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| Rabbi Noah Muroff with some of the cash he found in a desk he bought (ABC) |
He ended the essay wondering ‘How we can respond to this.’ That was followed ‘I have no easy answer’. Nonetheless he suggested some things we can do starting with ‘We have to be smarter’. Most of which I heartily agree with. I thought about this a bit yesterday and this is what I have come up with.
First we must recognize that there will always be people or groups of people that will hate us. No matter what we do. Much of which is sourced in theology - whether past (Christianity) or present (Muslim). As Paul noted yesterday centuries of Christian doctrine accusing Jews of killing their god along with their ‘replacement theory’ is in their DNA. Even now (since Vatican II) that the Catholic has abandoned all that. Protestants – especially the over 60 million Evangelical Christians now hold us in high esteem.
Part of today’s virulent antisemitism stems from the fringes of Christian church. Whose extremists retain the antisemitic doctrines of the past. Mel Gibson who is a devout Catholic is an example of that. As are White Christian Nationalists and assorted other White Supremacists. The rest comes from the Muslim world and sourced in a theology which has remained unchanged to this day. And from their left wing anti colonialist supporters.
It’s quite the irony that extremists that are polar opposites have one thing in common. They both hate the Jews. The extremist right thinks we are all communists (as did Hitler). And the extremist left thinks we’re all Nazis. (Which is what the extreme left calls Israelis.)
I don’t think there is a thing we can do to change the thinking of these people. They have always existed and will continue to exist no matter what we do. The best that can be said about this situation is that the hard core violent ones are by far in the minority. (Although admittedly a much bigger minority than I had previously thought.)
Although there is a sizable minority that is philo-semitc, the majority of rest of the world is neither antisemitic or philo-semitic. They can be influenced. They will judge us by our deeds. With the media always looking over our shoulders it is imperative that we do what God commanded us to do. And to not do what God prohibit us from doing. Especially in the area of ethics and morality.
God commands us to sanctify his name so that the world will say, ‘How wise are Thy people, O Lord!’ This is what is known as a Kiddush HaShem. The one thing we must never do is a Chilul HaShem –desecrate His Name.
Unfortunately there has been way too much of the latter. Too many religious looking Jews have been caught being involved in fraud and assorted other misdeeds. This is a path that leads directly to antisemitism. The more it happens, the more religious Jews will be seen as crooks and criminals out to cheat the ‘Goyim’ That could potentially become how most of mainstream America will see us!
On the other hand when a recognizable Jew goes beyond the letter of the law to do something nice for others, that too will be noticed. If enough of us do that, the casual observer might say, ‘What a wonderful trait religious Jews have’. An example of that was when a few years ago a religious Jew found 98 thousand dollars in cash hidden in the drawer of a desk he bought on Craig’s List and returned it to the original owner. Who had no clue it was there.
We need a lot more of that and a lot less of the former.
There are unfortunately some grey areas. At least as public perception is concerned. One of which is what is happening in Gaza right now. Is what Israel is doing there a Kiddush Hashem a Chilul HaShem?
Fighting for the very existence of the Jewish people is a Kiddush HaShem. Explaining why is one of the most difficult problems facing the Jewish community right now.
On the one hand Israel is fighting for its very life against a people who religion preaches that Jews are to be eradicated in pursuit of spreading Islam. On the other hand 28,000 supposedly innocent Palestinians have been killed in the process. Jews are now being accused of genocide. Genocide surely qualifies as a Chilul HaShem.
It is easy to understand the latter. With the daily images if war coming out of Gaza now for over 4 months; condemnations by the UN; South Africa and the massive number of protests calling it a genocide; the natural sympathy by the mainstream media for the unprecedented devastation Palestinians are going through because of the war... all adds to the perception of Jews indiscriminately killing Palestinian men, women, and children. That certainly fuels antisemitic sentiment.
This has to be countered. Difficult though it may be. One picture is worth a thousand words. And there have been thousands of pictures of devastation since October 7th. I’m therefore not sure our words can counter that effectively. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
It must somehow be impressed upon the public that Israel has no choice but to fight for its life. That radical Islam wants to rid Palestine of the Jews even if it means annihilating us.
It must be made clear that the Hamas attack October 7th was the first volley toward that goal. and that they have pledged to keep doing it until they succeed.
It must be made clear that many of those 28,000 ‘civilians’ killed were not civilians at all but Hamas terrorists dressed in civilian clothing.
It must be made clear that many the actual civilian casualties of war is the result of Hamas placing them in harm’s way as human shields.
It must be made clear that Israel goes to out of its way to avoid civilian casualties by telegraphing every move the make to the enemy so their civilian population can evacuate. And that Israel provides them with a safe corridor to do that.
It must be made cler that Hamas is responsible for their suffering - which is the direct result of what they did to us on October 7th.
True, Palestinians are suffering greatly because of this war. But it must be made clear why - and who is at fault
Convincing the casual observer of these truths may seem like an insurmountable task. But what choice do we have if we are to have any hope of the public seeing it our way. And thereby hopefully counteracting the antisemitism that will surely increase if we do nothing .
