wkp@lanl.ARPA (12/19/84)
I'm sorry, Eliyahu, but this time you really struck a raw nerve..... You say that the "state of Israel is not very Jewish at all", that Jews in Israel "don't give a damn about Judaism," and finally that [and I quote]: > The Jewish nation had survived for 2000 years without a country of their >own and I dare say they could have survived another 2000. Of course having >the state is very nice, but looking at it now, it has hardly been a religious >blessing. I really don't know if such an occurence [Independence Day] >should be celebrated. > > Eliyahu Teitz. Arghhh! As one of those Jews who unlike you, happened to have been born in Israel, may I respond? You insult me by writing that I care less about Judaism than those born in Queens or Jersey City or Miami. I am very sorry that my family feels it is important for a Jew to live in Israel instead of where you are living. It hurts me that my brother who is a rabbinical student and is now fighting in Lebanon can never be as truly Jewish as you. Like hell! You are bearing false witness when you say that Jews in Israel don't give a damn about Judaism. Are you prepared to back up that statement by anything other than your own impressions? It may surprise you to learn of a recent survey of high school students in Jerusalem which found that they identified themselves more with being "Jewish" than being "Israeli" or even being "a member of the human race." But maybe you judge your fellow Jews in Israel by a different standard. Maybe some of them aren't as saintly as the Lubavitcher rebbe; maybe the state of Israel is not perfect. Maybe they don't eat kreplach and speak Yiddish. But anyone such as yourself should realize that the Jewish people have never been saints (no, not even b'zman matan torah). When was Israel a perfectly righteous nation? Why do you think G-d provided for a Temple to be built anyway (note: in Jerusalem, not Flatbush)? More to the point, since when did G-d appoint Galut Jews as the judges of Eretz Yisrael? Anyway, it was nice of you to concede that it's "nice" to have Israel around. My father who happened to spend World War II in Poland obviously agrees with you. The difference is that he fought in that War of Independence that you refuse to celebrate; the difference is that he looked beyond his aversion to the secular socialists of the Mapam party that you are obviously referring to. I wish you a happy Chanukah--and as you play with your s'vivon (oops! dreidl), and sing your songs--remember, "nes gadol hayah *SHAM*": A great miracle happened *THERE*!! bill peter