Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Portents

Today I saw something that would not only have been impossible, but would have been inconceivable, a mere 60 years ago, a Hanukkiah at the Brandenburg Gate! I don't care whether or not the miracle of Hanukah was true or not, but it's our Jewish symbol, and it was set up in a place that was the symbol of the Nazi regime and of German nationalism. Certainly we as Jews suffered a terrible price as a result of the hatred of the Germans and most Europeans, but now they are all peace-loving, and if not philo-Semitic at least not so anti-Semitic that they would prevent such public displays of Jewish existence right in their core. Even the Polish President visited the Synagogue in Warsaw and there was also a Hanukkiah near Red Square in Moscow. What has the world become? It's not the coming of the Messiah yet, but the protents are there!
The case of Bernard Madoff, the NY banker behind the b$50 Ponzi scheme that defrauded many public figures and institutions, reminds me of the book "David Golder" by Irene Nemirovsky. Although Nemirovsky was Jewish, this book about a money-grubbing, immoral and fraudulent banker is thoroughly anti-Semitic, and in fact was used by the Nazis for propaganda. If the web had not shown an increase in anti-Semitic comments after the Madoff affair wouldn't we have been surprised? Yet, so far it has not led to pogroms in Kishinev, riots in Vienna, demonstrations in Berlin, or even placards in New York. Now anti-Semitism is there, but not overt and not violent. How long that will be remains to be seen.
Meanwhile the Arabs in Gaza continue to laugh at us, as Muhammed said to Ahmed, "you owe me another 10 shekels, Barak said 'we will not stand for these rocket attacks' again, for the 20th time!" The use of Jewish power is the only thing that ensures our existence here, and for power to be effective it must be credible. Unfortunately we have lost all deterrent capability, and the world believes the Hamas PR campaign when they show empty warehouses and say they are starving, when there is ample food smuggled thru the tunnels from Egypt and when they burn candles when they have plenty of electricity (75% of their needs supplied by the grids of Israel and Egypt). People don't realize that since western journalists cannot enter Gaza, all reporting from there is done by Palestinaian "stringers" who are controlled by Hamas, so you are reading the news Hamas wants you to read and the western press has no concern about printing it (they agree with it)!
These are all portents of things to come. Ultimately Israel must use its power not only because of the shelling of Israeli territory, but Jewish/Israeli morale requires it. If we can have Hanukkiahs in Berlin and Moscow, what are we patsies, who stand by while they launch hundreds of rockets at us.

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