I was checking out several web sites this morning, and I was totally
shocked to find out that many people believe in honest that Israel began
its mass-scale military offensive because of the capture of two of its
soldiers.
We are presented as a bunch of morons who raised to the ground half
of their neighboring country following an incident that could easily be
resolved by exchanging two of their militants for our soldiers.
The discussions among some of the members of these forums reminded
me of a conversation I had with a Ukrainian guy years ago in the Soviet
Union.
“Why do you, Jews, react so strongly when somebody calls you a ‘kike?’
I wouldn’t even bat an eye if someone called me a Ukie or a Khokhol. I
definitely wouldn’t jump the guy!”
“If you had paid the same price for the word Ukie or Khokhol that we
paid for the word ‘kike’ you wouldn’t be saying that,” I responded.
I am not talking about pogroms or the Holocaust either. This is not
what I have in mind. It is not the Jews alone who keep memories of pogroms
and genocide. Many people had somewhat similar experiences.
We are paying a great price for the word “kike” for a totally different
reason. We are guilty before other nations because when ages ago, more
than 3,000 years actually, G-d asked each Jew individually, “‘Do you accept
upon yourself this Commandment with all the halochot (Jewish law) pertaining
to it?’ Every Jew answered ‘Yes’ after each commandment. ”
We brought the Monotheistic Idea to the world, and other nations have
continuously punished us for this over the centuries.
*******
Do you even understand what this really means?
· Just imagine: there lived a people, in complete harmony with
the world
around it, with Nature and itself. This nation had no doubt that it
was Zeus, Thor or Perun (depending on the people’s origins) who was responsible
for sending thunder and lightning upon the earth; they believed that the
ghostly remains of their newly dead fellow countrymen sought passage to
the Afterlife by drinking from Lethe, the River of Oblivion, to forget
their former existence and then bribing the boatman to ferry them across
the river Styx into the kingdom of the dead ruled by Hades. The change
of seasons occurs because gods die and are reborn. The future can be predicted
by oracles, and elaborate rituals should be performed to curry the favor
of this or that god or goddess.
Polytheists had quite an imagination – it awakened creativity and produced
flourishing cultures.
Despite the immense variety of polytheistic religions, all polytheistic
nations could easy find a common language because they had a similar view
of the world. They could immediately sense this similarity: what difference
does it make how you and we call this or that deity? We both know for a
fact that one god is responsible for our harvest and another for our health.
The God of War takes warriors into battle and the God of Love causes human
hearts to fall in love, and so on and so forth.
· And then suddenly this harmony is ruined. A nation appears
on the
scene – a wild and primitive tribe of shepherds and animal herders,
culturally unrefined and unremarkable, and they have the nerve to announce:
“What’s all this nonsense? These fruits of your imagination are
all lies. It’s completely wrong. Now we have recently met with the true
G-d and He explained to us how the world is really organized. He told us
what is happening now and what will happen in the future.
Can you imagine something like that? Their stories destroyed the
entire picture these people had of the world, broke down a worldwide consensus
of opinion which was perceived as natural and unshakable!
The Monotheistic Idea does indeed transform people’s world view.
· First, the Monotheistic Idea puts the entire world in motion.
It activates
mankind’s goal-oriented history, which starts off with the early man’s
conflict with G-d, the temptation and the fall, and ends with atonement
and forgiveness. From that day the human race had to move on…
But was mankind really unhappy when its life moved in a predictable
circle?
Now look at the consequences of all this. Thanks to the monotheists
all other nations were pulled into universal processes. Such ancient nations
as India and China, which had given rise to amazing cultures, were now
picked up together with the rest and carried forward on the crest of this
mounting tide.
And there is nothing on Earth that could stop this tide!
· Second, the Monotheistic Idea deprives a person of rest. It
disturbs the
conscience and creates inner tension. A person must live with an awareness
of his original sin, from which he is trying to find relief.
Does he need any of this? Why should he torment himself and suffer
from the realization of his own imperfections, waiting with trepidation
for G-d’s forgiveness? Why should he live for some goal that exists outside
of him? Isn’t he self-sufficient? Can’t he himself be his own goal?
Look what happened as a result…. Christians turned out to be
the most restless of the lot: their theological concept of original sin
led to the greatest inner tension within a person. It was they who created
modern civilization.
