I want to make a statement as a Jew: - Democratic Underground

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Sat Jun-18-11 04:29 PM
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I want to make a statement as a Jew:

To the DU community, of which I have been a proud member for seven years: I am a Jew, born into the Reform (not "Reformed" - there is no such thing) movement but practice Conservative Judaism in part because I enjoy certain rituals and customs from both religious and a cultural standpoints. I am also a Zionist - I am unashamed of that and as I have posted here on several occasions, my father of blessed memory told me that the hardest part of being a Lefty would be the astounding hatred of Israel by many on the Left. He was absolutely correct in that, and many other, regards. I know that before many have finished what I am about to say, they are composing a diatribe against the "evil" Israeli government, or about Bibi, or the "Occupation", or whatever, and I am quite used to this aspect of DU and have learned to live with it.

What I do not particularly care for is the nature of certain threads, such as those which describe the fate of the dog which ostensibly had been sentenced to death by a Rabbinical Court, and the piling on, as it were, of the usual anti Israel (never ever ever anti-Semitic of course, mm-hmm absoLUTEly) statements about the country, the Orthodox, whatever. When of course, the details of the 'story' begin to be fleshed out, it turns out, naturally, that the newspaper had to retract the story, etc. That means that it wasn't (entirely) true.

Now I give great credit to those who voiced questions or concern or even thought that it might be an Onion article. I myself raised a skeptical eyebrow when I read it, because I happen to know something about these people first-hand, that I've known Orthodox Rabbis and their families for most of my life, and although Talmudic and Jewish Law can seem harsh at times, as our laws seem harsh at times, they are most often applied with great discretion and concern for all living things, their lives and their welfare and emotionality.

For example, I don't know how many of you have ever read the translation of the Ketuba, the Jewish marriage contract, but many of you might be really shocked and surprised to know that it almost entirely protects the wife and family from the possible vicissitudes of the husband. It is a very Progressive document as these things go, and secular law has only recently, relatively speaking, incorporated many of the protections into itself. Now of course, it will be time to start furiously penning replies about the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and all, and quite frankly, I would personally prefer if Israel were granted a portion of say, Montana which is uninhabited, and moved there in toto. In 25 years, they'd have it up and running to perfection and then all of a sudden, we'd start hearing about how this is so and so's homeland and that they want it back and who do those Jews think they are anyway? My grandmother's first cousin was Chaim Weitzman, and family lore tells us that he knew this would happen again, but that Madagascar was surrounded by water and Uganda was not necessarily the most benign place for people to settle, but the past was prologue and here we are.

So I suppose what made me type this thread was that the infusion of glee clearly given an avenue when the dog thread was posted disturbed me again. If people want to equate that action, which apparently did not take place, with the beheading of women or the stoning of individuals for petty crimes or actions which here in the USA would simply be preferences for association or sexuality, then you just go right ahead if it makes you feel better. I for one, will continue to shake my head in disbelief that a Progressive community will passively endorse such horrors - one rarely sees threads with more than 10 replies when these events occur in other countries, but jump on the bandwagon quickly when they see an opening, or what they perceive as an opening against the State, the Sovereign State, of Israel.