Showing posts with label Murder in Pittsburgh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Murder in Pittsburgh. Show all posts

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Why Does Antisemitism Exist and the Blame Game

The recent tragedy in Pittsburgh has sparked a discussion about antisemitism and what fuels it or more accurately who to blame.

Swastika painted on a synagogue in Indiana (there were so many I could have chosen from).

Haters are unhappy people. If you are unhappy with your life you typically find a way to blame others.  Most antisemites fall into that category of people. The murderer of 11 Jews who were minding their own business on Sabbath at synagogue certainly fits that bill. So why does antisemitism really exist? There are dozens of possible reasons for it. I’ve read dozens of books on the subject and the truth is that we’ll never really understand it. I had a long discussion about it recently with my brilliant nephew in Israel. It morphed into a discussion about the question ‘Why’.
 
I suggested that on esoteric issues like ‘Why does antisemitism exist’ and others, I would devote less time trying to figure out the why and more time dealing with the What to do about it and How to defend yourself from it. We are blessed to be here in the year 2018. We bask in an era of luxury and therefore have the opportunity to ask Why. In other times we didn’t have that luxury. We had to stick to more practical and pragmatic questions like What and How. 
I painted him a picture of back in the cavemen days when the father took his son hunting and had to teach him how to do it. The son looked up at the sky and asked him Why is the sky blue? The father slapped him in the head and said who cares. Do you want to starve to death? Learn how to hunt.
 
I'm in no way  saying that we shouldn’t ask why. As often answering that may lead to answer how and what. But I’ve observed especially lately that so much effort is spent on the why that we miss out on the how and what. It hit me in particular when Obama was president. A lot of pundits including myself were trying to figure out why he was doing his often insane policies especially as it related to Israel. US - Israel relations hit an all time low. 
Many theorized that he was actually a Muslim. There was the ongoing ‘fake birth certificate’ issue, etc. After a while I realized that we are wasting precious time. We must focus instead on what and how to deal with him and his anti-Israel and his anti-American policies before its too late.
 
One can switch the subject, ie. replace Obama with Trump. Why does he behave the way he does? Why does he often say insensitive things? Why does he often behave childishly. Why is he such a narcissist? (by the way all of these questions can be asked of Obama as well). But I don’t devote much time on these why type questions. Instead I focus on his policies and on his actions. Do they match my wishes? Are they important to me? I can tell you that they for the most part, unequivocally do!

As for blaming Trump for the event in Pittsburgh? I find it obscene to use this terrible tragedy in order to push any political agenda. For the sake of the dead- please stop this insanity. 

I can certainly understand why some of the affected families of this tragedy are blaming Trump. Only they have the right to do so. The rest of us do not. When someone is in that mindset they are freaking out and are not rational. How many times have you been at a funeral and the family blame G-d for taking their loved one? I think blaming G-d is way worse than blaming Trump. I will not judge the families nor do I have any right to do so. But as a Jewish activist I can see how blaming Trump for the worst antisemitic event in US history is itself antisemitic. The hysterical left have been so indoctrinated to hate Trump by the MSM that they will use any event to do so. Despite him being the most pro-Jewish president in US history they fail to see the insanity of their shouts.  They see him as  insensitive, boorish, lacking in compassion, childish and even racist. Some consider him a white supremacist. Some a Nazi. We've heard it all. And I agree that sometimes his approach fits some of those adjectives. Does his behaviour bring the antisemites (or other bigots) out or inhibit them? In this particular tragedy it did neither. The murderer was an antisemite long before Trump. (Antisemitism existed long before Trump too believe it or not). In fact he hated Trump because of Trump's Jewish connection! In their reasoning, maybe Trump should become a real antisemite and that might have prevented this tragedy.  But common sense and a sincere desire to get to the factual truth, should get such people to  look into what his policies are and how they've worked so far. It should lead us to the conclusion that his policies and actions far outweigh his negative personality traits or some of his bad choices. 

I have found that many on the Left who pretend to have discussions with people like me on the Right (I like the sound of that) who ask me why I support Trump and feign an interest into his policies that I adore are really looking to continue bashing him and having me defend him. I am a Jewish activist.  I'm not here to defend Trump. I'm tired of being hated for doing so. That said I'll continue to do so as long as he continues to do good. It's hard to call a philo-semite like him an antisemite. When he does bad I've called him out on it. I'm not married to him. He's not my favourite persona. I don't get paid enough to do so , lol!

I will end on this: The more people, especially American Jews and other Jews blame him for this terrible antisemitic event, the more divisiveness they cause amongst the Jewish community and the less likely he is to remain on our side. 

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

It's Shameful to Politicize the Tragedy in Pittsburgh

I have been admonishing my friends and others to stop politicizing this tragedy. Let’s not use this terrible murder to push a political agenda. No blaming Trump. No pushing gun control. Mourn for the dead. Pray for the wounded. Thank the heroes. Thank G-d we are safe. Try to use this as a learning moment. Teach our kids about our Jewish history replete with antisemitism. Many of our younger generation have thankfully never experienced it and therefore unfortunately don’t believe it’s real. It’s real all right. Ask the families of the dead and injured. Ask the rest of the congregants who saw and heard the whole thing unfold. A nightmare they will surely never forget.
It’s right out of the Holocaust book. Ask Israelis who face it every single day from their Muslim neighbours. 

Sadly I continue to see so many disgusting articles attacking Trump for this antisemitic attack. It’s all over the mainstream media. Even my local TV channels here in Canada manage to put this on Trump. Often they do it overtly and sometimes they do it subliminally. He never condemned the white supremacists enough. He didn’t distance himself from the KKK enough. His bombastic and rude style of leadership encouraged the divisiveness that prompted this terrible murder. He’s a racist. A misogynist. A nazi. An antisemite. Some have said that he took his time condemning this tragedy. You might have heard that some of the victims family members have disinvited Trump from visiting. Thankfully the rabbi got it right when he stated: Of course he’s welcome. He’s the president of the United States. 

Enough! What’s really insulting to me as a Jew, his behaviour toward our small nation has been far better than any previous president. I was no fan of Obama but had this tragedy happened under his watch I would never blame him for it. Antisemitism has been around forever. Get used to it. Learn how to deal with it. Figure out who our real friends are and who are enemies are. Today this was perpetrated by someone from the far right but tomorrow it could come from the far left. 

We must also do much more to secure our synagogues (and not just on high holidays) and other Jewish events and places. There are excellent organizations who do a wonderful job providing security like the JDL who would be happy to do so. It’s a mitzvah after all. So many individuals have security systems (camera based) for their houses that cost no more than a couple thousand dollars! Certainly a synagogue can afford that.

Last night I attended a vigil in Toronto in support of the tragedy in Pittsburgh. My daughters attended as well as thousands of others. Beautiful words were spoken. Despite the cold, it was heartwarming to be surrounded with like minded regular folk, most Jewish but some not. I tried to get as many of my Jewish friends and family to attend. This vigil was all about antisemitism today. If we don’t support its message in taking a stand against it, why should anyone else care about us? 

Vigil at Mel Lastman Square in Toronto

I was pleasantly surprised to receive beautiful condolence letters for this tragedy from many of my righteous Gentile friends (most I’ve yet to meet) who often read my blog and various posts. Despite this ongoing scourge of antisemitism which is the very reason that I am a Jewish activist, I continue to have faith in humanity!

G-d Bless!