I have great respect for all streams of Christianity and of Judaism but I can’t stand fake. People who pretend to be one thing but actually are another.
This came to mind when I read the news New Judeo-Christian ‘Biblical Bloc’ to Run for Knesset. What are they all about? Let’s read their Founding document, as reported:
The Biblical bloc [sic.] protects everyone who believes in the Bible and opposes the ethnic cleansing of Jews and Christians from the Land of Israel. The Biblical bloc represents parties all over the world who espouse Judeo-Christian, democratic Western culture.
How many abominations are contained in these two sentences!
The first 10 words made me frown so much that I couldn’t read my computer screen anymore. This is not an impromptu sentence said in a drunk moment. These are the opening words of a Founding statement, for crying-out-loud. That should hold up to close reading!
First of all, even if the Bible Blok will get 20 seats in the Knesset – Heaven forbid! — it will not protect anyone. For that, we have the police and the army — not Members of Knesset.
Worse is that it is absolutely wrong and undemocratic and illegal in Israel to give preferential treatment to people who “believe in the Bible.” All Israeli citizens and permanent residents and even illegal immigrants have a right to equal protection regardless of their beliefs.
That the party registrar found a new party with such undemocratic ideas fit to participate in Israeli elections, I consider a serious mistake to be corrected. If they would have done their work properly, they would have saved us a big mess. There is no way in Hell that such a party would actually take part in elections here. Pleas to have laws that favor people who like Western culture are (per definition) 100% racist. That is not how we do things in Israel. European and US racists often like Israel for being a friend against Muslims but Israel is not!
By the way, they step over the differences between Christian Bibles and the Hebrew one. And they try to exclude Muslims, although Islam subscribes to much of the Jewish Bible. And because Islam rejects the Trinity and gives preference to action over belief, it stands closer to Judaism than classical Christianity. Theirs is just a classical Christian anti-Muslim stand, unbecoming of Jews – and modern Christians.
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The middle part opposes “the ethnic cleansing of Jews and Christians from the Land of Israel.” It implies that the removal of Muslims and Atheists is fine or even wanted. Hatred disguised as positive ideas!
This is not surprising from someone who supposedly has said that the “final battle is between Judeo-Christians and the Muslims” – a fundamentalist Christian obsession with negative prophecy, while the rabbis teach clearly that negative prophecy doesn’t need to materialize – because we can hope for repentance – which is one of the main messages and goals of the Prophets (another is: don’t lose hope).
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It closes off proclaiming that it “represents parties all over the world who espouse Judeo-Christian, democratic Western culture.” Of course, it does not, in three ways. It can only represent Israeli voters and no one else. Just above, I already explained how undemocratic they are. And there has never been a Judeo-Christian culture.
The false moral equivalence between Judaism and Christianity is in fact a sign of Christian disobedience because it equalizes which is not equal. Jews need to be a Light unto the Nations and Gentiles should listen to us and learn from us – if we do our job well.
That last point is my greatest annoyance. Nothing wrong with Christians who stand for being Christian. They have an important voice. But let them not pretend to be sort-of Jewish too. We are the Jews and we like to speak with our own voice. And Jews who pretend to follow and support Judeo-Christianity really do neither religion.
In the community of Israeli Conservative Judaism are knowledgeable people. I surely hope that they will reject this un-Jewish initiative by a Diaspora graduate of Conservative Judaism. Israel will not gain anything from a new political party founded by people from outside of Israel whose principles are light-weight, bigoted, confused and phony.
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