Being a Jew Trumps Assimilation

by Steven Shamrak

Assimilation is the biggest threat to the existence of Jewish people! There were around 9 million Jews during the Roman Empire, similar to number of ethnic Hans in ancient China. Two thousand years later we are just 14 million-weak (the population of Han Chinese is 1.2 billion now). After WW2 there were eleven million Jews. Most nations have at least tripled their number since then - Jewish population has increased by three million only!

There are some Judo-Christians groups that celebrate Christmas and Hanukah. There are many reform Jewish organizations, advocating changes to Jewish Halahic practice and adaptation to ‘current environment’. Usually they all disappear within one or two generations. Most Jews, who chose the pass of assimilation, do not realize that the ‘Integration’ of Jews is still official policy of many Christian Churches and organizations. By converting or facilitating disappearance of Jews they to satisfy their schizoid and delusional need for acceptance and to ‘prove’ that Christianity is true Abrahamic religion.

Not long ago, being a Jew has always meant that one either religious or ethnic Jew, most often both. Our ‘Jew-loving’ neighbours in Europe had never failed to remind us about this! Jewish ethnicity, even in total absence of religious practice, had secured the continuation of family traditions even in secular countries like the Soviet Union.

Breaking this duality of Jewish identity is encouraged by Jew-haters and anti-Semitic religious ‘nutters’, as well as by self-hating Jews, as the way to facilitate assimilation and elimination of Jewish people. You just need to ask why there are only about 14 million Jews in the world now. It is almost the same number as 60 years ago (after WW2 there were 11 million Jews)! During the same time most nations triple or quadruple their number.

The biggest mistake many of our rabbis and Jewish community leaders make is by insisting that Jewishness is the religious observance only. Being a Jew has always meant, for Jews and our enemies - the peoplehood, belonging to the tribe, ethnicity or nation - whichever term you feel comfortable with - combined with Judaism when it was possible! We also have the unique and advanced religion, deep seated spiritual tradition, common history and aspirations that bond us all, observant and secular Jews.

We need to focus and promote our uniqueness and be proud of it. Our leaders must do more to bring unity and purposefulness to the life of Jewish communities in Israel and Diaspora! This tradition was the only cause of our survival for two millennia of persecution in exile!

Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak

Have you noticed that Israel is not often in the news lately? Even occasional rocket attacks from Gaza and Israel’s response are ‘conveniently’ overlooked and under-reported. The international media have been using Israel as a ‘filler’ or a kicking dummy, often inventing and even soliciting stories from Israel when there is nothing to report from anywhere else, targeting and satisfying anti-Jewish bigotry of their own and of the audience!

Let Those People Go!

A new poll conducted by the Ramallah-based PCPSR in Judea, Samaria and Gaza found that 50% of respondents in Gaza are considering emigrating from the area. Among Arab residents of Judea and Samaria that figure was not too far behind, with 25% saying they want to leave and not live under the PA rule.

Saudi Arabia Executes 88th Prisoner - No Outrage!

The Islamic Kingdom executed its 88th prisoner this year, a new record, outpacing the number of judicial killings enacted in all of last year. Among this year's dead are at least eight Yemenis, 10 Pakistanis, Syrians, Jordanians, and individuals from Myanmar, the Philippines, India, Chad, Eritrea and Sudan.

IDF Over-Warning Gazans

The IDF went to extraordinary lengths last summer to prevent civilian casualties while fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza, achieving a remarkable 1:1 civilian to combatant ratio, but according to international legal experts it went too far in avoiding casualties among the enemy population. "It was abundantly clear that IDF commanders had gone beyond any mandates that international law requires to avoid civilian casualties," wrote Willy Stern of Vanderbilt Law School. (Hitting empty targets is not the way to conduct a war against an enemy. They are laughing at IDF!)

Boycotting Israel but not ISIS - This is anti-Semitism

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the UK's National Union of Students for voting to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). "This is less than a year after they refused to support a boycott of ISIS," Netanyahu said in a meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Robert Nicholson in Jerusalem. "They boycott Israel but they refuse to boycott ISIS. That tells you everything you want to know about the BDS movement…” "This is anti-Semitism under new guise with the same symptoms," said Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.

Iran Exploits Obama’s Need for Legacy

Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit warned that Iran's superior skill at negotiations will give them the edge in getting what they want in the emerging nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. "Their patience is much greater than the patience of western negotiators. They will exhaust the Americans, they will squeeze them." Shavit argued that the Iranians will use the fact that US President Barack Obama wants an Iran deal as part of his legacy to their advantage, leveraging his desire to get a deal to extract further Western concessions.

