HEY JEWS

I guess I would say because in a sense they did what they set out to do: decimate the global Jewish population. Jews and Judaism exist not despite events like those, but *because* of events like those. The Jewish population is a fraction of what it once was and certainly what it might have been because of the success of those events, one of which happened really not that long ago, in the modern era, in my mother's lifetime. That leaves Jews a minority of a minority, without the voice and certainly without the numbers to reliably stand up against oppression. Which brings us, unfortunately, to Israel.

Israel only exists because of the aforementioned, because Jews were expelled, killed or otherwise ethnically cleansed throughout Europe, Russia, the Middle East, parts of Africa. So to Israel many went, and now Israel is home to a huge percentage of the Jewish population, the fallout being whatever fate befalls Israel befalls a huge number of Jews. I hate what's going on there. It makes me sick to my stomach. But I've not heard many people offer a solution that bodes well for the Jews. (What else is new, right?) A single state solution? I don't see that happening, and it would almost certainly be as bad for the Jewish population there as it has been in the surrounding region, not least after so many years of conflict. A two-state solution? Better, but what does that look like? Would Palestine be allowed all the rights of a sovereign nation? A standing army? Free trade with whomever it wants? The unfettered ability to wage war, as Israel has enjoyed? Anything less would negate the point of being a country. 

All that almost preordains further conflict with Israel, as does, needless to say, the status quo, whose opposition is louder and angrier than I have ever seen it. Which leaves the option of the Jews scattering once again, but to where? To all the places that killed or expelled them? En masse to the United States? I don't see that happening, and I don't see any of these things alleviating anti-Semitism at all. In fact, I think it would embolden it, with the Jewish population weakened even more. With history as guide, that path inevitably leads only in one direction.

Now, I'm writing this from the comfort of my home, where I feel safe and surrounded by friends and family. But I don't feel surrounded by Jews, not here, not really anywhere. And when any of us gather in relatively large numbers, I mostly feel surrounded by an overwhelmingly not-Jewish world, some of which wish us dead, but most of whom wouldn't notice if we were gone. We talk about chilling effects? I think that's what we're going to see. Judaism getting quieter and quieter, smaller and smaller, until it might as well be gone entirely. And functionally will be. 

Bummer, right? I'm not curled up in a ball or anything like that, but the weight of things has been getting to me.

my friend there are roughly the same number of Jews in the world now as there were in 1942 (~16M), if not more (upper estimates over 20M)

I appreciate the reassurance but in the same time span the world population grew by, what, almost six billion?

I'm not really concerned about the survival of Judaism right now, but the situation in Israel/Palestine feels awful and intractable to me and that is definitely causing me a lot of distress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buQ1C5RJ2Vk

I rewatch this from time to time when I feel despair

I just saw this Guardian article: 'A new documentary argues some young Jewish Americans – including the directors themselves – have been raised in a system that demands pro-Israel activism'

This is the first I've heard of this film, but they're screening it at various locations (including some virtual screenings they're trying to set up).

FWIW, that wasn't my experience, or at least it would be an exaggeration or caricature of it. I did get a fair amount of zionist propaganda, but we also had hebrew school teachers (conservative synagogue) who would question the situation and ask us to consider things like whether it was really possible for Israel to be both a Jewish state and a democracy. This was in the early 90s fwiw, so basically the Rabin years.

I watched a stream from 6th and I Synagogue in Dc tonight with a rabbi talking to a Palestinian Israeli member and a Jewish Israeli member of the Israeli based organization Standing Together that is trying to work together to create peace and more. The Palestinian Israeli member had spent time in the US during the Occupy Wall Street era and was inspired a bit by that. The group is on Instagram and Facebook (not to be confused with the newer organization 24/7IDF that's on Facebook, really)

(not to be confused with the newer organization Standing Together 24/7 IDF I mean that's on Facebook, really

https://www.thecut.com/2023/11/get-me-out-of-the-group-chat.html

Yeah I’ve had some uncomfortable interactions with local parents. Not overt, but I was pressured to go to an Israel rally (made an excuse), have had friend requests from parents I’m not really friends with that feel a little aimed at checking what I’m posting (nothing at all on FB), and I got pressed into a WhatsApp group that I wound up leaving because it was just a bunch of look what this professor said and why didn’t our mayor make a pro Israel statement. I know there are probably parents closer to my views in town too, including Jews, I’m just not sure the best way to find them.

Sorry to hear that man. Navigating social media at this time is tricky enough, but it kind of sucks when you have to deal with peer pressure like that.

