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question everything

(48,898 posts)
Sun Dec 24, 2023, 11:00 PM Dec 2023

Why the Jewish Way of Living Matters

From a month ago, published in the WSJ.

Why do Jewish lives matter? Why do we suddenly care so much about Israel or Jewish survival? Is it merely from a nativist love of our own or a need to deny posthumous victories to Hitler? Is it only the Jew as eternal victim that we cherish? God forbid. “Never again” is never enough. What matters are not only Jewish lives, but the Jewish way of living. Jewish identity, purpose and meaning are highly contested notions, not least in Israel. The nation’s recent political battles have been about nothing less than the Jewishness of the Jewish state: whether and in what ways “startup nation” should remain the people of the book.

Yet both sides of these debates appeal to Jewish principles—the Israeli left to the prophets’ demands for justice and regard for the other, the Israeli right to the law’s concern with holiness. Beneath these differences are widely shared beliefs and values, also Torah-based: A cultural disposition to gratitude for the astonishing gift of life and world. A belief in the equal dignity of all human beings, each in the image of God. The duty to honor father and mother, the foundation of family life and cultural transmission. Reverence for life and limb, body and soul. Equality before the law. Commitment to care for widows, orphans and the poor. Humane treatment of the stranger. Moral seriousness: a felt need to give an account of one’s life, to practice atonement, to seek and offer forgiveness.

(snip)

Although the Jewish people are few in number, they are of enormous consequence for the Western world. Ideas central to our civilization first entered through the Hebrew Bible: all men are created equal; respect for life; the Ten Commandments. America’s political ideas may come from Locke and Montesquieu—modern science and technology are largely of European and North American origins—but humanly, morally and religiously speaking, the West is a biblical civilization.

(snip)

As the past several weeks have shown, Israeli national solidarity runs deep. Thousands have organized to provide for those in need. Haredi men are volunteering for the army; secular soldiers are requesting tzitzit. Hamas’s barbarism revealed one nation, indivisible: an island of cultural and moral sanity in a world gone mad.

More..

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-jewish-way-of-living-matters-israel-hamas-war-west-civilization-55a4265f?st=1obtpyxb5qa2uzy&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

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Why the Jewish Way of Living Matters (Original Post) question everything Dec 2023 OP
i live in a very jewish area. mopinko Dec 2023 #1
Thank you for your kind words question everything Dec 2023 #2
well, the reality isnt simple. mopinko Dec 2023 #3
Thank you, mop! elleng Jan 2024 #4
most welcome my friend mopinko Jan 2024 #5

mopinko

(71,868 posts)
1. i live in a very jewish area.
Mon Dec 25, 2023, 07:42 AM
Dec 2023

i hope it’s not inappropriate for a goy to say this, but my jewish neighbors arent only ok, they’re the best ppl i know. their dedication to family, young and old, and community, is y so many succeed.
they’re an example of what happens when the safety net has NO holes.
we have our share of out there sects, but even they cant hold a candle to the xtian nutjobs running rampant in the world.

and ftr, i follow an account on xitter that tracks pedos. priests, youth pastors and cops r daily fare. i sent her a note and asked- u ever see rabbis? ans- only very very rarely.
i know exactly 2 jews who r even a little kinky.

imho, it’s jealousy.

question everything

(48,898 posts)
2. Thank you for your kind words
Mon Dec 25, 2023, 10:22 AM
Dec 2023

Yes, there are bad Jewish people, like many. I thought that the ideas were a bit simplistic but there are some truth there.



And Merry Christmas


mopinko

(71,868 posts)
3. well, the reality isnt simple.
Mon Dec 25, 2023, 11:54 AM
Dec 2023

i was gonna go on and on a bit. but i’ll leave it at- i’ve lived here for 35 yrs, so it’s not a distant view.

and ftr, xmas is just a day to me. but thanks for the sentiment.

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