My main motive to write is not to join some club but rather to say things that hardly anyone says that need to be said by someone, as here on race.
Traditionally,
Americans are obsessed with skin color.
Their non-Aryans have taken pride in the collective term Black, but lately, it doesn’t feel like home to the Natives, Chinese, and White Jews. I like better the term: Global Majority People. Different from Caucasians.
The Hebrew Bible sees races in languages/lands/nations.
It must be stressed that Judaism always was open to accepting converts from almost any land, so it taught against supremacy from Adam onward. It must be noted that White Jews have disproportionally led anti-racism.
Europa’s Nazis found race in (fake) biology and hereditary laws.
Too many Jews among one’s ancestors and one was evil beyond remedy.
Muslims define race in terms of religion.
Their extremists are placated when lesser non-Muslims convert to Islam.
What a mess.
They may each be right a little when you consider my below race concept.
An Alternative Definition of Race
When you research it, biologically, all humans alive today can reproduce with each other and so form one biological race, homo sapiens sapiens.
What’s commonly called race is actually culture. Culture has these aspects:
Specific languages and dialects,
Joint history, festivals, pride, and suffering,
Specific customs, values, and convictions,
Ways to think with special awareness, and of course
A cultural heritage (music, literature, diets, etc.).
And racism and genocide thus try to erase what’s special about a group.
When China tries to eradicate the Tibetans and the Uyghurs, they try to eliminate their cultures. To kill off people is not always the central aim in a genocide. Yes, sometimes, genocide has this biological aspect. Raping and impregnating women and forced sterilizations can be part of this aspect.
To denigrate and enslave can also be part of racism, as we saw in the American slave trade and in the camps for Uyghurs. The latter is harder to tell because all 1.3 billion citizens of China are as slaves to the state.
A present or lacking biological component of racism is often overlooked. If your four Jewish grandparents converted to Christianity, Nazi would still kill you. But, Jews telling ISIS that they want to convert to Islam might live. Genocidal rape beliefs that babies are only womb-incubated male sperm.
A present or lacking biological component of racism is often overlooked. If your four Jewish grandparents converted to Christianity, Nazi would still kill you. But, Jews telling ISIS that they want to convert to Islam might live. Genocidal rape says that babies are only womb-incubated male sperm.
So, are Jews a race? Yes, with a very distinct culture and an extensive religion at its core. Are they targeted by racism? Surely. But it’s different from other racisms, so don’t forget to call it also antisemitism. And yes, there are White, Black, Chinese, Arab Jews. Just like Lesbian women get a double portion of sexism, Black Jews get a double portion of racism.
Other oppressed groups often don’t recognize Jews as oppressed. That’s because the former often are underprivileged, and so many Jews seem overprivileged. Yet, most Jews are poor and working for a living. But, the rich ones confirm the stereotype and make you overlook the majority. But also, the ‘successful’ Jews (and Chinese) in their diaspora(s) often work harder than everyone else, not because they’re privileged but because they’re terrified, fighting for survival. And a major stereotype about Jews is that they are the oppressors, so it’s easy to blame them. Yet, they are kidnapped by the real rich to do their biddings. And, it’s White racism that portrays Israeli Jews as all-White, while most Israeli Jews have Arab roots.
Racists are right that they want to feel proud and safe. We Whites should offer them just that for this tiny price, to feel uncomfortable every second of the rest of their lives. Instead of guilty and terrified, that’s a bargain!
Your attitude? Never forget that someone is a Jew, Black, Gay, etc., and at the same time, always forget that someone is a Jew, Black, Gay, etc.
Some Blacks can pass as Whites, Jews as Gentiles, Gays as Straights. Those who can’t pass may get hit more, wishing to be invisible. Yet, those who can pass aren’t necessarily less stressed or suffering! It’s not that simple. Because when you are in hiding, you don’t practice your pride, and you may end up more vulnerable to seeing abuse of others and to self-hatred!
https://youtu.be/AhITfM4bqO8
***
Bonus comment: recommended: Woke Racism, How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America by John McWhorter, now on sale.
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. 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
