We come from similiar backgrounds: maternal grandparents from Ukraine and fraternal grandparents from Poland. They all arrived in 1906, when New York City was being terrorised by the Black Hand. They had a few relatives in Chicago and went there. My only direct experience with anti-semitism was as a schoolboy in Chicago at the age of 9. I was walking home from school, down an alley shortcut, and at the end of the alley were 3 boys, one of whom yelled, "There's a Jew, let's get him." I ran for my life and escaped them. I now live in Thailand and being a Jew is irrelevant. My stepdaughter asked me, "What is a Jew?" I still can't answer that question. All I know is that because my mother was Jewish, I'm Jewish and have inherited thousands of years of develpment and although I have never been to a Synagogue or had a Bar Miztvah, I'm still Jewish.
These days, I've come to the realization that it isn't so wrong for me to be thankful that my grandparents are no longer with us. They'd be deeply confused by what's happened to the country they escaped to at great peril in 1943.
It's not only Netanyahu, it's really a lot of far-right lunatics. A lot of people fantasizing Ha Eretz as portrayed in an old book. People coming from very different backgrounds, hydroponic people trying to find some soil to plant their dreams.
Unfortunately, this land was not a patchwork, it was a complexly woven and layered tapestry made of thousands of different cultures.
The 1948 plan wasn't so bad, 1967 was stupid, colonies were disrespectful and illegal, leading to a nasty narrative pushed forth by Israel: Palestinians are not from Israel, they are landless refugees; People like them (Arabs) should welcome them; Ha Eretz shall be one unified jewish piece of land; Palestinians are not from Palestine, they are Arabs.
...Of course in the meantime gas was found on the shores of the Gaza strip..
Anyway, on the other side, you've got crazy politicians as well, using religion as a political agenda and people as human shields. Antisemitism is real and extreme. It's fantasized, rheified, reduced until it becomes an edible concept. From the dawn of life people are being fed antisemitism and in adulthood become feeders themselves.
My take on this is that to reunite people so hateful of each others, you have to forget great ideas, and go back to simple stuff as providing a decent living. But... Palestinians live in shacks and Israeli newcomers live in subsided American-way-of-life illegal suburbs close to always pushed backwards borders...
The risk here has always been that people being humiliated may become incredibly hard boiled haters. And so far when you live in Israel you're not suffering and dying everyday as Palestinians are. You can have a decent living, even a great one, go to techno raves, even be very sympathetic to Palestinians. Having a democratic country, diversity in thoughts, humane values, etc.. may be considered as a luxury Palestine cannot afford right now.
To be honest, I am not on the Palestinian side of the chessboard. Why? Because my mind is from the west, pinky, nonreligious, very akin to nonreligious intellectual Jews trying to tikun olam. I feel a lot of sympathy for Palestinians but I feel very far from what they could think or do. I think the left in Israel must wake up because Israel was founded by lefties. The right wing and lunatics have hijacked the country and put it in a situation where you have to be on their side or you are being an antisemitic monster.
Where the hell are Ben Gourion values right now? There was a time when a president would say 'I understand it's a tough situation for Palestinians, we used terrorism as well, but we will prove them we are good neighbors'.
Why are we buying the terrorists not being humans concept? People are people. Angry people, wrongdoing people, stupid people, dangerous people, hateful people, etc. Not just terrorists. Of course it's easier to kill a terrorist. Your conscience is cleaner. It's also easier to kill a Jew if you've been told Jews are an evil species and not people like you and I.
How can Israel win this war if the war itself is a terrorist factory.
Anyway, I'm way too long for a comment.
Sorry, this topic Is so difficult to handle with a cold mind and skillful hands.
Greatly appreciate your perspective and taking the time to write this. I can only hope that in the near future, cooler heads will prevail. But honestly, at this moment, I'm not particularly optimistic.
The Exodus (the boat) was the end of a story and the beginning of a new one. The enemies were the British. Israel was a land for people whose survival was a miracle. How dark, how gloomy were their perspectives on the verge of the shoah, how invasive would the tzimtzum be in camps, how bright the light of Ha Eretz may have been to them. I guess some of the Exodus survivors are still alive since they were kids in 47. Maybe they feel lost right now. Maybe hatred has filled their hearts, maybe they feel again the fear they felt in camps. On both sides fear is undermining good will. Maybe Tolstoi was right when in War and Peace he told us that what may happen will happen. We cannot bet on great historical figures, neither can we leave things to randomness. The truth is in the streams we are subject to. I guess the stream of hope is still alive. But so is the one carrying hatred. Tzimtzum, time and again. I guess Isaac Luria had it right.
