So what else is new? We once again have the spectacle of spitting Charedim. Only this time it was against Catholic priests. Not that this is the first time this particular vile act had happened, Sadly, It has happened before. I recall it being reported in the Jewish media not long ago. That and assorted other anti-Christian acts on the part of the Charedi Jews.
And as always the vile creatures that perpetuated it are a tiny part of the Charedi community.
As would be expected this incident generated numerous condemnations from a wide variety of orthodox Jews. Including both the Sephardi and Ashkenazi chief Rabbis. As well as from the Coalition of Jewish Values (CJV).
Thing is though (as I have said many times before) incidents like this do not happen In a vacuum. Let us not pretend that vilification of the ‘Goy’ is not part of the Charedi educational ethos.
The sad reality is that ‘Goyim’ have been cast as wicked individuals whose purpose with respect to the Jewish people is to destroy us both physically and spiritually.
As I have also said, there is a method to this madness. Over 2000 years of Christian persecution of the Jewish people culminating in the holocaust explains why Jewish education considered ‘the Goyim’ our enemy.
But today there are other motivations. Which are the concerns by Jewish educators about western cultural influences influencing our youth.
And who can really even blame them?! The moral decay is more than evident. The Sexual mores of just a few years ago have all but disappeared - replaced by an ideology of unbridled hedonism: ‘If it feels good, do it’ - as long as it doesn’t hurt others.
That is the current ethos of about half the country. An ethos eagerly accelerated by all manner of social media
But their values are not our values. our values are based on the Bible. Our sexual mores are not their sexual mores.
But that does not justify preaching the hate of Christians. Which is what all of the above mentioned Condemnations are all about.
What’s Missing in all of this is the fact that hate IS being taught to our youth. And reinforced among adults by various rabbinic leaders. While not universally so, there is enough ‘Goyim’ bashing by educators and rabbis to fill the hearts of a great many of our youth and adults.
Recall my outrage at one minor Chasidic Rebbe that distributed recordings insisting that we must ‘HATE’ Goyim. As well as my outrage at a Mussar Shmooze by a high school Rebbe at a mainstream American Yeshiva that essentially said the same thing.
You can’t go around telling young people to hate Goyim, and then complain when some of them end up spitting at the sight of them. Those students think they are getting a Mitzvah by spitting on Avodah Zara. But instead they are making a huge Chilul HaShem.
Because the truth of the matter is that when it comes to attitudes about the moral decay of Western culture, we are actually on the same side. Religious people of all faiths reject the values of a hedonist culture that permeates so much of the world today.
The Christian antisemitism of the past 2000 years has given way to an acknowledgment of our shared biblical values. We are on the same side now. We are fighting a common enemy.
If we are going to stop this kind of Chilul HaShem from ever happening again. There has to be a sea change in how we educate our children with respect to Christians. As well as a change in how certain rabbis speak about Goyim.