· Third, the Monotheistic Idea is inseparable from the concept
of the
world order. One’s neighbors are no longer viewed as belonging to a
tribe led by some local tribal deity, but as godless heathens who have
not accepted the One true G-d. They must be forced to renounce their beliefs
and accept the true faith. This is no trifling matter, and it allows for
no compromises.
Tell me, who is on the war path today, fighting to impose a single
world order?
It is the monotheists, of course!
· This entire mess would be reason enough to start hating the
Jews with a vengeance.
But as if this wasn’t enough, the Jews went even further. They announced
before the people of the world that during His meetings with the Jews,
G-d said that they were the Chosen Ones and made an eternal covenant with
them.
Only a nation gone mad could call such trouble upon themselves … or
one which could not act otherwise.
How can anyone wonder after that why the Jews became everybody’s obsession?
*******
· By bringing the Monotheistic Idea to the world, the Jews destroyed
the
human race’s oneness with nature, deprived it of rest and pushed all
of civilization onto an unknown path, along which it rolled forward, gaining
momentum and only vaguely understanding where it was heading and for what
purpose.
For centuries people have set goals before themselves and rushed
ahead, convincing themselves that the Great Day was near when G-d would
reveal Himself to them. But the day of the coming of the Messiah still
isn’t here. It is only natural that at some point people were bound to
ask the logical question: “Why on Earth did we need all this hassle?”
This moment is now!
People suddenly began to ask themselves: “What have we created?
All we have done is bring about what we call progress, thanks to which
man has lost his former harmony with nature, poisoned the environment,
turned himself into a workaholic and developed an insatiable consumer appetite,
forever chasing after new material things, new services and higher gross
production.
What for?
· That might surprise you but there are some who see the way
out in a
return to paganism. Browse the Internet (if you want, I could email
you the exact blogs and forums) and you will be amazed at what some people
are writing about and calling for….
Former Christians are very adamant about making their views known.
They blame Christianity for distorting the image of man, ruining his harmony
with the world around him and imposing false goals.
You can find this kind of criticism at all levels – from scientists
and scholars who search for original causes explaining the current state
of the world and discover them in the Christian faith to those advocating
actually returning to the beliefs of the forefathers, including the study
of sacral polytheistic texts and restoration of pagan rituals.
It is not surprising that very few fail to note that it all started
with the Jews: if it weren’t for them there would have been no Christianity.
· It is symptomatic that the relations between orthodox monotheists
from
among different religious confessions and the Jews have developed in
a direction opposite to this tendency to blame everything on the Jews.
Such unthinkable things as the Pope’s visit to a synagogue or an interfaith
summit like the one recently held in Moscow only became possible now, at
a time when all monotheists have become aware of the threat facing the
Monotheistic Idea itself. As for the Moscow summit, it brought together
representatives from all monotheistic confessions who also invited members
of non-monotheistic confessions so they could together find ways to stop
the general degradation and keep people within the framework of traditional
conceptions of Good and Evil.
Jews participated on an equal footing with everyone else, which
would have been quite impossible in the past, particularly with members
of the Russian Orthodox Church.
· But at the very beginning, when nations were only starting
to implement the Monotheistic Idea, their attitude to the Jewish people
did not allow for any compromise. The reason behind this was as clear as
day: if G-d is One for the entire human race then why do you, Jews, imagine
yourself to be “chosen people?” Is there any reason why we aren’t good
enough for this role?
Not a single doctrine of other monotheistic religions could ignore
the Jews because whenever they mentioned the original Revelation from G-d
at Mt. Sinai it implied the presence of Jews as witnesses of Revelation.
Every monotheistic model explained in its own way why and how
it took over from the Jews. Founders of other monotheistic religious confessions
absolutely needed the Jewish people to accept their version of monotheistic
faith, because this was tantamount to the Jews basically accepting that
the mission they started would from now on be carried out by others.
They were totally infuriated when the Jews rejected it time after
time. This is exactly what took place with Muhammad who was confident that
the Jewish people were going to accept Islam. The same thing happened to
Luther who had absolutely no doubt that the Jews were going to accept his
version of Christianity.
But no matter how angry other monotheists may have been with
the Jews, theologically they never called for the annihilation of the Jewish
people. For the Muslims Jews and Christians were people of the Book. Christian
believers have numerous conceptions according to which Jews should actually
be protected because in the end they will accept Jesus.
