Jewish Outreach to Gentiles – the Basics

Jews must be humble. There are many reasons for that. A main ground is that we Jews have a mission as teachers of the world. We have not elected or elicited this assignment. We are called upon by G^d to take this task as our vocation. But arrogant teachers make for lousy teaching.

We just need to teach Gentiles, not to have them become Jews too.

Below, don’t get stuck on certain words – see them in their contexts.

(If you are an Atheist, wherever it says G^d, read: the highest Morality.)

Teaching and Learning

The Torah and the whole of the Jewish Bible are given to us Jews, not merely to possess but rather with the obligation to receive and study it and to transmit, what is relevant to mankind as a whole. It is not ours to keep. To make this point, we were given the Torah in no-man’s-land.

The vast majority of the world has been curious and eager to learn from these Teaching. Christianity, Islam, the West (British Law) and even Science, Democracy and Modernity have taken and accepted big parts of our Holy Tradition as their basics, while we Jews were busy purely surviving. That Gentile eagerness to receive and honor G^d’s will, does them proud.

However, some of what was handed down to us, got transmitted with a twist. Fortunately or unfortunately it is our obligation to help Gentiles adjust their insights where distortion crept in. This doesn’t mean that we would know how Gentiles should believe, pray and live. We need to pass on our knowledge; how that will be used by Gentiles is their prerogative.

The situation is not like we Jews know everything and the Gentiles are ignorant. Teaching Gentiles, we Jews will learn more from them than the other way around. We must safeguard, however, that we do not dilute our Holy Knowledge or assimilate – that would be counter-productive. We must be so Jewish through-and-through that nothing can unjew us.

And while we teach, we will overhear ourselves and shape up too.

Yet, no one (including the Jews) should exaggerate our humbleness as if the teacher and the student are equals. We deserve respect as teachers.

Enjoyment

G^d lacks no generosity. He created the Universe and all that’s in it for one overarching purpose: to give. Of all ‘things’ created, humans are best capable to value presents. Our willingness to receive and being appreciative of physical pleasure are religious acts. Total ascetism is bad.

Gifts are better cherished when worked for. So He lets us earn His gifts as our reward. He wants us to enjoy in this world, yet within limits, so that pleasure seeking won’t overtake our main purpose in life – read on.

Count With Us

We Jews learn that our indivisible G^d (1) created a dualistic (2) and unfinished (Evil-containing) Universe. It is perfect in that we are well-equipped to end Evil. We are all invited to live inside time, space and duality and partner with our transcendental G^d to bring this world to completion – clearly not because G^d needs the help. For our own good.

Humans are unfinished too. We all need to perfect ourselves. Our chief job is to turn from mostly receivers into mostly givers. There is nothing wrong with small children mainly receiving. But we are not supposed to stay like that. Becoming more giving is becoming more G^dly. Humans who give are His emissaries. More than that we should give to receive, we should see giving as a superior expression of who we are.

There are no superior and inferior people. We are each one of its kind.

A bicycle trainer without resistance will not build muscle. Opposition by the Satan, a Holy Angel under full Divine command, is to help us fortify resolve against Evil. We become more meritorious by resisting passivity and Evil, challenging comfort and scorning our suffering. (But we need to remove all overall-excess distress (Evil) in the world, including our own. This includes rejecting needless postponement of healing by any drug.)

Obligation and Free Will

All religion is for our good only – He lacks nothing. People have needs, the world awaits our services, but in an emergency, G^d can wait. G^d wants submission to come from our Volition. Thus, enforcing faith is bad. Our religious life should be so appealing that other will just join us.

Free Will does not imply anything ‘uncaused.’ It rather means that we all have the Freedom to make us: acknowledge what we did and who we are, regret what we did if there was Evil in it (and express regrets, try to undo it and pay compensation), and work towards rejecting options that increase Evil. This way, we improve our track record and our stance. Free Will is to liberate us from who we were supposed to be. The opposite is not to ‘choose Evil’ but rather to be passive in the face of Evil, go with the flow.

Making an effort for improvement enlarges our creditable, which only is achievable in the here and now, making it superior to the Future World.

The Future World

G^d wants our rewards to be eternal. For this, He assured us ending human death. This is the meaning of Revival of the dead and the World to come. Human death is the greatest Evil and we must stop it as much as possible. This includes fighting illness, aging, hate, murder and war.

Everyone want to live in a world with constant closeness and learning and without hatred, shortage, suffering and death. Let’s work for that.

These were general Principles for life in general for the general public. Applying these Principles to get to specific rules for individuals in certain situations is harder. Not because the Principles are so complicated but because we are biased about our own lives and because different Principles often interfere with each other. We often ask others what to do.

Don’t blame other Jews for the above. While at the moment, this is my best way to state this, other Jews each would say it differently.

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. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 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, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * 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 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. * 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