Fourth of July 2024 and a Return to America’s Foundations
This was an
exceptional nation!
Certainly, at
the beginning of our history, we were seen as such by not only ourselves, but
by foreign observers. This was a nation different, not because it was a
democracy (there had been others before) but because it differed greatly from
the commonly accepted concept of a
nation, an entity created by one king or emperor forcing other ethnic
groups by conquest into his domain, or an entity composed of people of some
common language, religion, blood and long standing history of a land. This would be a nation created out of a
common set of laws, by the people, for the people, of the people.
For us, as
Jews, this was an exceptional nation, as never before seen in history.
It would take
many years, tears and bloodshed to
enlarge this vision to erase the shame
of slavery and to include the descendants of the African slaves as well as the native American Indians. Germans, Irish,
Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Latin Americans, all seen in their day as aliens
who would never be absorbed, became part and parcel of the fabric of this
nation. It is a work in progress.
It should be
very disturbing to us, then, that for many young people today, they are being
told that Jews are legitimate targets to blame for a myriad of ills:
https://thefulcrum.us/bridging-common-ground/college-campus-protests-12389064
“A Columbia student and self-proclaimed leader of
the pro-Palestinian movement there, Khymani
James, was finally suspended for saying that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”
“I think that taking someone’s life in certain
case scenarios is necessary and better for the overall world,” he said matter
of factly. “Be glad, be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering
Zionists…. So yes, I feel
very comfortable calling for those people to die.” It only took four
months to suspend James — “temporarily” — after he posted the disgusting video
publicly.”
At George
Washington University protesters held signs advocating for a “FINAL SOLUTION” — a
grotesque callback to Hitler’s plan for exterminating Jews.
And on campuses all over the country protesters
have been spotted wearing Hamas
headbands, calling for “Intifada,” proudly flying Hezbollah
terror flags, and shouting “We
are Hamas!” and “Go back to Poland!”
In response to the violent attack on synagogue attendees at Adas Torah on Pico this past Sunday, one
videographer defended the attackers:
https://variety.com/2024/politics/news/jake-tapper-cnn-hollywood-synagogue-pro-palestine-protests-1236047856/
The story, a repost of a message written by Vishal P. Singh, a videographer
who works on Netflix documentaries, illustrates the stark difference in
perspectives on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
“Think about what happened
today in Los Angeles. A real estate event to sell stolen Palestinian land
cannot be protested or fascists will try to kill you,” Singh wrote. “LAPD threatening to execute
pro-Palestine protestors at gun point. Zionists getting away with
terrorist violence with impunity. We are in a cold civil war that is heating up rapidly. Prepare
accordingly. Take a stop the bleed class. Learn how to use weapons safely. Save up for bullet proof
armor. The genocide is not far away. It’s here. The heart of the empire is
here. It’s our duty to fight and stop it by any means necessary.”
CAIR, which is supposed to combat Islamophobia, defended the
attack:
Hussam Ayloush, director of the
Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, defended the
protest, which was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement. “The
demonstration in front of the Adas Torah synagogue over the weekend was in response
to the blatant violations of both international law and human rights from [real
estate] agencies that seek to make a profit selling brutally stolen Palestinian
land as the Israeli government continues its eight-month-long genocidal
campaign and ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” he said.
Both groups were promoting a lie. The Real Estate event
advertising said nothing about real estate on stolen land. Except that for CAIR, Code
Pink, and all the other groups involved, the very existence of Israel is on
stolen land, and Israel must be destroyed, its Jews sent back to Poland!
We can’t even defend ourselves in the public forum: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/media/wikipedia-adl/index.html
Wikipedia’s editors declared that the Anti-Defamation
League cannot be trusted to give reliable information on the Israel-Palestine
conflict, and they overwhelmingly said the ADL is an unreliable source on antisemitism. It’s a
stunning rebuke to one of the world’s preeminent authorities on anti-Jewish
hate and a significant advocate for the rights and causes of American Jews.
The editors, a group of volunteer moderators for one
of the world’s most popular information websites, voted last week to label the ADL as a “generally unreliable” source on the Israel-Palestine conflict. That means that
the ADL should usually not be cited in Wikipedia articles on that topic except
for extraordinary circumstances. Other generally unreliable sources, according
to Wikipedia editors, include Russian state media, Fox News’ political coverage
and Amazon reviews.
That the head, Jonathan Greenblat, was a special
assistant to President Obama does not make him Kosher enough for the geniuses
at Wikipedia. Wikipedia is repeating Stalin’s historic erasure of people standing next to him
on official photographs!
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It is exceptionally bitter for us, as Jews, because America’s
Muslims, just as with any other religious minority, have civil rights that were
earned by Jews who struggled to demand it from the time of the first colonies!
So, On this
Fourth of July, I want to get back to the spirit of this country that shaped
the world’s ideals of freedom and democracy.
Here are some select readings to motivate you this 4th:
George
Washington wrote these words to the Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island
in 1790, when Freedom of Religion was still a new concept entered into the Constitution:
It is now
no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class
of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights,
for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no
sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under
its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all
occasions their effectual support.
May the
children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and
enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while everyone shall sit in safety
under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.
May the
father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make
us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way
everlastingly happy.
— G.
Washington
It still
took decades of struggle to guarantee Jews the right to sit in government
positions and be protected against executive orders that singled us out.
(Amerika du hast es besser)
America, you
are better off
Than our ancient continent.
You have no tumbledown castles
And no basalt deposits.
Your inner lives are not disturbed by
Useless memories and vain strife.
Use your time with confidence!
And if your children write poetry,
May a kindly fate guard them from writing
Stories of knights, robbers and ghosts.
A century later and Europe would be torn apart
in two world wars inspired by ancient myths of knights, robbers and ghosts. Are
we now being contaminated by people bringing their robbers and ghosts into
American civil society?
What makes a nation’s pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.
And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.
Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly...
They build a nation’s pillars deep And
lift them to the sky.
Are we still a
nation of brave innovators who dare to fly?
*****************************
I Hear America
Singing Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
1867
I hear America
singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the
steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the
noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl
sewing or washing—
Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—
At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
Only a few
years after the terrible and bloody Civil War tore this nation apart, Walt
Whitman could dream of a nation varied and at singing each his or her own song.
Are we now teaching our youth that the system is out to oppress them? Can we
still give voice to that hope and expectation?
Rev Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. I Have a Dream 1963
I have a dream
that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its
creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal." . . .
I have
a dream today! . . .
I have a dream
that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall
be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will
be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all
flesh shall see it together."2
This is our
hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this
faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.
With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our
nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be
able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail
together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one
day.
And this will
be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to
sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis
of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my
fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every
mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America
is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let
freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom
ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom
ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom
ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom
ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only
that:
Let freedom
ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom
ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom
ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every
mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this
happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village
and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up
that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews
and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in
the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free
at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
No need to say
more than, “Amen.”
