Zionists Out of the Peace Movement

(k) Subject to subparagraphs (ix) and (x), discrimination

because of ethnicity includes, but is not limited to,

discriminatory conduct or communication motivated in whole or in

part by antisemitism, which means a perception of Jewish

individuals that may be expressed in any of the ways described in

subparagraphs (i) to (viii), as follows:

(i) Hatred of Jewish individuals.

(ii) Severe disparagement of Jewish individuals or their

culture.

(iii) Rhetorical, violent, or physical anti-Jewish

manifestations directed against Jewish individuals or their

property or Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

(iv) Aiding, encouraging, supporting, or justifying the

killing, harming, or defaming of anyone simply for practicing

Judaism or exhibiting a Jewish heritage.

(v) Making false and mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing,

demeaning, or stereotypical allegations about Jewish individuals as

such or the power of Jewish individuals as a collective, including

allegations such as the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of

Jewish individuals controlling the media, economy, government, or

other societal institutions.

(vi) Accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewish

heritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being wholly

responsible for any real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a

single Jewish individual or group.

(vii) Accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewish

heritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being wholly

responsible for any real or imagined wrongdoing committed by the

State of Israel.

(viii) Accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewish

heritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being more loyal

to Israel, or the alleged priorities of Jewish persons worldwide,

than to the interests of the people of this state, or to the

interests of the people of the United States.

(ix) Discrimination because of ethnicity in the form of

antisemitism does not include criticism of Israel similar to that

leveled against any other country.

(x) A finding of discrimination because of ethnicity in the

form of antisemitism does not preclude a finding of discrimination

on another basis such as religion, race, color, or national origin.

Speaking of violence, we have not had physical violence here at the table, but we have had rhetorical violence in our chambers yet again with anti-Semitism and Holocaust denialism. Although it does not affect an immediate and proximate physical harm, it does create harm in the community and of course leads to physical harm over the course of time, time and time again. It is entirely and without reservation beneath contempt.

We look forward to addressing these comments at the next Council meeting on May 1. Please stay tuned.

A Learning Moment

A friendly discussion grew heated last month when a Jewish Marxist friend said some of my comments about Jewish domination of media and banking were “anti-Semitic”. He remarked that “America First” was problematic, but that the rest of my sign, “Not Israel”, was something he could support because “[he’s] never been a Zionist”. It seemed like he was admitting to “anti-Zionism”, but held strongly to protecting the tribe. He authored a middle school reference book, Understanding the Holocaust, a fact that speaks volumes about his tribal allegiance. So our takeaway from this heated argument gave birth to our latest sign, below:

Getting Close to the Target?

There were two unsuccessful attempts to steal/destroy our signs this Saturday, and both sets of vandals chose the “Gas Chambers? Really?” sign to go after. See two women in an Audi stop and get caught in the act here. The other group was two young men one of which asked me where I worked. Is this how (((they))) operate? Rather than debate the issue, or produce a single wartime photograph of a homicidal gas chamber, these 20-year-olds (they told us their age) went straight for the jugular: silence our voices by eliminating our source of income. Unbelievable? Not really …

Witness for Peace feels even more strongly now that deconstructing the “Holocaust” and challenging its propaganda is key to Palestine Liberation. It remains the sole remnant of the Jewish “faith”, and readers are once again reminded of Paul Eisen’s observations twenty years ago: 

“The Holocaust resolves the great dilemma of modern Jewish life - how to be a Jew when you no longer believe in the Jewish God.  Secular Jews have found many gods to replace the one they reject – Marx and Trotsky, atheism, psychoanalysis, multiculturalism, human rights, money and success, and of course, Zionism – there’s lots to choose from but only one that serves as a catch-all for everyone.  And if you don’t believe it, try this - go find the most educated, secular, progressive, enlightened, perceptive, sensitive Jew you know - deny the Holocaust and then stand back.”

