Saturday, January 24, 2009

Who Is Really Anachronistic?

Sarah Honig has a piece in the Jerusalem Post Magazine (not yet online) on anti-Jewish Jews, as part of their anti-Zionism and recalls Theodor Lessing who popularized the phrase "Jewish self-hatred" which originated in his book, Der Judische Selbsthass, a classic on the phenomena of Jewish self-hatred.

Jules Carlebach summarizes Lessing's basic thesis like this:

"There is a fundamental principle in the Old Testament that the fate of the Jewish people is always a consequence of their own behavior. Suffering therefore implies sin and guilt. Logically, the greater the suffering, the greater the guilt. Here, for Lessing, is the root of self-hatred. Other people have interpreted their misfortunes by pointing to those who brought misfortune to them, whereas the Jews enmeshed in their conviction that they have brought misfortune on themselves, can see their tormentors only as instruments of God. The tormentor in turn can use the Jews' own view of his guilt to explain why he ill-treats Jews. Hence anti-Semitism is not a product of ill will, national egoism or hate and jealousy in international competition. It is the Jewish conception of meaning in history."


I was reminded of all this psychological stuff in reading (here) Bernard Avishai:

And since 1967, its anachronistic “Zionist” settlement policies, and laws privileging orthodoxy, have engendered a huge Judean state-within-a-state, centered on Jerusalem, largely theocratic, and deeply implicated in West Bank settlements. Judea is less educated than the rest of Israel and instinctively more tribalist. “Judeans” are largely wards of the state: most disdain peace (that is, a return of a couple of million of Palestinian refugees to Greater Jerusalem) as the end of their way of life. Diaspora Jewish big-shots are mostly smitten by Judeans, whose religious and survivalist rhetoric they understand much better Tel-Aviv’s eclectic Hebrew culture.


How can Jewish renewal of national existence in its historic homeland while advancing agriculture, environmental issues, economy, education, culture and also trying to aid the Arabs be anachronistic?

Perhaps Avishai is selbsthass anachronistic?

6 comments:

g said...

"Also trying to aid the arabs"? Who are you kidding medad? You are are "advancing" by destroying other nation and its culture, its economy and other aspects of life. You are building your nation on other nation's blood.

YMedad said...

Watch it, Galia, your pen may slip and next you'll write that we bake our Matzot for Passover with Arab blood.

g said...

I am not antisemite, medad. And i definetely wouldn't make a claim out of thin air. I am simply stating the facts.

YMedad said...

i didn't write what you seem to assume. i just warned you that you could be on a slippery slope.

g said...

On a slippery slope to what? :)

YMedad said...

sitting down hard on your tuches