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Bartholdi Museum. Scroll of Esther (Megillah). 18th century. Colmar, France.
Editor's note: Avi Weiss is the founding rabbi of Riverdale The Beit's Hebrew Institute and founder and co-founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Mahrat Rabbinical School, respectively. His new thematic commentary on the Bible, “Torat Ahavah – Loving Torah,” has just been published. The views expressed here are the author's own. Read more opinions on CNN.
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As I approached my 80th birthday, I realized that my life as a Jew had been like a honeymoon. Born at the end of World War II, I grew up with anti-Semitism largely suppressed, as even the most evil Jew-haters were afraid to attack Jews. To some extent, I believe that guilt over the world's complicity or inaction in the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust has silenced the enemies of our people.
Provided by: Avi Weiss
Rabbi Avi Weiss
This does not mean that anti-Semitism has not been a serious problem, especially in recent decades. There have been vicious anti-Semites and horrific anti-Semitic incidents that must be condemned. He had to go head-to-head with players like Louis Farrakhan and David Duke. Events such as the 1991 murder of Hasidic Lubavitch scholar Yankel Rosenbaum, who was stabbed to death by a Jew-hating mob, struck fear into the hearts and souls of the Jewish community. Yet anti-Semitism was not endemic.
But 80 years after the Holocaust, the Shoah is in the rearview mirror. For most parts of the world, it is a footnote in history. That memory no longer bothers anti-Semites. Anti-Semites have always been hiding in the shadows, but now they are furious and coming to the surface.
The holiday of Purim, celebrated by Jews around the world this weekend, commemorates the story in the Bible's Book of Esther, where the entire Jewish community of ancient Persia was threatened with extinction by the king's advisor Haman and his companions. It is.
This story touches on aspects of anti-Semitism that were provocative at the time and have remained powerful and threatening for thousands of years. These forms of hatred against Jews, past and present, fall into three categories that form the basis of the nation: ethnicity, ideology, and land. We have seen them all in modern times.
During the Holocaust, the goal of the Third Reich was the genocide of Jews. In other words, they kill Jews because they are Jews. It was the same agenda that motivated Haman 2000 years ago.
During the Cold War and after World War II, anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union came to the fore with great force. It was based on hatred of Jewish beliefs and ideology. Like Haman, Soviet leaders viewed our Jewish culture and religious practices as alien to the nation. The Soviet Union, which believed in Judaism contrary to the Marxist worldview, did not allow Jews to live a Jewish life. Those who wished to emigrate were held as quasi-hostages behind the Iron Curtain.
Today, anti-Semitism is often expressed by denying Jews the right to sovereignty over their own land. But without sovereignty there can be no security. The Jews will forever be vulnerable to the next Haman. For thousands of years, Jews have been persecuted, discriminated against, and exiled as a stateless people. This is a historical reality that anti-Zionists conveniently ignore when they say they are not against Jews, only against Jews having their own state. be.
They, and the world at large, see nothing wrong with having Islamic states, some of which are clearly defined as Islamic or Arab states. But the concept of one small Jewish state, the only Western-style democracy in the Middle East, is constantly rejected and attacked.
Nationhood is embedded in Jewish consciousness. Israel is not only a free and safe place for Jews. Abraham Isaac Cook, the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi before the founding of Israel, said: Israel is not external to Judaism, but is essentially part of Jewish consciousness. This means that Jews, across denominations, pray for the return to Zion in their daily liturgy. And the vast majority of Jews, religious or not, feel a deep spiritual connection to Israel and call themselves Zionists.
In other words, anti-Zionists defend themselves by claiming that they are not anti-Semites, but when anti-Zionists declare, “Zionists will not be tolerated,” they are actually saying, “Jews will not be tolerated.” That's what I'm saying. The fact that so many anti-Israel demonstrations target Jews rather than Israeli institutions highlights this dynamic.
The intersection between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism was never more evident than on October 7th. Like its predecessor Haman, Hamas's goals go beyond simply destroying Israel. As stated in Hamas' founding charter, its mission is to kill as many Jews as possible. On that day, Jews around the world felt personally attacked and understood that if Hamas had been able to do so, they would have all been murdered.
This does not mean that all anti-Zionists are anti-Semites. There are always exceptions to the rule. However, exceptions do not invalidate the rule. It is another thing to disagree, even vehemently, with some of Israel's core policies. But anti-Zionism goes far beyond that, opposing the very concept of Jewish national self-determination, thereby opposing the 7 million Jews who currently live in Zion, half of the world's Jewish population, and Targeting thousands more Jews eager to make aliyah. ” or move your homeland to Israel.
In fact, Zionism is a play on the Hebrew word ziun metzyan, meaning mark of excellence. In Israel, every Israeli living in a sovereign state has the potential to play a small role in making this world a better place.
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Purim is the story of weak and powerless Jews living in the diaspora, under threat of physical and spiritual destruction. Its implicit message is the need for Jews to be Zionists, to live in Zion, to have a homeland from which they can defend themselves with force, and what the Israeli military calls “pure weapons.” It is.
According to the Book of Esther, the Jews of ancient Persia were ultimately saved by the grace of the king. But the State of Israel, and only the State of Israel, allows Jews to save themselves.