· In any case, you shouldn’t think that the situation with the
Jews is all
that simple.
A nation which did all those things unavoidably attracts heightened
attention. The ways in which this attention is being manifested is a totally
different story. There can be any number of them….
Still, there is a certain way of viewing the world in which there
is absolutely no room left for the Jewish people. Jews are placed entirely
outside the human race, and for those who adopt this worldview the destruction
of the Jewish people becomes a fixation.
I am speaking here about religious dualism.
· Religious dualism appeared as a response to monotheism because
of the problematic understanding of Good and Evil born of monotheistic
religion itself.
How is it possible to explain this paradox: G-d is One, and He is the
G-d of Goodness yet there is so much Evil in the world?
In polytheistic faiths this contradiction is resolved fairly easily,
since responsibilities for different areas of human existence are divided
among different gods.
This problem clearly exists within the monotheistic vision but it is
also being resolved through the idea of improving and perfecting the world:
G-d corrects the world in which there is Evil and takes it closer toward
the victory of Goodness. People should acknowledge the thought that they
are participants in a certain process; they must accept the status quo,
do their best to fulfill G-d’s Will and hope to be redeemed through Him.
· But what should be done if a person can’t tolerate it and refuses
to
accept this ugly and unjust world?
That is precisely when a different theology is born in response.
Yes, there is a Higher Supreme and Ideal G-d, the G-d of Goodness,
who had absolutely no intention of creating this world of ours.
Who in this case created the universe as we know it? It was created
by the Demiurge – the Great Artificer or Fabricator, the Architect of the
universe – by an angel gone mad.
Who then is this Demiurge, on account of which the human race
suffers needlessly? Oh, it is the G-d of the Revelation at Mt. Sinai, Who
chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with Him. He chose the
most depraved nation to plant seeds of Evil among all other nations.
This is basically the picture. As you can probably tell,
it is based on a theological rejection of the Scriptures. It is an Anti-Scriptures
of sorts.
So what follows from that? You will be amazed!
· First of all it alters the perception of the world as such.
How do Goodness and Evil coexist in this world?
A consistent monotheist views the world as a single whole. The world
is imperfect and is being improved along the road toward the ultimate victory
of Goodness. In the meantime, Goodness and Evil exists in it side by side,
like light and darkness. Darkness reigns wherever light recedes, and Evil
becomes strengthened wherever Goodness is weakened.
Psychologically, such an approach is conducive to a positive outlook
on the world. Such a person believes in the victory of Goodness and the
need to make efforts to bring it about, to serve G-d’s ultimate plan in
our own human way.
“If Evil things continue to happen in the world it means that I haven’t
done enough to assure the triumph of Goodness,” says a consistent monotheist.
An orientation toward doing good deeds is characteristic of all monotheists.
The exact manner in which people implement their intentions is already
a different story. However, theologically all monotheists are directed
toward the assertion of Good – be they Jewish, Christian or Muslim.
In this sense monotheism is a constructive system – is orients people
toward a positive, optimistic approach to life and toward self-improvement.
Dualism offers an entirely different view of the situation.
In a dualist approach the world is split. The god of Goodness in it
is opposed to the god of Evil, and Goodness exists separately from Evil.
It is totally useless to make any effort to increase the amount of Goodness
because Evil will not disappear or even decrease. The only possible solution
is fighting Evil until it is utterly destroyed.
A dualist is forever looking for an enemy, for someone who can be blamed
as the bearer of world Evil – the disseminator of Evil who absolutely must
be destroyed.
That is the reason why dualism is not constructive but destructive.
· The second distinction relates to the attitude toward Life
and Death.
The monotheist’s G-d is the One Who created this world and blessed
it. That is why the monotheist is oriented to cherish Life even if consists
of nothing but gloomy days. In such a system of beliefs, suicide is naturally
perceived as a great sin: G-d has given us life, and G-d alone can take
it away. And this is equally true in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
You are bound to think back on the multitudes of people who have
died over the centuries in religious wars. You must remember that I am
describing the ideal here, and no matter how much people may divert from
the ideal, it still remains their guiding star.
Dualism, however, is based on the premise that the world has
been created by an Evil god, an originator of Evil.
So what can be the value of a world created by an Evil god? It
has none! One should aspire toward the Higher Supreme and Ideal G-d Who
couldn’t have created such an dreadful world.
