(no subject)
Yom Ha'atzmaut is Israeli indendance day. It is not a time to celebrate however - it is a time to mourn. 56 years ago a conglomerate of nations, after the end of WWII, declared that the previously British controlled area of the middle east known as Palestine, would be called Israel. In many ways it was the culmination of nearly 3000 years of waiting for a return to the ancient homeland of the Jewish people. For 3000 years Jews have said prayers, and cried tears over one day having a homeland free from suffering and oppression; from hate and violence. During and after WWII, Jewish charities handed out small, blue, metal boxes called "tzedakah" boxes. Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for "charity," more specifically carrying the connotation of "charity for a righteous purpose." People would put money (coins) in these boxes till they were full, just as we do with tzedakah boxes today. When they were full they would be emptied and given to the Jewish National Fund that had given the family the box. The JNF then used it to buy land in Palestine - which we now call Israel. In case you're wondering - they looked like this:
Like a piggy bank in order to raise money for creating Israel
American and European Jews raised millions and millions of dollars, and there was a mass immigration of Jews to Israel after WWII. Every effort was made to see that any Jew who wanted to make their way to the holy land to live could do that. The special name for a Jew's act of moving to Israel from somewhere else is called making "ali'yah" or "to ascend." There was even a mass airlift of soviet Jews out of Russia to Israel.
To this day, any Jew who wants to live in Israel is granted automatic citizenship.
The tragedy in all of this, however, is the same that has permeated the history of 90% of groups in the world: Group, usually religious group, "X" splits (or is forcefully separated) from group "Y." Group "Y" persecutes, torments, kills, and basically makes life unappealing for group "X." Group "X" goes somewhere else to escape persecution and settles in the territory which is already inhabited by group "Z." Group "X" kills a bunch of "Z"s and oppresses the faith and culture of group "Z." The moral of the story: Group "X" ends up being no better than "Y."
Now, before anyone says anything. I understand that this isn't the same thing. There have always been Jews in Palestine. I know that, however, there have also always been Palestinians and, like it or not, they are a people of that land too. In Israel, one must be Jewish to have certain political rights. People who are not Jewish, or at least nominally Jewish, to satisfy the requirements of citizenship, do not have the political rights of Israelis. It tears me apart to believe that a people with whom I have cast my lot have built a country where an entire people are subjugated and oppressed, where capital punishment is still practiced, where gays and lesbians live in an environment just as hostile as any in the United States.
In Judaism, we learn that, according to the ancient rabbis, the three things that make up the Jewish faith are: G-d, the Torah, and Israel. So, as a Jew, can I throw my support behind a country founded on the freedom from oppression that commits acts that bring me to tears? Or do I figuritively turn my back on a country that has become the international symbol of Jewish hope. I look at that flag - the gorgeous blue and white with the star of david and I try to imagine how someone newly liberated from Auschwitz might have seen it. How they would have felt it. I weep for the people of Israel who obey the will of a man they have elected leader - who kills. A man who hates. I weep for the people of Israel who die every day in suicide bombings. I weep for the children on both sides of this horrible, bloody line who are indoctrinated to detest a fellow human being - let alone an entire group of them. I weep for the palestinians whose camps are buldozed by Israeli tanks. And I weep for each and every Muslim who cannot be considered a full citizen of Israel because they call their G-d "Allah," and not "Adonai."
There is a poem by a man named Edmund Fleg. He wrote it to his unborn grandson just before he died in 1927. I have trouble finishing it whenever I read it because it strikes me very emotionally absolutely sums up my faith:
I am a Jew because the faith of Israel demands no
abdication of my mind.
I am a Jew because the faith of Israel asks every
possible sacrifice of me.
I am a Jew because in all places where there are tears
and suffering the Jew weeps.
I am a Jew because in every age when the cry of despair
is heard the Jew hopes.
I am a Jew because the message of Israel is the most
ancient and the most modern.
I am a Jew because Israel's promise is a universal
promise for humanity.
I am a Jew because for the Jewish people the world is not finished;
humanity is completing it.
I am a Jew because for the Jewish people humanity is not yet fully
created; humanity is creating it.
I am a Jew because Israel places humanity and it's unity
above nations and above Israel itself.
I am a Jew because above humanity, and the image of the divine
unity, Israel places the unity of G-d and humanity which is divine.
- Edmund Fleg, Why I am a Jew.
So, what does it all mean? I am a Jew because I cannot live in a world where anyone is subjugated or opressed because of their religion (or lack thereof), color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or sex, or anything else. I am a Jew because the deepest of evils is to deny someone else's humanity on any basis. And, finally, I am a Jew because I believe, above all, that the the beauty of life itself is reason enough to live. How does the fighting stop?
