The speed and innocence of Henry Kissinger, at 100

With the death of Henry Kissinger, I have two things to relate.

A Charming Story

Many decades ago, I learned to type with a special keyboard developed in the Netherlands, the Velotype. This machine, with its few keys, could help you not to type letters but whole syllables at once, and enabled you to type thrice as fast as with the standard Qwerty keyboard. (In the end, it didn’t help me as my thinking wasn’t fast enough to put this speed to use.)

I was told that the Dutch TV news used it to subtitle non-Dutch clips. While a life interview or a just obtained videotape was broadcasted, away from miles, a translator would speak a translation in Dutch, and a velotypist would type in the text. Life-typed translations are still done there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they still used that winning formula.

They told me that Henry Kissinger was the fastest speaker in the world. No stenographer could keep up with him. Even if they could, the abbreviations first had to be expanded to fully typed English before it could be read.

Once, Kissinger spoke in the Netherlands, and a velotypist was hired to eternalize his words. After his speech, he walked up to him and asked: Would you like what you said in writing? He answered: Sure; my secretary will tell you where to send it. No need to send it, here it is, he replied, handing him the printout. His eyes turned very large from amazement.

A Stern Reprimand

A most respectable newscaster, who I will not name, wrote something problematic about Kissinger at his passing. It was meant as a generous compliment, no doubt. Yet, this eloquent journalist, always supporting Jews and Zionism, has blown an antisemitic dog whistle, and I want to correct his mistake. An honest mistake is still a mistake.

I don’t always agree with this top reporter, but I have great respect for him and his zeal, and I’m sure he has benefitted us all tremendously. I’m a nobody compared to him, and I won’t contradict him publicly. Besides, whodunnit is not the issue. The issue is don’t speak about Jews like that.

The esteemed author called Kissinger ‘the most powerful Jew of the previous century.’ That is incorrect and misleading!

No Diaspora Jew has power. Calling Jews powerful adds to the well-known antisemitic myth that Jews would be ruling the world or striving to do so.

Look at the interview of Jared Kushner, a millionaire and special advisor to former President Trump, and his panic. Kushner squirms like hell when the interviewer tries to get him to disagree with the leader of the Free World.

The powers-to-be keep the Jews hostage in exchange for protection, although we know that eventually, we’ll be thrown under the bus when the rulers try to clear their names by blaming us. Still, working for them gives us some more respite from another antisemitic execution. As long as the leftist mind is poisoned by antisemitism or an inability to stand up against Jew-hatred, we have nowhere to go but to the right.

Again now, the left came out labeling Kissinger a war criminal as if policy was his call. He gained much respect, but power? You’ve got to be kidding.

‘Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive Secretaries of State in modern history, … creating a power vacuum [causing] the butchering of 3 million innocent Cambodians, one of the worst genocides in the history of the world.’ That was, of course, a mass murder committed by Pol Pot and his Communist Khmer Rouge, whom the US was fighting, not by Kissinger:

‘Kissinger: a monster of monsters, … this devil, this satanic piece of crap’:

Of course, the left has no copyright on this. Chris Christie even claims when he says Kushner got ‘bribed’ with $ 2B by the Saudis to manipulate his father-in-law, ‘that’s your taxpayer money.’ Doesn’t add up, of course.

If you must name the most powerful Jew of the twenty-first century, how about Ben-Gurion? Set up and ran a new democracy while neighbors tried to finish Hitler’s work. Or Einstein, who answered to no one.

About the Author

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