The deluge of divorce and intermarriage sweeping across the Jewish-American landscape has and will continue to impact the Jewish-American community in unforeseen ways.
No, I am not referring solely to the loss of half of our children to marriages where Jewish values, culture, and history are not passed on. Nor do I refer merely to the drop in numbers of Jewish children born due to the accelerating epidemic of single life propagated by the likes of Huffingtonpost.com. Instead I am referring to the transfer of wealth from the hands of hard working and entrepreneurial Americans who identify themselves as Jews, to the hands of others who do not.
The real consequences of this trend are already being felt. In a recent survey of the most philanthropic in America, Jews, unsurprisingly, held five of the top six spots, and there were 19 Jews amongst the top 53
(http://www.jewishjournal.org/story/news_features/survey_finds_jews_are_top_givers_in_the_u.s/). Yet most of their charity was directed at non-Jewish causes. This is, in itself, not a bad thing. After all, Jews have always contributed to larger society and such contributions are considered central to Torah-true living. On the other hand, the upkeep of Jewish institutions is a prerequisite to maintaining Jewish tradition and heritage. Day schools, hospitals, museums, houses of prayer, political action , kosher food, mikvahs (ritual baths), soup kitchens, medical assistance etc. are all expensive enterprises that have historically been considered the collective responsibility of every Jew, each according to their means (Jews are required to give 10 percent of their earning to charity, on top of taxes).
There is a long standing Jewish tradition of philanthropy. The 19th and early 20th century Rothschilds have been replaced by the 21st century Lev Levaivs. The biblical tabernacle built in the dessert, the two temples of Jerusalem, and almost every single past and present Jewish institution was funded by Jews who stepped up to the plate and continued the historic use of Jewish wealth to benefit the global Jewish community.
Until now.
For the first time since the era of Ezra and Nechemya (the end of Babylonian/Persian exile) assimilation and divorce has become the norm in the Jewish diaspora. This new norm has in-turn impacted the entire Jewish community in unforeseen ways.
Jews are disproportionally wealthy and, in most cases, happily shoulder the burden of corollary taxation. However, public schools, fast food, and churches do not assist the Jewish community in passing on 3000 year old traditions. Many Jews pay for public schools but send their children to private schools; Jews don’t eat cheap fast food, but pay close to double for (often equally unhealthy) kosher food. Jews close their businesses on the busiest consumer day of the week. Despite all the above challenges the Jewish community has committed itself -for over 2000 years with little complaint and out of love and devotion- to propagating Jewish tradition.
Every intermarriage that ends in divorce or results in offspring who eschew Jewish tradition engenders an unquantifiable, and often undesired, transfer of wealth from Jewish hands. The ramifications are felt across the nation and globe, and have been further compounded by the general economic malaise. Many Jews turned their back on their secular coreligionists, but that was wrong both from a humanitarian perspective and from a Jewish-legal viewpoint (Rabbi Hillel said “love your neighbor like yourself, this is the great law of the Torah”), and now the tangible economic implications are clear. Jews continue to be leading philanthropists, but many Jews are unable to educate and pass on their traditions. Many Jews eat only Kosher, so they don’t buy meat which they can’t afford. Many houses of prayer and study-halls (Beit Knesset, Beit medrash) want to provide a relaxing and comfortable milieu for prayer and study but they close their doors do to the lack of funds.
Where is all that famous Jewish wealth? Just look at the wonderful New York Philharmonic and billion dollar endowments of Harvard and Yale.
Yes this is a free and integrated country, yes all have a fundamental right to choose their own destiny, and yes Jews are not required by secular law to provide for their brothers and sisters. But the Jewish community should at least be made aware of the implications of the continued failure to educate and pass on our millennia old tradition to the next generation. Our failure translates into the continued transfer of Jewish wealth into the hands of others -from Jewish synagogues and schools to libraries and universities. This is not just about losing a generation of "other" Jewish children, this is about our own children!
Showing posts with label jews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jews. Show all posts
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Why Helen Thomas Resigned:
Helen Thomas was the longest serving journalist in the White House Press Corp. At the ripe old age of 89 she resigned from her post, after she candidly was recorded as saying that the Jews should get the hell out Israel, and go back to Poland and Germany.
While Thomas, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants was never, or ever tried to be, seen as pro-Israel, she was always given the benefit of the doubt that her views were political by nature. That is, she opposed Israel not because it is a Jewish state, but because of the usual political arguments.
