Jews throughout history have been consummate victims. Especially in the Diaspora, Jewish blood has flowed like water as a result of repeated pogroms, blood libels, and state-sponsored massacres. The Holocaust only cemented this image as millions went to the gas chambers without offering resistance.
Therefore, when the Jew is currently victimized in Europe, Israel, and in Palestinian-controlled territories, the world does not even blink an eye. It demands that Israel be investigated for one instance of alleged mistreatment of Palestinian civilians, yet no similar cry has come forth from any world body when Israelis are murdered repeatedly by suicide bombers. After all, the Jew is playing the role assigned to him by history.
If the world can stand by while six million Jews are slaughtered, it certainly can tolerate a few more.
But this image has completely changed with the rebirth of the State of Israel. By its very existence, the Jewish state is guaranteeing that its citizens will no longer tolerate serving as passive victims. So Israel flexes its military muscle, and the world stands in awe.
You mean Israel goes to war against enemies and actually defeats armies mightier than she? Unheard of! Impossible! Unacceptable! When attacked, the Jew is supposed to lay down and die. Jews are supposed to be beaten up by frantic mobs, their synagogues burned, and their Torahs desecrated. It's been that way for 2,000 years; its supposed to be that for another 2,000 years.
Guess what -- it doesn't have to be that way. What the world does not understand is that Jews have never co-opted this victim label. It has never become ingrained in their psyche.
To be sure, they have lived under conditions that have prevented them from exercising their right to defend themselves. They have become victims because of a cruel twist of fate that has made the Jew a scapegoat for every ill in society. So, as soon as they reclaim their homeland, they create a world-class army to defend their citizens. And in this willingness to use force, if necessary, Israel is merely tracing back its military lineage to such warriors as Abraham, Joshua, and King David.
Our sacred writings, in fact, are replete with references to what Jews are supposed to do when confronted by enemies seeking to destroy them. Simply put, the Jews are mandated to respond in kind. To be sure, the Bible describes the rules of military engagement to ensure that prisoners are treated fairly and that civilians are not unduly targeted -- even fruit trees are not to be damaged during warfare!
But let's be clear. Nowhere does the Torah require that Jews "turn the other cheek." This philosophy is a hoax that has been projected onto Jews by those haters of Israel who have found Jews to be convenient scapegoats. Our prayers, as a matter of fact, unabashedly ask G-d to "cut down" our enemies and "break" their power.
In the Passover Haggadah, familiar to all of us, there is a famous passage that asks G-d to "pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not recognize You and upon the kingdoms that do not invoke Your Name." This prayer usually causes those attending the seder to grimace because it appears to evoke a vengeful, aggressive and capricious reaction to the non-Jews of the world.
But if we look closer at its source (Psalm 79), it will become obvious that we react with such vehemence only when faced with an uncivilized world hell-bent on destroying us.
King David prays: "O G-d our enemies have entered our holy inheritance. They have defiled Thy Holy temple. They have made Jerusalem into heaps. They have given the dead bodies of Thy servants to be food unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of Thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. They have shed their blood like water round about Jerusalem, with none to buy them. We are become a taunt to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations that know Thee not, and upon the kingdoms that call not upon Thy name."
How amazingly similar is this sigh of desperation to the attitudes of Israelis today, who watch how their citizens are butchered and their enemies gloat when they succeed in inflicting pain on helpless victims. How eerie is it that Israel is still scorned by the world and blamed as an aggressor when Israel is merely defending its right to exist.
Yes, we pray and pray hard that G-d metes out justice on those who would ridicule us. Yes, we ask G-d to destroy those enemies of ours who have no regard for civilian life, who relish at seeing our blood spilt, and who openly show off their trophies of brutalized Israel citizens to the world.
Admittedly, this posture makes American Jews feel uncomfortable. They squirm when Israel acts aggressively in rooting out terrorism. But these times call for a strong military response, because it is only in that way will our enemies be deterred from wantonly killing us.
I suspect that Diaspora Jews are becoming more comfortable with the idea that they might have to fight prejudice, injustice and terrorism aggressively. It is evident in European countries where Jews clamor for justice against anti-Semitism. And it is even more prevalent in America, where Jews are becoming less willing to pass off anti-Semitic remarks made by neighbors as harmless dribble and more prone to reacting forcefully at the outrage. One parent recently told me that he had to be physically restrained when responding to someone who called his child a "penny Jew."
Jews, we think twice about using violence as a means to rectify wrongs committed against us, and it is doubtful that we will ever become bullies. But let no one misunderstand our right to protect ourselves, to stand up against prejudice, to confront our enemies, and -- if necessary -- to use force to subdue them. The very existence of the State of Israel serves as a guarantee that no Jew will be sacrificed to appease anti-Semites without putting up a fight.
The new Jewish citizen of the world is ready, willing and able to defend himself. It's a different world, folks. We refuse to allow ourselves to be the world's scapegoat, and we will not sit idly by and let others harass us.
How do I know that we have the moral right to wish that our enemies be defeated? Moses in Deuteronomy (20:4) tells us that we are enjoined to fight back because, in fact, "the Lord your G-d is He that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies to save you." In this fight for justice, G-d is the final vindicator.
No, might does not make right. But rights -- when they are trampled, when innocent people are sacrificed, justify employing might -- even for Jews.
Forgive me, then, if I wish our enemies ill. It's just that I'd rather see them than me disappear. What a different world we live in, and boy am I proud to support this new Jewish world citizen.
Thank you Israel for leading the way! Ready or not, here we come!
Shabbat Shalom