whom He brought into existence for a unique, important purpose. This architect watches over and tends His world, seeking above all a loving relationship with all of His residents. He has offered His inhabitants guidelines that reveal how to prosper, physically and spiritually, within His world. In this world, good and evil are objective and clear, with good rewarded and evil punished, forever.
In which world would you rather dwell? Which affords its inhabitants greater peace of mind, security, and tranquility?
Now suppose all this were true: a brilliant Designer had indeed brought about this extraordinary world for our benefit, giving us the most prestigious position within it because of our unique talents—promising us unparalleled, eternal spiritual reward for the effort of cultivating our virtue. And suppose this were the only path to a fervently sought universal brotherhood and sisterhood. Does this sound like death?
Many claim that God is hidden in our world. Yet those with reverent eyes see the divine hand within each miraculous creation in the universe, in the exquisite interdependence of every species in our profoundly complex and intelligent world. Only God explains our uniquely human capacities for heroism, for loyalty, for wisdom, for love. We need none of these for mere propagation, but all are necessary for us to manifest the divine potential with which each of us is imbued.
So What Is to Be Done?
I say to my liberal siblings who have a soft spot for the Palestinians—and a willful blindness to the immorality of Palestinian culture—why not take a lesson from what is noble about Islam: belief in a supreme deity. Instead of our relying on military means—the relinquishment of which ought to please any pacifists—let us correct the moral distortion of the Islamists with a renaissance in the faith of a humble yet proud Judaism. In the ultimate still small voice, repentant Jews the world over will rouse the mercy of our Redeemer and Protector, Who alone can save our world.
Torah Judaism teaches that the world’s redemption and the Messianic Era of peace between enemies can be achieved in obedience to God, our Creator. God has assured us that when the Jews return to Zion and to the mantle of Torah, peace among men and women will reign: this is the Jewish longing and the Jewish method.
Our conflict with the Palestinians—and the war which Islamists are waging against the Christian West—is over who is worthy of being God’s chosen people. As long as Palestinians do not see authentic spiritual leadership guiding the Jews, as long as they see Israel as a shallow Western democracy spurning the values dictated by God, they will not accept us. On the contrary, they will fight to expel us, because our common God cannot accept this sacrilegious nation in His midst.
When Muslims see spiritual devotion among the Jews, they, like their forefather, Ishmael (who repented and took his place after Isaac at the burial of their common father, Abraham) will support us. As God responds to our rededication, by revealing more of His presence amidst Israel, I believe they will come to consider it a privilege, because of their own faith.
Will Jewish observance eliminate all vestiges of anti-Judaism? The Torah says no. Sadly, there are enemies of the godliness personified by a faithful Jewish people. In the Bible, they are called the nation of Amalek. Now dispersed throughout the world, they cannot be traced geographically—such pure evil must be banished from the earth. Yet a penitent Jewish people, illustrating the path to humankind’s spiritual rectification, will empower others to align themselves with goodness and with God.
Our prophets rhapsodize about a time when human beings will lay down their arms. The blessed Messianic Era will be heralded by worldwide recognition of unity in the service of one Creator. Ardent believers among all peoples will serve God together. We are very nearly there. Pascal’s Wager, in which we bet with our afterlives as to whether God exists, remains as relevant as ever. Today, growing numbers of assimilated Jews are reclaiming their esteemed place in history, tasting the sweetness and cherishing the dignity of life lived according to the Torah.
If You Can’t Join Us, Don’t Beat Us
We love this land that God gave us, and that’s why we choose to live here. This is the place where Jews fulfill their covenantal destiny. Please don’t ask that we cede God-gifted territory in the Land of Israel to those devoted to our annihilation. Do not force us into perilous pacts with those who would kidnap, rape, and murder us. Silence the antisemites, the half-Jews, and the full Jews in your camps who demand this of us. Stop appeasing and funding nations such as Iran and Qatar, which seek our destruction and supply our enemies with the weapons to harm us. We are good people, and we are busy bringing the world’s redemption. We are happy to include every Jew in our prosperity and to help each find a place, wherever it may be. But please don’t undermine ours. Together, as allies, we will build a beautiful future for Israel and for the world.
These painful, embarrassing intra-Judaic disputes, regrettable as they are, do not detract from the truth of God, His Torah, or the chosenness of the Jews. On the contrary, they lend further credence. No other explanation so snugly fits the intercontinental and intra-Israeli religious wars wracking the Jewish people today. The most unlikely premise to postmodern Jewish ears—God chose us and gave us the Torah to uphold—explains even the most troubling dynamics in contemporary Jewish peoplehood!
