Wednesday, July 19, 2006

The deadly racism of demanding Jewish restraint


Birkenau. The tracks which Ahmadinejad denies lead to the ovens which Ahmadinejad denies. But surely this all happened because of Jewish lack of restraint!

A true story, a parable
by Loy Mershimer

The elderly Jew looked out over the river, and silently laughed for joy. The sunlight ran from shore to shore, sparkling like diamonds on the water, calling forth praise. It was a good day, a day for giving thanks... A ferry pulled to the shore, and he stepped up to board, smiling slightly as the gentle breeze tufted his wise, grey beard. The wisdom of Torah lighted his face as his eyes blessed creation and creatures alike: “Praise you, G-d, for this good day!” “Praise you for these people here, that they could enjoy this scene with me!”

The beauty of his thoughts was suddenly broken by a strident voice: “A fig, I say!” “A fig for the Jew!” Through the clustered passengers strode a strongly built man, athletic and proud: “A fig for the Jew!” The big stranger ruffled the kippah of the elderly Jew and turned to play the crowd. “What do we have here?” he asked rhetorically, gesturing grandly. “We have ourselves a bona fide Jew!” “Rub its head three times for good luck; yank its beard and money will flow!”

Several of the clustered people chuckled; others turned away and pretended not to see…

“…Yank its beard and money will flow!” the rowdy strong man continued his litany, as he turned again to his victim. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Jew?” “Yank your beard and money will flow?” The elderly Jew replied with a look of trepidation: “What do you want from me?” he asked. Visions of past abuse danced in his soul…his head bowed.

“What will you pay me to stop yanking your beard, old man!” sneered the athlete. With that he yanked the man’s beard, and laughed to the crowd. “It’s a bank!” he cried. “Yank the string and money will clink out!” “Where’s the payment, old man?” Again, he yanked. And again.

Then, instinctively, impulsively, he knew not how it happened…something steeled in the soul of the old man…and as the strong bully grasped his beard for another yank, the old man bit down on his hand.

“Aaaaahhhh!” shouted the athletic bully. His proud words quickly turned to pain. “The Jew bit me!” he cried. His pride seamlessly turned to self-righteous indignation: “This Jew assaulted me for no reason!” He clutched his wounded finger and began calling for the police. “You saw him bite me!” he cried to a bystander. “Yes, I saw,” replied the man.

“Here now!” said the police officer. “What’s all this racket?”

“The Jew!” blustered the wounded bully. “This Jew attacked me for no reason, and bit my finger!” “You see the blood!” “This Jew wanted my blood!” “I was just having a little fun with him, and he attacked me!”

“Come with me,” said the officer, as he clasped the shoulder of the grey-bearded Jew.

“But, sir!” said the old man, tears in his eyes. “He was pulling my beard and threatening me! He was hurting me!” “Look, the hair pulled out by the roots, the blood on my face!”

“Tell that to the judge,” said the officer. “Come along.” “You’re under arrest for assault and battery.”

Later, the elderly Jew stood before the district judge, and told his story as true as it happened before G-d.

The pious judge listened to the story, hands about his chin. Then he reached for his gavel and clanked it down with all the weight of law-abiding authority: “A fine for the Jew!” he said. “Enough to cover damages and pain and suffering for this fine athlete!”

The gathered audience nodded their heads, tongues clucking in approval of the wise judge’s decision.

Then the judge turned to give a final lecture to the old Jew: “What’s the matter, old man?” he said, false moral authority creasing his portly brow. “Couldn’t you practice a little restraint?”

“Couldn’t you practice a little restraint?”

In this court of supposed justice echoed the most unjust words an ear could hear…words dripping with moral authority, yet so fatally wrong: of course it was the Jew’s fault, the words shouted: He didn’t practice restraint!

A true story, yet ongoing

It would be bad enough if this event only happened once, and it did happen…but the travesty is that its injustice continues. It happens often on an international scale, as a Jewish nation struggles for life and peace.

