Just Because You’re A Jew

Just Because You’re A Jew doesn’t mean you get to change the meaning of one of our holidays. Especially when you’re the boss of a gigantic Internet “community” whose pages are filled with vile Jew hatred that does not “violate community standards”.

Just before Pessach Mark Zuckerberg posted the following (testing out his company’s new “Celebrating Passover” feature no doubt). Here’s what he wrote with my highlights:

Mark Zuckerberg celebrating Passover FacebookTonight is Max’s first Passover — the holiday celebrating the Jews’ escape from slavery, survival as refugees and rebuilding as immigrants in a new land.

Every year, my family gets together to give thanks for our freedom and for those who suffered so we could be here. For me, the most important tradition is to remember that we will not be truly free until every person is free. While we give thanks, we pray that next year every person will find their home.

Tonight, I’m reflecting on these words from President Obama:

“Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger — we were strangers once, too.”

Passover reminds us that we were strangers once, too.

I hope we have the humanity to bring people together, so one day every person will be free and will find their home.

My friend Ari replied:

The Jews weren’t “immigrants” in a “new land”. The Hagada (Passover storybook) says very clearly the Children of Israel (Jews) went down to Egypt TEMPORARILY and were enslaved, and RETURNED to their homeland, Israel, where they’d lived since Abraham.

Which is completely correct. Jews and Judaism returned to Israel. Greatly affected by its time in slavery, Egypt and various wanderings including, very importantly, receiving the Torah (our Laws) at Mount Sinai.

I’m no biblical scholar which I why I don’t pretend to play one in real life. It’s clear Mark knows even less than I do. It’s very clear that trying to turn this holiday into some kind of PR stunt for Angela Merkel is really not Kosher for Passover.

Update: Here’s another great explanation by Joy of points completely lost on Mark Zuckerberg:

Zuckerberg misses the point entirely. Passover is NOT celebrating the Jews escape from slavery, survival as refugees and rebuilding as immigrants in a new land.

We didn’t ‘escape’, God led us out.
We didn’t ‘survive’, God fed us with manna and quail for 40 years.
We didn’t rebuild as ‘immigrants’, God brought us into the Land that He gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What Haggadah is Zuckerberg reading from? Passover commemorates God bringing us out of Egypt, delivering us out of their bondage, redeeming us, and taking us as His people.

6 thoughts on “Just Because You’re A Jew”

  1. i believe that there is still hope for those who have a seder

    he may have no clue what it is about, but at least he isnt the 5th son…the one who chooses not to attend

    1. ahad_ha_amoratsim

      I am not fond of the term JINO. Zuckeberg is an infant raised in captivity and merits our sympathy, even while we lament — and are outraged at — the harm his statements and actions do to our people. He has kedushas Yisroel, even though he has no idea what that means.

      For all his faults, he does not seem to be one of the As-a-Jews/Ashamed Jews, who dust off their Jewishness only when they need it as a shield for spreading anti-Jewish and anti-Israel lies, a la Bernie. But yeah, do I wish that someone could have some positive Jewish influence on him.

  2. ahad_ha_amoratsim

    Zuckerberg seems to be talking about Jewish families coming to the US after the Shoah. Someone needs to tell him that the history of our people did not begin in the 1930s, and that the US was not meant as the final destination of the Jewish people.
    As my friend Shmul in Chicago was told by a Chabad rabbi, “It’s been a long golus.” Which I took to mean that many of us, as one of the bitter side effects of golus, have lost touch with too much of what connects us to our people, our land, and most of all, our Creator.

  3. Kabkabu šamāyīma

    The sad truth is that for ultra-leftist Jews, Jewishness is just a convenient way of promoting cultural marxism. No more no less.

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