Abortion appears to be a Jewish Value

See the photo below, taken in the Jewish area of Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill) on March 31. Whatever one thinks of abortion, it appears certain that it terminates the human life process. “Reproductive Freedom” is the “right” to choose to terminate this life process, and Jews themselves are claiming it’s a Jewish “value”. We thought only God possessed this right, but since Jews feel their souls are part God, maybe that’s the  claim behind this banner. From chabad.org we read, “We have learned that Jews are functionally different from non-Jews in that they have a neshomah, a part of God himself”. We could be wrong about claiming that only Jews posses this religious “value” and ask our readers to provide a similar banner proclaiming that reproductive “rights” are a Christian or Muslim value.

Apologies to the Ann Arbor School Board

A few days after our last report hit the stands, Dr. Jeanice Swift, Superintendent of the Ann Arbor School Board did indeed respond to our February 8 request to supply course information on the Holocaust. As readers may remember, the State of Michigan Public Act 170 mandates the teaching of the Holocaust to secondary students in all public schools. True to her word, Dr. Swift connected me to Dr. Jared Aumen, District Chair for Secondary Social Studies, who provided me with much of the requested material. We plan to evaluate the information provided at the Board’s April 12 meeting.

Scorecard

Bringing the Holocaust to City Council

This writer addressed Ann Arbor City Council on February 6 in an attempt to pique some interest in facts that we assume are not taught in Michigan Public Schools (more on this later). In particular, we felt Council would be interested in the very beginnings of the rise of National Socialism in Germany, beginning with declaration of war BY Jews on Germany itself. Guided by the article “The Jewish Declaration of War on Germany” by Larry Romanoff in the Unz Review, we explained how organized Jewry declared a worldwide economic boycott on Germany, led by staunch Jewish Zionists like Samuel Untermeyer. Review full presentation below signature.

Silence from the Ann Arbor School Board?

On February 8, this writer addressed the Ann Arbor School Board for some information. Noting that the state of Michigan passed legislation in 2016 (Public Act 170) mandating the teaching of the “Holocaust” to high school students, we asked to be supplied with course curriculum, textbooks, assigned readings, guest speakers, etc. in the Board’s fulfillment of the state’s directive. We were informed by Superintendent Jeanice Swift at that meeting: “… I will make sure that you receive a contact from our social studies coordinator who's a very fine professional who will walk you through the information you've requested.” 

An email was sent to Ms. Swift the very next day, and a reminder sent four days later, but no return email. A phone call to her direct line also netted no callback. Granting her the benefit of the doubt, we conclude nothing from this silence, but plan to speak again at the next Board meeting.

Exposing yet another Jew-led peace group

After receiving another “ask” letter from Rebecca Levin of the “Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine”, we write back noting that the word “Jewish” does not appear in the letter in spite of the fact that the Jewish state is committing the crimes against the Palestinian people. Also, we asked what the purpose of bringing “anti-Semitism” into the discussion, since the term is mentioned five times in the letter. We offered a $50 contribution if CJPIP would merely answer the question: Does Israel have a right to exist as Jewish state?

To her credit, Rebecca did respond, but didn’t answer any of our questions. She wrote “I believe we are working towards the same ends”. A second letter asked if in fact we were working towards the same goals:

We are working for the peaceful dismantlement of the state of Israel. I don’t believe that goal is shared with CJPIP. We are working to expose Jewish Power, and I again don’t believe that is one of CJPIP’s goals. We are working towards identifying the Jewish-Israeli community as the aggressors in Palestine, and work to hold their American counterparts accountable for their support of Israel. We believe Israel has no right to exist, and make this claim every Saturday. CJPIP – from what I can gather – has “no opinion” on this vital question. We work to end Jewish supremacism in Palestine and expose the corrosive effect Jewish Power has on America. CJPIP – no comment.

Takeaways

1. Placing the word “Israel” in a peace group’s name legitimizes the racist state. Another agenda is afoot.

2. “Just peace” is a second tell: why – after 75 years of unbridled IN-justice does justice NOW play a role? We assume it’s there to protect – not hold accountable – the ethnic/religious group responsible for their crimes.

3. Any group purporting to work for Palestinians that brings up the subject of “anti-Semitism” should be questioned. Imagine a peace group in 1942 working for the liberation of Jews in concentration camps. Would anyone seriously caution against “anti-German” language? Puh-lease! 

