It must be stressed, before anything else, that almost all followers of almost all religions use their perception of religious morality to move themselves, others, their communities, and the whole world to more-ethical behavior. Any eye-catching trouble is mainly caused by small minorities. Especially, when we compare the numbers to hate groups.
However, it should be an important goal of all religious communities to control and stop violent exceptions by lone wolves in their congregations.
This is especially important when the temperature and emotions in young people flare-up. What starts as a fight against boredom can turn deadly.
Although many monotheistic religions could show more love and humility toward Jews, now, I want to focus not on that or large chronic problems of centuries but on less fundamental hitches, things that are less important than the injunction to arrogance or murder, that cause much harm.
But before listing three of them, let me stress that Islam and Christianity have done such an excellent job telling the whole world that there is one G^d, that Redemption is coming, led by a Redeemer, that the terrestrial and the extra-terrestrial are from the same Maker (and therefore answer to the same laws and are made of the same stuff), and that all people have one Heavenly Father Who loves us all. This was our task but you did most of it. We only need to cross a few Ts and dot a few Is. As for instance in:
Desecration of G^d’s Name
Jews learn that we must be most careful not to do anything that makes Jews look bad and as a result, diminishes any respect for G^d.
We learn that, even when we did nothing wrong, we still sinned big-time, when others see our (in)action and, as a result, like Jews or G^d less.
I want Muslims and Christians to learn this too. You could see certain things as great. But, you should not act like that if that would make people outside of your religion think less of you or G^d. Even if they are (in your view) wrong or ignorant.
I would like to make it even a positive commandment. That one should behave in such a way that it makes others respect you and G^d for it.
This latter point is important since the way making proselytes works today is: by making a good impression.
We Are All Responsible for Each Other
We Jews can’t just wash our hands of anything another Jew does. We are responsible to stop him, if we can, from doing evil.
Although Jewish collectivity goes very deep, I would like other religious groups to adopt this principle too. Silence is complicity.
When a coreligionist does something hurtful to others, we often can understand him. However, we cannot approve of it. We must speak out and condemn such behavior. That is not a betrayal of our fellow. Rather, it is a correction from which all of our congregation will profit.
Think in People, Not in Groups
Judaism doesn’t know collective guilt. Any innocent person is … innocent.
I want all Monotheists to treat well every person they meet. Not to find favor with that person but to find favor with their Heavenly Father. How can we hope to please Him when we trash His children?
I want everyone to go even further. When someone belongs to a group that is systematically discriminated against, I want us all to treat its members even better than average. This is clearly what G^d wants.
How do I know? Because the best under us think and act so.
Good Luck!
Presently, Muslims celebrate Ramadan. That doesn’t just mean restricting eating and drinking and intensifying prayer. It also means, examining your deeds and be milder, friendlier, more patient, less angry, etc.
For the Muslim readers: Ramadan kareem! (Happy Ramadan!)
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
