Learn from past successes, but modify them to make them fit the present.
‘Law-abiding’ sounds so proper, peaceful. But what to think of that when the law is on the side of evil? Then, not breaking the law is wicked!
Evil-supporting laws have different sources. First of all, they can have been made by people whose ideas were more wicked than the ones of most others. Apartheid South Africa, Nazi Germany, you get the picture.
Beware of dictators condemning impoverished demonstrators as divisive and disrupting the peace! (Or chauvinist men who trash angry women by saying: They’re so nasty. If you’d listen, they’ll become more mellow.)
But then, there is unjust law that comes from a dark past. When ethical awareness increases, our laws normally don’t precede that. Better laws must be propagated, demonstrated for, and always lag behind. Think of how we now know that Freedom of Speech cannot justify hate speech.
Now, what to do when the law protects evil and changing it shortly isn’t in the cards? A new book, “Gangsters vs. Nazis; How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in Wartime America,” tells of one such successful intervention.
In the 1930s, mostly German citizens in the US who hadn’t yet received US citizenship tried to start a vibrant Nazi Party in the US. Free Speech, and Freedom of assembly, as American as apple pie. What will happen next?
A Jewish US-Law senior sitting judge secretly asked Jewish mobsters from around the country to beat the hell out of these fascists. One condition: don’t kill. The police, bought by the gangsters, looked the other way.
This was more than just a few unpleasant but toothless antisemites. There were 100 such groups, intending to persuade the US not to interfere with Germany’s expansive, belligerent actions. But, they didn’t bill this as pro-German but as American, to Make Amerika Great. They assumed Jews were soft and would be afraid to fight back. Hitler was plotting to take over Hollywood to spread Nazi propaganda nationally and globally.
***
Differences in details with today make one wonder what lessons to take.
Everything then was black and white. No shades of gray. At first, all anti-Nazi operatives were Jews, except for the police. Almost all the Nazis were German. That doesn’t exist today. The greatest US dog whisperer of White supremacists is American; his grandfather forwent his German nationality. He even has a Jewish son-in-law, a daughter who properly converted, Jewish grandchildren, and officially supports Israel. But, he speaks from both sides of his mouth. He opined that some of the demonstrating Neo-Nazis shouting “Jews will not replace us” were good people and that the White supremacists, the Proud Boys, should stand down and stand by. He denied he was pro-Russian but for Making America Great Again. Wow. He took over the Internet with fake news and conspiracy theories, and labeled the Free Press the enemy of the People, thus winning the information war.
Today, it would be impossible to keep an anti-fascist pact a secret.
Presently, there are hate laws, though not enough and under attack.
The assault today is on Jews but not only on them; it’s increasingly also on women, LGBTQ, and Asians, and on anyone who’s not bullet-proof.
I’m not for violence, but neither for passivity. Just like only marches in the 1960s ended racist law, now, only new marches will bring protective law.
The success of the 1960s shows that new anti-bigotry marches must be peaceful. The whole world is watching. Will the People rise, or continue its consumption of the entertainment and fitness industry, helped by legal and prescription drugs and a free press promoting fatalism and doom?
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