Scorecard

Date/For-Against

February 6, 2023 [376 words]

Good evening,

On January 27, parts of the world celebrated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Actually, that was just the official day of remembrance. The real remembrance day is every day of the year, and if you don’t believe that, merely create for yourself a Google Alert on the word “holocaust”. 

The reason for this daily reminding is to fix forever in peoples’ minds the eternal suffering and innocence of the Jewish people. 

Tonight, I’d like to focus on this alleged Jewish innocence. The innocence that is programmed into our minds by Hollywood, the media, campus statues and museums throughout America. We are taught that the National Socialists of Germany wished to exterminate the Jews for no other reason than that they were Jews. We are taught that Jews did nothing to deserve this extermination and were like innocent lambs being led to slaughter.

But maybe Jews in 1933 were not as innocent as we were led to believe. The headline of the March 24th edition of London’s Daily Express read “Judea declares war on Germany, Jews in all the world unite in action”

From the body of the article: “The Jewish wholesaler will quit his house, the banker his stock exchange, the merchant his business, and the beggar his humble hut, in order to join the holy war against Hitler’s people.” And this international call to boycott really was against the German people; Jewish elites knew that the boycott would cause the starvation – the deaths – of 30% of Germany’s population.

A Jewish newspaper called Natscha Retsch wrote: “The war against Germany will be waged by all Jewish communities, conferences, congresses... by every individual Jew. Thereby the war against Germany will ideologically enliven and promote our interests, which require that Germany be wholly destroyed.”

Samuel Untermeyer, President of the World Jewish Economic Federation, spewed falsehoods in his hate-driven speeches, designed to whip up support for this Jewish-led boycott. He said “Germany [has] been converted from a nation of culture into a veritable hell of cruel and savage beasts”

But in fact, this economic war by Jews against Germany in 1933 occurred long before there was any such thing as sanctions or reprisals of any kind against European Jews.

Innocent or aggressive? As the Ann Arbor News said today: “the past rediscovered”

Thank you,

Playing the Holocaust Card

Things must be getting a little tight in the Jewish community, as we witness a new billboard just north of Ann Arbor by a group called JewBelong. This billboard now exists where our billboard (“America First Not Israel”) was removed due to pressure from the Jewish community applied to the billboard companies. These billboard companies hide behind their “private sector privilege” to censor our message while promoting theirs. We lose; they win; familiar tale.

Playing Our Hand

Questioning JewBelong’s assertion of the existence of homicidal gas chambers used by Nazi Germany against Jews on a local Facebook group – Ann Arbor Politics – upset moderators Stephen Ranzini and Diane Brainard so much that they officially “terminated” this writer from the group. So, utilizing the only media we “own”, i.e. the public sidewalks, we countered this Saturday with a sign of our own.

From Palestine to the Holocaust

Many of our well-intentioned friends and supporters caution us against challenging the Holocaust narrative. They claim that we are opening up a can of worms, and will lose credibility. We counter with this salient observation: If any other ethnic group – other than the Jews – were committing genocide against the Palestinians, this so-called “conflict” would be over before you could say “Benjamin Netanyahu”. We are currently working on “From Palestine to the Holocaust - A Sixteen-step Guide for Palestine Liberation Activists”. In succinct form, this guide will produce a path from which many “activists” will depart. And the point at which they depart will tell the rest of us just how committed these folks are to liberating Palestine from Jewish oppression. Want to peek at our guide and give constructive advice? Please contact this writer via email or Facebook.

Scorecard

Date/For-Against

Bill Henry, Z"L, circa 1940

The 13th annual Bill Henry International Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day begins at sunset on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, and ends at dusk on the 5th. This day honors the memory of Bill Henry (né Herskovitz), Z"L, for a decision that quite possibly saved an eight-year-old boy from a life of "Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism". For the full story behind Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day please see the 2011 post about this momentous day.

Labels: Bill Henry, halacha, Henry Herskovitz, Judaism, Talmud

Israel Behaving Badly? Gin up the Holocaust Industry!!

Who says the Holocaust has nothing to do with Palestine Liberation? Certainly not dedicated Jewish Zionists, that’s for sure. When the world starts to catch on that Jewish supremacism might be good for the Jewish state, but it’s not that beneficial to the rest of us, it’s time to fall back upon “The Trick”*: when Israel’s 75-year assault on the Palestinian population is noted, merely remind the world who the ETERNAL VICTIMS really are. 

