Thank you for speaking my heart. A chilul hashem, a spiritual crisis. We will be living it the rest of our lives and who knows how much longer? Bless your clarity and courage
Of the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass said: "It was the glory of this man that he could stand alone with the truth, and ... await the result." You, Peter Beinart, stand with William Lloyd Garrison, "alone with the truth." Thank you for your courage.
Thank you, Peter, for expressing the despair and anger that we feel. Even as a secular Jew, I feel an added burden and fury over what Israel is doing and the complicity of the great majority of Isreali and diaspora Jews. I do not accept that Israelis are not getting accurate information because their television shows won't show it. Every person under 75 uses the internet and social media. It reminds me of how German Jews found ways to avoid "knowing" in the midst of the Third Reich. Handfuls of Israelis are willing to protest, which means everyone with a conscience in Israel could as well.
Interestingly, I meant to write that it reminds me of how Germans who were not Jewish found ways to avoid "knowing" in the midst of the Third Reich. But the fact is that disavowal is, unfortunately, a psychical mechanism of which most of us avail ourselves at some tragic point or another.
Peter, your deep pain is palpable. Your work toward justice is so important. Unfortunately, the calculus of politics, power and racist tribalism have rendered the State of Israel as just another example of inhumanity in the guise of virtue.
I am a Jew, descended from refugees of the Russian Empire. I do not believe in any God-concept. If I follow any Jewish teachings, I do not do so because they are Jewish, but because they are morally just. They are principles of humanity which throughout history have suffocated beneath tribal rivalries.
The State of Israel is a creation of European colonialism, Western guilt, self-righteousness, superstition and greed. It could have been accomplished in justice, but it wasn’t. If racism was a founding tenet I can’t say, but surely it has been used as a wedge of justification for refining an apartheid social and political structure. All of this denigrates the name of God, as you’ve put it. It denigrates what it means to be a human being whose life is of no greater value than that of anyone else.
I have relatives in the U.S. who are big-shots in raising money for Israel, who didn’t think Obama was “good for Israel,” and who have long referred to Palestinians as “animals.” To me, they are not Jews by values of morality, but by the value of political power. Pious practitioners of the faith, they have helped build a great economic and military power. My complicity has been the state of ignorance I was taught in Temple and Sunday School. Never again, if I can help it.
Hi Jeffrey. Thanks for your comments and questions. You have asked some important ones, and I’ll first address them by referring you back up to the comment I wrote to Peter Beinart. I’ll repeat it here: [If I follow any Jewish teachings, I do not do so because they are Jewish, but because they are morally just. They are principles of humanity which throughout history have suffocated beneath tribal rivalries.] There are a lot of celebrated stories in the Hebrew Bible that to me are morally reprehensible…they are not “teachings” except as examples of how NOT to live. But they are often celebrated, and I agree with you that the entirety of the creating of the State of Israel has been like the crushing of the Canaanites. As for your suggestion I have some “fealty to the cult,” I can’t see how I’ve expressed that. In fact, my point of view is exactly the opposite. “Cult” refers to “culture,” in which there are rules of belief and behavior. Just about every religion is a “cult,” but it’s a stretch to expect that every member of an organized group is exactly the same. To me, to be a Jew is simply doing my best for people and the planet. Put to that test, the State of Israel fails miserably. And so, for that matter, have most Christian sects failed at living by the teachings of Jesus. Religion has been co-opted many times through the centuries by political leaders; that’s how we got The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Southern Baptist Convention, which was a split of the Baptist Church between abolitionists and those that wanted to protect chattel slavery in the Southern, slave-holding states. Please re-read the last paragraph of my post above, and I hope that helps you understand why I will always live by what I consider central Jewish principles, which are not well-represent red in the “holy” books. What I’m called (or what I think I am) doesn’t matter—it’s how I live in the world. Thanks again for sharing your point of view.
Hey Bruce, I would have replied sooner, but you replied to yourself and not me so I didn't get notified. I just happened to stumble back here. No problem.
The celebrated stories of the Torah are the foundational mythology of Judaism. I respect that you don't honor them explicitly, but your identification as a Jew apologizes for them implicitly. You are like a modern "Confederate" who says they don't believe in slavery or racism but you honor the "principles" of Confederates that were "morally just".
Cult and culture share Latin roots, but they can be conceptually distinguished. Particularly, I was just using it to refer to a "religious group" with a negative connotation. I don't think all religions are fundamentally bad though, so "cult" for me is a way of distinguishing the particularly bad ones; and those bad ones share various common characteristics, like the traditional belief in tyrannical, cruel supernatural powers that establish a universal law.