Yes the Jewish and Israeli community both here and abroad is very sensitive to criticism, but there is still a small majority which believes that criticism of Israel is not synonymous with anti-Semitism. I dealt with this very issue in a previous post “http://factoru.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-have-no-problem-with-jews-its-just.html which I hope you will read.
This despite the disappointing and confused responses by some in the Jewish community, posting on Huffington post (which relished the opportunity to publish that article) and other less significant media outlets. Please, when you are dealing with such an important issue, you have to argue coherently and effectively. Stick to the issue!
With that necessary digression aside, I accept the majority position, with the caveat that just because anti-Semitism is not inherent to criticism of Israel does not automatically mean that anti-Semitism is not often behind that criticism. Indeed many astute followers of the news have become adept at distinguishing the two.
Thomas was one of these respected journalists, and was beleived to reflect the above nuanced position -criticism without anti-Semitism.
Until.
Until she made her comments.
But even now let us not jump to conclusions.
What did she say?
Did she make a distinction between Israeli's and Jews? Did she make a distinction between Israeli's from Europe and Israeli's that lived in Israel and surrounding Arab nations in an unbroken chain for over 3,000 years? No and no. After all it was only some Jews who came from the death camps of Germany and Poland. But she said “they” should get the hell out of Palestine.
Did she differentiate between pre and post 1967 borders? Did she mean that only the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine? No, and no. If she meant to, then she should have said “let them go back to Israel proper”.
What I infer from her comments is that she
1. She denies the existence/legitimacy of the State of Israel, akin to HAMAS’s extremist position.
2. She does not distinguish between Israelis and Jews, which means that decades of her extreme criticism of Israel were inherently directed at Jews.
Does the above mean that Thomas is an anti-Semite? Certainly not the conventional type that Jews are all too familiar with, you know the Neo-Nazi or frothing at the mouth protester at an ant-Israel rally. If she is an anti-Semite, she is more like the sophisticated Mel Gibson type. You know, making movies that indirectly affirm anti-Semitic notions, or effectively hiding beliefs until that one candid moment when it all comes out.
However her resignation was justified. Not because of the insidious Israeli lobby, our oversensitive culture, or even her almost blatant anti-Semitism, but because
3. she completely lacks, or perhaps recently lost, the sensitivity that is integral to the fair, honest, and democratic exchange of ideas that the majority of Americans cherish.
and
4. she is not capable of objective reporting on Israel, and who knows what else. This is not to say that she has no right to her personal opinion, however egregious and extreme, but rather that her views compromise her ability to report to us in an as unbiased manner as possible (please see inside.ptribune.com for more on this point)
Finally, her resignation proves, that America, despite all its imperfection, is still a great and blessed country. At the end of the day that's why Helen Thomas resigned.
While Thomas, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants was never, or ever tried to be, seen as pro-Israel, she was always given the benefit of the doubt that her views were political by nature. That is, she opposed Israel not because it is a Jewish state, but because of the usual political arguments.
Yes the Jewish and Israeli community both here and abroad is very sensitive to criticism, but there is still a small majority which believes that criticism of Israel is not synonymous with anti-Semitism. I dealt with this very issue in a previous post “http://factoru.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-have-no-problem-with-jews-its-just.html which I hope you will read.
This despite the disappointing and confused responses by some in the Jewish community, posting on Huffington post (which relished the opportunity to publish that article) and other less significant media outlets. Please, when you are dealing with such an important issue, you have to argue coherently and effectively. Stick to the issue!
With that necessary digression aside, I accept the majority position, with the caveat that just because anti-Semitism is not inherent to criticism of Israel does not automatically mean that anti-Semitism is not often behind that criticism. Indeed many astute followers of the news have become adept at distinguishing the two.
Thomas was one of these respected journalists, and was beleived to reflect the above nuanced position -criticism without anti-Semitism.
Until.
Until she made her comments.
But even now let us not jump to conclusions.
What did she say?
Did she make a distinction between Israeli's and Jews? Did she make a distinction between Israeli's from Europe and Israeli's that lived in Israel and surrounding Arab nations in an unbroken chain for over 3,000 years? No and no. After all it was only some Jews who came from the death camps of Germany and Poland. But she said “they” should get the hell out of Palestine.
Did she differentiate between pre and post 1967 borders? Did she mean that only the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine? No, and no. If she meant to, then she should have said “let them go back to Israel proper”.
