When David Becomes Goliath
Ami Eden’s spittin’ fightin’ words:
For more than half a century, Auschwitz has rightly stood at the heart of virtually every moral argument put forth by spokesmen for the Jewish community, a powerful testament to the consequences of otherwise decent people remaining silent in the face of evil. Yet this legacy is in peril, threatened by an increasing reliance on raw political muscle over appeals to conscience.
Jewish organizations and advocates for Israel should remember that “speaking truth to power” does not work when you are seen as the powerful one.
Check out his complete op-ed.
Or as one of my Fed CJA supervisors once said:
“We can’t keep employing the scare tactics routine to raise funds. We’re creating a donor weary community”
Hell, even a post-Fedhead like myself cringes when I get the Sunday call. I give all my money to the little shul I attend. I’m tired of sponsoring fancy lunches and lectures on the Holocaust and Terrorism.
on that note: http://www.nypress.com/16/25/news&columns/feature.cfm
no see nobody gives a shit about Rushkoff. I guess he expected his book to bring about a revolution but of course nobody cared. He’s gonna die, nobody will shed a tear. Judaism will survive for thousands of years as it has.
alex, you may not care for rushkoff’s work, but there are quite a number of people who do, including many influential rabbonim and philanthropists whom he has been working closely with since the release of his book. while it may not have caused a revolution in your mind, it most certainly did in theirs, and the application of the insight he’s offered will eventually trickle down to the jewish masses whether folks like you are aware of it or not.
further, when the day comes of douglas’ passing, i for one will most certainly shed a tear. he’s a very dear friend of mine and a contributor to this site, and i’m offended by your remarks.
Hey Mobius,
I was knee deep in Jewish life in Montreal and Vancouver and I never heard of the guy. And I still don’t. Sorry dude, his “There ain’t no God but Jewish culture is sorta cool” is only being swallowed by the Heeb folks. And I give that mag 2 years max.
I dunno. Spittin’? Fightin’? Seems like Ami Eden is tapping into an age-old theme. Jewish organizations are seen as a global Goliath, close to the seats of power and capable of influencing policies and damaging reputations? Um, duh.
Ami Eden is off his rocker. Sorry. Next, I’ll be expecting somebody to claim, unequivocally, that Israel is an apartheid state.
http://www.jewlicious.com/index.php?p=714
I like that term; ‘latent Jews’.
On another message board, an ex-Russian was ranting that what ‘Israel’ does to the Russian immigrant (who wants to live with Jews, and serve in the army, pay taxes, and goes through hardships to convert so that most don’t want to) says that this will pale to the treatment given to American ‘latent’ Jews when they’ll make aliyah en masse.
Let’s get to that point and worry about it instead of wasting time whining about why American Jews give each other that attitude.
Ami Eden writes: “For more than half a century, Auschwitz has rightly stood at the heart of virtually every moral argument put forth by spokesmen for the Jewish community, a powerful testament to the consequences of otherwise decent people remaining silent in the face of evil. Yet this legacy is in peril, threatened by an increasing reliance on raw political muscle over appeals to conscience.”
Speaking “truth to power,” is more often than not a matter of perspective. Also in the Forward, David Mamet wrote some interesting stuff that provides a compelling counterpoint: http://tinylink.com/?LyLzFZnSNj
Imaginary Jews are the delight of the world. They include Anne Frank, Janusz Korczak, the Warsaw Ghetto fighters and the movie stars in “Exodus.” These Jews delight the world in their willingness to die heroically as a form of entertainment. The plight of actual Jews, however, has traditionally been more problematic, and paradoxically, those same folk who weep at “Sophie’s Choice,” sniff at the State of Israel….
This Western world is, I think, deeply confused between the real and the imaginary. All of us moviegoers, who awarded ourselves the mantle of humanity for our tears at “The Diary of Anne Frank” — we owe a debt to the Jews. We do not owe this debt out of any “Unwritten Ordinance of Humanitarianism” but from a personal accountability. Having eaten the dessert, cheap sentiment, it is time to eat the broccoli. If you love the Jews as victims, but detest our right to statehood, might you not ask yourself “why?” That is your debt to the Jews (David Mamet, “‘If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem’: The Power of Blunt Nostalgia,” The Forward, Dec 27, 2002).
dude, if the Jews are Nazis why do they pay for universities that end up being hotbeds of Arab terror against Jews?
Why does Israeli tax money go to building schools named after Arab terrorists that kill children?
if you believe that there’s a bridge I can sell you.
this Eden guy is a self hating Jew
and Rushkoff is an assimilationist who is trying to rewrite the Torah so he doesn’t have to keep it.
Here’s a gem from the Rushkoff article:
“The reason Jews have such a hard time explaining Judaism, “the religion,” is that we aren’t about beliefs. All we really have is a process–an ongoing conversation. You get initiated, a bar or bat mitzvah, by proving you can read the Torah and speak somewhat intelligently about it. No statements of faith required–just literacy and an opinion about what you’ve read earn you a place at the table. Then you get to argue with the old guys. ”
Stuff like this gives me the feeling that Rushkoff isn’t qualified to be writing books about Judaism. I’m not sure he knows enough to be allowed to graduate the average yeshiva’s eighth grade.
from what I heard and read the response to Rushkoff’s book has been overwhelmingly negative,which for some reason surprised him. Reform “Rabbonim” who are big fans of assimilation and intermarriage dont count.
I mean the person came out saying that all of Judaism is BS and he expected what?
Yeah, I have a hard time taking Rushkoff seriously. His whole deal seems to be to create a laissez faire Judaism so that he can feel less guilty about assimilating.
What bothers me even more is Rushkoff’s notion that Judaism is essentially without content. Anyone who even glances at a bookshelf filled with the classic works of Judaism (let alone reads anything in the bookshelf) knows better. Either Rushkoff is completely ignorant about the subject regarding which he is attempting to change people’s minds, or he knows better and is trying to fool people. Either way, he’s useless.
Some responses to Eden’s piece in the Times:
http://tinyurl.com/5m7wj