After spending time in my synagogue this evening in commemoration of Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew calendar month of Av, I got to thinking in more depth about part of what it means to be Jewish. Tisha B’Av, the day both Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed, many years apart, is by every account the saddest day of the year for the Jewish people. It is also a day in which the Holocaust is once again remembered, and traditionally is the day in which victims murdered by the Nazis on unknown dates are remembered and honored. As I thought about the day, and the plight of the Jewish people, my mind seemed to go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole, and I came to some conclusions I wish to share with you.
Throughout the ages the Jewish people have been hated, persecuted, tortured and murdered. In many instances people have been made to rally around the hatred of the Jewish population, blaming them for all their ills. In many cases it was based on suspicion caused by ignorance. The fact that Jews did not suffer as badly during the black plague, widely believed to be because of the Jewish laws of washing the hands before meals and after relieving themselves, created tremendous suspicion. The bizarre claim of the blood libel comes to mind. But I would imagine that if you were to poll Jews around the world and ask them the source of anti-Semitism, most would most likely say it is because of jealousy.
Claims that the Jewish people control the media and Hollywood are not uncommon, and of course the most common anti-Semitic trope throughout the ages, the Jews control the money, and in modern times, the banks. Many whose lives are not what they would like them to be, look for someone to blame. Often times that blame falls on the Jews. And often not as much because of what they perceive that they do, but because of what they have and how they live. If there is this jealousy, which most will at the very least agree is a driving force for much of the hatred, those who are jealous need to remember this very poignant and oft used adage. Be careful of what you wish for.
As I read the Megillah Eicha, the Book of Lamentations, I read some of the most horrific atrocities one could imagine befalling the Jewish people. In many ways it reads like atrocities you could imagine the Jews suffering under the Nazis, minus the concentration camps and genocide. Jewish people feeling tremendous physical pain and mental anguish. Experiencing almost unimaginable suffering and brutality. Hunger to the point of salvation. But what makes Eicha so chilling, is that the horrors the Jewish people endure are not said to be inflicted on them by a mortal enemy, but by God himself. Many separating themselves from the mundane on this day would certainly look at this deeper and ask themselves why God would be so cruel to his Chosen People.
I do not dare to speak to how God feels, but I do feel that there is a connection between the suffering documented in Eicha and the achievements of the Jewish people in so many walks of life throughout the ages. It comes down to expectations and responsibility. Working on the belief and assumption that the Jews are indeed the Chosen People, God bestows great joys and accomplishments on the Jews. But it comes with a very steep price, and that is living by a higher code. This higher code to many is seen as the Torah, but somehow it seems that Jews who choose not to follow many of the laws of the Torah still live by a standard revolving around greater expectations. It is when you believe that God has put those expectations on the Jewish people that it begins to get somewhat terrifying, for in Eicha, for all intents and purposes, the entire theme of the book seems to be punishment of the Jews for not following the laws.
So as I go back to the idea and history of Jew hatred, I ask those who hate us for all that we have and all that we have achieved as a people, would you be willing to pay the price? I love being Jewish, but even as someone who has never suffered through slavery, torture or genocide, I know that being part of my faith comes with a price. That price is not just the hatred of groups of people throughout the ages, but also and more significantly, the punishment for not living the life that many believe is a covenant made with God. So for those whose hatred is based mostly on jealousy I say one more time and with even more emphasis and emotion, be careful what you wish for.
For those fasting I wish you and easy and meaningful fast.
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