The Blogs: The Clock is Ticking Part III

Do you ever drive past a car accident and slow down to take a look? You stretch your neck to get a better view and it feels like everything is moving in slow motion? That is my life here on Substack.

Let me explain. Last week I wrote about some of the back and forth I am having from responses to posts I make. It is a great lesson into the window of history as well as the psychology of hatred. I can’t blame it all on the social media idiot-sphere. I would venture to say quite a bit of it is the result of poor education. I used to think it was strictly public school alone which contributed to the growing number of ignoramuses, but I am now convinced private schools have kicked open the door and gotten into the business of creating humans who either cannot or will not engage in critical thinking. I also don’t think it is a new phenomenon of this internet generation, I just think it’s a testament to the power of hatred. Today, more people have access to far more information than ever before and yet it very well could be we are experiencing the most illiterate, ignorant generation since cave men.

I remember someone once quoting the great Jewish thinker and commentator, Ovadiah ben Jacov Sforno, who lived during 15th and 16th century Italy and I am paraphrasing here, “Man’s desires overcome his common sense when there is no fear of G-d in a place.” Social media and the internet is the actual home base for people who have no fear of G-d. People get awful brave when they are not standing in front of you and have the protection of their mom’s basement and a keyboard. It is under these conditions that I have learned a lesson my ancestors repeated to me and all of us since we left our slavery in Egypt and became a people. We will be a nation that dwells alone. History has proven this statement prophetic. Eighty years ago they were burning us alive in ovens. Today they do the same. Eighty years ago children were being executed in front of their parents, today they do the same. Eighty years ago parents were being pulled from the children, today they do the same. What is old is new again and it all targets the same people. The Jews.

Consider for a moment the efforts we have made to run away from this moniker. We were told in Europe we needed to be more like the people we were living with so we abandoned Torah with the stated goal of “fitting in” with our neighbors and giving up our archaic symbols and old fashioned ideas. Houses of prayer became expensive imitations of other religions so we can be more like them. We declared various cities in Europe over the centuries the “New Jerusalem” with some Jews abandoning the actual holy city altogether in favor of the one they designated. They told us we would be loved if only we kicked away our stiff-necked ways. With time we ingrained ourselves into the fabric of the societies we lived in so much so, we married those who were not our own and discarded any last hint of being Jewish all because we wanted them to love us. So loved and accepted were we that on September 15, 1935 our host celebrated our assimilation with special laws for us.

We were no longer allowed to marry non-Jews.

We could not have sexual contact with non-Jews.

We could not hire any non-Jews to work for us.

We could not hang the flag of the host country but could wear a special yellow star made specifically for us.

In what might be eerily familiar today, on April 21, 1933 the nazis outlawed Shechita (kosher ritual slaughter) but did so under the guise of “preventing cruelty to animals.” You will recognize the playbook if you can think on your own. Dress up your hatred in common-good language and you can convince the non-thinkers of most anything. Today it is dressed up as starvation, apartheid, and genocide. The righteous have taken up the cause of Jew-hatred not because they hate Jews. Don’t even think of it. Today it’s because they stand on the virtue signaling moral high ground against colonialist oppression and the zionist regime.

“I appreciate what you’re saying and how passionate you are. If you can please send me your time stamped commentary on the death of 500,000 people Syria under Assad, or the war in Ukraine, or what Boko Haram is doing, or how about the famine in Sudan. Any one will do.”

I have yet to see one of them. We all know it is has nothing to do with any of those things. No one actually cares. But get a Jew who fights back and now we have an uproar. What our accusers don’t know is this is not new for us. They are not new. But our past has taught us it won’t be getting better any time soon. Woven into the fabric of western culture is now the evil word zionist. It will be decades before that word is reversed. However, I suggest it will have a pejorative next to it in Websters Dictionary before the word is rehabilitated. A race to the bottom so to speak. Until then prepare yourself. The onslaught is just beginning. Man’s desires has overtaken his common sense because there is no longer fear of G-d in those places. That is why Maine has a new Nazi Senatorial candidate. Why New Jersey has a Jew hater representing them. It’s also why the people behind removing G-d from the daily parlance of the west, are the ones siding with His enemies.