Now Ken Burns is called to step up to the plate to shake down the US for what it allegedly failed to do to save the eternal victims in their hour of need. Produced by Jewish dominated Public Broadcasting Service, his new 6-hour series: “A history to be reckoned with; the U.S. and the Holocaust”, will re-train the American public beginning September 18. And while they’re at it, they plan to toss a 93-year-old Ursula Haverbeck into prison for violating someone’s sensibilities. 

No More Holocaust Movies, Mr. Burns! We’re tired of them.

* The Trick was exposed by former Israeli Minister of Education Shulamit Aloni: “… it’s a trick, we always use it. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel, then we bring up the Holocaust. When in this country people are criticizing Israel, then they are anti-Semitic.” Source here.

Stewart Ain and the Jewish Daily Forward

Lawyer Marc Susselman uses the death of his client, Miriam Brysk, to launch an attack on Judge Victoria Roberts, and this story was covered by award winning veteran Stewart Ain in the Forward. I contacted Stewart via email and asked if he wanted to hear the other side of the story. Clever fellow, and a pretty decent guy, Stewart managed to steer the conversation more towards a personal history of our vigils rather than examining Susselman’s behavior, but produces a worthwhile article anyway. See if you agree.

Vandal still unidentified

The vandal pictured above attempted to damage our property on June 11 as we reported here. Our attempt to determine her identity via filing a FOIA request was denied. We appealed to Ann Arbor City Administrator Milton Dohoney Jr, who also denied the information we seek. He writes, however: “If you believe that you were the victim of a crime you are free to submit a complaint to the police department”. Readers may remember it was she who contacted the police, which places her as the one who’s identity allegedly needs protection. 

Taking the advice by Mr. Dohoney, however, we filed a vandalism complaint with the AAPD on July 21. No results so far, so if anyone can identify this woman, there’s a handsome reward in store for you.

Three short vigil videos

Video 1 features an Israeli woman telling us “My heart is with you.”  Video 2 exposes a foul-mouthed jogger, and Video 3 is yet a third woman who remains silent, offering us the opportunity to ask a few questions.

Scorecard

Date/For-Against

Henry Herskovitz

Comments? 

#

Politically Correct Ann Arbor

Perhaps linked to our recent Supreme Court victory, or City Council’s resolution again condemning our exercise of America’s First Amendment rights, this writer’s donations to four local candidates for public office have been returned. Ali Ramlawi, current Ward 5 Councilman, is joined by his opponent Jenn Cornell and Mayoral candidates Anne Bannister and Christopher Taylor.  We think this is classic "guilt-by-association", combined with a lack of courage to tell the politically correct that political views of a constituent are not necessarily the views of the candidate. 

We note that City Councilwoman Jen Eyer of Ward 4 was accused of accepting money from Neal Elyakin, founder of Michigan Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces. Was that donation returned? As best as we can determine, it certainly was not. And that exposes the hypocrisy: support donations from those touting acceptable narratives (“Israel” defending itself) and reject donations from those who raise questions about the issue. Don’t want to be associated with an “anti-Semite”? That’s your choice, but as Vigiler C notes, Jews oppressing Palestinians is real anti-Semitism. 

Hate Speech not defined

Checking our 1967 unabridged Random House Dictionary of the English Language, we find that “hate speech” doesn’t even warrant an entry into this 10-pound tome. This provides the careful reader with a glimpse into Newspeak, the updated and politically correct Orwellian limits of acceptable speech. Currently, I am banned from using the term “Jewish Power” from a popular, local Facebook Group, which gives a loud hint as to the source of this verbal manipulation and mendacity (M&M’s). If it upsets Jews, it must be “hate speech”, despite the fact that the manufactured term holds no legal definition. 

Yet another Jewish woman attempts to vandalize our property

Our two videos clearly identify a congregant of Beth Israel throwing our sign to the ground. She might have been trying to steal it, but it was secured to the chair holding it upright. Vigiler C narrates his video here, and mine shows the perp clearly. A police report has been made, and we’re hopeful it will lead to a trial and conviction. With many private venues taken from us (billboards, newspaper ads, etc.) we must protect the last remaining right we have and will pursue legal action against future vandals.

