Let me count what(s)I am not. Perhaps we can reach an understanding of some sort. Please excuse me as I borrow the words of others at times to convey powerful emotions, so much so that they almost paralyze a sane mind overwhelmed by the vicious bloodthirsty hate directed at herself, and her family, her people, her ancient homeland. Deprived of peoplehood, declared, by others, to be a subhuman, an Untermensch, even by those or some of those whom I once, perhaps stupidly, naively, counted among my friends.
There are so many questions. So many concerns. So many issues wrack mind and soul. So many questions beginning with the word 'why'. Why do you hate me? Why do you encourage that hatred? Have I offended you in some way unknown to me? Are you ashamed so of yourself that you amp and ramp up to hide your true self-disgust?
Do you even know what and who a Jew is? Kudos to you, as I am a Jew, born a Jew, with a clear genetic record of my ancestors, as of Jewish origin, whatever that means, have lived among Jews my entire life and still cannot categorically, definitively, in all-inclusive manner, define or answer the question as to 'What and Who is a Jew'.
Is a Jew one who professes to follow the rules and precepts of Judaism as a religious obligation? If not, then what or who is that person? Is it allowed for one to declare oneself not a Jew, despite bloodlines? Do others recognize that denial? Conversely, is one allowed to become a Jew if not to the tribe born? Is a convert accepted as a full Jew, responsible to be what a Jew is supposed to be - whatever that is. Yes, or no? Does it make a difference to the world, to the haters, to the pride seekers, if one is Jewish via maternal or paternal lines? Hitler thought not.
So, what is a Jew, what is Judaism?
" It’s a religion. It’s a culture. It’s a heritage. It’s a box you might have to check at the doctor’s office. It’s a complicated, ancient, incredibly diverse, permeable peoplehood. And yes, it’s true that where there are two Jews, there are probably three opinions."
Still confused? Me too as I see no definitive answer here at all. Only more confusion, so let's try again.
Law abiding. Lawbreaker. Healthy. Ill. Sane. Insane. Selfish. Altruistic. Religiously observant. Or not. Loyal to societal precepts of Judaism. Uncaring of same. Communist. Socialist. Capitalist. Anarchist. Manual laborer. Professional. Seeker of a better life. Content to remain in role assigned. Creative. Not so. Intense reader. Deep thinker. Content with social websites. Community and family oriented. Introvert. Confirmed loner. Sounds kind of like society in general.
A further note of clarification or more confusion. Jews are of all ethnicities, colors, facial features, levels of observance. and glaringly different histories, even as those histories are similar in the oppression and persecution that was visited upon them. Most important. and always present - yearning to return to Zion, Tzion, to Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, to the land of Israel, Eretz Yisroel. That was so throughout the millennia, no matter where a Jew lived. A longing, a prayer, a visceral desire, and a right, even an obligation, to return to our ancient homeland, always present front and center.
Even as loyal citizens of varying countries, the longing, the obligation to return remained deep within. A hope, a dream, a reality which would be a place of refuge and haven, a home for persecuted Jews among the nations of the world, forever untrustworthy, fickle in their attitude towards their Jewish residents. As well as to be a vibrant nation, alive, advancing, contributing, with all rights and obligations of nations, to be assumed and honored by all.
Why and wherefore is it considered proper, even necessary, to constantly justify the existence of Israel, to state oh so smugly that it has the right to defend itself? Why is there such controversy about the existence of one small state, a tiny state among hundreds of others? The only state where Jews are a majority. Does that offend the world? Well, screw them!! No more constant reiterations of justifications, for justifications are merely the opposite side of condemnation, just as love and hate are two sides of the same coin. If you justify one day, you can negate that justification the next day.
Israel is a nation. It deserves to be recognized as such and not be subjected to constant ever more intense, ever more minute inspections and constant condemnations. All of which would never fly in any other nation. But because Israel is Jewish and Jews are differently defined and evaluated, this is deemed okay! Again, WHY? Why are they different? Beats me. Annoys the crap out of me!
Evidently, we Jews must consider ourselves to be constantly on that tenterhook of a validity dependent upon the mood of the world at that moment. Planned and organized demonstrations of hate at universities around the world. Jewish deaths have been diminished. Discounted. How many Jewish children must we lose in order to equal to one Arab child who was placed in danger because of their own people? Hamas - the people they elected to office and the people they did not oust from office. Who ripped our children away, even from life. How are our children still remaining in captivity? Their starvation? A nonexistent starvation in Gaza, forever two days away and six days, weeks away. Then imminent. Soon it's coming. It's coming. Just wait for it. Wait, wait, wait. It will never come because the stores are full. Even as Hamas shoots at the gates of aid killing Israeli soldiers. Outrageous, but then again it is okay by the world as it is merely Jewish deaths - Feh! Meh! No big deal.
Thus, we return to the beginning. What is a Jew? What is Judaism? Why do you hate me, us?
" Perhaps we will never really understand. (no) explanation for the Holocaust: “There will never be an adequate explanation. The closer one gets to explicability, the more one realizes nothing can make Hitler explicable.” ...there is one explanation that just may be the most valid because it came from Hitler himself. It is the confession of the prime prototype of the antisemite used to justify its application to six million victims. Indeed, it is the very debt of the world to Judaism’s discovery of ethics and morality that for some necessitate its destruction.
These are the words of Hitler himself: “Providence has ordained that I should be the greatest liberator of humanity. I am freeing man from the restraints of an intelligence that has taken charge, from the dirty and degrading self-mortifications of a false vision called conscience and morality…The Ten Commandments have lost a different their validity.... Conscience is a Jewish invention; it is a blemish"
An opposing viewpoint.
"It is an insight long ago expressed by the Talmud: Why, the Rabbis ask, was the Torah given on a mountain called Sinai? Because the Hebrew root of the word Sinai is “sinah” — the Hebrew word for hatred. The message of Sinai is the essence of Judaism: God places moral demands upon us. These obligations define us as human beings created in the image of our Maker. And for that, Jews continue to be hated, and presumably will be until the world acknowledges conscience not as curse but as blessing. "
(Rabbi Benjamin Blech)
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Yitzy, sweet boy, you now have the first of many in the family who will carry on with your name, your reputation, your ideals. Your new nephew was given the name Yaakov Yitzchak (Yitzy). May he live long in peace, happiness, prosperity, health. and immersed in the faith of his ancestors.
Always and forever. Always and forever.
And we say Amen.
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