FWIW, I switched my profile to a photo of John Lennon's hand flashing a peace sign - no flags or "stand with" or "pro-____" verbiage anywhere, I just wanted something that would pre-emptively show I wasn't for violence but in a way that couldn't be misinterpreted as being pro-Hamas. I may have gotten one "de-friend" after that, but otherwise since then no one's tried to tag me or do any kind of social media stuff with me related to the conflict.

A relative who was coming to DC for that Israel rally tagged me and a whole bunch more relatives in his Facebook post, and I just removed the tag.

I heard some speculation that a heavy % of the attendees were Christian zionists. IDK if that's based on anything or not.

The people I know who went are my fellow Jews fwiw

well, I don't think I know any Christian Zionists personally, so if they went I wouldn't know

My daughter went. She told me there were definitely people like that there, including a couple of speakers with some dubious backgrounds/baggage that made her uncomfortable. But she also apparently met a lot chill, reasonable people, with diverse viewpoints. Mostly Jews, as far as she could tell, though it's not like they were carrying signs. Well, I mean, a lot of them were, lol.

FWIW she considered it a march against anti-Semitism, though I did explain to her that was not the specific driver.

My co-worker's mom attended as part of a group from her Jewish retirement community in Montgomery County.

https://www.thecut.com/2023/11/get-me-out-of-the-group-chat.html

This kinda seems more to be a story far more about how algorithmic social media and phone-based text communication seems to be singularly damaging to all human interaction, I’d posit

I'm just wrestling with the fact that tons of my fellow Jews are talking quite openly about how they feel unsafe, don't feel like they can wear things that display their Jewishness, are discussing taking their mezuzot down, etc. -- and I just can't relate. Sure, there have been demonstrations against the war in Gaza in my city; that doesn't make me feel like somebody's going to beat me up coming out of shul or trash my house because there's a mezuzah on the door. There's a police officer outside our shul for services, which I do not think there should be, and I feel like the presence of the officer is reinforcing for the fear -- "things have gotten so bad we had to have security stationed outside the synagogue" -- but *did* we? Yes, I get that there have been incidents. But they are really rare! Even if less rare than before! I don't worry about my synagogue getting attacked any more than I worry about a student shooting up my kid's school.

So some part of me wants to say this publicly, because I don't think it's great for people to think all American Jews are feeling this sense of direct personal peril. But I also *don't* want to do this, because the people who are scared are people I value, respect, and like, members of my community. I just can't see myself publicly saying anything like this, when it would amount to telling thoe friends, in public, "your authentically held feelings are wrong." I mean, yes, technically, I would only be saying "I don't share those feelings." But there's no way to do that without dismissing them.

Not sure what I'm going for here, just wanted to have a place to say this.

I feel you

And, like... people ARE feeling free to spout all kinds of antisemitic shit, from Elon Musk on down, and I don't want to act like I think that's OK or not a problem -- it's just that the *kind* of problem it is isn't "I'm worried about my family's physical safety in the middle of the United States of America."

Haven't heard this much from Jews I know, besides my mom deciding to get worried that the so-called Day of Jihad would somehow pose a danger to her on BC Ferries. I wonder if people are getting any abuse for wearing a yarmulke in public, haven't heard any stories but I could imagine it happening.

I went to a work conference last week and kept getting sympathy when I talked about my background or my extremely Jewish name. It felt undeserved - there are a lot of people in the world under a lot more danger and suffering than I am.

That's for sure. At the same time, I think a lot of Jews have internalized (like a lot of minorities) a sort of latent threat can feel more or less prominent, depending on the context/trigger. I think the half-life of Trump hasn't helped.

Just went down a super dark rabbit hole of translating comments on an Instagram video of some hassidic Jews dancing (mostly in Russian - maybe from Chechnya, Dagestan, etc?). Definitely no distinction whatsoever made between Judaism and Zionism and some really horrific shit being said. I guess the likelihood of that impacting me is extremely minimal and best just to not go down the rabbit hole.

Big moment for the whole religion:

Argentina's President-Elect Javier Milei is converting to Judaism https://t.co/gMddyBbluS pic.twitter.com/yuH7Y0uZD5

— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) November 28, 2023

Is it me or does he seem actually mentally unstable?

mentally unstable like a fox.

BF Skinner taught pigeons to walk in figure-8s after an hour or so of simple positive reinforcements. It's not hard to understand that the more Milei is rewarded for his bizarre behavior the more bizarrely he'll behave. Much of Trump's behavior can be explained the same way; he's been rewarded so lavishly it's no wonder he now acts like he's a god on earth.