What I infer from her comments is that she
1. She denies the existence/legitimacy of the State of Israel, akin to HAMAS’s extremist position.
2. She does not distinguish between Israelis and Jews, which means that decades of her extreme criticism of Israel were inherently directed at Jews.
Does the above mean that Thomas is an anti-Semite? Certainly not the conventional type that Jews are all too familiar with, you know the Neo-Nazi or frothing at the mouth protester at an ant-Israel rally. If she is an anti-Semite, she is more like the sophisticated Mel Gibson type. You know, making movies that indirectly affirm anti-Semitic notions, or effectively hiding beliefs until that one candid moment when it all comes out.
However her resignation was justified. Not because of the insidious Israeli lobby, our oversensitive culture, or even her almost blatant anti-Semitism, but because
3. she completely lacks, or perhaps recently lost, the sensitivity that is integral to the fair, honest, and democratic exchange of ideas that the majority of Americans cherish.
and
4. she is not capable of objective reporting on Israel, and who knows what else. This is not to say that she has no right to her personal opinion, however egregious and extreme, but rather that her views compromise her ability to report to us in an as unbiased manner as possible (please see inside.ptribune.com for more on this point)
Finally, her resignation proves, that America, despite all its imperfection, is still a great and blessed country. At the end of the day that's why Helen Thomas resigned.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Why do I Hate Jews?
My first cousin was once attending a rock festival outside Prague. A local approached him and asked him, in all seriousness, “Can you explain to me why I hate Jews”?
There are many explanations, here is one:
“You G-d know, and you are my witness, that in all the evils they perpetrated against me, and in all the acts of vengeance they have wrought upon me, their sole intent was to annihilate and destroy me not because of my sins, but because of what I am." Arama (commentary on lamentations appended to Aqedat Yizaq, p. 17a).
This above statement underpins Benzion Netanyahu scholarly work the Marranos of Spain (3rd edition Cornell University Press, 1999). The Marranos of Spain were a community of Jewish converts to Christianity. The story of the Marranos, Netanyahu argues, is popularly misconstrued. Whereas most scholars, Jewish and Spanish, assert that the Inquisition was implemented by Spain to discover and destroy the crypto-Jewish movement, the truth is that the inquisition created the crypto-Jewish movement.
In other words, many of the Jews of Spain after decades of arbitrary riots, forced Christian sermons, and threats of communal death, caved in and converted. The official narrative is that they kept their Judaism in secret, and where thus a threat to Spain’s Old-Christian communities faith and made Spain a target for G-d’s wrath. Netanyahu argues that the forced-converts became estranged from the unconverted Jewish brothers and due to a variety of variables, desired assimilation. The new-chrisitnas like every Jewish community in history achieved great success and power, making the old-Christians jealous. The inquisition was a way to justify, in the guise of religious zeal, a deep seated animal urge –to destroy their successful competitors.
My question on both Arama and Netanyahu is why? If the Jews became Christian and assimilated then why are they seen as competitors any more then poor old-Christians and/or rich old-Christian see rich old-Christians?
Hold your horses this cannot be explained by Marxist conceptions of class warfare. Neither do I ignore the fact that the inquisition DID target rich old-Christians. The bottom line is that the inquisition was ONLY established AFTER the mass conversions of the Jews, and their subsequent success. If it was a reflection of class, why wait till the Jews convert?
What is behind this extreme hate? First they scream don’t be Jewish, convert! Ok we converted. Not enough now cease to exist!
The inquisition rationalized an irrational desire; it humanized the animal (the animal acts out of ingrained instinct, any rationality that is evident is used solely to further their instinctual desires).
Just as the jackal still hunts as it has since its creation so too does this same irrational instinct targeting the Jew exist today, as it did in 1391-1492 (first wave of forced conversions-the expulsion). It is everywhere and it can be identified specifically by its irrationality -by its source in the animal.
The UN obsession with Israel is irrational, and is justified either by the idealists who claims Israel is a greater violator of human rights then say Sudan or Saudi Arabia. Or by the pragmatists, who correctly claim that Israel is the only state that the UN can consistently muster a majority to condemn, thereby legitimizing the UN existence. Need I say more?!
Even more animal is the anti-Semitism emerging, once again, across the globe, rationalized by Israel’s perceived abuses- yet the scope and types of criticisms targeting Israel are in themselves irrational.
This does not mean that we should automatically reject the irrational. Nor does the question of why they hate have an answer.