In Summary
An eclectic collection of phenomena supports the truth that God, the world’s Creator, revealed His will in the Jewish Bible. The phenomena include: biblical archaeology, biblical prophecy, Jewish history, the everlasting faithfulness of Torah-observant Jews, Arab appropriation of Jewish Israeli holy sites, Jewish giftedness, Jewish idealism, the miracle of Israel’s military survival in the Middle East, Israel’s uncanny productivity and optimism under siege, the accomplishment and fecundity of Torah-observant Israeli women, the interfaith tradition of a Messiah, antisemitism, anti-Israel bigotry, anti-Zionism, Muslim terror against Israel, the mislabeled manifestation of “self-hating” Jewry (or, the perverse support given by assimilated Jews to Israel’s Palestinian and Iranian foes), as well as left-wing American Jewish defense of both multiculturalism and radical Muslims in the face of Islamist threats to America and Israel.
When a single cause—that God chose the Jews to fulfill the Torah—explains so many different effects, the key has surely been found. Thank you, William of Ockham, who, with his principle of Occam’s razor, encourages brave Jews to accept and honor the Torah and empowers them to embrace their spiritual destiny. I have aimed to demonstrate by the standard of a “preponderance of the evidence” why rational Jews may believe in the divinity of Torah and conduct their lives accordingly.
Some of you may nevertheless ask, “How can the Bible be the true word of God, yet claim something scientifically preposterous or unjust (by postmodern standards)”? Please recognize that to understand what the Torah means, one must become a dedicated student of its Hebrew language and learn with qualified masters of traditional biblical commentary. Moreover, can we agree that an omnipotent Creator would by definition and by right have a better grasp of ultimate morality than we, His creatures, would?
For those who remain unconvinced, this very resistance vindicates faith and its obligations as a virtue since faith remains a choice. That is why it is worthy of reward.
Embracing Your Chosenness
Jewish history, like time itself, is a repetition of cycles—the deeds of our ancestors are portents for us, their offspring. We learn that the Jews who emerged from Egyptian bondage with the mentality of slaves panicked when faced with the battle to conquer the Holy Land. They felt unworthy and incapable of inheriting the land, in spite of God’s promises. The Sages say: In their own eyes, they were like grasshoppers before the inhabitants of the land, who appeared to them as giants.
Similarly, postmodern Jews shrink before the moniker chosen people, not daring to believe that the redemption of the entire world depends on us. The Torah’s vision of the Jewish people leading humankind to worship the one true God seems fanciful—too grand in the face of our profound feelings of unworthiness. Like the generation of the desert, we are too beaten down by the vengeance of antisemites, by our own poor choices, and by our shriveled self-image to believe in ourselves. Feeling like imposters, we dare not endorse a tale too vainglorious to be true. Yet it is true. And our Jewish spiritual warriors who carry out God’s word, despite being demonized by much of the world, deserve respect and safety.
Some Jews can admit there may be divine truth to the Torah; however, they are simply not yet willing to change their lifestyles. While that is your choice, and I still love you as my sisters and brothers, I ask you to reconsider this fateful decision. The Jewish people stands at the door of destiny once again. Worldwide, we are suffering increasing threats and dangers. Let us strive to protect each other as one people through turning back to our tradition, together—thereby earning the help of God, our Rock and Redeemer. We make no religious demands of our fellow Jews other than acceptance of our right to life and liberty. Yet we fervently wish for you to join us, for your safety’s sake and ours. We are waiting and praying that someday soon, you will.
Sisters and brothers worldwide who wish to begin to learn Torah may find it worthwhile to buy a Bible with traditional commentary such as the Stone Edition Chumash or one of the many other Jewish Bibles with Orthodox commentary to gain an appreciation for Jewish history and our glorious spiritual legacy. Partners in Torah and TorahMates provide free 1:1 volunteer learning partners. Classes in Torah may be found through Torah outreach organizations in every state. Together, may we bridge the divide that threatens our people and help to heal our broken world.
Finally, look out for the forthcoming Crimson to White: A Memoir of Jewish Rebirth to read one woman’s intimate journey to the heart of Judaism with which you may identify and in which you will surely find inspiration.
May God bless you all!
Amanda Chaitt invites readers to visit her website www.antisemitismanswers.com to receive the entire essay, "Cracking Open the Jewish Code, " amply documented with interesting references.