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| Education Minister Rafi :Peretz (TOI) |
I think we might just about be there. We may not be at war. But one would have a hard time believing that the very people that were persecuted over the centuries because they were Jews -culminating in the Holocaust - are now seeing each other almost in the spirit of those that oppressed us.
The latest incarnation of this is a comment made by new Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz. Which according to the times of Israel indicated that The rate of intermarriage among US Jews is “like a second Holocaust,”
Rabbi Daniel Landes was fit to be tied after hearing this and wrote a counter to it that saying things like the following:
(Peretz) reveals his odious Kahanist identity. For Peretz and his ilk, Iran, Israel’s neighbors, the Palestinians, ‘leftists and assimilationists’, are all harbingers of the Holocaust, and now he adds the Jewish people of the Diaspora to that list…
(Peretz) is not sitting atop just any ministry. As one who should be seen as the Educator-in-Chief of the State of Israel, he should be sent packing before he causes further damage – we cannot survive his statements and potential mischief until September 17th elections.
The invective doesn’t stop there. Rabbi Landes continues along those line throughout his article.
I get why Peretz said that. But using Holocaust imagery with respect to anything other than the Holocaust itself is always bad idea. Once you do that, you undermine the very point you are trying to make. That is what brings about reactions like those of Rabbi Landes.
But what Peretz tried to say (rather badly) is that the number of Jews that are being lost to Judaism in this country is of about the same magnitude as that those that were killed in the Holocaust. He is absolutely right about that. It is something I have noted myself many times. At a 70% intermarriage rate – all you have to do, is the math.
Added to this tragedy (and yes - tragedy is the only way to see intermarriage if you are a believing Jew) is the fact that even among those that do not intermarry, there are a huge number of Jews that could not care less about their own Judaism - seeing themselves as secular humanists.
It is with this in mind that I find an comments by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt against Peretz to be incompatible with the perpetuation of our existence as Jews. If one cares about is about the persecution of the Jewish people, then perforce one should care about Jewish continuity. Because if you ignore that, you eventually won’t need an ADL because their won’t be a Jewish people. Here is what he said:
It’s inconceivable to use the term ‘Holocaust’ to describe Jews choosing to marry non-Jews. It trivializes the Shoah,” Greenblatt tweeted. “It alienates so many members of our community. This kind of baseless comparison does little other than inflame and offend.”
Well, yes. As I said use of Holocaust imagery in other contexts is a bad idea. Greenblatt is right to criticize him for the use of that word. But without adding that this is a problem of great magnitude he implies that it isn’t really such a problem. That the bigger problem is that Peretz used a ‘hot-button’ word that he shouldn’t have.
How can Greenblatt ignore the message itself? It does not seem to concern him. Does he not care that so many Jews are leaving Judaism?. As long as you don’t refer to it as a Holocaust - all is OK?
So there you have it. Liberal Jews sees the losses of Jews to Judaism as not such a big deal. Orthodox Jews see it as a major tragedy about which something needs to be done.
I have no clue how to change the current phenomenon of the vast majority of Jews assimilating out of Judaism. I believe it is it is happening because of the unprecedented acceptance of Jews in this country at this point in time – combined with over a century of heterodox movements that tolerated or even encouraged it is why this is happening at an accelerated rate.
This is what the focus should be on. Not on the poor choice of terms to describe it.
What can be done? There are many good organization that do a great job at outreach. But their successes are a drop in the bucket compared to those they are unable to reach.
We all have to do our part. And the best way to do that is by living in ways that will be see as a Kiddush HaShem. We must live ethical and moral lives and never skirt the system for financial advantage. We must behave with kindness towards our fellow man. We must behave in ways that will garner respect and admiration. And reject behavior that will be seen as a Chilul HaShem – EVEN IF – that behavior might be technically within the letter of the law.
We should never bow to the temptation to say ‘everybody else is doing it, why shouldn’t we?’ We must hold ourselves to a higher standard. If enough of us do that, we might have a significant impact on those of us that have heretofore seen us only in what they consider archaic ritualistic terms that are meaningless to them.
If each one of us that is serious about our Judaism and are exemplars of and ethics and morality, secular Jews will begin to see us in a different light. And perhaps be motivated to look into their heritage a bit more. You never know, that may have the biggest impact of all.