When history records this moment in time, Jewry all around the world will have to be held to account. The “leadership” of diaspora Jewry has been a colossal failure. I have my own very deep issues with the self proclaim “leaders of the Torah world” but at least they retained the essence of what it means to be a Jew. Those who ran away and caused our people to run away will have to answer for their actions. We celebrated assimilation until we realized we were lending a hand to the nazis in the destruction of our people. Truth is, some have yet to figure that out or refuse to come to terms with it so therefore they simply change definitions to accommodate their misguided doctrines. The chickens are coming home to roost and it seemingly will only get worse, not better. What are we doing to combat it? How can we expect our people to know what they are about if their leadership doesn’t? When “Rabbis” who have replaced Torah values for progressive values can’t articulate why Israel is of utmost importance to our people, we have a leadership problem. When “Rabbis” fail to take responsibility for what they have done and instead blame leadership in Israel, we have a problem. When “Rabbis” can’t take a stand against an openly Jew-hating mayor, we have a leadership problem. When “Rabbis” endorse candidates who work against our people, we have a problem. When “Rabbis” openly speak out against the people and the land of Israel, we have a problem. When 500 of our “Jewish leadership” criticize the Israeli Ambassador for calling J-Street anti-Israel, we have a problem. When Jewish leadership cares more about the Ukraine than the Jewish people we have a problem. When Jewish leadership fails to call out those who belittle and disparage us in the name of ecumenical cooperation, we have a problem. When Jewish leadership honors and endorses to those who pretend to stand up for our people, but don’t, we have a problem.

And we will all have to answer for that.

“Therefore it is no longer His will but only your pleasure that shapes your way of life.” (Hirsch: Adar IV)

You can find more on this here: https://haroldkatz1.substack.com/p/the-clock-is-ticking-part-1 and https://haroldkatz1.substack.com/p/the-clock-is-ticking-part-ii

While I have my own issues with the Jews who came back to Israel to create the state, when looked at through the prism of Jewish history, there is no doubt they have done so in the name of Heaven whether they chose to be a part of it or not. Man has no idea of the workings of Heaven or who G-d chooses to do His work. Indeed, there were many enlightened Jews who tried to create the new Jew here. They wanted to take Judaism away from the Jew and thought it was the framework with which the world would again finally love us. We would be a sovereign independent state no different than any other. They will finally love us. That was all well and good until the world reminded us that in their eyes we were still and always will be Jews. Say whatever you want about that generation and the one that followed, but those Jews came here and built something not seen in the annals of history. Israel is a miracle of biblical proportions. A testament to not only resilience, but ingenuity, creativity and perseverance. More than anything else, however, it is proof that the promises G-d makes to His people are true. Yes, there has been and will continue to be failures. Such is life. But they dared to be here, to answer the call of their souls to return home. They had no idea why, but they came anyway. Some may not like what they wanted to create, but the benefits of being in our own land far outweigh the very heavy price we have paid and we are the beneficiaries of that sacrifice.

The Jewish people are blessed to be living in this place at this time. Generations of Jews over the past 2000 years yearned for the privileges we have now. Had you told my great-grandfather I would be living here with half of world Jewry he would ask me what the temple looks like. What was Messiah’s name? What a great miracle we are witnessing. But it is time to stand up and be counted. There is no lack of Jew-hatred in the world today. Make no mistake about this. We are the reason it exists. We forgot what it was like to be a Jew. To stand tall and proud like a Jew in the world was commanded to do. We forgot what it was like before we became Hollywood personalities. We forgot what it was like to stand for something. We forgot what it was like to be standing against the tide because it was the right thing to do. We forgot what it was like to be the moral conscience of the world. We forget what it was like to stand in the front instead of the back, to lead and not follow. Israel is reminding us of who we used to be. As I have written here before, Israel also had forgotten who we were. But we are not the same as we were three years ago and our enemies pounce on every opportunity to smear and libel us. I’m done caring about what others have to say. Come and get it reprobates.

There is a report of President Trump telling Bibi this week we, Israel, will be standing alone if he doesn’t do what Trump wants. In turn it was reported in Israel over the last day and a half that Bibi told his cabinet and our people that in fact we may have to be prepared for that circumstance. Whether it is electioneering or otherwise, I do not care. All I thought when I heard it was it’s about time. I am fairly certain the majority of Israelis, while concerned, felt the same. If they want us to go at it alone, so be it. We know Who is fighting with us. Again, not my words, His. If that makes Jews uncomfortable, too bad. Get over your embarassment. We have done it your way and look around you. No more apologizing for being a Jew. No more apologizing because the world doesn’t like us. That’s a they problem not an us problem. No more apologizing because Jews all over the world say “Thank G-d” or “G-d willing” when they speak. No more apologizing for defending our people and our land. When Jews fight like Jews are supposed to, we have nothing to be ashamed of.

We do not know the ways of Heaven, but something is definitely different now. Full blown miracles are on display every single day. The war with Hezbollah is different than before. Its blabbermouth is buried under rubble never to be heard from again and so is his short lived successor. The evil cabal of Hamas has been destroyed, their mouths never uttering another word. Best part is in the moment right before they left this world, they all knew they were killed at the hands of the Jews who chose to fight like Jews. Iran does not know this yet, but its days are numbered as well. Whether it is ten year or ten days, the bell tolls for them. “For the L-RD your G-d is He that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”(Deuteronomy 20:4)

It is time to be counted my people. Stand up and be proud. Enough apologizing for being who we are. Our haters are gonna hate and it will get noisy.

I couldn’t care any less.