As an Orthodox Jew living in Israel, as a second-generation Holocaust survivor whose four grandparents were murdered in Auschwitz, I have a several things to say about and to the Gentiles in Germany. I would like to cover a little bit of the past, a lot more about the present, and no so little about the future.
It was Bad
Everybody knows that Germany caused WWII and the Holocaust. Six million Jews were murdered in cold blood. Many others were persecuted and murdered too. A total of some 50 million people died in that war.
Reclaiming Pride and Innocence
A sizable minority in Germany is still virulently antisemitic and enthusiastic about Nazi philosophies and racism. But, ever since WW II, the German majority and politics and church leaders have made sure that such voices will never return to power on its soil — not even a little — exemplary to all.
The German People as a whole has understood that true innocence and pride can’t stem from a denial of evil in the past but only from rejecting it.
When Muslim immigrants carried their native antisemitism (a tad less murderous than the Christian variety, since the latter believed in inferior DNA, the former would be pacified when a Jew would become Muslim.), you made clear to them that that’s a no-no in Germany. (Other European countries often racistically blame Muslim immigrants for their antisemitic part while that only can flourish because the Christian and secularized-Christian majority’s antisemitism doesn’t stop it.) Yet, now more and more Muslim-majority countries start friendly relationships with Israel, some of their populations just stap over their Jew-hatred, but others stay openly and virulently antisemitic. On both things, you can help. Some are not so anti-Jewish, to begin with, and maybe, you should team up with them first.
Germans were not forced by any outsider to make this change. On its own, it decided to mend its ways. And doing this, ironically, it has become more Jewish than any other country in the world, besides the Jewish State:
● It has supportive, ongoing, warm relationships with Israel.
● It promotes learning about the Holocaust and outlawed its denial.
● Many Gentiles, (grand)children of leading Nazis too, became Jewish.
● Jewish communities are flourishing again in Germany.
● Fighting and blocking any evil has become central to its way of thinking.
Stop Overdoing it
Maybe it takes a friend to say from the outside: don’t overdo it.
● When May comes around, or any other WW II historic date, don’t make commemorations so heavy that it could become off-putting. Stress taking responsibility for a better future over regret over a bad past. Add some jolliness to German custom which it hasn’t had enough for a long time.
● You did a wonderful job opposing and disempowering rightwing and leftwing antisemites and racists. Now try to win them over to join you. Tell them: “Your offensives berate your defensiveness which gives away your desperate but losing struggle for pride and innocence. It doesn’t work for you. Come, step into the light of progress and follow us.”
● Sometimes your government patronizes Israel with warnings and regrets about how it acts. Israel isn’t perfect. Yet, a bit more trust in the goodness of its people could be helpful. I don’t write against Germany anymore, no matter how atrocious what may happen. I trust you guys to oppose and stop evil, and improve over time. One must know whom to trust.
One Step Further
The world needs your leadership. You have become humble and committed to goodness. Those are good qualities to work with. Your ancestor’s intuition about a global potential for the German People may have been misguided, but with the right humility, your leadership might play out very well for everyone. We’ve come full circle when especially Germans can lead the world to more peace, less hatred, and especially less Jew-hatred. Two major problems could use your input:
● The Western democracies wrestle with stopping evil. They get confused between being totalitarian and stopping undemocratic forces. They are afraid to stop books from being printed, to limit Free Speech, to reject non-democrats from standing in elections, etc. Please tell them: “Freedom is not a stand-alone good. It is part of democracy, which means that everyone counts, is important, is equal before the law. Therefore, it is to save democracy, to strengthen freedom for all, to stop preachers of hate.”
● The Muslim world hasn’t had its defeat from any world war. So, their antisemitism is still largely unchallenged. Though widely different from country to country, with many differences often from region to region inside a country, for world peace and self-dignity of Islam, this must stop. No one is in a better position than Germans to travel the Muslim world and teach love for Jews. It will help them to combine democracy and Islam better in general.
One More Thing
Meanwhile, don’t forget that Germany is, like all Western democracies, still steeped in the exploitation of all oppressed groups. Most women work most of the time for free or much too little. Most workers don’t even have their basic needs comfortably covered, no matter how hard they work. People from rural areas and working-class families still feel intimidated. Many people live in fear, despair, powerlessness, for no fault of their own.
This all needs work too. Setting the word straight must include the home.
About the Author
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
