The
previous post described the Jewish society in Israel, as not being able to put
limits to itself and live by laws and rules of conduct. I do not find any need
to explain that such a society is completely unmanageable and cannot prevail
for the long term. Each group of power pulls to its own direction, not ready to
give up any of the rights it has acquired even at the price of eroding the
future of the state – that means: cutting the branch on which they're sitting. The
state leaders have long ago gave up any real attempts to run the country and
solve its problems. All they can do is come
up with spins that occupy the media and spread incitement.
The
missing part in Sephi Rachlevsky's book "No Limit" is an explanation
to the phenomenon. All he had to do is connect this book to his previous book
"The Messiah's Donkey", in which he describes the conduct of Orthodox
Judaism and methods to acquire power.
The
point I want to make is, that the culprit is the "Judaism". First, I
should explain what I mean by Judaism. I refer to the concept of Judaism in the
eyes of the simple Jew. This is the ninety-something percent of the Jews, who
are not proficient in Rambam laws and the books of the Chazon Ish, Spinoza,
Gershom Scholem, Buber and all other Jewish scholars. Apart from the religious
stream, they even hardly know the Bible and the Talmud.
The
perception of Judaism, i.e. what it means to be a Jew, for the common man and
woman was formed over thousands of years of persecution. Common to all Jewish
communities around the world was the fact that they were persecuted minority.
They were, throughout most of history, a bizarre cult threatening and
intimidating those around them, always prone to trouble that may fall upon
their heads - anti-Semitism, persecutions, humiliation, accusations and repeating
attempts to eliminate them.
Under
such hard living conditions, they developed distinguished survival capabilities.
The survival of the Jews is no less than an historical miracle. In order to
survive, Jews had to act as a unified community. The Rabbi was the leader and
deviation from the community line was intolerable. In addition, they developed
a sense of superiority to the population around them - "The Gentiles".
The sense of superiority led naturally to a deep contempt for the Gentiles and
their laws. It was permissible and justifiable to circumvent the law and any
fraud or manipulation of the Gentiles was justified by the difficult situation
and the bitter living conditions of the Jews.
Another
phenomenon that emerged out of the hard and miserable life of the Jews was
disengagement from reality and creating virtual reality – better, imaginary
life with dreams about the salvation which is behind the corner. The creation
of virtual reality is also kind of stepping out of limits - the limits of
reality. Prof. Yigal Eilam's book "The End of Judaism" describes in a
knowledgeable way the Judaism attempts to reinvent itself, each time by moving
away from the harsh reality and day to day threats. These attempts of messianic
movements and false prophets always ended in a bitter disappointment.
Denial
of the reality and contempt to the law go hand in hand. Both are dedicated to glorification
and preservation of Judaism as the highest goal and all the rest doesn't really
matter.
It
is easy to see, therefore, how over the years accepted the Jewish communities
as their most holly heritage the task of conservation and survival of Judaism
at all costs. We Jews absorb with our mothers' milk the need to preserve
Judaism, beautify it and declare its eternity. This is the first and only
commandment that unites Jews everywhere and of every kind - religious and
secular.
In
Israel, where religious Jews are a minority, but secular section is unable to
separate itself from the religious side of Judaism, most of the seculars respect
the Rabbis, no matter how dummy and blunt they are. They agree to support the
Yeshiva studies and run to fulfill every whim of the religious leaders. These
are all part of the heavy commitment that knows no boundaries to Judaism.
Israel's
existence is perceived, then, by most Jews as proof of the survival of Judaism.
Our
existence here is a finger in the face of those who tried to destroy Judaism!
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