It is tiring. No. More than that. It is a fatigue that eats at one soul. It's a fatigue that never quits. No matter how good it seems something always comes along to puncture the balloon of that deception that we all buy into. We have no other choice if we are to live our lives with some semblance of sanity. However, for always, even if we manage to fool ourselves, enough so as to think there is no cause to fret or worry or plan, there is always a sharpened pin eagerly awaiting usage so as to puncture that false cocoon we wrapped around ourselves. That little niggling fear within us never quits. It is always there. Never seemingly to disappear completely, never to return, for it ever does.
Should we take pride that we are the target of the oldest trope of hatred ever? Should we take pride in the fact that despite all that's been thrown at us, we have managed to build wonderful families and contributed greatly to society from steady workers and contributors to nabobs of the business and technical world. Should we just shrug our shoulders, let out a sigh. and say, "What can you do? You just have to live with this."
I have to disagree with that advice. I do not think we have to live with this resignation to and acceptance of this constant banging on our heads, this constant desire to erase us from history. Past, present and future. This willful blindness which negates all that we have contributed, despite all the words of important people i.e. Mark Twain, George Washington who wrote well of the Jews and about the Jews. There have been other cleareyed people throughout the millennia. But not nearly enough. During the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust, there were Righteous Gentiles who risked their own lives and the lives of their families to save Jews. Unfortunately, there weren't enough.
Unfortunately, there are those who climb happily onto the wagon of hate. They rev up the vehicles of hate. They exchange their horses for turbo engines, old manifestations for more modern and 'advanced' ones. Off they hie into the wonderful world of hate. Free to cut the reins of morality and restraint and let loose not the dogs of war, but the dogs of hate. What is most frightening is the tacit and complicit hatred.
For the most part one of the worst manifestations of hate is found within the average citizen. Throughout the frightening and persistent antisemitism, the JewHatred, the anti-Israel and anti-Zionism, all the horror during the Holocaust, its aftermath, down through the centuries and up into this century and the rest, it just never ends. It is fortified, successful, and perpetrated not by unique individuals. Rather it is the ordinary individuals with ordinary lives and ordinary careers, who, for one reason or another, or for no reason at all join in. They let loose every bit of their heretofore hidden or not so hidden cruelty, engage in abominations and then go home to family, to pets, to their otherwise normal lives. "Innocent" civilians? Not here. Not there. Not most anywhere and certainly not in Gaza.
The civilians who stood by as the Cossacks rode into the Jewish areas of habitation, the citizens of the Ukraine area, all areas of the Pale of Settlement, in fact in most European nations, who joined in or stood watching, along with such 'lovely' comments, who joined in the looting of Jewish homes and businesses, who were caught up in the physical slaughter, the kidnapping, the raping, are as guilty as the instigators of these abominations in all and every manifestation. The young man, the young woman, who for the first time picked up a club and struck at a Jewish neighbor fleeing from the danger. The Jews of the cities, villages, of country after country openly marched down the street into the ghettos, or into the forests, or to the handy dandy ravines nearby, the rivers which greedily swallowed Jews. Former neighbors and friends, customers and partners stood by or joined in - all share in the permanent stains to their souls and consciences. Certainly so. When the same 'lookyloos' quickly ran into the apartments that had been vacated and stole to their hearts content, anything, guilty.
From Abraham down through the centuries, be it Egypt, or the tribal raids during the desert trek, the constant challenges to the autonomy of a Jewish state - all guilty as not charged!! The hatred flowed through the rich feeding grounds of Europe, the lands of Arabia, the slaughter of 1648, centuries of murderous hate, pogroms initiated by churches and mosques, by governmental policies, of Kishinev in the late 1800s, so bad that the newspapers of the world headlined it, and millions of Jews fled Russia any which way they could. Many went to America, anywhere they could find entry, legally or not. Funny is it not, the similarity in motivations and hopes of current day migrants hammering on the doors, now shut, to the land where "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" are now totally vilified and demeaned. Indeed, the more things change ...
At times during the centuries, especially in modern times, the hatred was quiet, just beneath the surface and oh so polite. It was acknowledged via clue words and sly winks of the eye. Unfortunately, there were times when this hate burst through to the surface and spread its ugliness throughout fertile grounds. Hate was visible, carried on through quotas in universities, professional schools such as medicine and law, the hiring of Jews was rather frowned upon, covenants banning sales to Jews, signs of no welcome of Jews, all present and accounted for in the good old USA. But we Jews prospered, worked hard, and contributed to the betterment of society with aid for all.
