Hannukah 5775: Status of Antisemitism
Berlin writer Donna Swarthout was frustrated by the lack of enthusiasm of Jewish groups at September’s landmark anti-Semitism rally in Berlin. She sees the Berliner Juden as focused on the past, acting like a persecuted minority rather than celebrating Jewish achievements in Germany and using those achievements to fight for continued progress against all racism.
A friend of hers remarked, “(Berlin’s Jewish community has a) fortress mentality. Jewish organizations in Germany are closed, 
restrictive organizations that don’t seek volunteers and don’t have the transparency of Jewish groups in the States.”
Only about 6,000 people out of over 100,000 Berlin Jews gathered around the slogan “Steh Auf – Nie Wieder Judenhass” (Stand up – Never again hatred of Jews). Swarthout suggests that the small turnout may result from the reality of Jewish life in a country where “Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet have taken a firm stance against anti-Semitism. Jewish life and culture is on display in many parts of Germany, lending affirmation to Merkel’s statement at the rally that Jewish life belongs in Germany and “is part of our identity. Germany has become one of the world’s most democratic nations.” Most observers praise the German government’s efforts to memorialize Holocaust victims and provide accurate education about the past.” Antisemitism toward Jews in Germany is probably lower than anyplace else in the EU.
The thundering triumph of Jewish arms is an ironic coda at a time when Christians are celebrating the warmth of the mid winter fire and the idea of a prince of peace. Even sadder is the knowledge that it was the descendants of the Maccabees, the Hasmonean priests of Herod’s Temple, who conspired with their Roman rulers to create the corruption of Judaism and oppressive conditions that led to the Jewish Revolt and the Temple’s destruction.
Things are not very different here. Despite the heroic roles of American Jews during the last century’s fights for creation of labor unions and in the liberation of African Americans, today’s Jewish community is largely separated from such causes. Our full force seems spent on Israel .. defending its right to exist while either justifying actions toward the Palestinians in the name of Jewish survival or opposing the right wing policies that have now governed the Jewish State for decades. The words “Jewish Liberal” no longer run together and, as in Germany, the idea of the Jew in America as a force for social progress is likely gone.
This focus on Israel at the cost of Jewish traditions of morality is sadly reflected in the extremism that leads some Jews, especially the orthodox and the most strongly Zionists among us, to ally themselves with the chauvinism and nationalism of the Tea Party. These Jews need to remember the lesson of 2000 years ago when the descendants of the Maccabees became the corrupt, Roman appointed priesthood of the Temple.
Tags: Americanism, anti semitism, Germany, Hannukah
Posted 16 Dec 2014 by theaveeditor
in America, Hypocrisy, Israel/Palestine, Jews