A confused Jewish woman is set straight

On July 2, we were approached by a woman who was under the impression that the Courts overturned the First Amendment, and ruled our protests illegal. She was politely corrected, and the video of this conversation can be viewed here.

Observation begs a question

If a legislator claimed "The UNITED STATES is the national home of the WHITE people", we would consider that racist. But change the UNITED STATES to “State of Israel” and WHITE to “Jewish” … and that’s exactly the wording of Israel’s Nation State Law, passed in 2018. Why do we tolerate one and not the other?

Update on Court Case

Plaintiffs Marvin Gerber and Miriam Brysk have retained separate Counsel for their appeals to the Supreme Court. Brysk attorney Marc Susselman embarrasses himself (if that’s possible) in the racist rant he includes in his Writ of Certiorari, which was denied by the Supreme Court. His rant is so offensive we won’t include it here, but readers are invited to view the document for themselves, particularly pp 23-24.

The Writ from Gerber attorney, “Superlawyer” Nathan Lewin, might provide a horse of a different color. According to Alison Weir, “If anyone can bring another Supreme Court ruling favorable to Israel [and against us … hh], it’s Lewin.” She writes: “Lewin is an extremely heavy hitter. He has reportedly argued hundreds of cases in his 60-year law career, 28 of them before the U.S. Supreme Court. Chabad reports that Lewin was named by the DC Legal Times as one of ‘Washington’s Greatest Lawyers of the Past 30 Years’ and was ranked Number 2 of ‘Washington’s Best Lawyers’ by the Washingtonian.”

Dancing With Ketanji

Christopher Taylor is Mayor of Ann Arbor and also one of the defendants in our case. The Ann Arbor News reports that Taylor clerked with Justice Jackson and is pictured with her in 2017. And if that's not enough evidence for self-recusal should our case be heard by the USSC, how about her past professional relationship with Superlawyer Nathan?

Alison Weir documents that Ketanji's first clerkship was with Nathan Lewin's law firm in her article: "Will Ketanji Brown Jackson be able to transcend her pro-Israel influences?". After reading this informative and revealing article, we doubt it. The Jackson-Lewin nexus is exposed: After her ruling in favor of a pro-Israel group "Z-Street", "Nathan Lewin writes that Jackson’s ruling on the case provides 'grounds for optimism' on how she will rule on matters related to Israel and America’s Jews." Holding Ms. Jackson in the highest possible regard (we always do), we will watch to see how her possible involvement in our case unfolds.

Zionism: Political Judaism

Our latest sign:

 

Readers are once again referred to a 1942 document, signed by the most rabbis ever to have affixed their signatures on a single issue, which claims: "Zionism: An Affirmation of Judaism". In addition, our friend The Exiled Palestinian has compiled an extremely large PowerPoint file (440 MB) she calls "Supremacy in Jewish Ideology, and 'sacred' text, and its consequences on the world". Download the file here, or find it on her website: https://nahidaexiledpalestinian.com/. Fasten your seatbelts before viewing!

Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming!

We remember meeting a man at the vigil who was walking the neighborhood a few years back. He introduced himself as Moshe Tzalel and said he used to live in "Israel". He spoke with an accent and nodded towards our "Remember the USS Liberty" sign, indicating his awareness of the attack.

Tzalel wrote a letter to the editor of the Washtenaw Jewish News (March, 2022), expressing his belief that the City Council and Mayor were "misguided" by condemning our vigils in their January resolution on "anti-Semitism". He also wrote: "Walking past these demonstrators and talking to them, I never saw or heard any antisemitic proclamations. They are opposed to Israel’s policy in the occupied West Bank. So am I."

Of course editor Clare Kinberg had to write an opposing view, telling her shocked-into-horror audience what a bunch of poopy-heads we really are, but the "damage" was done: a local Jew actually took the time to talk to us and didn't find our written or spoken words "anti-Semitic". A thank you letter was sent to Mr. Tzalel.