The fighting will only stop when both sides realize they love their children too much to have this be their only legacy.
Finally, I leave you with these; the words to the Israeli national anthem. May it one day come to pass.
Hatikvah means "The Hope."
P.S.
"G-d of peace, of justice, and of love, be praised. Inspire us to banish forever hatred, war, and bloodshed. Help us to establish forever one human family, united in peace. G-d of peace, bless us with peace."
Thanks for reading all. Smooches.
Shalom,
Matt :)
Like a piggy bank in order to raise money for creating Israel
American and European Jews raised millions and millions of dollars, and there was a mass immigration of Jews to Israel after WWII. Every effort was made to see that any Jew who wanted to make their way to the holy land to live could do that. The special name for a Jew's act of moving to Israel from somewhere else is called making "ali'yah" or "to ascend." There was even a mass airlift of soviet Jews out of Russia to Israel.
To this day, any Jew who wants to live in Israel is granted automatic citizenship.
The tragedy in all of this, however, is the same that has permeated the history of 90% of groups in the world: Group, usually religious group, "X" splits (or is forcefully separated) from group "Y." Group "Y" persecutes, torments, kills, and basically makes life unappealing for group "X." Group "X" goes somewhere else to escape persecution and settles in the territory which is already inhabited by group "Z." Group "X" kills a bunch of "Z"s and oppresses the faith and culture of group "Z." The moral of the story: Group "X" ends up being no better than "Y."
Now, before anyone says anything. I understand that this isn't the same thing. There have always been Jews in Palestine. I know that, however, there have also always been Palestinians and, like it or not, they are a people of that land too. In Israel, one must be Jewish to have certain political rights. People who are not Jewish, or at least nominally Jewish, to satisfy the requirements of citizenship, do not have the political rights of Israelis. It tears me apart to believe that a people with whom I have cast my lot have built a country where an entire people are subjugated and oppressed, where capital punishment is still practiced, where gays and lesbians live in an environment just as hostile as any in the United States.
In Judaism, we learn that, according to the ancient rabbis, the three things that make up the Jewish faith are: G-d, the Torah, and Israel. So, as a Jew, can I throw my support behind a country founded on the freedom from oppression that commits acts that bring me to tears? Or do I figuritively turn my back on a country that has become the international symbol of Jewish hope. I look at that flag - the gorgeous blue and white with the star of david and I try to imagine how someone newly liberated from Auschwitz might have seen it. How they would have felt it. I weep for the people of Israel who obey the will of a man they have elected leader - who kills. A man who hates. I weep for the people of Israel who die every day in suicide bombings. I weep for the children on both sides of this horrible, bloody line who are indoctrinated to detest a fellow human being - let alone an entire group of them. I weep for the palestinians whose camps are buldozed by Israeli tanks. And I weep for each and every Muslim who cannot be considered a full citizen of Israel because they call their G-d "Allah," and not "Adonai."
There is a poem by a man named Edmund Fleg. He wrote it to his unborn grandson just before he died in 1927. I have trouble finishing it whenever I read it because it strikes me very emotionally absolutely sums up my faith:
I am a Jew because the faith of Israel demands no
abdication of my mind.
I am a Jew because the faith of Israel asks every
possible sacrifice of me.
I am a Jew because in all places where there are tears
and suffering the Jew weeps.
I am a Jew because in every age when the cry of despair
is heard the Jew hopes.
I am a Jew because the message of Israel is the most
ancient and the most modern.
I am a Jew because Israel's promise is a universal
promise for humanity.
I am a Jew because for the Jewish people the world is not finished;
humanity is completing it.
I am a Jew because for the Jewish people humanity is not yet fully
created; humanity is creating it.
I am a Jew because Israel places humanity and it's unity
above nations and above Israel itself.
I am a Jew because above humanity, and the image of the divine
unity, Israel places the unity of G-d and humanity which is divine.
- Edmund Fleg, Why I am a Jew.
So, what does it all mean? I am a Jew because I cannot live in a world where anyone is subjugated or opressed because of their religion (or lack thereof), color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or sex, or anything else. I am a Jew because the deepest of evils is to deny someone else's humanity on any basis. And, finally, I am a Jew because I believe, above all, that the the beauty of life itself is reason enough to live. How does the fighting stop?
The fighting will only stop when both sides realize they love their children too much to have this be their only legacy.
Finally, I leave you with these; the words to the Israeli national anthem. May it one day come to pass.
Hatikvah means "The Hope."
P.S.
"G-d of peace, of justice, and of love, be praised. Inspire us to banish forever hatred, war, and bloodshed. Help us to establish forever one human family, united in peace. G-d of peace, bless us with peace."
Thanks for reading all. Smooches.
Shalom,
Matt :)