There is no need to be afraid of death. Death is actually desirable.
It is no big deal to part with this horrible world. It is even a good thing
because it means freedom from the power of the Evil god and His creation
With a vision like this suicide transforms into the religious ideal.
· Let us now turn to the most important part: how does a person
view
mankind depending on whether he or she is a monotheist or dualist?
For a monotheist all people are Children of One G-d. That is
why his actions are directed toward unifying all nations under the power
of One G-d. Notably, Christians and Muslims have always been actively involved
in proselytizing, whereas Jews believe that all nations will unite when
they embrace G-d on their own and look upon Zion.
Dualists think differently. In their eyes the world is
divided into bearers of Goodness, Children of Light, to whom they of course
belong and bearers of Evil, Children of Darkness, who ought to be eliminated.
· Here is a puzzle for you: Can you guess who are the dreadful
Children
of Darkness who must be eliminated – these monsters who hate the human
race?
Their existence is incompatible with the existence of mankind, which
is bound to suffer from Evil for as long as these servants of the god of
Evil continue to exist.
So who might they be – these bearers of world Evil, who must be fought
without mercy or compromise, even by joyfully sacrificing one’s life?
You have probably guessed right – they are the Jews, of course! Jews
who are witnesses of G-d’s Revelation.
And that is why dualists perceive the Jewish people as their sworn
enemies.
· It is precisely because dualism is a morbid response to the
eternal issue
of Good and Evil, an offshoot of monotheism, this phenomenon recurs
throughout history: it comes to the foreground whenever there is a serious
crisis in world perception, when it appears that the world is totally unjust
and is falling apart, and evildoers in this dreadful world are overpowering
the righteous ones.
Monotheistic Christianity came face to face with dualism at the
early stages of its development when the world of antiquity was falling
apart. Manichaeism and Gnosticism, as theological dualistic movements,
were charged with heresy, and the church fought violently against them
until they were destroyed.
But 1,000 years later dualism recurred within Christianity itself
in the form of the heresy of the Albigenses (also called Catharists) who
were outraged by the scandalous lives of the clergy and concerned about
people’s loss of canonical faith. The church adopted a course of severe
repression, and the Pope even organized an internal Christian crusade against
the Albigenses.
This particular heresy disappeared around the end of the fourteenth
century but you are greatly mistaken if you think that was the end of the
doctrine!
The problem of Good and Evil always acquires an acute form at times
when the surrounding world strikes one as being particularly unjust. This
gives rise to new variations of the very same dualistic nature.
· Yes, the essence of the doctrine remains the same. It is like
an actor who
changes his make-up and his costume on stage but remains the same person
inside.
Take a closer look at Nazism, and you will discover the same
dualist actor, only wearing a different outfit.
Once again we hear protestations against the G-d of the Revelation
at Mt. Sinai, with claims that He has “corrupted” the world. I am sure
you know that the ruining of the church and returning to the cult of the
ancestors was the mystical aim of the ideologists of the Third Reich….
Once again “the Children of Light”, true Aryans, launch an irreconcilable
struggle against “the Children of Darkness,” whom they blamed for corrupting
the world. Not surprisingly these evildoers were the Jews.
It is noteworthy that the Nazis too displayed a special attitude
toward Death – a pathological attraction to Death actually – something
that always betrays a dualistic doctrine. Fascination with Death is the
very mark of dualism.
· Now take a closer look at Marxism, and you will find that this
teaching
is nothing but a dualistic doctrine.
The world is once again perceived as being “wrong” and having
to be destroyed.
Once again “the Children of Light” – this time it is the world
proletariat – must overpower “the Children of Darkness” – the world bourgeoisie.
This is seen as the only way to build heaven on earth.
Once again the result is a frighteningly long list of gruesome
deaths – millions of victims in the name of “a better world” – in the Soviet
Union, China, and Kampuchea (Cambodia), everyplace where the Marxist Children
of Light were able to seize power.
And once again, not surprisingly, we hear about the Jews.
A Jew in Marx’s view was a huckster and a usurer, “a Child of
Darkness” who must be gotten rid of. You will notice that Marx and his
followers were determined to ignore the existence of millions of hard-working
Jewish people. Marx saw the Jew as the embodiment of everything he hated
the most, and he openly applauded “a world without Jews,” stating that
Judaism would become impossible in his “improved and correct” society.