Scorecard:

Date/For/Against

#

Bill Henry, Z"L,circa 1940

Wednesday, September 15, 2021, is the 12th annual Bill Henry international Eat-a-Cheeseburger day.* This day honors the memory of Bill Henry (né Herskovitz), Z"L, for a decision that quite possibly saved an eight-year-old boy from a life of "Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism". For the full story behind Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day please see the 2011 post about this momentous day.

*The holiday begins at sunset on 9/15 and ends at dusk on 9/16.

Labels: Bill Henry, halacha, Henry Herskovitz, Judaism, Talmud

Bill Henry, Z"L,circa 1940

Sunday, September 27, 2020, is the 11th annual Bill Henry international Eat-a-Cheeseburger day.* This day honors the memory of Bill Henry (né Herskovitz), Z"L, for a decision that quite possibly saved an eight-year-old boy from a life of "Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism". For the full story behind Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day please see the 2011 post about this momentous day.

*The holiday begins at sunset on 9/27 and ends at dusk on 9/28.

Labels: Bill Henry, Henry Herskovitz, Judaism, Talmud

Bill Henry, Z"L,circa 1940

Tuesday, October 8, 2019, is the 10th annual Bill Henry international Eat-a-Cheeseburger day.* This day honors the memory of Bill Henry (né Herskovitz), Z"L, for a decision that quite possibly saved an eight-year-old boy from a life of "Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism". For the full story behind Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day please see the 2011 post about this momentous day.

*The holiday begins at sunset on 10/8 and ends at dusk on 10/9.

Labels: Bill Henry, Henry Herskovitz, Judaism, Talmud

This post draws heavily on material published in some of my earlier posts.

In an otherwise well-written and informative article, "In Israel, religious extremism is pervasive, unchecked", Kathryn Shihadah repeats one of those deceptive, hoary myths about Israel that never seem to die. A little more than a third of the way into the article she asserts, "Israel's founders were secular".

It is true that many figures such as David Ben-Gurion, widely regarded as "the father of modern Israel", may not have been conventionally religious nevertheless Jewish identity is built upon a religious foundation. In Ben-Gurion's memoir, Recollections (London: Macdonald Unit 75, 1970), he acknowledged this: "Everything we are as Jews ... comes directly from the Bible. In size we are nothing as a people and never have been. Had we not been children of the Book, who would have heard of us?" (p. 16). Elsewhere in the book he asserts:

As to the Jews, I can only point to our Bible and to its sequence in the many Jewish initiatives to regain Israel stretching across the centuries since Masada and say: This is our Mandate. Come see for yourselves.

Since I invoke Torah so often, let me state that I don't personally believe in the God it postulates. I mean that I cannot 'turn to God', or pray to a super-human Almighty Being living up in the sky ...

Yet, though my philosophy is secular, I believe profoundly in the God of Jeremiah and Elijah. Indeed, I consider it part of the Jewish heritage and the Jewish obligation to hold to this concept of God ...

Certainly in Israel today we are Messianic. The Jews feel themselves to have a mission here; they have a sense of mission. Restoration of sovereignty is tied to a concept of redemption. This had determined Jewish survival and it is the core of Jewish religious, moral and national consciousness. It explains the immigration to Israel of hundreds of thousands of Jews who never heard of Zionist doctrine but who, nevertheless, were moved to leave the lands wherein they dwelt to contribute with their own effort to the revival of the Hebrew nation in its historic home. (pp. 120-122)

Ben-Gurion's remarks above echo his 1936 testimony to the British Peel Commission: "The Bible is our mandate.''

On a more personal note in Recollections he wrote: "for many of us, anti-Semitic feeling had little to do with our dedication [to Zionism]. I personally never suffered anti-Semitic persecution ... We emigrated not for negative reasons of escape but for the positive purpose of rebuilding a homeland ..." (p. 36). The idea of Palestine as the Jewish homeland to be rebuilt is, again, a foundational Judaic religious idea.

Ben-Gurion's position is no aberration. Theodor Herzl also successfully cultivated rabbinical support that continued to bear fruit decades later. In his Zionist manifesto, The Jewish State, he had a definite, positive role for rabbis—"on whom we especially call"—and synagogue in the movement. Herzl argued that Jews "feel our historic affinity only through the faith of our fathers" and the Jewish "Faith unites us."

