the multitude of challenges
May 27, 2013 10:37 AM   Subscribe

"Why Do We Support Spread of Hateful Jewish Fundamentalism? The Moderate Hillels Are Losing to Radical Shammais" by Jay Michaelson
"Ultra-Orthodox Bring Pride, Charity and Vitality Back to Jewish People Spouting Shameful Stereotypes Only Brings Division and Hatred" by Jonathan Rosenblum
posted by andoatnp (4 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: I kinda feel like this is a "two op-eds do not make a right" sort of situation. -- cortex



 
There is an existential crisis brewing in Israel right now. It never found the peace the victors of 1967 assumed would come from their unexpected victory. Without a peace treaty with the Palestinians they are doomed by demographics, first by the Ultra-Orthodox and second by the Israeli Arabs.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:42 AM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Wow with the hyperbole. "They will soon become the majority of affiliated Jews in the metropolitan New York area"... no, this is not true.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:44 AM on May 27, 2013


I would say that the failed state of Syria (and the nominally failed state of Egypt) represent more of an immediate existential threat.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:45 AM on May 27, 2013


And if he and his friends hope for a Jewish future, let them heed the numerous jeremiads of Jack Wertheimer, former provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary, who warned that there will be no future for non-Orthodox American Jewry without a reversal of current trends — namely anti-natalism, acceptance, even celebration, of intermarriage, declining sense of Jewish peoplehood, and lack of theological seriousness.

Honestly, if I were Jewish, this kind of talk would drive me absolutely insane. The idea that the future of my race and civilization depended directly on my choices -- marrying the right person, "choosing" to not be gay, choosing to observe rituals that I don't believe in, choosing to have as many children as possible, choosing to be nationalistic -- and that by choosing the opposite, I was making a small contribution to the slow extermination of my people ...

... yeah, I would go completely bonkers. Zionism is a crazy-making ideology, because it makes every Jew responsible for the ultimate destiny of his civilization and elevates his religious and ethnic identity to a level greater than the individual person. You are nothing unless you carry on the bloodline and the traditions, or at least support those who do.

I'll just be myself, thanks.
posted by Avenger at 10:54 AM on May 27, 2013


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