I don’t have to remind you how enthusiastically his Jewish Marxist
followers supported Marxist “internationalism,” which is incompatible with
Judaism. They too saw themselves as having the right to decide what the
destiny of the human race should be.
· I emphasized this fact related to the Jews to stress that a
dualistic view
of the world is a universal phenomenon. It is not tied to any one people
or religious confession.
This disease of religious dualism can flare up anywhere, at any
time and in any society. As soon as people become scared of the world in
which they live, the vestiges of this frightening disease once again begin
to afflict the human spirit.
Individuals come to the fore, who hold themselves to be the bearers
of the one and only truth, the Children of Light, who understand and are
called upon to fix this ugly world, which is worth nothing without their
intervention. To do away with the Children of Darkness, even if they should
comprise all humanity, is a sacred duty.
It is often difficult to recognize dualism because it dons many
guises, often taking the form of normal and even familiar phenomena.
There are, however, two distinguishing features that make dualism
impossible to miss: Death and Jews.
Dualists always take issue with the Jews, sooner or later.
· I had to go to such great pains to explain to you all of these
subtle and
complicated matters so that you would understand how deeply rooted
is the difference between the word “khokhol” and “kike.”
When someone uses the slur “khokhol,” to refer to a Ukrainian,
even intending to insult him, it means nothing more than to demonstrate
that person’s dislike of the given ethnic group.
There is little new about that. Whether we like it or not, all
of us live in a world where someone doesn’t like someone else, someone
repays someone else for offenses a thousand years old, for a different
way of life, for a different faith….
Is this reason enough to bust heads?
If these were the only problems Jews associated with the word
“kike,” then we too could have the luxury of ignoring the offender. So
what if someone doesn’t like us? We know full well what qualities we have
that others might find distasteful.
· But the problem is that even a Jew who is not observant, even
one who
openly renounces being a part of his people, is still perceived
by others as a witness to Revelation. Perhaps people are sometimes unable
to comprehend this, much less put it into words, but they still sense it,
which is why their attitude to the Jews always contains an element of the
“witnessing.”
The effect of this element on non-Jewish people’s feelings toward Jews
is multifold – from awe (regretfully often undeserved and unsupported by
our own behavior) to hatred of such proportions that causing the death
of Jews becomes more important than preserving one’s own life.
Every dualist feels this extreme irrational hatred for the Jews. And
we, Jewish people, subconsciously sense when we are dealing merely with
a bigot and when with a religious dualist.
· Now too, our intuition is telling us that we are again facing
not merely
someone who resents Jews, but rather religious dualists, for whom the
very existence of the Jewish people and a Jewish state is incompatible
with their understanding of the world order.
And this means that the events in Lebanon do not really represent
a conflict with Hezbollah as one might think at first glance.
And definitely it is not a war with Lebanon, which itself suffers
from Hezbollah but can’t do anything to control it.
Nor is it a regional conflict, instigated by the local superpower,
Iran, whose leaders openly strive for hegemony at least over that region
of the world.
What is happening in Lebanon is the beginning of a war with dualism,
a fight of such magnitude that many have already begun to speak of the
start of World War III.
But what kind of a war is it?
Up until now, people have been speaking of it only in the usual
political terms. And for politicians it’s obvious that Iran and its ally,
Syria, have used long-suffering Lebanon as a hostage to their policies,
implanting Hezbollah in the body of Lebanon as a state within a state,
and arming this entity to the teeth both militarily and ideologically.
However, the Iranian leadership, the main instigator of these
unfolding events, does not speak of the conflict using political terminology
at all. It speaks of it instead in religious terms!
· The first thing that comes to mind is of course Islam.
Yes, we keep hearing about the Islamic Republic of Iran that aims to
unite all Muslims under the rule of Ayatollahs.
Then why aren’t Muslim countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi
Arabia, and the emirates of the Persian Gulf rushing to unite under the
banner of Ayatollahs?
We may think that we have the answer – oh yes, some are Shi’ites and
others are Sunnis.
It’s a known fact that Shi’ites are a minority among Muslims, comprising
on average no more than 20 percent in most Muslim countries. They are looked
down upon by the authorities and generally considered second-rate Muslims.
While observing their own traditional theology they accept their predicament.