We are Our Worst Enemy

What’s the truth? The boycott movement was actually started by Israeli liberals who support Israel’s existence on land it won in the 1948 war that gave birth to the country, but object to Israel’s occupation of ‘Palestinian territory’ on the West Bank and Gaza Strip conquered in 1967. (Now it became a global anti-Semitic movement!)

It Took Them 70 Years to Apologize to Jews!

Luxembourg apologized to the Jewish community for its suffering" during the Nazi occupation in World War II, in the first such gesture since the conflict ended 70 years ago. The government acknowledged that "certain representatives" of the Luxembourg authorities had been complicit. Out of 3,700 Jews living in Luxembourg before the war, 1,200 were killed from May 1940 until September 1944, the period of Nazi occupation

Gazans Fume over New Hamas Tax

Hamas has added another burden to the lives of residents of Gaza with the introduction of new import taxes on items considered non-essential. The announcement has local merchants fuming, with some threatening to cease imports into Gaza altogether. Over 400 items will be affected, including a variety of crops, meat, fruits, vegetables, clothing and electronics. (It was always about corruption and financing terror!)

Israel and Jews Must Boycott BDSnicks and Bigots

Orange CEO Stephane Richard that he would end the company's franchise contract with Israel's Partner Communications “tomorrow” if he could get away without “a huge financial risk”. (There are many telcos that would love to profit in Israel! Having no moral principles, after the outcry in Israel, he changed his ‘song’!)

Absurdity of ISIS's Islam

ISIS clerics have banned pigeon breeding, which they say is an affront to Islam. According to the Daily Mail, the jihadist organization that has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria believes that “the sight of birds’ genitals as they fly overhead is offensive to Islam.” Earlier this year, there were reports that 15 young boys were arrested and at least three of them executed in eastern Iraq after they were found to be engaged in pigeon breeding. (ISIS must also ban breeding of horses, donkeys and camels - their exposed genitals much larger and more visible - therefore, should be more “offensive to Islam”! At the same time, why is killing Muslims and infidels, bombings of Mosques not the affront to Islam?)

ISIS Fighting Hamas

A group claiming to be associated with ISIS and operating in Gaza said that it killed a top Hamas commander because he was "working for the heretical government in Gaza.” The group also sent out warnings on social media to Gaza residents to stay away from Hamas offices and buildings.

'Friendly' Barking at Israel

Years of steadfast political support from the Czech Republic appeared to be changing Monday during Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek's visit to Israel, during which he unexpectedly attacked Israeli construction in West Bank settlements.

Why is Turkey still a NATO Member?

A Turkish daily published images it said showed the Turkish spy agency helping to smuggle jihadists into Syria. Turkey's Islamist AKP government has long been accused of directly supporting jihadist rebels in Syria, including Al Qaeda's Nusra Front, and even turning a blind eye to ISIS advances and buying oil from it, in order to quash Kurdish hopes for autonomy in Syria.

Another anti-Israel Smear by 'Ugly Nothing'

While UN envoys are debating on whether to include IDF and Hamas on list of violators of children's rights, heads of UN agencies say it is 'not clear' whether Israel should be included. The special envoy, Leila Zerrougui of Algeria, included the IDF and the terror group Hamas in a 22-page draft report she sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Quotes of the Week:

"Open your eyes and ears. In 2012, the UN General Assembly approved 22 resolutions against Israel compared to four against the rest of the world countries..." - Ayelet Shaked, Israeli Justice Minister

Anti-Israel Bigots in the White House

The White House praised the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a law that allowed Americans born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their birthplace. The ruling is a win for the Obama administration, which argued the president - and not Congress - has the sole power to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, or not. The US’s longstanding policy has classified Israel as an international city belonging to no country, an effort to remain neutral on a major sticking point between an Israeli-Palestinians peace agreement. That stance was challenged in 2002, when Congress passed the Foreign Relations Reauthorization Act, which recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. (It is not just Obama - most, if not all, presidents of the United States have been conducting anti-Israel policies, openly and covertly!)

Not Friendly the ‘Best Friend’!

The US Supreme Court sided with US President Barack Obama and criticized Congress for "overstepping its bounds" when it tried to press Obama to have Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky's passport list "Jerusalem, Israel" as his place of birth, in a key case regarding the city's status as Israel's capital. By a 6-3 majority, the Supreme Court struck down a law from 2002 which requires the US State Department to recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel.

Obama is Hiding Iran Nuclear Deal Document

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he and other Senators are trying to obtain a document with the exact details of what the administration has already agreed to - but their requests are being refused. Iran’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, who reiterated a week ago said “We will never allow any kind of visit to military centers, whether it is limited and controlled, or unlimited or in any other form.” (So, what is this so-called negotiation about?)