Terror? Rockets? Missiles? Kidnapping? Suicide bombs? Beard-pulling? Destruction? Such is a daily occurrence for a lonely nation, surrounded on the dock by a clustered crowd, some of whom add their voices in derision, others who turn away in silence: it’s only a Jew being terrorized, after all!

And so the nation gives up her land, land made to blossom as a garden, arid land turned into lucrative flower, and only asks for peace in return. But in return, what? More bombs, more terror, more injustice. “We’ll yank your beard, Mr. Jew. Where’s the money?” “We have the strong man behind us, you know!”

They didn’t want the Jew’s land after all; they only wanted the Jew’s destruction…

And yet the clustered crowd blames the Jew!

Selah.

The beard of the Jew is pulled again and again. Blood is running down his cheeks; his right to exist is denied, and actions for peace are mocked. Yet if he moves against the hand of his oppressor, it is his fault! The arrest must be made; this is peace, after all: the removal or submission of the Jew!

And if the Jew is destroyed, it’s all the same, surely!

After all, he didn’t practice restraint, you know…

13 comments:

Phil Dillon, Prairie Apologist said...

Loy

I came across your blog via Real Clear Politics. It appears that we both post to the site. I publish under the pseudonym "dilly."

Your essay moved me to tears, in part for the beauty of the prose and in part because of the awful truth they reveal.

For the past week or so I've been writing about what's happening in the Middle-East. I'd be honored if you would read some of what I've written and let me know what you think.

The people of Israel have earned our heartfelt prayers and thanks for standing up to the tyranny too long allowed by the "civilized" world. I believe it's now time for us to put hands and feet to our prayers in support of Israel.

I hope that you will continue to post to the RCP site. I'll be looking forward to what you have to say.

Loy Mershimer said...

Thank you, Phil!

We should be moved to tears, far more often...especially when faced with the rank injustices in our world.

I read several of your articles, btw, and really appreciate your thoughts. Light a candle in the darkness!

I'm going to link your site on my blog, too. Thanks for your heart and words,

Loy

Phil Dillon, Prairie Apologist said...

Loy

Thanks. I'll also be setting up a permalink to your site and will also put together a small blurb on mine so that the few who read it will have a chance to read yours. I don't get much traffic (about 75-100 per day), but I will mean that you might be able to pick up about a few more regular readers.

Keep the faith; keep up the good work.

Phil Dillon, Prairie Apologist said...

Loy

I've set the permalink up on my site.

Loy Mershimer said...

Thanks, Phil! Many blessings to you, too. I've also linked you, here...

Loy

peace said...

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

As a Canadian I condemn the violence of terrorists for their cowardly crimes against the innocent.

Thanks for the story. I will share it as an object lesson with those I come in contact with in the coming days.

Peace

Loy Mershimer said...

Thank you, peace, for your words. Perhaps this story can echo in the lives of those with whom you share...and the sufferings of a Jew long ago can mitigate the threat to Jews today!

And indeed! pray for peace upon Jerusalem...

Blessings to you,

Loy

Loy Mershimer said...

d_Brit, though I think I know where you are coming from, and generally agree, I have a couple points of disagreement:

1. You state that "sympathetic comments only accomplish avoidance."

I disagree. In giving emotional support to someone, it does not follow that one must a. deny the underlying issues of the victim, or b. enable the continued dysfunction of the perpetrator.

For instance, I can give complete emotional support (i.e. sympathy) to a girl who has been raped, yet at the same time forcefully support the prosecution of her perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law.

One does not preclude the other; indeed, often accompanies it.

2. You imply that Israel has enabled this bullying/terrorist continuance.

Again, though there may be elements of enabling behavior here [on Israel's part], I don't think the accusation holds across the board, in essence. Israel has had her hands tied dozens of times over by world opinion and desertion of allies. The world media has been an able arm of enablement for decades, for instance. To the degree that this stance has been caused/continued by leftist Jews, your accusation holds. But this is not the whole of Israel or the Jewish people, by any stretch...