The theological revolution of Ayatollah Khomeini has completely changed
this state of affairs. Iran, which is not only a Shi’ite state but also
a country ruled by the Shi’ites, has turned into a source of inspiration
for the impoverished and disenfranchised Muslim masses. From now on, according
to this new theology, it is the Shi’ites who are destined to lead all Muslims
in a jihad for the transformation of the world order and world hegemony.
This, of course, should be done in the Name of Allah.
If we take into account that we are talking here about the Persian
people, one of the most ancient and culturally enlightened nations, which
keeps in its historical memory its experience of having created a great
empire and which pines for this time of glory, we can imagine the power
of the religious impulse projected by the Republic of Iran.
For such Sunni countries as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the emirates
of the Persian Gulf or the Sunnis of Iraq this looks like the worst nightmare,
particularly considering that the Shi’ites happen to reside in the most
oil-rich areas of the Arabian Peninsula. Leaders of these countries are
dreaming, more than anything, about some kind of miraculous power that
would save them from an internal Islamic Revolution as a result of which
Shi’ites would rule over the Sunnis.
That explains why they are staying away from this war even though they
are being urged to fight for the honor of Muslims. They know very well
what will happen to their Sunni honor once Shi’ite Iran succeeds in gaining
leadership of the Muslim world. Compared to this catastrophic event which
would destroy their way of thinking and their age-old way of life, problems
with Israel seem no more than an annoying nuisance which can be ignored.
It is clear that only those who do not limit their analysis to
the world’s existing realities can assert that all Muslims will certainly
unite under the banner of Iranian Ayatollahs.
They have a preconceived idea of the world as being “wrong and unjust,”
which is why they think they can disregard it.
· In this respect the overall situation in the world is currently
helpful to
the theologians of Iran because the modern world does indeed have a
great number of problems. “The gold billion” of the world’s population
have everything progress has made available in this day and age, while
it exists side by side with the rest of mankind which has to accept a life
of deprivation and humiliation. Muslims do not belong to the “gold billion,”
and they feel that they are being oppressed. And Shi’ites, being the oppressed
minority among Muslims, consider themselves oppressed doubly. So who if
not they should lead the world struggle of all the oppressed peoples for
a better world?
Of course, the Muslims have found themselves in a very difficult situation.
There is nothing surprising about the fact that Muslims perceive the
world order which had developed within the body of an alien Europe as “wrong
and unjust.” A non-Christian and non-European person is unable to adjust
to it. And if you try to convince me that I am mistaken here, I will have
to remind you of our own position in Europe just a 100 years ago.
Our own Orthodox community, merely a 100 years ago, went out of its
way to prevent us from succumbing to Western temptations, forbade us from
studying at universities, going to the theatres, and wearing “immodest”
clothing (as you can imagine, bikinis were not even on the horizon then).
And merely a 100 years ago, the Europeans reproached us Jews for stubbornly
clinging to our traditions and refusing to assimilate. But as soon as we
began to integrate, they tried to expel us because deep down inside they
didn’t want us in their midst.
And we, just as Muslims today, were at a loss, not knowing how to handle
this world that was so “wrong and unjust.”
This given that we had lived in Europe for many centuries.
· At such times, when people’s familiar picture of the world
and way of
life collapses before their very eyes, people understandably worry
about the future – what awaits them there? What they should strive for?
It’s a time to search for truth?
As far as the religious orthodox are concerned, they are reacting to
the situation in their own way with an exalted anticipation of the promised
“end of days” and the coming of the Savior, whether it be the Messiah,
Christ, or the hidden Imam Al-Mahdi (depending on the religious confession).
Seen in this light, at first blush nothing new is happening in Iran.
True, the Iranian Ayatollahs have convinced the Shi’ites that the time
has come for them to lead humanity’s struggle so that, in Khomeini’s words,
the Name of Allah would resound across the world.
True, the President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, is a religiously orthodox
man, a true believer in the coming of the Imam Mahdi. There is some information
on the Internet to the effect that while he was Mayor of Tehran, he ordered
the construction of a wide avenue for the Imam Mahdi and, upon becoming
President, assigned $17 million for the construction of a mosque in Jamkaran
that will toll the Mahdaviat, faith in Mahdi, throughout the world.
So what? I live in Israel and am used to people who await the coming
of the Messiah. Why shouldn’t something that is completely natural for
Judaism and Christianity be foreign to Islam?