Haven't there been at least two GOP congresspeople falsely claiming Judaism or Jewish descent recently (Santos and I don't remember the name of the other one)? Is this some new trend on the right?

this lady? https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/anna-paulina-luna-jewish-grandfather-nazi

I think Julia Salazar pulled a similar stunt on the left (but can't remember the details)

Much of Trump's behavior can be explained the same way

I just can't bring myself to post on that toxic Israel thread, but I was inspired to post here by something that sarahell posted there:

It is unfortunate imo that a lot of younger American leftists don’t have the most solid grasp of history and I feel like they are actually ignorant of how others interpret some of their terms and slogans.

This morning I saw this WSJ (ugh) opinion piece called "From Which River to Which Sea? College students don’t know, yet they agree with the slogan."

https://archive.ph/1tn2C

Not saying it's some be-all definitive statement, or that the author isn't worse than Hitler, or that the methodology has genocidal blood on its hands, just underscores sarahell's observation.

Anyway, Happy Hannukah!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQPXGJIN8yQ

It is unfortunate imo that a lot of younger American leftists don’t have the most solid grasp of history and I feel like they are actually ignorant of how others interpret some of their terms and slogans.

unfortunate yes, as there is a lot of things about our society that are unfortunate. but it's a far worse look for adults to read malice into ignorance than it is for kids to be ignorant. if there is widespread ignorance regarding middle east politics and geography isn't that actually most unflattering for those tasked w/ education, rather than those who have failed to be educated? what have older american leftists been up to if young american leftists don't have "the most solid grasp of history" ... perhaps this is illustrative of why the american left is not generally considered a hugely successful contemporary political movement...

I think in this case maybe it has something to do with how/where they are taught and who is doing the teaching. I doubt most young people are learning about the Israel/Palestine conflict in school, because I doubt it is taught outside of specialized classes, which means most people are probably learning about it via the internet/social media, and we all know how that often works out.

There's a line from a Robert Christgau Big Country review that's always stuck with me: "Regaled with martial rhythms, I always feel safer knowing exactly what the war's about."

but it's a far worse look for adults to read malice into ignorance than it is for kids to be ignorant.

this nicely sums up something I've struggled with putting into words. I was making an argument to a friend where I suggested the intent matters and words and phrases are ever-changing and if "from the river to the sea" means Palestinians and Israeli jews live together in equality and not, you know, "push all Jews into the sea" then I'm willing to take them at their word and further accept that that is the meaning of the phrase. That neatly ignores the fact that sure, there are people for whom it does mean get rid of Jews, and also doesn't wrestle with the full history of the term and the intent from when it was coined (of which I am no expert despite reading at least 2 articles and/or watching youtube videos on the subject). His response was that it if you do accept the history/have the memory that the phrase means Jews out of Palestine, it's a bit much to let progressive leftists get away with ignoring that history of the phrase, especially when that is a group who is usually pretty particular about language.

And I do think he has a point. But I also think that's a different battle? For a different time? I don't know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQPXGJIN8yQ

― omar little, Thursday, December 7, 2023 2:09 PM bookmarkflaglink

lol. Happy Cha-noo-ka to all.

Chag sameach yall

(I want to hear how Smokey pronounces that one)

Latke times is good times in bad times amitite

I mean I believe all of humanity can get behind fried potatoes except maybe paleo ppl and honestly I can’t be bothered with them anyway

Wife made a batch with kosher dill pickle sandwich stackers mixed in.

Oh that’s a delicious sounding hack!

Just took a family trip to a couple of cities in Europe, with plenty of illuminating Jew stuff. Of course Amsterdam has the Anne Frank house, and Berlin is like a living history museum (despite being mostly long-razed sites of atrocities), but Prague was the most eye-opening. We took a tour of the Jewish neighborhood, which has one of the (or maybe the?) oldest intact (and still used) synagogues in Europe, from the 13th century, whose survival may have simply been a matter of good timing/fortune. If I understood our guide correctly, the Jews in Prague were modestly religious and very assimilated, and while anti-Semitism existed, it wasn't quite as full throated as it was elsewhere, so when the Nazis took over (and took away the Jews, who were of course Jewish enough) the locals sort of just held onto all the homes, synagogues, and possessions. To what purpose, I don't really know, but everything from 300 torahs to tons of religious items were catalogued and stored, discovered after the war, left untouched by the Soviets and then in many cases restored over time despite the near absence of Jews (only some 1500 remain in Prague). Pretty remarkable.

That synagogue is the one with the Golem of Prague in the attic.

would you call the experience of visiting Prague "good"? Not that I've been to Europe yet in my life but I'm pretty sure I would be too disquieted by the knowledge of how many Jews aren't there anymore to have a good time. Not sure why I assume that about Prague more so than Berlin, possibly just racist against Bohemians.