To blame Israel here for enablement is akin to blaming the girl for being raped, imo.

Or do I misunderstand your words?

Thanks for the great site reference, btw. Treppenwitz blog is good reading...

Many blessings,

Loy

Loy Mershimer said...

d_Brit,

Thanks for your clarifying words. A grim assessment, to be sure, but I think that you are correct in main. You ask [from the reality of asymmetic warfare leading to nuclear weapons], "How many wars does Israel have left to fight?" [The hanging IF of that question being: IF Israel does not maim the destructive capacity of those enemies.]

And, I think you are right to ask such a question. It is necessary and proper, and I agree that unless the Islamist bully is broken, this will only escalate to another day -- a day on which Israel's supremacy in weaponry and technology will not count toward safety.

It is a grim picture. Several points:

1. I agree that this current fight MUST end on Israel's terms, nothing less -- not world opinion, not premature U.S. intervention, or leftist pragmatics. Anything less is only asking Israel to invite total destruction later.

2. Yet, even if the fight ends on Israel's terms, and the Islamicist Hezbollah bully is broken, this still does not guarantee Israel's long term safety. In an era of asymmetric warfare, exponentially raised by nuclear potential, destruction is only one successful terrorist attack away.

3. Which means, the picture is even grimmer than you painted, in reality. Given even the correct assumptions in your post, with their successful application, a threat still remains as long a WMD capacity remains anywhere within Islamicist reach. And, as long as oil money flows like water to Islamicists, this is a serious potentiality...

4. So, my reply is a two-pronged front: Israel must reply with every resource in her power, both physical and spiritual.

Here, I think, is where Israel can trump her enemies -- not in reliance on physical prowess, intellect and diligence alone, but in seeking the divine protection which alone can defend when human resources fail.

Again, this is not offered as an excuse to deny the strongest physical terms; no! it assumes that...yet raises it to another dimension [of good] as surely as asymmetric Islamic warfare has been raised to another dimension by evil.

As related in the Jerusalem Post, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, in a letter to IDF soldiers and to residents in the North, called to strengthen faith in God, repent from sin and do good deeds.

Amar opened his letter with verses from Deuteronomy:

"Listen Israel, you draw near today to do battle against your enemies; let not your hearts faint; fear not and do not tremble nor be terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is he that goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you."

Article: Rabbi Amar: Faith and repentance can help war effort

This is the dimension of which I speak...

Do everything in human power, and then seek divine power in penitence. Is there anything else to be done?

Loy

Loy Mershimer said...

Thanks, d_Brit!

Your thoughts are incisive and apt, and I appreciate them. Thanks for posting here, for sharing your heart and mind. Post anytime!

Good stuff and timely...

To our prayers!

Loy
p.s. and anyone that quotes Louis L'Amour when confronting radical Islam is ok in my book! :-) lol, you can guard my back anytime in a throw down, lol... and if need be, put a call out to the Sacketts!

Anonymous said...

"When you are persecuted for my name's sake, rejoice"

The beauty, truth and goodness of your 'parable' strikes quick to the heart of the soul.

Thank you and G-d Bless.

Prayer for the nation of Israel and protection for every member of the IDF enjoining in JUST battle at this moment.

MAY THE HOLY, IMMORTAL, ALL POWERFUL ONE OF ISRAEL WHO NEVER SLUMBERS OR SLEEPS AND WHOSE EYE WATCHES ETERNALLY OVER THE APPLE OF HIS EYE, ISRAEL (HUMANITY'S LIFE SOURCE) STRENGTHEN OUR MINDS, SPIRITS, SOULS IN THE BATTLE FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. AMEN.

I will refer others to your site which lucidly explains what is at stake.

Gail said...

Wonderful post. Terrific discussion.

When I say "thank you," it really doesn't say enough.

Loy Mershimer said...

Thanks, Gail,

A "thank you" says a lot -- and makes the effort even more rewarding! Truth is its own reward, surely, but a thank you lightens the way. :-)

God bless and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you, and those you love!

Loy