Saying to you "being a Jew is simply doing my best for people and the planet" is as ridiculous as someone saying "for me, to be a Klansman is simply doing my best for people and the planet." For any rational person, a Klansman is someone who is part of the Klan, a white supremacist cult established to terrorize recently emancipated slaves in the U.S. And a Jew is someone who is part of "Israel", a pseudo-racial cult that traditionally worships the loins of the character Jacob [Israel] and a cruel tyrannical deity who sanctified the genocide of Palestine and the enslavement of people outside the cult.
The state of Israel is not failing at Judaism; it is behaving in a way one would expect a state that reveres the Tanakh to behave. It is behaving in a way one would expect a "Jewish state" to behave. A blueprint of such a state is explicitly described in the Tanakh.
Of course "every member of an organized group" is not "exactly the same"; there were "gooder Nazis." That shouldn't change anyone's judgement that no one should choose to be a Nazi or identify as one.
Most Christian sects don't fail at living by the teachings of Jesus, because his teachings were often contradictory, insane, and sometimes exceptionally cruel. Christian sects frequently exemplify the lunacy of Jesus quite well.
"Religions", such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have not been simply "co-opted" by corrupt political leaders, the religions are fundamentally immoral. Moses was one of the most wicked villains ever imagined in human literature. We got the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Southern Baptist Convention *because* of the bible and Christianity, not despite it. We got the abolition of slavery in the U.S. *despite* the bible and Christianity.
When you have a morally depraved text like the bible exulted as a sacred moral text, morally depraved stuff is going to come from it.
What we call ourselves *does* matter. Our self-identity absolutely matters, as it sometimes expresses moral loyalties and social/political/spiritual affiliations. It is a choice about how we live the world; it is a *speech act*. It would be like a person saying that himself identifying as a Klansman doesn't matter, it's how he lives in the world that matters.
He lives in the world as a person who chooses to identify as a Klansman. You live in the world as a person who chooses to identify as a Jew. And it matters.
The State of Israel is a creation of Judaism. It is a creation of the cult of Israel, which is founded on the Torah. The Torah sanctifies the genocide of Canaanites in order to conquer Palestine. Moses commands genocide and he commands the enslavement of female virgins. The Torah sanctifies the enslavement of people outside the cult of Israel.
If you try to do what is "morally just" why are you still a Jew? Why do you still express fealty to the cult carrying out the genocide in Gaza? Being a Jew is choice. And it is an immoral one, just like it is immoral to choose to be a Nazi. Having ancestors who were Jewish is not a morally valid reason to stay in the cult of Israel anymore than having ancestors who were Nazis is a morally valid reason to be a Nazi.
So many denials of this fact. I think we all have a responsibility to speak out everyday, everyday. The media avoids naming it, describing it. I think the holocaust will have to be described in the same breath “afterwards.”
I come from a very different religious/spiritual background, but am feeling an agonizing sense of moral injury right now. The dissonance between daily life in the United States and our taxes and political will being directed toward facilitating Israel's genocide in Gaza is unbearable.
Thank you, Peter. I'm a Zionist in recovery. Former AZYF madrichah who sprang into action during the first intifada by joining the International Jewish Peace Union and then New Jewish Agenda. The pain is truly great.
Peter. I hope and pray that the Israeli genocide will NOT haunt you for the rest of your life! In my humble opinion you have done as much, and often more, than most “broadcasters,” or
THANK YOU so much for speaking what so many of us feel, but can't put into words as you do so powerfully. I listened more than once, because I wanted it to sink in enough that I could articulate some of this myself. Your message speaks to all of us, whether we are Jewish or not, or whether we are religious or not. It is a spiritual crisis for all Americans, and considering the complicity of many European countries, possibly for the Europeans as well. I will forward this on to as many people as I can think of. I know we must not despair, as we all try to do what we can -- attend protests, write letters, donate to families in Gaza and the West Bank, but feel so powerless against the machine of inhumanity and indifference of our political leaders (and judging from your comments, many religious leaders as well). How will history judge this? I think we know.
God First had Moses. 'Jewish and Israelite People' failed him, so he sent Jesus. Otherwise why was Jesus even needed? Islam also followed when Christians failed Jesus! It is the same message for all. Believe in God, Do good in this world. That's it. That is all that is needed!
For those of us paying attention, donating to organizations trying to assist Palestinians, trying to share the dispair…. The outrage grows as those in power continue to disconnect and move on. I’m so angry I can’t lift my head
Thank you for speaking my heart. A chilul hashem, a spiritual crisis. We will be living it the rest of our lives and who knows how much longer? Bless your clarity and courage
Of the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass said: "It was the glory of this man that he could stand alone with the truth, and ... await the result." You, Peter Beinart, stand with William Lloyd Garrison, "alone with the truth." Thank you for your courage.
