"למינים אל תהי תקוה וכל הרשעה כרגע תאבד"

This quote from the daily prayers (shmoneh esrai) refers to those who wish ill on the Jewish people, particularly by giving aid and comfort to our enemies. In this clip from MEMRI-TV, Austrian Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friedman tells Iranian TV (prepare the sickness bags), "the Zionist regime will come to an end sooner than most people think. Let me say again that the Iranian people will establish justice and freedom worldwide, for the benefit of all humanity and all the religions in the world." May the Holy One, Blessed Be He (קב"ה ), save us from such people.

Yes, there are Jewish anti-Semites. Anyone who wishes ill on Israel is an anti-Semite. After all, six million Jews live there.

Jews and Power

Without power, Jews are at the mercy of history. Zionism, the movement for Jewish self-determination, is also about power. With power, Jews are better equipped to determine their own destiny. Jewish power has empowered the Jewish people to establish the state of Israel, which in turn has led to a cultural renaissance, the rebirth of Hebrew language and literature, and a flowering of Torah learning. The challenge to Israel, as to any sovereign state, is the proper use of power. It means public accountability and not being corrupted by power. In military operations, it means making a serious attempt to maintain the "purity of arms" (tohar haneshek).

In a recent column in The Washington Post, Harvard professor Ruth Wisse, author of Jews and Power, argues that when made powerless after the exile of 70 CE, Jews followed a strategy of accomodation which allowed them to maintain their institutions and way of life, without the means to protect their achievements. Wisse, a conservative, implies that most American Jews are liberals who feel most comfortable following a strategy of accomodation. I'm not convinced that this is the reason behind American Jewish liberalism, but I do think that many Jews are made uncomfortable by the idea and use of Jewish power.

Zionism is about being comfortable with the wise use of Jewish power...

The Zionist Five

Along with Kaufman, four Jewish authors and journalists, dubbing themselves the "Zionist Five," have issued a statement: "We, the undersigned, affirm our right –moral, spiritual, cultural and political — to proclaim our Zionism in any manner that we choose, without hinderence or proscription, and further, we condemn, forcefully and completely the stance of anti-Zionism for what so blatently it is: a human rights violation and euphemistic mask behind which lurks the age-old nightmare of anti-Semitism." Go here for the full statement (on OyBay). Kol hakavod (way to go!) to these Zionists!

Painting Zionism out of the Art World

Artist Alan Kaufman is being blackballed by a San Francisco gallery because he is a Zionist. This is another example of why the concept of Zionism, the movement for Jewish national self-determination, needs to be taken back by the Jewish people.