If all people were nice, the answer would be a simple no
We should check many principles and ideas to see if they’re relevant here.
- ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’
It sounds nice, but it’s untrue. It’s a false pretense. Words often hurt.
When we feel attacked, it may ‘make sense’ to hit back. Until you realize what we’re doing together.
- ‘Insulting Jews is no private matter.’
You can’t tell G^d to stay out of it when people hurt others. You can’t expect the King not to care about His children, all humans.
- ‘Insulting Jews equals insulting G^d.’
What is worse, it’s no private matter if you feel insulted as a Jew. Jews are G^d’s business card. Insulting Jews in general equals insulting G^d.
Now, G^d is a Big Guy Who can take it. But the issue why G^d won’t allow for insults of Him is not a fragile Ego, Heaven forbid, but because it is bad for humanity to do away with respect for G^d. The whole of Jewish Law comes not to please G^d, as some kind of a disgruntled idol that needs to be pacified. G^d is already happy and loving, and much more protective than scary; it comes to give humanity, long-term, the best life possible.
Sounds great. However, this bedrock of Christian thought proved unworkable—with exceptions confirming that conclusion. You can’t put a superhuman obligation on most people. While Jewish Law forbids taking revenge even in the slightest way, for freshly hurt victims, there is some leniency for hurting the other back. Worse, being pacifists does not work with people who want you dead. They won’t suddenly start loving you.
I personally have turned around violent aggressors with some empathy and other psychological tricks (and came away unscreched). However, I had quite some luck, and this cannot be expected from the average Joe.
- ‘Don’t fight with bullies.’ ‘Deterrence might help.’
When dealing with a bully or bigot, it might pay to have others greater in numbers or power deal with them. Have the authorities threaten them.
We should never lower ourselves to those who persecute us.
This Catholic idea to keep your calm is generally a good idea.
- ‘Focus on the bystanders, not the bad ones.’
Whatever we do or say to bigots should primarily be intended to win over the bystanders, not those full of hatred.
- ‘Don’t kick a man when he’s already down.’
Even if the guy’s despicable, don’t act in a way that makes you seem bad.
- ‘Jewish morality must be higher than Gentile morality.’ ● ‘Insulting G^d’s Name is the greatest sin.’
You could say, ‘I don’t care what Gentiles think of Jews. They think badly of us anyway. I’ll show them. They beat us enough. Now, we’re hitting back.’
However, a Jew’s action is no private matter. Jews are G^d’s business card. A Jew looking bad makes G^d look bad—the worst sin.
Jews mustn’t act in ways that make them look bad in the eyes of Gentiles.
- ‘It’s better to be a villain’s victim than a villain.’
It was very unfortunate how much murder and mistreatment we suffered from people who hated us, but we’re still lucky that we did nothing wrong.
- ‘Fight back to build pride.’
Being meek is a Jewish value. Yet, a lack of pride is not. Kahane was right when he condemned our lack of pride, as it desecrates G^d’s Name too.
Yet, there are better ways to build pride than to get even with those who hate us. Learn how great G^d’s expectations are of Jews. Noblesse oblige.
***
Conclusions
No, it is not good to humiliate jailed Barghouti. It lowers our standing. It also gives him renewed fame and a relaunch of his case around the world.
No, it’s not good to be blatant about our rights to the Temple Mount. It’s no use to show our strength if that doesn’t deter, but rather infuriates.
No, we should not declare to bury the Two-State Solution. The idea has been dead for years after we gave them Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza. There are no more viable options. Fools can lament that a Palestinian State and Father Christmas must become realities. Let them. But by promoting to stop it, we create an illusion as if it were possible if we’d let them. When Palestinians could live in peace along a Jewish State, they can live in peace within a Jewish State, as millions of Muslims and Druze prove every day. When Palestinians can’t live in peace along a Jewish State, they can’t have an independent State, as 20 years of an Independent Gaza Strip showed.
But we don’t need to behave like the world’s greatest idiots. When ‘self-restraint’ takes away our respectability, showing some backbone might be in order not to hurt G^d’s Name. Israel may block the entry of people who spoke out as anti-Zionists. Countries that advocated for a Palestinian State now might lose their Israeli embassies and consulates. When leaders falsely accuse us of war crimes, it might be opportune to address their true war crimes, like standing by idly when Syria attacked the Druze recently.
You may find more controversial writings on Amazon or my own blog.
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
