Evil Targets God's Chosen (Dennis Prager On The Jews As Civilization's Miners' Canary Alert)

Los Angeles Times ^ | 07/10/05 | Dennis Prager

[goldstategop]

The Jews were chosen by God to be among other things, the miners' canary of civilization. Hatred and assault upon this small people and their equally small country is a sign that something is amiss in the condition of humanity. We ignore it only at our own peril for in the end whatever is thought to be the Jews' problem rarely ends with them; it usually ends up consuming the world. God had other reasons for choosing the Jews, but their role model as mankind's red alert is one of history's most mysterious burdens that have ever fallen upon such a lowly and at the same time a spiritually gifted people.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[olde north church]

If there were no Zoroastrianism, there would be no Judaism as we know it. No Christianity as we know it. No Hinduism as we know it. No Buddhism as we know it.

[goldstategop]

The Jews may have been influenced by surrounding cultures but over time what is amazing is how the sole surviving tribe managed to preserve its identity while dispersed in foreign lands when the Ten Tribes vanished into the midsts of time. If one needs to look for a proof of God in history, as King Frederick II's minister observed to the King, "Sire, if you want to know about God, look to the Jews." One would think because of their small numbers, the Jews could be safely ignored. Instead, the opposite has been the case. They have been very influential despite being a minority sect. It goes on to illustrate the importance of never underestimating the power of ideas. And of course the Bible is the Jews' one gift to humanity that illustrates both the depth and the endurance of their staying power. God did indeed choose the Jews.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[olde north church]

The preservation of one's identity under duress is extremely remarkable. I think there is a divide, however, between the Jewish "race" (and I use that term very hesitantly) and the Jewish "religion/philosophy". They are often used interchangeably without consideration for proper definition in an idea.

I may convert to Judaism, but I cannot become a Jew.

[xzins]

Ping. Ties into our discussion elsewhere.

[goldstategop]

Abraham was the first convert as well as the first Jew. There is no Jewish "race" in the sense of term used by racists and anti-Semites. Converts have equal standing with Jews born into the tribe. Its true Jews are not per se a missionary religion like Christians and Muslims. For a people interested in the great questions of life, they're remarkably reticient in seeking out new followers - they welcome those who do join but they're not interested in building a world religion. On the stage of world empires, the secret of the Jews' reach has never been a function of numbers and their seeming powerlessness has alternately baffled and angered those who do hold power. Then to rephrase Sigmund Freud's famous question about women, it can be justly said that's what been on the world's mind for milennia is: "What do the Jews want?"

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[tkas]

As a convert to Judaism, I became a member of a people, the tribe. I adopted the religion/philosophy (though Jews differ amongst each other on many things), and I threw in my lot with this people. I took the risk to have Jewish children. I too have struggled to understand this concept. I am 100% a Jew.

[Armigerous]

Actually Abrahamd (nee'Abram) was the first HEBREW, not the first Jew. By definition the 'Jews' are the blood descendants of the 2 tribes that comprised the Kingdom of Judah (Judah and Benjamin) This is a historical and semantic distinction that few people make but it is critical to the understanding of the origin of the 12 tribes.

[KeyWest]

If there were no Zoroastrianism, there would be no Judaism as we know it. No Christianity as we know it. No Hinduism as we know it. No Buddhism as we know it.

-------

Not true for both Judaism and Christianity since they are monotheist. Plus, it is hard to explain Christ, since He is not a mythical figure.

If there are things that are similar, it does not mean that they came from another or single source. Just read the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self evident.." You can fine nuggets of similarity between all religions, but that does not make them come from a single source. It just means that those truths are self evident and should be seen by anyone (even if they are not by everyone).

[goldstategop]

The Jews have assimilated their antedividualian history so its understood as the beginnings of a single nation. Even the Bible's description of tribal differences is understood as a precursor to national unity. What accelerated the process of forming a single nation was the monarchy and then a common belief in One God. The monarchy is history but the idea of God always lived on. For Jews, the Bible is not an ancient book but pretty much living history. Their ancestors inspire them as much as their own lives and rituals do for them today.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[maryz]

Converts have equal standing with Jews born into the tribe.

Ruth, of course, being the most famous example.

[marylandrepub1]

In David Horowitz's 'Politics of Bad Faith' he has a chapter on secular Jews (like the Rosenbergs) and the religious basis of communism. He answers why secular Jews were drawn to communism in spite of the fact that they were persecuted in the USSR.

The secular Jew (which includes liberals) sees God as being exiled from Israel with the Jews who are spread around the world as messiahs to unite the world under communism, social justice and world peace. They are the angels who will save the world, without the real God, who is dead. Of course to them the Gods are the communist/liberal leaders. They are so smart, we just need to give them the power over everything, That’s why the secular (liberal) Jew hates Israel(and religious Jews), because it is duty of Jews to spread themselves around the world to save the world.

[goldstategop]

Good point. The Zoroastrianians were believers in a dualist faith. Jews, while grateful to the Persians for liberating them from Babylonian captivity and allowing them to return to their homeland, specifically rejected the idea of two gods in the world. The Jewish prophets held there was only One God. There may be echoes of Zoroastrian borrowing in some ideas of Jewish eschatology but its never acknowledged and Judaism transmitted the original message unaltered from the oral tradition onwards. This is true if one takes a look at the rabbinic discussions in The Talmud. Of all the world's religions, Judaism is especially concerned with knowing exactly how to faithfully follow Jewish customs and rituals for eternity. The Jews have never sought to remake their religion to attract a wider following and in this perhaps is the essence of their originality: a credo as timeless as it was the day it emerged on Mount Sinai when Moses brought down the written tablets of the Torah to a waiting nation in the plain below.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[goldstategop]

Yes, the Jewish ideal is to achieve heaven on earth. And that is why radical Jews have been attracted to secular messianic philosophies such as communism. In practice, Judaism does not envisage the Messianic Era as coming over night but with every generation perfecting their ethical conduct and working in partnership with God, one day the world will be transformed into the paradise that was lost to Man when he was driven out by God from the Garden Of Eden.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[HarleyD]

There is much truth in this article. I believe the Gentiles age that Paul refers to in Romans is coming to an end. The barometer is how the world sets itself against Israel. It’s not that God favors the Jews for He shows no partiality. But He will protect His glory and it would give the Muslim and the world no greater pleasure than to see Jerusalem in their hands. The world is setting itself against God and it is manifested with Israel.

At the risk of sounding like a “pessimistic Calvinist” as I’ve been jokingly accused of, it is my firm belief that we are in the end times of Jeremiah; but this time it won’t be the Babylonians who will come.

[normy]

Actually Abrahamd (nee'Abram) was the first HEBREW, not the first Jew.

Abraham was not the first Jew, true, but is Ishmael a Hebrew?

God gave Abraham the sign of circumcision as a sign of the faith in God. Sarah and Abraham's son Isaac was the son promised to Abraham so in his seed would the whole world be blessed.

The Jews were chosen to be given the oracles of God. The Jews were chosen so that Jesus, seed of the promise by faith, not law, would reconcile man back to God, destroying the wall between Jew and Gentile and making all who believe on Jesus, Jews.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Ping!

[P-Marlowe]

How odd
Of God
To choose
The Jews