by Ted Belman
Not so long ago, secular socialist Jews in Israel dominated, and religious Jews were considered Neanderthals and doomed to extinction. It hasn't worked out that way.
Among Israelis, the secular socialists, otherwise known as Mapainiks and Communists, are descended from people who made Aliyah (returning to Israel from the diaspora)
in 1900, give or take 20 years, with the intent of becoming “new Jews”
who would work the land and eschew being middlemen, the sort of
occupation that landless Jews were forced into over centuries of
European persecution.
In other words they wanted to be just like the gentiles. Working the land became their highest value. While this served its purpose at the time, Israel has moved on. But in the 21st century, labor is no longer venerated. Brains are. Ingenuity and innovation are Israel’s new ethos. The "new Jew" has become the "old Jew." Rather than wishing to be ordinary, the Jews have shown themselves to be extraordinary.
Not only has orthodox (as opposed to secularized) Judaism experienced phenomenal growth in Israel, due in part to be living on the land, it has experienced strong growth in America. Whereas the secular socialists and the assimilationists and the Reformers considered Judaism a fossilized religion, it is they who are becoming fossils while Judaism has made a big comeback.
Roger Alper writing in Haaretz, puts it this way:
The
secular Jews will have to adapt or become extinct whether they live in
Israel or the diaspora. Increasingly, Europe is inhospitable to Jews and
they are now making Aliya. Secular Israelis would be foolish to
consider that Europe is a better climate for them than Israel.
Similarly, the progressive Jews in America, who number about 70% of the population, will in two generations be a tiny rump. Religious Judaism is experiencing substantial growth in America not only due to their very high birth rates but also due to the influx of secular Jews who choose to become more religious. Imagine that.
Natural selection is at work here. Religious Jews were considered Neanderthals and doomed to extinction because of their inflexibility. In reality it’s the progressives who are doomed to extinction, at least as Jews, because they have no reason to be Jews.
In other words they wanted to be just like the gentiles. Working the land became their highest value. While this served its purpose at the time, Israel has moved on. But in the 21st century, labor is no longer venerated. Brains are. Ingenuity and innovation are Israel’s new ethos. The "new Jew" has become the "old Jew." Rather than wishing to be ordinary, the Jews have shown themselves to be extraordinary.
Not only has orthodox (as opposed to secularized) Judaism experienced phenomenal growth in Israel, due in part to be living on the land, it has experienced strong growth in America. Whereas the secular socialists and the assimilationists and the Reformers considered Judaism a fossilized religion, it is they who are becoming fossils while Judaism has made a big comeback.
Roger Alper writing in Haaretz, puts it this way:
"Wearing a knitted skullcap has survival value in today’s Israel. In the
evolution of Israeli society, the religious Zionist is particularly
adapted to the environment in which we must forever live by the sword.
It’s obvious that the increase in the number of religious-Zionist
Israelis, along with a decline in the number of secular Israelis, is
shaping our existence in a way better adapted to the former.
“But
remember that it’s easier to live by the sword when you’re equipped
with a religious-Zionist worldview. When you believe in God. When you
believe that the meaning of life is to be a Jew in the Land of Israel,
the land promised to the Jews, convinced that one day the Messiah will
come. The knitted skullcap makes the Israeli reality rational, necessary
and even welcome.”
Similarly, the progressive Jews in America, who number about 70% of the population, will in two generations be a tiny rump. Religious Judaism is experiencing substantial growth in America not only due to their very high birth rates but also due to the influx of secular Jews who choose to become more religious. Imagine that.
Natural selection is at work here. Religious Jews were considered Neanderthals and doomed to extinction because of their inflexibility. In reality it’s the progressives who are doomed to extinction, at least as Jews, because they have no reason to be Jews.
Ted Belman
Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/11/natural_selection_among_jews.html
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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