Perhaps one needs to accept the irrational animal within, but subjugate the animal with the rational question. Maybe.
I do not have an answer but neither will I create an inquisition, or hate a country so as to create an artificial answer, because that answer is just as irrational, as the reason why they hate Jews.
There are many explanations, here is one:
“You G-d know, and you are my witness, that in all the evils they perpetrated against me, and in all the acts of vengeance they have wrought upon me, their sole intent was to annihilate and destroy me not because of my sins, but because of what I am." Arama (commentary on lamentations appended to Aqedat Yizaq, p. 17a).
This above statement underpins Benzion Netanyahu scholarly work the Marranos of Spain (3rd edition Cornell University Press, 1999). The Marranos of Spain were a community of Jewish converts to Christianity. The story of the Marranos, Netanyahu argues, is popularly misconstrued. Whereas most scholars, Jewish and Spanish, assert that the Inquisition was implemented by Spain to discover and destroy the crypto-Jewish movement, the truth is that the inquisition created the crypto-Jewish movement.
In other words, many of the Jews of Spain after decades of arbitrary riots, forced Christian sermons, and threats of communal death, caved in and converted. The official narrative is that they kept their Judaism in secret, and where thus a threat to Spain’s Old-Christian communities faith and made Spain a target for G-d’s wrath. Netanyahu argues that the forced-converts became estranged from the unconverted Jewish brothers and due to a variety of variables, desired assimilation. The new-chrisitnas like every Jewish community in history achieved great success and power, making the old-Christians jealous. The inquisition was a way to justify, in the guise of religious zeal, a deep seated animal urge –to destroy their successful competitors.
My question on both Arama and Netanyahu is why? If the Jews became Christian and assimilated then why are they seen as competitors any more then poor old-Christians and/or rich old-Christian see rich old-Christians?
Hold your horses this cannot be explained by Marxist conceptions of class warfare. Neither do I ignore the fact that the inquisition DID target rich old-Christians. The bottom line is that the inquisition was ONLY established AFTER the mass conversions of the Jews, and their subsequent success. If it was a reflection of class, why wait till the Jews convert?
What is behind this extreme hate? First they scream don’t be Jewish, convert! Ok we converted. Not enough now cease to exist!
The inquisition rationalized an irrational desire; it humanized the animal (the animal acts out of ingrained instinct, any rationality that is evident is used solely to further their instinctual desires).
Just as the jackal still hunts as it has since its creation so too does this same irrational instinct targeting the Jew exist today, as it did in 1391-1492 (first wave of forced conversions-the expulsion). It is everywhere and it can be identified specifically by its irrationality -by its source in the animal.
The UN obsession with Israel is irrational, and is justified either by the idealists who claims Israel is a greater violator of human rights then say Sudan or Saudi Arabia. Or by the pragmatists, who correctly claim that Israel is the only state that the UN can consistently muster a majority to condemn, thereby legitimizing the UN existence. Need I say more?!
Even more animal is the anti-Semitism emerging, once again, across the globe, rationalized by Israel’s perceived abuses- yet the scope and types of criticisms targeting Israel are in themselves irrational.
This does not mean that we should automatically reject the irrational. Nor does the question of why they hate have an answer.
Perhaps one needs to accept the irrational animal within, but subjugate the animal with the rational question. Maybe.
I do not have an answer but neither will I create an inquisition, or hate a country so as to create an artificial answer, because that answer is just as irrational, as the reason why they hate Jews.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Chosen People: What does it mean?
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A DIFFICULT SUBJECT WITH MANY NECESSARY TANGENTS, PLEASE BEAR WITH ME.
For millennia one of the major accusations raised against the Jewish community was, and is, that Jews express superiority. The more learned exponents of this canard point to the bible and Jewish prayers, where Jews are called the "Chosen People". I felt that it may be a good idea to delve into the biblical meaning of the phrase "chosen".
To place this conversation in proper context we should begin by asking the question "chosen for what"?
Abraham the first Jew came to know the monotheistic G-d through exploration and inquiry. Once he came to the conclusion that there is a G-d, he began to spread this belief to those around him. Not through the sword but through conversation and example.
Furthermore Abraham was promulgating a belief in one G-d NOT the tenants of Judaism. Why? Because Judaism believes in a G-d that created an incomprehensibly complex world, and like, that annoying un-assembled dresser from target, every piece of material -from the leaf falling off the tree to the nation-state- plays a specific role and has a unique irreplaceable purpose. To force Judaism (or even subtly influence Jewish practices) on others is simply antithetical to Jewish belief in absolute divine providence i.e. EVERY THING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.
