As many of you may be aware, I write regularly in Canada’s National Post newspaper. This column was published there a few hours ago and I thought it may be of interest to State of Tel Aviv subscribers as well.
Thanks for sharing this piece “early “. I do subscribe to “State of Tel Aviv” as well as “The National Post “. The print edition will be delivered in the morning. But reading this early helps to give me perspective.
Your perspective is always appreciated and keeps me as sane as it is possible to be in the charged times.
Thanks, Marilyn. Indeed....it was in the print edition today but went online yesterday afternoon ET. Appreciate the feedback. Every morning we wake up to news that things just got crazier. Today? The Israeli Medical Students Association expelled from the international parent organization. No country has ever been expelled. No hearing. No notice. (Well - an hour). Nothing. Very distressing.
The world will never forgive international Jewry for allowing six million European Jews to be exterminated by The Third Reich. (Many people pretend to be righteously indignant about Palestinian Arabs' misery--but that posturing is merely a fig leaf, intended to mask their unrelenting Jew-hatred.)
I prefer the word murdered to exterminated. It's interesting. Nazis invented a special vocabulary to deal with their mass murder enterprise. We exterminate vermin, of course. And they openly referred to Jews as vermin. That one offensive linguistic holdover that we have continued to use. Murder.
Thank you, Vivian, for your most recent, and direct, comment, which provokes at least two thoughts:.
1. I'm mostly ignorant of Hebrew; except, however, I'm aware that one Commandment is an order to not murder. (It is, therefore, not merely, "Thou shalt not kill.").
2. During a television interview, the late, great French documentarist Claude Lanzmann (rightly famous for directing the monumental documentary "Shoah"), mentioned that "extermination" describes more accurately than "holocaust" does the mass murder committed by Nazis. Although "Shoah" is commonly employed by contemporary French-speakers (as "Holocaust" is by English-speakers), sometimes I defer to Mister Lanzmann's precision.
Thank you again for your previous comment. I hope that this one is not pedantic.
Not at all. I appreciate the exchange. Lanzmann’s epic film came out when I was in law school. I remember going several weekends in a row to see it all. Sunday afternoons. Life changing. But with respect to the terminology I respectfully disagree. I felt the same way then.
Very moving and sobering. For American Zionists, the courage and perseverance of Israelis over the past 10 months has been remarkable, admirable, and a telling commentary on our own willful decadence and political irresponsibility. These are dark days; know that we are with you, if only in spirit and our hearts. B'hatzlachah
Thanks. A beautifully expressed sentiment and so meaningful. People here are just caught in this horrible time and place. The concern about what this country has become and will become is deep. It’s heartbreaking. To hear from so many that never has this country faced such an existential crisis. And it is in every way; security, political and domestic cohesion. Crazy.
It’s so interesting….how Israelis see themselves and how they are perceived. I didn’t grow up here. But you figure out quickly that either you find a way to manage the tension or you go crazy. For me it’s a very conscious effort. To focus only on what I can control and need to do that day.
Thanks for sharing this piece “early “. I do subscribe to “State of Tel Aviv” as well as “The National Post “. The print edition will be delivered in the morning. But reading this early helps to give me perspective.
Your perspective is always appreciated and keeps me as sane as it is possible to be in the charged times.
Marilyn in Toronto
Thanks, Marilyn. Indeed....it was in the print edition today but went online yesterday afternoon ET. Appreciate the feedback. Every morning we wake up to news that things just got crazier. Today? The Israeli Medical Students Association expelled from the international parent organization. No country has ever been expelled. No hearing. No notice. (Well - an hour). Nothing. Very distressing.
The world will never forgive international Jewry for allowing six million European Jews to be exterminated by The Third Reich. (Many people pretend to be righteously indignant about Palestinian Arabs' misery--but that posturing is merely a fig leaf, intended to mask their unrelenting Jew-hatred.)
I prefer the word murdered to exterminated. It's interesting. Nazis invented a special vocabulary to deal with their mass murder enterprise. We exterminate vermin, of course. And they openly referred to Jews as vermin. That one offensive linguistic holdover that we have continued to use. Murder.
Thank you, Vivian, for your most recent, and direct, comment, which provokes at least two thoughts:.
1. I'm mostly ignorant of Hebrew; except, however, I'm aware that one Commandment is an order to not murder. (It is, therefore, not merely, "Thou shalt not kill.").
2. During a television interview, the late, great French documentarist Claude Lanzmann (rightly famous for directing the monumental documentary "Shoah"), mentioned that "extermination" describes more accurately than "holocaust" does the mass murder committed by Nazis. Although "Shoah" is commonly employed by contemporary French-speakers (as "Holocaust" is by English-speakers), sometimes I defer to Mister Lanzmann's precision.
Thank you again for your previous comment. I hope that this one is not pedantic.
Not at all. I appreciate the exchange. Lanzmann’s epic film came out when I was in law school. I remember going several weekends in a row to see it all. Sunday afternoons. Life changing. But with respect to the terminology I respectfully disagree. I felt the same way then.
Very moving and sobering. For American Zionists, the courage and perseverance of Israelis over the past 10 months has been remarkable, admirable, and a telling commentary on our own willful decadence and political irresponsibility. These are dark days; know that we are with you, if only in spirit and our hearts. B'hatzlachah
Thanks. A beautifully expressed sentiment and so meaningful. People here are just caught in this horrible time and place. The concern about what this country has become and will become is deep. It’s heartbreaking. To hear from so many that never has this country faced such an existential crisis. And it is in every way; security, political and domestic cohesion. Crazy.
Indeed: Most Israelis have an extraordinary amount of sang-froid.
It’s so interesting….how Israelis see themselves and how they are perceived. I didn’t grow up here. But you figure out quickly that either you find a way to manage the tension or you go crazy. For me it’s a very conscious effort. To focus only on what I can control and need to do that day.