Thank you, Peter, for expressing the despair and anger that we feel. Even as a secular Jew, I feel an added burden and fury over what Israel is doing and the complicity of the great majority of Isreali and diaspora Jews. I do not accept that Israelis are not getting accurate information because their television shows won't show it. Every person under 75 uses the internet and social media. It reminds me of how German Jews found ways to avoid "knowing" in the midst of the Third Reich. Handfuls of Israelis are willing to protest, which means everyone with a conscience in Israel could as well.
Interestingly, I meant to write that it reminds me of how Germans who were not Jewish found ways to avoid "knowing" in the midst of the Third Reich. But the fact is that disavowal is, unfortunately, a psychical mechanism of which most of us avail ourselves at some tragic point or another.
Peter, your deep pain is palpable. Your work toward justice is so important. Unfortunately, the calculus of politics, power and racist tribalism have rendered the State of Israel as just another example of inhumanity in the guise of virtue.
I am a Jew, descended from refugees of the Russian Empire. I do not believe in any God-concept. If I follow any Jewish teachings, I do not do so because they are Jewish, but because they are morally just. They are principles of humanity which throughout history have suffocated beneath tribal rivalries.
The State of Israel is a creation of European colonialism, Western guilt, self-righteousness, superstition and greed. It could have been accomplished in justice, but it wasn’t. If racism was a founding tenet I can’t say, but surely it has been used as a wedge of justification for refining an apartheid social and political structure. All of this denigrates the name of God, as you’ve put it. It denigrates what it means to be a human being whose life is of no greater value than that of anyone else.
I have relatives in the U.S. who are big-shots in raising money for Israel, who didn’t think Obama was “good for Israel,” and who have long referred to Palestinians as “animals.” To me, they are not Jews by values of morality, but by the value of political power. Pious practitioners of the faith, they have helped build a great economic and military power. My complicity has been the state of ignorance I was taught in Temple and Sunday School. Never again, if I can help it.
Hi Jeffrey. Thanks for your comments and questions. You have asked some important ones, and I’ll first address them by referring you back up to the comment I wrote to Peter Beinart. I’ll repeat it here: [If I follow any Jewish teachings, I do not do so because they are Jewish, but because they are morally just. They are principles of humanity which throughout history have suffocated beneath tribal rivalries.] There are a lot of celebrated stories in the Hebrew Bible that to me are morally reprehensible…they are not “teachings” except as examples of how NOT to live. But they are often celebrated, and I agree with you that the entirety of the creating of the State of Israel has been like the crushing of the Canaanites. As for your suggestion I have some “fealty to the cult,” I can’t see how I’ve expressed that. In fact, my point of view is exactly the opposite. “Cult” refers to “culture,” in which there are rules of belief and behavior. Just about every religion is a “cult,” but it’s a stretch to expect that every member of an organized group is exactly the same. To me, to be a Jew is simply doing my best for people and the planet. Put to that test, the State of Israel fails miserably. And so, for that matter, have most Christian sects failed at living by the teachings of Jesus. Religion has been co-opted many times through the centuries by political leaders; that’s how we got The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Southern Baptist Convention, which was a split of the Baptist Church between abolitionists and those that wanted to protect chattel slavery in the Southern, slave-holding states. Please re-read the last paragraph of my post above, and I hope that helps you understand why I will always live by what I consider central Jewish principles, which are not well-represent red in the “holy” books. What I’m called (or what I think I am) doesn’t matter—it’s how I live in the world. Thanks again for sharing your point of view.
Hey Bruce, I would have replied sooner, but you replied to yourself and not me so I didn't get notified. I just happened to stumble back here. No problem.
The celebrated stories of the Torah are the foundational mythology of Judaism. I respect that you don't honor them explicitly, but your identification as a Jew apologizes for them implicitly. You are like a modern "Confederate" who says they don't believe in slavery or racism but you honor the "principles" of Confederates that were "morally just".
Cult and culture share Latin roots, but they can be conceptually distinguished. Particularly, I was just using it to refer to a "religious group" with a negative connotation. I don't think all religions are fundamentally bad though, so "cult" for me is a way of distinguishing the particularly bad ones; and those bad ones share various common characteristics, like the traditional belief in tyrannical, cruel supernatural powers that establish a universal law.
Saying to you "being a Jew is simply doing my best for people and the planet" is as ridiculous as someone saying "for me, to be a Klansman is simply doing my best for people and the planet." For any rational person, a Klansman is someone who is part of the Klan, a white supremacist cult established to terrorize recently emancipated slaves in the U.S. And a Jew is someone who is part of "Israel", a pseudo-racial cult that traditionally worships the loins of the character Jacob [Israel] and a cruel tyrannical deity who sanctified the genocide of Palestine and the enslavement of people outside the cult.