· The real issue is that in the case of the Iranian Ayatollahs,
it is not about
Islam at all.
It is all about religious dualism, which has two unmistakable identification
signs – the attitude toward Jews and toward Death.
That Ahmadinejad hates Jews is his own problem.
But he is convinced that Mahdi will not arrive until the Jewish state
is destroyed. Zionism is, for him, an Evil creation that stands in the
way of an era of universal harmony, happiness, and justice.
He never tires of repeating that the existence of Israel is the preeminent
problem facing all Muslims. It is a train of thought typical of religious
dualists.
A Monotheist seeks the root causes of problems within himself. That
is why today there are a number of Muslim thinkers who seeks within Islam
itself the source of problems currently afflicting their peoples. And this
is a normal phenomenon, common to other Monotheists, Christians and Jews.
The dualist does not look for causes within himself. From the very
outset, he sees himself as “a Child of Light.” He relies on a mystical
resolution of problems, on a Heavenly Absolute Goodness, opposed by an
Absolute Evil.
Unsurprisingly, Jews represent this Evil, whereas for Iranian Ayatollahs
and for Iranian President Ahmadinejad, Absolute Evil is represented by
the Jewish state.
If there was no Jewish state the Muslims would have no more problems.
It’s as simple as that.
· If Ahmadinejad’s sacral anti-Semitism was the only distinguishing
characteristic of his faith we might say that it presents a problem
for the Jews alone. But that is not so.
The religious ideas of Ayatollah Khomeini absorbed by President
Ahmadinejad have given rise to a phenomenon which is resented by Muslims
themselves. It is incompatible with the tenets of their monotheistic faith,
and they are unable to explain it: how has an actual cult of Death developed
within Islam?
Mind you, Islamic jihadists, extremist suicide bombers, whom we now
view almost as the norm of Islam, only appeared after Ayatollah Khomeini’s
Islamic Revolution. This new theological “norm” was demonstrated to the
world by the selfsame Hezbollah when its first suicide bomber blew himself
up in Lebanon. It happened relatively recently, in 1983.
The virus spread instantly: these “Children of Light” who blow
up “the Children of Darkness” have dispersed across the entire world –
in the Near and Middle East, in Europe and the United States.
Their reach is truly global, and the idea of Death has enveloped practically
the entire population. Now even women and children are dreaming about Death.
This is some sort of bloody, typically dualistic orgy – these people
are being brainwashed, supposedly in G-d’s Name that this world isn’t worth
living in and that after death something far greater than this “imperfect”
world awaits them.
· To blame Islam for Khomeini’s dualism is no different than
blaming
Christianity for Nazism or Judaism for Marxism.
All these three cases involve tremendous disdain for earthly existence
in the name of some form of higher, heavenly ideals, known only to a few
chosen leaders, “the Children of Light.” They involve likewise a cult of
Death and hatred toward Jews. In terms of its influence on Muslims, Khomeini’s
theology can be compared only with the impact of Hitler’s ideology on Christians
or the teachings of Marx on Jews.
All of these three phenomena are united by the fact that each was born
within traditional monotheistic religious confessions and that they testify
to the profound crisis of the Monotheistic Idea, with dualism – however
it manifests itself in each confession - being a reaction to this crisis.
Muslims are now forced to prove that not all of them are would-be suicide
bombers just as the Jews have to prove that not all of them are Marxists,
socialists or lefties, and Germans have to prove that not all of them are
Nazis.
That is why when a Muslim tries to convince me that the fundamental
essence of jihad is man’s self-improvement, I tend to believe him. It does
not faze me in the least that in some cases self-improvement can be manifested
in one’s readiness to fight and die for one’s faith. We Jews, too, have
shared this impulse and Christians also have their share of warriors and
martyrs for the faith.
Still, for none of these monotheists, whether they be Jews, Christians,
or Muslims, can Death itself be an ultimate religious goal because the
G-d of the Revelation at Mt. Sinai is the Creator of Life. He has created
this world and He has blessed it. And this is incompatible with Death.
It is not because I am proficient in the subtleties of Islam that I
trust this Muslim. I am no expert in these matters. This is simply the
logic of monotheism – monotheism is oriented toward Life.