The influential Moses Hess, in "Rome and Jerusalem," wrote of the Zionist movement: We will "draw our inspiration from the deep well of Judaism". A 2001 scholarly biography of Hess features a chapter on "Hess's 'Return' to Judaism and Narrative Identity". A recent article in Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience refers to Hess as "a Prophet of Spiritual Zionism" (see also the epigraph to this blog quoting Hess).

To turn to a more contemporary source, in Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, the late Israel Shahak writes:

The ideological defence of Israeli policies are usually based on Jewish religious beliefs or, in the case of secular Jews, on the "historical rights" of the Jews which derive from those beliefs and retain the dogmatic character of religious faith.

... close analysis of Israeli grand strategies and actual principles of foreign policy, as they are expressed in Hebrew, makes it clear that it is "Jewish ideology," more than any other factor, which determines actual Israeli policies. The disregard of Judaism as it really is and of "Jewish ideology" makes those policies incomprehensible to foreign observers who usually know nothing about Judaism except crude apologetics.

The existence of an important component of Israeli policy, which is based on "Jewish ideology," makes its analysis politically imperative. This ideology is, in turn based on the attitudes of historic Judaism to non-Jews, ... Those attitudes necessarily influence many Jews, consciously or unconsciously. Our task here is to discuss historic Judaism in real terms.

Although the struggle against antisemitism (and of all other forms of racism) should never cease, the struggle against Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism, which must include a critique of classical Judaism, is now of equal or greater importance.

To successfully challenge Zionism we must have an accurate understanding of it and part of that includes dispensing with the myths of Israel's secular founding and secular Zionism.

Labels: David Ben-Gurion, Israel, Judaism, Zionism

Bill Henry, Z"L,circa 1940

Wednesday, September 19, 2018, is the 9th annual Bill Henry international Eat-a-Cheeseburger day.* This day honors the memory of Bill Henry (né Herskovitz), Z"L, for a decision that quite possibly saved an eight-year-old boy from a life of "Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism". For the full story behind Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day please see the 2011 post about this momentous day.

*The holiday begins at sunset on 9/18 and ends at dusk on 9/19.

Labels: Bill Henry, Henry Herskovitz, Judaism, Talmud

Bill Henry, Z"L,circa 1940

Saturday, September 30, 2017, is the 8th annual Bill Henry international Eat-a-Cheeseburger day.* This day honors the memory of Bill Henry (né Herskovitz), Z"L, for a decision that quite possibly saved an eight-year-old boy from a life of "Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism". For the full story behind Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day please see the 2011 post about this momentous day.

*The holiday begins at sunset on 9/29 and ends at dusk on 9/30.

Labels: Bill Henry, Henry Herskovitz, Judaism, Talmud

Bill Henry, Z"L,circa 1940

Wednesday, October 12, 2016, is the 7th annual Bill Henry international Eat-a-Cheeseburger day.* This day honors the memory of Bill Henry (né Herskovitz), Z"L, for a decision that quite possibly saved an eight-year-old boy from a life of "Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism". For the full story behind Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day please see the 2011 post about this momentous day.

*The holiday begins at sunset on 10/11 and ends at dusk on 10/12.

Labels: Bill Henry, Henry Herskovitz, Judaism, Talmud

... with the destruction of the Temple the Sadducees disappeared altogether, leaving the regulation of all Jewish affairs in the hands of the Pharisees.

Henceforth Jewish life was regulated by the teachings of the Pharisees; the whole history of Judaism was reconstructed from the Pharisaic point of view, and a new aspect was given to the Sanhedrin of the past. A new chain of tradition supplanted the older, priestly tradition (Abot i. 1). Pharisaism shaped the character of Judaism and the life and thought of the Jew for all the future. True, it gave the Jewish religion a legalistic tendency and made "separatism" its chief characteristic; yet only thus were the pure monotheistic faith, the ethical ideal, and the intellectual and spiritual character of the Jew preserved in the midst of the downfall of the old world and the deluge of barbarism which swept over the medieval world.

Source: Kaufmann Kohler, "Pharisees," Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).

