A few days ago, the Jerusalem Post reported that Mark Dankof, a Lutheran pastor and political activist, stated that
“Jewish influence and money were being used to destroy Christian culture and values globally. It should not be ignored,” he added, “that the victories for abortion on demand and LGBT rights are reflective of the disproportionate influence of Jewish power, money, and activism in the United States.”
This statement reminded me of similar statements I had read, which came from one, Adolf Hitler. Hermann Rauschning, in his book, Hitler Speaks, quoted him as saying,
“The Jews have inflicted two wounds on the world: Circumcision for the body and conscience for the soul. I come to free mankind from their shackles.” Elsewhere in the book, Rauschning quotes him as saying, “Conscience is a Jewish invention; it is a blemish.”
For more than ten years now I have been saying that anti-Semitism is a real problem and that we have to start acting. For almost that long I have been asked, “So why aren’t you coming out and warning everyone?”
The funny thing is that I have. I have written and spoken about anti-Semitism to numerous major newspapers and TV stations throughout Europe and the US, from the Corriere della Sera to The New York Times. But there was very little echo. Understandably, when people see no cure, they prefer to overlook the illness.
But now that the specter has fully emerged, I see it as a very good sign that we are waking up. As manifestations of anti-Semitism are piling up around the world, and as its reasoning becomes increasingly obscure, it is becoming increasingly clear that we must rise to the occasion, and introduce new ways of countering anti-Semitism because clearly, everything we have tried so far has not succeeded.
You cannot really argue with a Greek man waiting his turn to collect his saving who says (as reported by Mike Bird in Business Insider) “It’s not the fault of German people, it’s not the fault of European people. You have to get to the source… they want to crush Greece.” And by “they” he means “the Rothschilds and Zionists.” You also cannot confront pastors, university professors, and other opinion leaders who express anti-Semitic views.
What you, me, and everyone else can and must do is unite. There is strength in our unity and we must utilize it. Take AMCHA cofounder, prof. Tammi Rossman-Benjamin for example. In all her tremendous efforts to curb anti-Semitism on US college campuses, she has found that
“While none of the strategies that I’ve described has so far managed to significantly eliminate the problem, those that have shown the most promise involve group efforts and coalitions. …Future efforts should strive to enlarge these coalitions, so that they can include as many organizations and individuals as possible. I believe it is only by putting aside institutional and ideological differences and showing a united front in defense of the safety and well-being of Jewish students that we have any hope of winning the war on campus anti-Semitism.”
I would like to add that the students themselves should be encouraged to take part in the unity, as this is the key to our success. If we examine the nature of anti-Semitic utterances, we will see that they are actually prompting us to unite, simply by letting us know that we are all we have.
But we can do it differently. We needn’t wait for Jew-haters to show us the door so we may unite. We can unite beforehand, and the anti-Semitism will dim by itself, just as Prof. Rossman-Benjamin has observed.
To refer back to the beginning of this post, Jews are indeed a conscientious people. The Jews who support Israel and the Jews who condemn it both do it for moral reasons! We must always remember this because it reminds us that the goal of the vast majority of Jews is to see a moral, humane, and just Judaism. But this will happen only when we unite above all our differences. The moral we are intended to convey to the world is the example of unity above differences. Not their elimination, but the ability to unite above them. When we accomplish this with the intention to set a good example of unity, humanity will embrace us into its midst and we will find our rightful place among the nations.
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