That is why when the leader of a state in today’s world – Iranian President
Ahmadinejad, in a moment of religious ecstasy, proclaims “we love Death,”
when sermons about Death as a religious goal abound in mosques, when children
at schools are taught to love Death as it now happens in the Palestinian
Authority, I have no doubt that monotheistic Islam is not involved here
at all.
We are dealing here with religious dualism in its unadulterated form
– the most virulent form of hatred toward the G-d of the Revelation at
Mt. Sinai.
Hatred of G-d is the source of the irrational hatred toward Jews and
the Jewish state alike. Were it not for the element of “witnessing” this
hatred would not bring people into such ecstasy.
***********
· We should all remember this now, when we see the first signs
of the
inevitable universal condemnation of Israel for its supposedly disproportionate
response to the actions of Hezbollah.
Once again, people want to portray the Jews as pathological killers.
Big deal, two soldiers were abducted and these Israeli warmongers, these
bloody murderers… Well, you know for yourself, what CNN and other western
media can do to portray Jews as enemies of the human race.
You and I have already exchanged our thoughts about how western correspondents
portray the news. And even so, each time I encounter their work, I can’t
help being amazed.
Here are the figures from the media: 56 Jews killed; 548 Lebanese,
including 477 civilians.
And the expression on the correspondents’ faces when they recite these
figures is coupled with such devastating images of suffering on the part
of the civilian population that the conclusion the correspondent is after
becomes self evident: Jews are the enemies of mankind.
And, apparently, it makes no difference that Hezbollah has turned people’s
homes, schools, hospitals and even mosques into stockpiles of weapons and
sites for the launching of rockets. That they do not spare their families,
their own children, is well known. Yet even the families are complicit.
Not long ago, I watched a program about one of these families, in which
they could voice their credo themselves in a live interview. It’s a horrifying
sight, believe me: here is a mother who sits her young children in front
of a picture of their dead father, a jihadist, and explains to them that
he is waiting for them and that they, too, will die similar heroic deaths.
There was also an interview with a schoolteacher who spoke animatedly of
how wonderfully she teaches the children math, so that they can destroy
the Zionist enemy.
This is simply pathological!
We bomb them because we have to destroy their weapons’ stockpiles and
launching sites. It isn’t our fault that they have placed these military
objectives in the midst of kindergartens, hospitals and their own bedrooms.
But they fire at us because they unabashedly want to kill us. They
shout “death to the Jews” at every corner and fill the rockets with ball-bearings
and shrapnel to inflict maximum suffering, particularly among the civilian
population, which never intended them any harm.
The correspondents are outraged by the numbers?
But the only reason why we have relatively fewer casualties is because
Hezbollah has not yet laid hands on the types of weapons, which could lead
to mass casualties among the civilian population. They have already demonstrated
that their organization has an arsenal of rockets, which can reach any
part of our tiny “superpower.” Sheikh Nasrallah openly brags that his people
can kill us anywhere and ensure that we will be killed by the thousands,
not the hundreds. These same people are striving to get their hands on
unconventional weapons, and unless they are stopped, they will succeed.
Then once again the world will witness the death of 6,000,000 Jews.
Don’t western correspondents know this?
They know it and understand it full well. The whole problem is that
they would actually like this to happen.
And do you know why?
Because for the Europeans, too, deep at heart, we are “the Children
of Darkness.” They can’t accept the fact that for 2,000 years, they have
been suffering under the rule of our G-d, which they are only too happy
to shake off. They can’t help but repay us for our onetime “Yes” at Mt.
Sinai.
Six million Jews annihilated in Europe is not enough for them. They
can’t get over the fact that not every Jew was killed during the Holocaust.
That is why they are turning the whole world against us, to do away with
those who have managed to survive. And Israel, which is home to the most
virulent part of our nation’s population, is such a convenient target for
turning its tiny territory into another Auschwitz.
Do you think that I’m exaggerating?
But ask yourself the following question: what is the point of portraying
the news in this fashion so that an inexperienced viewer and listener would
take the destroyed streets that had been inhabited by Hezbollah fighters
with their rockets for the destruction of the Lebanese state? We have lived
part of our lives in the Soviet Union after all. We know that whenever
people are being manipulated and brainwashed, it is being done to serve
somebody’s interest.
So ask yourself, what is it all for?
Why would western media present us as murderers when everyone knows
what Hezbollah is all about? They know why this organization has stockpiled
such power arsenals on the border with Israel, and what it intends for
the Jewish state.
