When she was finally able to return to her beautiful house, she found it abandoned except for a squatter living there. He stayed in one corner of her once marvelous mansion and had neglected the rest.
It had been a long time but she had never given up on returning to the house of her childhood.
She moved in, tried to make herself comfortable but he immediately started to harass her. I live her — get out.
She didn’t want to make a fuss. Maybe we can both live here?
He didn’t want to know of it and she had to barricade herself in her own home.
When her family started to visit and wanted to return too, his opposition became louder and more violent. It wasn’t always easy.
Now the deserted house was becoming more attractive, his distant family members moved in too. What a nice place!
Why don’t you expel them? Well, they need to live somewhere and the house is big enough for all of us, she said.
But, in the end, there was no choice. They split the house. He got more than 70%. Fine, he said. I have mighty friends. We’ll finally kick you out.
It was a bloody mess but when the smoke cleared, miraculously, she was left with even one room more than before.
She continued to develop the house and it was a marvelous sight. People came from all over to admire the result.
In the squatted part, meanwhile, the neglect continued. They spend all their energy and money on getting the whole house. All or nothing gave them nothing, time after time, but they didn’t seem to learn.
In the meantime, they lived in misery and poverty but they had one consolation. Who wouldn’t feel for them? And soon they would “repossess” the whole thing…
Of course, the problem was not that she lived there with her family. It was her house. The problem was also not that he lived there. The house was big enough. Only their jealousy, anger and hatred for her made for an ongoing conflict.
Her friends gave him large sums of money. I deserve it, as her victim, he declared and demanded more and more. He didn’t distribute the money among all of his family. In his eyes they were freeloaders. It was his.
She tried to appease them by giving them some access to the room last recaptured. But they wanted the whole room. That was the problem. Frankly, they wanted the whole house. The situation was impossible.
Then her friends offered to pump enormous amounts of money as logical incentives into the pockets of those living in the neglected part. He reacted with disgust. We are going to give up on our room, our house and our hatred because of money? That’s bribery, he exclaimed.
She wondered why the thieves would get bonuses and she would get nothing for all stolen from her and as compensation for all the hostilities forced on her. But he rejected the plan anyway, so she let it.
She, however, had done more than making her people flourish. She had grown to understand that you can’t appease people who lie and hate, to love and accept you. She disliked it but the truth was that you could only corner them into being good neighbors. Appeasement just fed their disdain.
And that’s what then happened. She, together with many outsiders, forced them and his mighty friends, to learn to love and respect her.
They quickly discovered what a lovely lady she had been all along. And they happily lived together ever after. Respect had finally become mutual.
She called her house Israel; he called his section Jordan. They had separate entrances and lived as good neighbors should. With prosperity and tranquility for all. The dark past was quickly forgotten. Goodness had triumphed.
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