Thus Abraham's role was to introduce monotheism to a world steeped in polytheistic mythology. His decedent’s role in larger society was and is informed by Abraham's role. The Jew was chosen to be the standard bearer and proponent of monotheism. Indeed the success is reflected by Islam and to a great degree Christianity.
Yet this still raises two questions.
1. Why the Jews?
2. Why is the mission of the Jew -to spread monotheism- so important; to the extent that it is the only role OPENLY attributed in the Bible to a people?
To the first question the greatest Jewish Rabbis have debated and have concluded that it was because G-d loved the Jewish people; WHY DID G-d love the Jewish people? We don't know. What we do know is that this "love" has translated into countless massacres, inquisitions, and the holocaust, yet it IS LOVE.
The second question has a, perhaps, more rational explanation. Monotheism is essential to world peace.
One may counter, "But whose monotheism", The Christians the Muslims etc.?
Judaism's belief in one G-d is that all should serve G-d in their own way. But that they should follow the seven universal laws, something most societies already aspire to. These seven laws are logical but they are not followed because of logic. After all how often has genocide been justified by the human mind!
The key here is that the Jew is the only EXPLICITLY chosen being! But the Jew was chosen to promulgate the belief that WE ARE ALL CHOSEN BY THE CHIEF ARCHITECT AND PLAY AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN THE DIVINE PLAN!
In othe words the Jew was chosen and has suffered happily to spread the belief that we are all chosen.
Indeed if one wanted to preclude world peace they could never succeed as long as there are Jews proclaiming the uniqueness and sanctity of the life of EVERY individual. Far more on this to come.
For millennia one of the major accusations raised against the Jewish community was, and is, that Jews express superiority. The more learned exponents of this canard point to the bible and Jewish prayers, where Jews are called the "Chosen People". I felt that it may be a good idea to delve into the biblical meaning of the phrase "chosen".
To place this conversation in proper context we should begin by asking the question "chosen for what"?
Abraham the first Jew came to know the monotheistic G-d through exploration and inquiry. Once he came to the conclusion that there is a G-d, he began to spread this belief to those around him. Not through the sword but through conversation and example.
Furthermore Abraham was promulgating a belief in one G-d NOT the tenants of Judaism. Why? Because Judaism believes in a G-d that created an incomprehensibly complex world, and like, that annoying un-assembled dresser from target, every piece of material -from the leaf falling off the tree to the nation-state- plays a specific role and has a unique irreplaceable purpose. To force Judaism (or even subtly influence Jewish practices) on others is simply antithetical to Jewish belief in absolute divine providence i.e. EVERY THING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.
Thus Abraham's role was to introduce monotheism to a world steeped in polytheistic mythology. His decedent’s role in larger society was and is informed by Abraham's role. The Jew was chosen to be the standard bearer and proponent of monotheism. Indeed the success is reflected by Islam and to a great degree Christianity.
Yet this still raises two questions.
1. Why the Jews?
2. Why is the mission of the Jew -to spread monotheism- so important; to the extent that it is the only role OPENLY attributed in the Bible to a people?
To the first question the greatest Jewish Rabbis have debated and have concluded that it was because G-d loved the Jewish people; WHY DID G-d love the Jewish people? We don't know. What we do know is that this "love" has translated into countless massacres, inquisitions, and the holocaust, yet it IS LOVE.
The second question has a, perhaps, more rational explanation. Monotheism is essential to world peace.
One may counter, "But whose monotheism", The Christians the Muslims etc.?
Judaism's belief in one G-d is that all should serve G-d in their own way. But that they should follow the seven universal laws, something most societies already aspire to. These seven laws are logical but they are not followed because of logic. After all how often has genocide been justified by the human mind!
The key here is that the Jew is the only EXPLICITLY chosen being! But the Jew was chosen to promulgate the belief that WE ARE ALL CHOSEN BY THE CHIEF ARCHITECT AND PLAY AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN THE DIVINE PLAN!
In othe words the Jew was chosen and has suffered happily to spread the belief that we are all chosen.
Indeed if one wanted to preclude world peace they could never succeed as long as there are Jews proclaiming the uniqueness and sanctity of the life of EVERY individual. Far more on this to come.
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