Ah Jew!
I recently had an encounter with a business person who is hiding the fact that he’s Jewish. One would think that in this era of prima facie acceptance of gay, lesbian, black, latino and all other alterations of the ‘norm’ away from the white, anglo-saxon Protestant vision of what comprises the majority, that such deception would be foolish and unwarranted. Well, one would be wrong because, for whatever reason, Jews, to this very day, seem to be well hated to the point that this businessperson, employed by a major international corporation, is afraid that if his religious ‘persuasion’ were to get out, that his rise to stardom would be quickly quashed. Unfortunately, I have to agree.
Non-Jews really don’t get the concept of ‘never again.’ Regardless of whether you were paying attention in history class, it’s not to be doubted that more than six million Jews were methodically exterminated during World War Eye-Eye and that if certain elements had their way, the job would be completed, and soon, too. It’s not just extreme right-wing hate groups, either. Non-Jews have no love for Jews, period. In travelling our great land, I’ve met people that believe that they’ve never even met a Jew. They’re probably right. Jews know better than to go where they’re not wanted but, once they’re there, they will stay and be Jews, against all odds. It’s a Jewish thing – you wouldn’t understand.
For instance, there are about 9,000 Jews living in Iran, a place where the leaders routinely call for Israel to be destroyed. Yet, there are at least 60 synagogues there. There are the Lemba, the black Jews of Southern African, who not only practice the religion, but who can be tied definitively via DNA to the priestly Jews of the Bible. Hong Kong, China, Kobe and Tokyo, Japan have their Jewish communities. Even Reykjavik, Iceland, with their 100 or so Jews living among the 300,000 Lutherans that make up the majority of the population, persist. Why? Why don’t they all go to Israel?
Why? Because ‘never again’, that’s why. The Jews will not be cornered and destroyed as in the past. It’s just not going to happen. Once is enough. Better to hide in plain sight than to reveal this bitter secret. Better hold on, to fight back, to preserve all that it means to be a Jew, but better, probably, to do it behind closed doors.
What’s wrong with the Jews? Why do people hate them so? What did they ever do to you? I’ll tell you what, and it has nothing to do with killing Jesus because that’s just stupid. Tradition! There is a millenia-old tradition of hating this most accessible of minority groups for whatever reason. Jews as a subgroup of whatever population they’d been chased into over the course of history and right there, smack-dab in the middle of society, ready to blame for being intellectuals or merchants or money-lenders. Expel the Jews and all economic, political and societal woes are done! Or force them to convert, as the Spanish did, else all their property would be taken away and they would be forced to leave to some other place to start again or die. Easier still, destroy them, as the Nazi architects of genocide decided as a key plank in their political platform in the big run-up to the 1938 coup. Hey, there were whole bunches of these wicked people – why not knock ’em off and purify stuff?
Jews are a minority and have been bullied for a very long time. Any population, as diaspora or landed, with that kind of history, has been taught to be cautious. So, I understand. But also understand that if it comes to it, you’d better stand up, or otherwise you, your family and everyone else you know with a similar secret, which will be found out, by the way, may have to lie down. It’s happened more than once, so, it’s bound to happen again. Unless ‘never again’ really means something. If six million lives didn’t cement that for you, well . . . I just don’t know.