Jews Against Jews
Opposition to Jews by Jews is an old story. Jewish history is filled with examples of Jews who turned against their own people, often with consequences far graver than they imagined.
Today, that resistance often comes wrapped in Jewish-sounding names such as J Street, Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and B’Tselem, organizations that spend far more time criticizing the Jewish state than defending it, because Israel’s worldview stands in stark contrast to their “woke” ideology.
They frequently invoke the concept of Tikkun Olam, a term they have detached from its traditional Jewish meaning and recast into a vague universalism. In doing so, they attempt to sanitize Judaism of its particularistic foundations and transform it into a feel-good creed designed to win the approval of those who neither understand nor respect its heritage. They seek acceptance from people who dislike them not only because they are Jews, but because they are Jews unwilling to stand unapologetically for their own identity. Toning down or hiding one’s identity out of a desire to appease others never brings acceptance, only derision.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon has found political expression within segments of the Democratic Party, where figures such as Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib have brought anti-Israel rhetoric into the mainstream. Not long ago, such views occupied the party’s fringe. Today, they exert a far greater influence over their direction and priorities.
Yet this story is not new. Jewish history is replete with examples of those who traded identity for acceptance and conviction for comfort. According to Jewish tradition, only a minority of the Israelite slaves in Egypt chose to follow Moses into the unknown and pursue freedom in the Promised Land. The majority preferred the perceived security of what they knew. In the end, they gained neither security nor freedom and they and their Jewish offspring passed into obscurity.
The lesson remains relevant today. People who surrender their heritage leave their descendants not a legacy of faith, identity, and continuity, but a path that ends in assimilation, anonymity, and ultimately oblivion.
