Boy walks with his father at the Jewish graveyard. They’re reading the tombstones. After some time the boy asks: Daddy, do thieves never die?
One does not want to affirm oppressive stereotypes. One should write against the forces of bigotry and repression. But what to do with not so nice but oppressed people? Here a dozen examples.
Do poor people never steal — not to save themselves from poverty but just because they don’t care about honesty? Should this be reported or should be added that he grew up poor as mitigating circumstance?
Are women never abusive? And when they are, do we hide that? We certainly do not want to equate violence in relationships between men and women. For starters, some male abusers kill; from women, that’s extremely rare. But to write about regularly violent women?
There were crazed African dictators who slaughtered people like flies. Never as many as Stalin or Pol Pot, but still, do we hide that?
Were there no Jewish collaborators with the Nazis? There were ( — her Jewish part was published in the left-wing intellectual de Volkskrant but her lesbian side was not reported anywhere in the Netherlands). Hardly any, but there were. (The ones normally called collaborators were trying to make things the least bad possible, but some did not!)
Are secular educated people always polite? No, not always (the jeers show how superior she feels in comparison to these primitive idiots).
The main teacher of Trump, who taught him to be a bully and liar, how to get away with anything, was gay and Jewish. He helped the US crusade against “Communists” (McCarthyism) and get the innocent Rosenbergs executed. Should his identities be ignored or presented as justification like: most gay Jews are bullied into docility and such a diametric exception should be excused and understood also as the product of his own oppression?
A friend once told me that she didn’t try to stop a Black friend from raping her for fear of being racist. Political correctness gone bunkers!
There is something very disheartening in how so many people are upset that some Jewish US TV personality called another non-White celebrity an ape. By being too upset about it, it is as if it’s a truth that should not be mentioned. But rather, it is ridiculous (I never heard, growing up, that non-Whites would be monkeys) and it should be treated as if she said that Blacks are dogs: it’s degrading racism but not almost true!
I’m completely shocked how many of the famous metoo# violators in US political and entertainment circles and clergy turn out to be Jewish. This especially because Judaism has such a healthy attitude towards sexuality. (The percentage of Jews who violate is tiny but the percentage of the general population seems way above average.)
Michelle Wolf is right though, when she states that a true feminist is not obligated to applaud everything any woman ever does.
I googled “pyramid scheme,” and the greatest schemer of all times, a Jew, was not featured. It seems that the stereotype that Jews are thieves is enough debunked in the US at least, that the connection is not automatically made. He was a crook, but it had nothing to do with him being Jewish. Even the English Wikipedia article about his fraud only mentions Jews when is described how he used his Jewishness to win the trust of other Jews – to rip them off.
And maybe this is the solution. Violations of law and decency should be reported about everyone by the free press. Their oppressed status should be mentioned parenthetically and not be made a big deal about – not in the accusatory sense and not in the excusatory sense.
My conclusions about mentioning the oppressed status of perpetrators:
- Censuring it out is dishonest and reprehensible.
- Stressing it is oppressive – when it’s oppressively mentioned.
- Stating it in passing is just fine.
- To excuse it, except for lightly, is too accusatory too.
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
