Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Beyond Anti Zionism - Why I dont support Israel as Jew, beyond me not being a Zionist (Inspired by River Adams' Post)
Though not with Judaism, Israel or Jewishness, I too have points that I would die with/for;
for which the explanation is beyond pure logic or reason. However,
there arises the age old question. My grandfathers voice rings in my
head, though he is still alive and well, and it asks me a question.
"What good are you dead?". It was the question my grandfather asked me
when i told him of the appeals of martyrdom that i saw on some now-moot
philosophical point. Its a bit of that old Jewish wisdom,which says that
it is better to live for a cause then to die for one. Does Judaism die
with Israel, if so what happens to those who remain alive after (/ IF)
Israel is destroyed. Do they ( as Walter Sobcheck asks) just stop being
Jewish? Are they now stagnant beings. Did Judaism constantly evolve from
point A to point Zed, only to be stopped by the destruction of Israel.
Lets say we know we can never go back to the holy land, do we become
stuck in a form of stagnant and passive Jewishness? I say no. We are
Jews, Even I who does not believe in a Judaic
religion or god, but instead in some pagan ideology; who does not
celebrate or plan to celebrate any of the high holidays; who considers
himself so much more so American then Russian and Jewish...... even I am
a Jew. I will remain one as long as my Grandfathers sayings and my
Grandmothers paranoia, and my mothers kvetching are with me. I am as
much a Jew as Moses Mimontes, and in the eyes of God should be just as
important. Just as likely to cause a change. What does it mean to be
Jewish? For me it means to have access to agency to experience and
participate in a system of culture. I cant be Black or Native American,
no matter how many dream-catchers I have hanging over my bed. I can
participate, despite being a pasty honky, in their cultures; I can
replicate and admire facets of them, and i can share those ideas with
friends.....but I am not black....and I am Jewish. In order for me to be
those things in addition to being Jewish, I have to have a permanent
foothold of agency inside the culture. Schindler is buried in a Jewish
cemetery, because even though he was a gentile, his acts of bravery
transgressed his identity and gave him a permanent agency in the Jewish
Lexicon. JFK is often regarded similarly in the Black community.
Jewishness is not something that is thrown over us, it is something we
participate in. This is true of all cultures. I could change what it
means to be a Jew, and i dont know if I would be wrong in doing so.
Just becasue a culture changes does not mean they become another culture
( IE Jews>>>Christians). I am not interested in myself
preserving certain Jewish customs, but i will not let anyone tell me I
am not Jewish, no matter how many Pagan ideas i hold, or how much pork I
eat. My decisions effect the tribe, but the decisions before me should
not be forgotten.....thats how i see culture. You must think of what you
can do as a modern day Jew, not necessarily in spite of the middle east
conflict; put perhaps A-pro-PO of it. You are a Jew even if you hold no
opinion on the conflict; and even if you choose to hold an opinion;
there will be a person who is a Jew, who holds no opinion. The question
is which of these two people would you rather be, the live one or the
dead one. Or rather "what good are you dead?"
The Rastafarians believe that since the
temple was destroyed numerous times, that they now hold that Temple
inside themselves. Many smoke weed for this reason; as a kind of a
sacrifice of the internal Temple. Can Jewishness die? Cant we hold the
synagogue in our hearts eternally? Would we stop being Jews if we do? If
we have no other place to go to...no Israel to return too; and we
mimick our Jamaican brothers, do we become a new religion? I dont think
so.....I think we will persevere in spite of the many religions that
have separated from us, in spite of the internal and external struggles
we face and in spite of horrific white assimilation forced upon us. We can always turn inward to the spark of God inside us. That
cant be taken away. So once again the question arises "What good are
you dead?" There will be people left....JEWS left...after/if Israel
falls. Would you rather counsel them and have something to live for, or
die with a line in the sand beyond which you can not fathom Jewishness
going? Both answers are acceptable.....but which will you
choose....which should you choose, being a Jew?
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