Afraid or Angry?

BS”D

What should be our main approach to Anti-Semitism?

Amid all the talk of Anti-Semitism in the Middle-East, North-America and Europe, and the lamenting thereof, a stark impression explicitly and implicitly resonates: Jews are afraid.

And the Jews have good reason to be afraid. Our enemies abound and outnumber us by a factor of many thousands to one. Indeed, I’d wager that you could visit many cities around the world, where there are hardly any Jews, if any, and you would find there a strong and lively congregation of Anti-Semites, united by their hatred of Jacobs’ descendants and their message.

And those spiritual descendants of Amalek-the Anti-Semites-show that they are willing to employ any variety of tactics (pogroms, rape, rocket attacks, suicide bombings, political pressure, sanctions and boycotts, student protests-the list is almost endless) and enter into any sort of unholy alliance (gays for Gaza) to get at the Jews.

As the saying goes, just because I’m paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me.

The question is rather if the fear of the Anti-Semite becomes a defining and identity-forming approach for the Jew, serving as an excuse and a distortion.

The pit falls of focusing on Anti-Semitism

Let me explain, when two Jews meet in dark days like this, it is almost certain they can agree that there are many bad things happening to the Jews right now, many big and small injustices, and examples abound like the stars of the heavens.

The victim-mentality does not even solely belong to the right-wing and Orthodox camp as such, in days like these many, if not most left-wing Jews will also complain and worry about Anti-Semitism (the main difference being which political conclusions should be drawn from the phenomenon of Anti-Semitism).

In fact, this is what seems to unite Jews more than anything, and sometimes it seems like it’s the only thing that can unite Jews. And this is probably one of the main reasons that Anti-Semitism has become such a defining and identity forming component for many Jews, because it binds us together as a people. The differences between us, mainly falling into the political and religious category, are just too great for there to be anything else that can unite us more than the Anti-Semitism.

This could be one, and probably is, one of the spiritual reasons why G-d has let Anti-Semitism flourish, since times immemorial. Because it unites us, reminds us of our mission, and doesn’t let us forget who we are.

Ideally the following order of the factors above should be that Anti-Semitism serves to remind us of who we are-unites us-and reminds us of our mission.

The three components above are not always readily discernible in the present though, maybe over time they are, but in the present they can also serve to paralyze the Jew, make him feel weak and afraid and focus on the negative.

The point of this article is that there are unnecessary side-effects of a healthy awareness of the challenges of Anti-Semitism.

As I’ve already stated there are indeed dangers and hazards facing the Jew but first and foremost the phenomenon of Anti-Semitism is an evil one. It’s a war against G-d and His people, and a war against the Torah.

A very stark example of this is the strong reluctance, if not refusal of many Jews and Israelis in Stockholm and in the wider Swedish-Jewish community to even identify outwardly as Jewish and/or Israeli. The rationale given is often that it’s too dangerous, but is it really, or is this ever present spectre of Anti-Semitism, used to cover up a lack of a moral and religious stance.

A moral and a religious stance could ideally amount to the following:

“The Jewish people have a good and positive message to bring to the world. We know that we are in the right, we have nothing to be ashamed of or to excuse ourselves for. We have a right to live as Jews. Some rights are worth taking risks for. I am not going to assume that everyone is an Anti-Semite, because that would be grossly exaggerated. I am not going to use Anti-Semitism as an excuse to avoid leading a Jewish life. I also know historically that this approach does not help to alleviate or placate Anti-Semitism and the Anti-Semite. I am angry that there is such evil in the world, and I am not going to accept it. My righteous anger at this injustice compels me to take a stand”.

It is my belief that the minor manifesto above would be much more productive and energy-inducing than the current wallowing in the darkness of the dangers and hazards of Anti-Semitism.