Truth and lies

Far too often Israel and its many supporters believe that when we hear insidious lies being told in the media that we don’t have to say anything. We think, no reasonable person would believe such lies, so we say nothing. I often think this way but recently I have come to realize that this is simply not the case, no matter how much I wish it to be. If these lies are not confronted many people will believe them. It is for this reason that we must all engage in this battleground for the mind.

My friends I do not wish to bombard you with information about the Arab-Israeli conflict but I also feel compelled to speak out and fight the lies I too often hear directed at the only Jewish state and at my people so I say this: I am a Jew, a member of an ancient, noble race who for 1000’s of years has sought to improve the human condition. In 1948 after 2000 years of exile we reestablished our state in our historic homeland and ever since have fought to keep that dream alive. Israel is far from perfect. However, Israel is a pluralistic democracy where 6.5 M Jews, 1.5 M Arabs and ½ M Christian, Druze, Baha’i, etc. live in relative peace and prosperity. It is surrounded by despotic regimes that have no tolerance for any ideas outside of their own extremely narrow Islamist worldview and it is fighting for its life.

I can tolerate criticisms of Israeli policy. I too disagree with many of its governments policies – I do not think everyone who raises such concerns is an anti-Semite. However, when anti-Israel protests across the globe turn into firebombing synagogues, telling Jews to go to the gas chambers, stabbing and pepper spraying random Jewish people, and terrorizing entire communities, I am forced to conclude that current Israeli actions are revealing anti-Semitism not causing it.  

After WWII many people asked the question ‘how could the Jews have just let the Nazi’s line them up and march them into the gas chambers?’ Post WWII when Israel takes action in a defensive war against a terrorist organization that does not recognize its right to exist somehow it is doing so without restraint. In answer I have this to say. With the creation of the state of Israel the Jewish people decided that we would never again be victims. That we would defend ourselves by the same moral code that any ethical democratic society would apply to itself, but we would never go back into those gas chambers again.

Therefore I ask you my intelligent, thoughtful friends if you are confronted with such ideas do not remain silent – speak out against them so that one day we can fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah when he said “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” 

One life

He remained annoyed with himself until he realized that not knowing what he wanted was actually quite natural. We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come…There was no means of testing which decision was better, because there is no basis for comparison. We live everything as it comes, without warning, like an actor going on cold. And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself? That is why life is always a sketch. No, “sketch” is not quite the word, because sketch is an outline of something, the groundwork for a picture, whereas the sketch that is our life is a sketch for nothing, an outline with no picture. – ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’, Milan Kundera

Unhistoric acts

"The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs." – George Eliot, “Middlemarch”

In wake of the the events of this week, we were all reminded not just of the evil that lurks just below the surface of humanity, but also the good that is present each and everyday. We are reminded not just of the horror that people can so easily and thoughtlessly create, but of the great goodness that groups can show in the face of said horror. While as a society we often focus on 'great' people like presidents, explorers, actors, actresses, etc we forget that it is ordinary people living good, decent lives everyday that form the strength of humanity's greatness and define us as true beings made in the image of our creator. This has been a sad, sad week and I mourn for the city that I called my home for a time, but I also rejoice in the true goodness that I saw in the face of such senseless violent and destruction.

Under the Banner of Heaven

Just finished reading "Under the Banner of Heaven" it is an amazing book, about fundamentalist faiths in general and the Mormon faith in particular. It is a fascinating exploration of the mindset of religiously inclined people and what drives them, I loved this passage in particular.

In the view of psychiatrists and psycholinguistics, any individual who proclaims to be a prophet, or a guru- who claims to communicate with God- is, almost by default, mentally or emotionally unbalanced to some degree*

*of course, many have argued that psychiatry is itself is simply a variety of secular faith - religion for the nonreligious.

On moral ambiguity and patriotism

This weekend an American patriot died, the man, Chris Kyle, was perhaps the most dangerous man in the world, a USMC Seal, he served with distinction and honor. I was deeply saddened when I heard the news that he was shot and killed, and while the details are still coming I was even more disturbed by the reaction of many which boiled down to “those who live by the sword die by the sword”, some seem to think that somehow he deserved to be killed in the same violent fashion that he caused so many others to experience.

 He never sought to glorify his work but he understood its place. He understood the worlds of Thomas Jefferson who said: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants” and those of Col. Jeesup in “A Few Good Men” who said ”we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You?...I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives…”

Today I mourn the loss of a true patriot and a man who put himself in harm’s way so that I may live in freedom. Baruch dayan ha’emet

It was my duty to shoot the enemy, and I don’t regret it. My regrets are for the people I couldn’t save: Marines, soldiers, buddies. I’m not naïve, and I don’t romanticize war. The worst moments of my life have come as a SEAL. But I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job. – Chris Kyle

General Wisdom

“…according to the measure of what a person lacks in general wisdom, he will lack a hundredfold when it comes to Torah wisdom, because the Torah and general wisdom are closely linked together.” Rabbi Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kremer (The Vilna Gaon) as quoted by Rav Baruch of Shklov is his book “A Hebrew Translation of Euclid”

In Peaces

One who takes leave from his friend should not say “go in peace” (lech BE-shalom), but “Go to peace” (lech LE-shalom). Jethro told Moses, “Go to peace” – Moses went and succeeded in his mission. David told his son Absalom, “Go in peace” – Absalom went and was hanged. When taking leave of the deceased, however, one should say “Go in peace” The Talmud, Berachot 64a

Why do we use one for the dead and one of the living? For those still living we say” go to peace” the implication being that it will not be easy, that while alive we must always be wary and actively seek peace with the understanding that the way may not always be clear and we will often fail. While in death the physical hardships of life are over and while the soul can continue to grow, its path is not encumbered by material hardships, therefore “go in peace” your physical labor is done, now go peacefully on your way.