by Dror Eydar
Here are a few troubling figures: In
just the first quarter of 2014 France alone has marked a 55 percent rise in
violent anti-Semitic acts and a 41 percent rise in the number of anti-Semitic
threats. I wrote "marked" because only those incidents in which a complaint was
filed with the police have been accounted for. Many go unreported. And this is
without mentioning the anti-Semitic content prevalent on social media, also on a
precipitous climb. The situation in Belgium is similar, as it is across the
entire European continent.
Was the horrible shooting attack at
the Jewish Museum in Brussels different from other anti-Semitic incidents --
which usually entail the violence ending before someone is murdered? Possibly.
But this anti-Semitism must be placed within a broader historical framework.
Jews have been on European land for over 2,000 years. Relative to our fraction
of the population, we have contributed more blood, sweat and intellect to that
continent than any other nation. What have we received in return? People talk
about the Holocaust. And before that everything was hunky-dory?
The old anti-Semitism was predicated
on the conflict over which was the true religion. Replacement theology fanned
the flames of this discord, which is to say, when the Jews rejected Jesus Christ
as the messiah (and as the son of God), they severed their covenant with God. In
response, God replaced the Jewish people with the church. Murderous
anti-Semitism grew stronger as the idea that the Jews were to blame for "killing
God" and crucifying him became more entrenched.
The new anti-Semitism has two
aspects: European and Muslim. Muslim anti-Semitism fills the void left by the
Christian rabble of the Middle Ages -- attacking Jews simply because they are
Jews.
The new European anti-Semitism is
tied to the disruption of the constitutive European myth, which they became
accustomed to seeing, everywhere, for 2,000 years: a crucified Jew. The
establishment of the state of Israel meant the return of Jesus to his nation and
land as a Jewish Israeli-national. This time, however, he is holding modern
weapons and is no longer willing to be crucified. What remained in Europe was
the empty space once occupied by the crucified Jew. It is not for nothing that
the decaying European elites so often focus their vitriol on the sovereign
Jewish state. It simply does not coincide with their worldview: Jews are living
independently in their historical homeland and are managing quite well, thank
heavens.
We hear the cries of despair coming
from the Jews in France, Belgium, Sweden and Holland, from Germany, England and
more -- and we cannot believe it. What are you doing over there on that
continent, for the love of God?! Have we not had enough of being slaughtered;
and raped; and coerced; and converted to Christianity, and to Islam; and
humiliated; and destroyed by the sword and starvation, and every time we thought
we would be harmed no more were we not attacked yet again and expelled in
disgrace? In the name of what ideal are you continuing to suffer this
anti-Semitism? You are ashamed to show "signs of being Jewish," so as not to
arouse the anti-Semitic demon from his slumber.
The following is from Rabbi Yissachar
Teichtal, who had vehemently opposed Zionism but changed his views as the
Holocaust began, wrote an amazing book titled "Eim Habanim Semeichah" ("The
Mother of Children is Joyful") before he was murdered on a transport train
during the closing days of World War II: "All the blows that we have received is
to arouse us to return to the Holy Land."
Teichtal quotes Rabbi Simcha Bunim
Bonhart of Peshischa, who died in 1827 and correctly predicted the painful
history that was to unfold in Europe: "If, however, we do not strive to return
to our Land willingly … we will suffer the agony and pain of the staff of our
enemies until they force us to run … to Eretz Yisrael [the Land of
Israel]."
Dear Jews, there is nothing left for you in
Europe. Europe expelled its Jews and received instead tens of millions of
Muslims. Come back home to Zion, before it is too late. This is the fitting
response to anti-Semitism. Here you can share your fate with your brothers and
sisters, contribute toward a good future for the Jewish people and live a
sovereign life in an independent Jewish state. Come
home.
Dror Eydar
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=8545
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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