It is well known that David ben Gurion had little in the way of a “Jewish” identity. Sure, he was Jewish and one cannot take that away from him. He was however, a secular Jew as were most Zionists of the day, and the policies adopted by Israel at that time reflected that.
I speak, among other things, of the completely secular education system adopted by the fledgling state, as well as of the forceful “re-education” of populations from places such as Yemen that boasted unbroken traditional ties to the First Temple era – ties that the then Government of Israel tried to erase.
Their view was for a secular state, which is surprising, coming as it did, on the back of the Holocaust, which had occurred in the country where so called “reform” Judaism had originated, and where many, many Jews were proud to call themselves Germans and to let their Judaism take a back seat – to the point of non-existence.
It seems as if they had not learned the lesson of the Holocaust, nay, not even the lessons of a broader history, nor the ones that have been enumerated in the Torah.
Such is the lot of Jews who would assimilate, they become swallowed up into the societies around them, becoming ever more diluted, until they cease to be Jews of any real substance. They may remain “Jewish” in name, but that is really all that it is.
What is Judaism? This is a question that is at once so vast and at the same time, so simple.
It’s vastness, is contained within volumes and volumes of text, the sheer quantity of which deems such knowledge practically unattainable.
On the other hand, it is a way of life, a way of life that has preserved the Jews for thousands of years, against all the odds. Against nations that were sworn to destroy it. We did not survive through assimilation, for if that were the case, we would no longer exist.
Therein, lies it’s simplicity, it is a practical thing that can be practiced by all and it guarantees it’s own survival in this way.
The Jews have survived for thousands and thousands of years, because of, and not in spite of, those die hard, observant Jews that everybody seems to hate. Yes, even many “Jews” hate them, but as I said, if it wasn’t for them, Judaism would not exist.
This is a fact that seems to be lost on many people that (even proudly) call themselves Jews, people that would spit on their traditions and dilute themselves in the rivers of assimilation.
If my grandfather was not who he was and his father was not who he was, I would today, not be who I am.
I am a Jew, and proud of my heritage.
I also happen to have grown up in Rhodesia and South Africa, the seat of apartheid. There are those that now call Israel’s “Jewish nation state” law by the name apartheid.
To those people, I ask, where does the law state that Arabs cannot ride on buses with Jews, cannot vote, cannot be treated in Jewish hospitals, cannot avail themselves of social security or be members of the Knesset?
I don’t believe that it does.
Israel has long been the nation state of the Jewish people, we have always had the right of return and the majority of Arabs do not serve in the military.
The law itself actually changes very little, if anything. All it has done, is taken an intangible concept and put it into a tangible form.
I argue, that this law, is essential to the very survival of the Jewish people. It is a logical progression, given the hatred piled upon the Jews and Israel by the rest of the world. Said hatred unrelenting, since long before the state of Israel came into being.
Those Jews who would deny their heritage, have little respect for what being a Jew really is, they are Jews in name only and they will become diluted and assimilated, lost to history.
It is about time we stood proud of our heritage once more, as did King David in his time.
We Jews have much to be proud of, so why are we always trying to turn the other cheek and avoid being seen? If we continually bow to world pressure at our own expense, it will be the end of us.
