Friday, July 28, 2006
Know your enemy
I was thinking about Jews for Jesus and the Neturei Karta. Funny combination of groups, right? But both are enemies of normative Judaism, but both are Jewish groups.
I think it's interesting that we spend a lot of time, money, and mental energy on thinking about and fighting against these Jewish enemies, while our real enemies are shooting rockets as far as Nahariya.
I don't have any answers. Maybe there are physical, political, and spiritual enemies, and they're not all the same person at the same time. But I think it's curious that we have millions of bloodthirsty Jihadi savages slavering at our throats and we're busy stabbing one another in the tuchis.
Jews make up what, a tenth of a percent of the world population? So why is J4J pushing so hard to get us to convert? Why are they spending millions and engaging in such high-profile activities?
If you walk (as I did yesterday) along the tunnel that connects 7th and 8th avenues at the Port Authority subway station, you'll see what I'm talking about. EVERY billboard along the entire tunnel is plastered with J4J signs. The marketing slogan is "Jews for Jesus - Jesus for Jews." Which is so stupid. I mean, I could have come up with a better marketing campaign than that.
But stupid though it may be, each billboard has the message in bright colors and bold, paint-stroke print.
And it made me feel self-conscious. All of a sudden, I wasn't the guy walking to 7th avenue. I was the Jew with the yarmulke, running a gauntlet of propaganda aimed specifically at me.
Why do they need to focus such a bright spotlight on me? On us? Targeting us in a very specific way?
I mean, I know the answers to these questions, in theory. Evangelical dogma and end-times prophecies and whatnot. But it still feels weird, and I want to call them on it. But i'm always running for a train when I see the leafleteers, and at the end of the day, I know it's not them who dreamed up the campaign and paid for the billboards.
On to Neturei Karta - the Arab-loving lunatics in bekeshes and payos who often appear at anti-Israel rallies. (Don't say anti-Israel! Say anti-Zionist! Right. Right. Anti-semitic rallies.)
So apparently, they've been interviewed on Fox News, MSNBC, and various other news outlets in recent days, offering apologies for Hezbollah and blaming the escalating violence and body count on Zionists. They don't express this as their opinion; they insist that it is the Torah approach and the only possible expression of authentic Judaism. If there are any unaffiliated or gentile readers still with me - ignore them, please.
One friend of mine suggested they have a din rodef, as their actions are supporting our enemies, and thus we are Torah-bound to kill them. I don't disagree.
But I'm not whipping out my sword just yet. Because at the end of the day, if I'm busy clashing with J4J and NK, I'm not focusing on the real haters of Israel - Islamo-fascist fundamentalist freaks who want nothing more than to kill me. And that, I think, is where our attention should be focused.
I think it's interesting that we spend a lot of time, money, and mental energy on thinking about and fighting against these Jewish enemies, while our real enemies are shooting rockets as far as Nahariya.
I don't have any answers. Maybe there are physical, political, and spiritual enemies, and they're not all the same person at the same time. But I think it's curious that we have millions of bloodthirsty Jihadi savages slavering at our throats and we're busy stabbing one another in the tuchis.
Jews make up what, a tenth of a percent of the world population? So why is J4J pushing so hard to get us to convert? Why are they spending millions and engaging in such high-profile activities?
If you walk (as I did yesterday) along the tunnel that connects 7th and 8th avenues at the Port Authority subway station, you'll see what I'm talking about. EVERY billboard along the entire tunnel is plastered with J4J signs. The marketing slogan is "Jews for Jesus - Jesus for Jews." Which is so stupid. I mean, I could have come up with a better marketing campaign than that.
But stupid though it may be, each billboard has the message in bright colors and bold, paint-stroke print.
And it made me feel self-conscious. All of a sudden, I wasn't the guy walking to 7th avenue. I was the Jew with the yarmulke, running a gauntlet of propaganda aimed specifically at me.
Why do they need to focus such a bright spotlight on me? On us? Targeting us in a very specific way?
I mean, I know the answers to these questions, in theory. Evangelical dogma and end-times prophecies and whatnot. But it still feels weird, and I want to call them on it. But i'm always running for a train when I see the leafleteers, and at the end of the day, I know it's not them who dreamed up the campaign and paid for the billboards.
On to Neturei Karta - the Arab-loving lunatics in bekeshes and payos who often appear at anti-Israel rallies. (Don't say anti-Israel! Say anti-Zionist! Right. Right. Anti-semitic rallies.)
So apparently, they've been interviewed on Fox News, MSNBC, and various other news outlets in recent days, offering apologies for Hezbollah and blaming the escalating violence and body count on Zionists. They don't express this as their opinion; they insist that it is the Torah approach and the only possible expression of authentic Judaism. If there are any unaffiliated or gentile readers still with me - ignore them, please.
One friend of mine suggested they have a din rodef, as their actions are supporting our enemies, and thus we are Torah-bound to kill them. I don't disagree.
But I'm not whipping out my sword just yet. Because at the end of the day, if I'm busy clashing with J4J and NK, I'm not focusing on the real haters of Israel - Islamo-fascist fundamentalist freaks who want nothing more than to kill me. And that, I think, is where our attention should be focused.