Gradually things improved and violence seemingly was rejected as policy. The KKK still lives, always maintained their anti-Jewish stand and played an active role in the lynching of Leo Frank. Nor are we to forget the recent slaughter of eleven Jews in Pittsburgh, more martyrs of a nation already with an oversupply of martyrs. And once again, faintly at first, but growing, evolving, at geometric exponential rate, the voices of hate rose in volume and toxicity, and worse, the approval of society.
On a beautiful Saturday morning, October 7, 2024, primeval ancient hate burst through. It manifested itself. Vicious brutal barbaric slaughter and rampage. Children infants the young teens young adults middle aged the elderly the ill. No distinction as they all were slaughtered, or kidnapped, to be held hostage and to be allowed to die, urged to die as the bodies were certainly easier to hold for ransom than live bodies. Thousands of uniformed members of the terrorist group Hamas along with more thousands of “innocent” civilians who joined in the slaughter and the looting, the additional members and supporters of Hamas who held hostages within their own homes and the thousands who cheered, as the kidnapped, live, dead, wounded, bloodied, raped, naked, were paraded on the streets of Gaza.
The truth was obvious documented even by their own footage. clearly portraying delineating the viciousness of Hamas as clearly was seen. The savagery of Hamas who purposely wove themselves into the infrastructure of Gaza and crowded civilian areas both on top of the surface and below. In fact, they welcomed the death of their own supporters, their own people for to Hamas, they were nothing but fodder for their own purposes. The more the merrier was the attitude of Sinwar and Deif and Haniyah, for they remained safe. Cowards all.
Unfortunately, not unexpectedly, the world turned on a dime, on a penny, on a farthing. As usual, the Jews, the Israelis, were to blame. But of course, for why would anyone think otherwise. Israel, righteously fulfilling her duty to protect her citizens, went into Gaza to deal a crippling blow to Hamas and to rescue their family members, for we are all one family. This violation of humanity by Hamas was an attack against all world Jewry - do not be mistaken. The haters and deluded, the fools, the hidden antisemites, all who joined in with the rhetoric calling for the ethnic cleansing of Jews within and without the borders of Israel, even as Israel did its best to limit the deaths of civilians, a war policy of Hamas, well, sing and chant all you want, for what goes around comes around.
Throughout history, it has been very clear that though the hatred of Jews appears to be well woven into the patrimony of most nations of the world, that hatred is eventually repaid and recognized, in kind, not so much by us, but as we have been reassured many times over - by the Lord Himself. The blood and tears of our slaughtered and bereaved complete their long journey to the Heavens, to the ears of the Angels, of those who have gone before us, who bring the grievances to the Lord and demand recompense and punishment. Justice delayed works well, so have patience. It's coming; just listen for the sounds of the vibrations on those tracks and know - You Are Judged and Found Wanting!
The struggle against Anti Semitism continues. The violence of the past 10 months visible, growing, amongst the chanters, the physical attacks against. Jews and their supporters who recognize the right of the state of Israel to exist grows apace. The world colludes in the deliberate isolation movement, to deny legitimacy to Israel, to deny it in all areas of nations, to deny the right of each and every Jew to participate and share the activities of humankind.
The world must know, must understand, that we will not stand for this any longer. We will no longer be passive about it. We will use the power of the courts, the power of public opinion, the power of right on our side. We will force the haters to back down. We will force them to think. about what they have done and what they are doing. Adidas withdraws Bella Hadid, but that is not enough. An unthinking - or worse - deliberate -cruel campaign to highlight the Munich Olympics of 1972 where yet another brutal attack was perpetrated on Israeli athletes and Brundage could barely acknowledge the horror! To commemorate a sneaker! A shoe of that time?! Not acceptable, not the campaign, not the spokeswoman. What the hell was Adidas thinking- or knowingly planning but caught with their pants down. Boycott Adidas and any other company needful of a lesson on discerning right from wrong.
Know that we are here. Know that we do not plan to disappear. Know that we will not allow you to perpetrate more pogroms upon us. Know that there will be consequences for the universities who refuse to accept their own guilt in allowing the growth and perpetration of egregious and violent threatening antisemitism in their campuses and classrooms. There must be an end to the inculcation of poison into young minds, force fed by the hatred emanating from their bigoted professors. Know that we demand consequences. Consequences that will be carried out. Those who speak chants and encouragements of violence and murder must be met by deserved penalties.
Know that we are here. Forever.
Am Yisrael Chai. Lanetzach.
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Yitzy, how did you remain so pure of heart, so good of soul, so kind of nature? Was it your family that loved you so, that misses you so? Was it the depth of your faith, and trust in God? Or was it something else? Or a combination of all? Whatever it was, we certainly need some of that down here. No, not some, but a whole lot.
And as usual we miss you so.
Always and forever. Always and forever.
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