Ghetto Mentality

In this first of a number of lessons, students, we´ll concentrate on the study of an old-new subject, aptly titled, “Judaic Self-Hate: the thorough analysis of why Jews hate themselves”; a phenomenon not even remotely seen in any other religion or nationality needs to be defined. These sessions will be conducted as open forums and spontaneous questions will be answered to the best of my ability to respond and your ability to comprehend. As we move along, we will name certain individuals as prominent examples; their impact or lack of same on today´s Jewish world. Let´s begin.

There are quite a few individuals we can focus on, but since the headlines in the last few days prominently relate the on-going heated battle between Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, and Judaism as a whole, I think it behooves the class to concentrate on that theme. And the first question, there in the third row....

“What is a ´self-hating´ Jew?” Good question. The answer, in short: A Jew, born as such (a Jew) who fosters a tremendous inferiority complex relating to his state of origin and harbors the obsessive desire to obscure his Judaic birth, his birth defect. Such a person will do everything in his power to obliterate even the slightest inference to his Judaic background. As such, let us focus, in this session, on Mr. Poraz, as his fixation and obsession is a prime example of the definition I just gave. A fierce desire to erase Judaism as soon as possible allowed his self-hate to manifest itself in his rapid-fire, anti-religious actions... an orchestrated rebellion against heaven; the desire to imitate the rest of the world, to be accepted by our enemies and detractors, knows no rest. Therefore, in order to inform, I will attempt to list his stated edicts and attempts at radical alteration of basic Judaic tenets.

Mr. Poraz, a member of Shinui, a political party comprised in its entirety of like-minded types, was appointed to the Interior Ministry upon his party´s joining the latest Sharon Government. Shinui, as a party, built it´s political forum on one agenda only; namely, the obliteration of any physiognomy of Judaism in the State of Israel. Fighting terrorism and Arab bloodshed took a back seat to the prominent and urgent goal – erasing any visage of our religion. Avraham Poraz is one of the standard-bearers of this war; ludicrous, perhaps, yet unfortunately, true. Stampeding towards that goal, Mr. Poraz, in his first few hours in the ministry´s office, issued a most brilliant declaration designed to shake up the snoozing country into a frenzy of excitement. No, it had nothing to do with the cessation of terrorism, etc., the intention was to chisel away at the religion he rejects. This new, brilliant edict, you ask? The open import and sale of horse meat in the Holy Land! As no other burning issue pre-occupied the mentality of Israel´s citizenry, this bombshell declaration was intended to create another upheaval in Israel and allow the schism in Judaism to run even deeper. Not satisfied yet, Mr. Poraz continued shooting from the hip and canceled the traditional Pesach Chametz inspectors. “Bread may be openly sold on Pesach,” vowed the minister, and quickly announced that non-Jews will be allowed into Israel, gentile soldiers will be recognized as Jews, gentile spouses of Jews will be granted full benefits and - in his latest outrageous attempt - the recognition of Conservative and Reform conversions as legitimate and on equal footing with Orthodoxy… All of the above fabulous concepts geared towards inflating the ‘Jewish’ population in Israel by accepting one and all as such.

Mr. Poraz, having been thwarted in his latest radical designs (to alter Judaism) by none other than Prime Minister Sharon, responded swiftly to the resounding slap-down: “the Hamas (killers of Jews), said Poraz, and the Yesha settlers (builders of the land) are equally responsible for attempts to derail the peace process.” No need to further elaborate on his misspoken, despicable and hateful put down… Seeing how the great majority of those brave settlers are fiercely ensconced in the religion he is so desperately trying to obliterate, nothing less is expected. The desperation of self-hate and seeing his grand designs being slowly shattered, the ever present ghetto mentality takes hold. In lashing out at the settlers and comparing them to the most rabid anti-Semitic killers, whose ultimate goal is the murder of every Jew (including Mr.Poraz), Mr. Poraz has answered the following question:

In answering, let me revert back to what I said in my opening remark: Self-hating Jews are so despondent about their origins they would do anything to expunge that birth defect. And Mr. Poraz, unfortunately, is a total cripple.

Isaac Kohn writes from Brooklyn, New York. He can be reached at Isaackohn@aol.com.

Many Immigrants to America changed their last name to be what they thought would be more acceptable. My ancestor dropped the "'" because the person at the port of entry did it and he believed it to be more Americanized. Was: D'Arancette.

I would imagine that some East European surnames were difficult and got Americanized upon entry.

My great-grandmother, "Mariam Bazler" became "Mary Baxter" mid-Atlantic. She was a widow traveling alone with two small children. Her husband had been a guard at the Kaiser's palace.....

Tia

"Bread may be openly sold on Pesach," vowed the minister, ...

I usually find this kind of post boring, but with some semblance of underlying rationality. On this one, you've got me.

First, what does the sale of bread have to do with a minister? Isn't bread a matter for bakers and buyers?

And what's the problem with selling bread on any day of the year? Even - gosh wow - selling it openly, the way it's sold at the shop across from my apartment, every day of the year. And finally, what sane human being goes into some kind of rabid snit over people selling bread?

For the foodies: there is an excellent practical reason for selling bread on every day of the year. Traditional bread baking uses a big stone oven fired with wood. You do not want that oven ever to cool down, so you fire it every day. And if you're firing the oven, you need to make bread to pay for the wood, don't you?

First, what does the sale of bread have to do with a minister? Isn't bread a matter for bakers and buyers?

Bread is not allowed to be eaten on Passover. Most Jews in Israel practice this, especially in Jerusalem. If you were practicing that and walking down the street in Jerusalem, would you want to see bread being sold on the streets and crumbs falling on the ground of the holy city, a city supposed to be not eating bread on this Jewish holiday?

... a city supposed to be not eating bread ...

Gee, I've never been in any city that ate bread. People eat bread - or not, as they decide or as their religion tells them. If I want to eat bread, I expect to go to a bakery and buy some. Are you really suggesting the baker should refuse to sell to me, because Moishe up the street is fasting? Why should I be forced to disrespect the Goddess Demeter on his account?

What next? Butchers in Rome who won't sell meat on Fridays?

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