Labels: history, Judaism

The subject of the Star of David comes up from time to time in anti-Zionist discourse. It recently popped up here where it appears in two controversial images of flags bearing that symbol.

There are at least two things to know about this subject: First, the Israeli flag is the Zionist flag. According to the World Zionist Organization: "The form and colors of the Israeli flag as we know it today was officially established as the flag of the Zionist Movement in the 18th Zionist Congress in 1933 (though it was introduced into the movement in the late 1800's). Six months after the declaration of the State, this flag was adopted as the national flag."

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs concurs:

At the ceremony of the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, the dais was decorated with a picture of Theodor Herzl, flanked on either side by the flag of the World Zionist Organization. This flag, adopted by the first Zionist Congress in Basle in 1897, had become accepted by Jewish communities throughout the world as the emblem of Zionism ...

[The] decision to adopt the Zionist flag to be the flag of the State of Israel reflects its power as a symbol of the spirit of the Zionist movement.

The second thing to know is that the symbol at the center of the Zionist/Israeli flag—a hexagram referred to as the Star of David a.k.a. the Magen David/Shield of David—is not an ancient symbol of Judaism.

As noted in the "Magen David" entry in the Encyclopaedia Judaica, the hexagram was used "as early as the Bronze Age ... in many civilizations and in regions as far apart as Mesopotamia and Britain." The symbol also "appears in early Byzantine and many medieval European churches ... Probably in imitation of church usage – and certainly not as a specifically Jewish symbol – the hexagram is found on some synagogues from the later Middle Ages ..."

So, how did the hexagram become associated with Jews and Judaism? According to the Encyclopaedia Judaica: "The prime motive behind the wide diffusion of the sign in the 19th century was the desire to imitate Christianity."

Again, The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs concurs:

... the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol. The standard name for the geometric shape is a hexagram or six-pointed star, composed of two interlocking equilateral triangles. In a classic article, Gershom Sholem shed light on the history of the "Star of David" and its connection with Judaism ...

According to Sholem, the motive for the widespread use of the Star of David was a wish to imitate Christianity. During the Emancipation, Jews needed a symbol of Judaism parallel to the cross, the universal symbol of Christianity. In particular, they wanted something to adorn the walls of the modern Jewish house of worship that would be symbolic like the cross. This is why the Star of David became prominent in the nineteenth century and why it was later used on ritual objects and in synagogues and eventually reached Poland and Russia. The pursuit of imitation, in Sholem's opinion, led to the dissemination of an emblem that was not really Jewish and conveyed no Jewish message.

In The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions (Jewish Publication Society, 2004), author Ronald L. Eisenberg writes (pp. 575-576):

During the Middle Ages, hexagrams appeared frequently on seals and in churches but rarely in synagogues or on Jewish ritual objects. Indeed, from antiquity until after the Renaissance the menorah ... rather than the hexagram was the primary symbol of Judaism ...

In Vienna ... [in 1656] a marker was set up to demarcate the boundary between the city and the Jewish ghetto. A cross identified the Christian section and a six-pointed star indicated the Jewish area. This was the first time that the Magen David was used as a religious-cultural symbol of the Jewish community.

History cannot tell us what a symbol means to living people now but it can illuminate the path to that meaning. The connection between the Star of David and Judaism is relatively new. It emerges as a counterpoint to Christianity and is inextricably intertwined with and tainted by the rise of Zionism, the ideology of Jewish apartheid in Palestine.

See also: Moshe Ronen. "Magen David: From mystical talisman to Zionist symbol." Ynetnews.com. May 3, 2009.

Labels: Christianity, Judaism, Zionism

Bill Henry, Z"L,circa 1940

Wednesday, September 23, 2015, is the 6th annual Bill Henry international Eat-a-Cheeseburger day.* This day honors the memory of Bill Henry (né Herskovitz), Z"L, for a decision that quite possibly saved an eight-year-old boy from a life of "Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism". For the full story behind Eat-a-Cheeseburger Day please see the 2011 post about this momentous day.

*The holiday begins at sunset on 9/22 and ends at dusk on 9/23.

Labels: Bill Henry, halacha, Henry Herskovitz, Judaism, Talmud