We come from similiar backgrounds: maternal grandparents from Ukraine and fraternal grandparents from Poland. They all arrived in 1906, when New York City was being terrorised by the Black Hand. They had a few relatives in Chicago and went there. My only direct experience with anti-semitism was as a schoolboy in Chicago at the age of 9. I was walking home from school, down an alley shortcut, and at the end of the alley were 3 boys, one of whom yelled, "There's a Jew, let's get him." I ran for my life and escaped them. I now live in Thailand and being a Jew is irrelevant. My stepdaughter asked me, "What is a Jew?" I still can't answer that question. All I know is that because my mother was Jewish, I'm Jewish and have inherited thousands of years of develpment and although I have never been to a Synagogue or had a Bar Miztvah, I'm still Jewish.
Roots!
Bravo! Well said and thank you for doing so. Props to Rabbi Cohon, an excellent storyteller.
Thanks so much, Adam.
Beautiful Bret.
Thanks, Bob.
Now I gotta upgrade to "paid"so I can keep up with you, Bret. This is great stuff.
Thanks, Art.
This is where millions of us are.
These days, I've come to the realization that it isn't so wrong for me to be thankful that my grandparents are no longer with us. They'd be deeply confused by what's happened to the country they escaped to at great peril in 1943.
Tough one.
It's not only Netanyahu, it's really a lot of far-right lunatics. A lot of people fantasizing Ha Eretz as portrayed in an old book. People coming from very different backgrounds, hydroponic people trying to find some soil to plant their dreams.
Unfortunately, this land was not a patchwork, it was a complexly woven and layered tapestry made of thousands of different cultures.
The 1948 plan wasn't so bad, 1967 was stupid, colonies were disrespectful and illegal, leading to a nasty narrative pushed forth by Israel: Palestinians are not from Israel, they are landless refugees; People like them (Arabs) should welcome them; Ha Eretz shall be one unified jewish piece of land; Palestinians are not from Palestine, they are Arabs.
...Of course in the meantime gas was found on the shores of the Gaza strip..
Anyway, on the other side, you've got crazy politicians as well, using religion as a political agenda and people as human shields. Antisemitism is real and extreme. It's fantasized, rheified, reduced until it becomes an edible concept. From the dawn of life people are being fed antisemitism and in adulthood become feeders themselves.
My take on this is that to reunite people so hateful of each others, you have to forget great ideas, and go back to simple stuff as providing a decent living. But... Palestinians live in shacks and Israeli newcomers live in subsided American-way-of-life illegal suburbs close to always pushed backwards borders...
The risk here has always been that people being humiliated may become incredibly hard boiled haters. And so far when you live in Israel you're not suffering and dying everyday as Palestinians are. You can have a decent living, even a great one, go to techno raves, even be very sympathetic to Palestinians. Having a democratic country, diversity in thoughts, humane values, etc.. may be considered as a luxury Palestine cannot afford right now.
To be honest, I am not on the Palestinian side of the chessboard. Why? Because my mind is from the west, pinky, nonreligious, very akin to nonreligious intellectual Jews trying to tikun olam. I feel a lot of sympathy for Palestinians but I feel very far from what they could think or do. I think the left in Israel must wake up because Israel was founded by lefties. The right wing and lunatics have hijacked the country and put it in a situation where you have to be on their side or you are being an antisemitic monster.
Where the hell are Ben Gourion values right now? There was a time when a president would say 'I understand it's a tough situation for Palestinians, we used terrorism as well, but we will prove them we are good neighbors'.
Why are we buying the terrorists not being humans concept? People are people. Angry people, wrongdoing people, stupid people, dangerous people, hateful people, etc. Not just terrorists. Of course it's easier to kill a terrorist. Your conscience is cleaner. It's also easier to kill a Jew if you've been told Jews are an evil species and not people like you and I.
How can Israel win this war if the war itself is a terrorist factory.
Anyway, I'm way too long for a comment.
Sorry, this topic Is so difficult to handle with a cold mind and skillful hands.
I'm starting Hecht's book right now.
Greatly appreciate your perspective and taking the time to write this. I can only hope that in the near future, cooler heads will prevail. But honestly, at this moment, I'm not particularly optimistic.
The Exodus (the boat) was the end of a story and the beginning of a new one. The enemies were the British. Israel was a land for people whose survival was a miracle. How dark, how gloomy were their perspectives on the verge of the shoah, how invasive would the tzimtzum be in camps, how bright the light of Ha Eretz may have been to them. I guess some of the Exodus survivors are still alive since they were kids in 47. Maybe they feel lost right now. Maybe hatred has filled their hearts, maybe they feel again the fear they felt in camps. On both sides fear is undermining good will. Maybe Tolstoi was right when in War and Peace he told us that what may happen will happen. We cannot bet on great historical figures, neither can we leave things to randomness. The truth is in the streams we are subject to. I guess the stream of hope is still alive. But so is the one carrying hatred. Tzimtzum, time and again. I guess Isaac Luria had it right.
Bret, this mirrors many of my own feelings. I have shared it with some of the people on a small mailing list I have.
I am appreciating your writing a lot. Thank you!
Thanks, Terry. This post seems to have touched a nerve in many people.