The state of Israel is not failing at Judaism; it is behaving in a way one would expect a state that reveres the Tanakh to behave. It is behaving in a way one would expect a "Jewish state" to behave. A blueprint of such a state is explicitly described in the Tanakh.
Of course "every member of an organized group" is not "exactly the same"; there were "gooder Nazis." That shouldn't change anyone's judgement that no one should choose to be a Nazi or identify as one.
Most Christian sects don't fail at living by the teachings of Jesus, because his teachings were often contradictory, insane, and sometimes exceptionally cruel. Christian sects frequently exemplify the lunacy of Jesus quite well.
"Religions", such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have not been simply "co-opted" by corrupt political leaders, the religions are fundamentally immoral. Moses was one of the most wicked villains ever imagined in human literature. We got the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Southern Baptist Convention *because* of the bible and Christianity, not despite it. We got the abolition of slavery in the U.S. *despite* the bible and Christianity.
When you have a morally depraved text like the bible exulted as a sacred moral text, morally depraved stuff is going to come from it.
What we call ourselves *does* matter. Our self-identity absolutely matters, as it sometimes expresses moral loyalties and social/political/spiritual affiliations. It is a choice about how we live the world; it is a *speech act*. It would be like a person saying that himself identifying as a Klansman doesn't matter, it's how he lives in the world that matters.
He lives in the world as a person who chooses to identify as a Klansman. You live in the world as a person who chooses to identify as a Jew. And it matters.
The State of Israel is a creation of Judaism. It is a creation of the cult of Israel, which is founded on the Torah. The Torah sanctifies the genocide of Canaanites in order to conquer Palestine. Moses commands genocide and he commands the enslavement of female virgins. The Torah sanctifies the enslavement of people outside the cult of Israel.
If you try to do what is "morally just" why are you still a Jew? Why do you still express fealty to the cult carrying out the genocide in Gaza? Being a Jew is choice. And it is an immoral one, just like it is immoral to choose to be a Nazi. Having ancestors who were Jewish is not a morally valid reason to stay in the cult of Israel anymore than having ancestors who were Nazis is a morally valid reason to be a Nazi.
Truly you are a voice in the wilderness.
Thank you, Peter. I'm reposting this. Thank you for trying to break through the horrible denial of the genocide happening now in Gaza.
Thank you for this. Yes, a genocide.
So many denials of this fact. I think we all have a responsibility to speak out everyday, everyday. The media avoids naming it, describing it. I think the holocaust will have to be described in the same breath “afterwards.”
I really appreciate this.
I come from a very different religious/spiritual background, but am feeling an agonizing sense of moral injury right now. The dissonance between daily life in the United States and our taxes and political will being directed toward facilitating Israel's genocide in Gaza is unbearable.
Thank you Peter for expressing how I feel even if I am not of the Jewish faith. My humanity is in shock with what the US is allowing to happen.
Thank you, Peter. I'm a Zionist in recovery. Former AZYF madrichah who sprang into action during the first intifada by joining the International Jewish Peace Union and then New Jewish Agenda. The pain is truly great.
Peter. I hope and pray that the Israeli genocide will NOT haunt you for the rest of your life! In my humble opinion you have done as much, and often more, than most “broadcasters,” or
media outlets. I hope you’ll get huge
audiences in Australia! My group and I
will keep “Standing with signs for
GAZA, Peace for Gaza, for Ukraine”!
Linda
I wept when I listened to your message today. A wound in the heart, a wound in the fabric of the world. Thank you.
THANK YOU so much for speaking what so many of us feel, but can't put into words as you do so powerfully. I listened more than once, because I wanted it to sink in enough that I could articulate some of this myself. Your message speaks to all of us, whether we are Jewish or not, or whether we are religious or not. It is a spiritual crisis for all Americans, and considering the complicity of many European countries, possibly for the Europeans as well. I will forward this on to as many people as I can think of. I know we must not despair, as we all try to do what we can -- attend protests, write letters, donate to families in Gaza and the West Bank, but feel so powerless against the machine of inhumanity and indifference of our political leaders (and judging from your comments, many religious leaders as well). How will history judge this? I think we know.
with you and all the others in grief and in sorrow.
God First had Moses. 'Jewish and Israelite People' failed him, so he sent Jesus. Otherwise why was Jesus even needed? Islam also followed when Christians failed Jesus! It is the same message for all. Believe in God, Do good in this world. That's it. That is all that is needed!
For those of us paying attention, donating to organizations trying to assist Palestinians, trying to share the dispair…. The outrage grows as those in power continue to disconnect and move on. I’m so angry I can’t lift my head