--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sgrayatlarge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "larry.potter" > <larry.potter@> wrote: > > > > This is humeristic column, bob, but it seems that you missed that > > point, why I'm not surprised ? > > > > cut and and paste and put things out of context seems to be the > > tactic for you. > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante <no_reply@> > > wrote: > > > > > > "Listen to how Joshua and Caleb describe the inhabitants of > Canaan > > the > > > people who rightfully possess the land the Israelites want to > > > seize: "Have no fear then of the people of the country, for they > > are > > > our prey" (my italics). "Prey"that's a breathtaking and > sinister > > > word! Again we're reminded that the Torah is not aspiring to be > a > > book > > > for everyone. It is not preaching universal truth for all men. > It > > is > > > the work of a single tribe at war with everyone around it. Their > > > enemies were not human: They were prey." > > > > > > http://www.slate.com/id/2146473/entry/2146669/?nav=tap3 > > Hi Larry, > > After reading Bob's insights about Israel, the Bible,and the Jews, I > thought I'd share an article written by Dennis Prager. He addresses > how many Jews would react to Bob's apparent beliefs. Great timing > Bob, I'm sure the Seattle Jewish Community will be thrilled to read > your in-depth analysis of the value of the old testament to society. > Bob, do us a favor and stick to something you know about- Bevan: > > On Jan. 21 in Paris, a gang of Muslims intent on kidnapping Jews > kidnapped 23-year-old Ilan Halimi. Reciting verses from the Koran in > phone conversations demanding money from the family, they ultimately > rejected the money and tortured Halimi to death. They kept him naked > for weeks while they cut him up and finally poured flammable liquid > over his skin and burned him alive. > When Jews read this story, they see themselves as Halimi and think > that such a thing could happen to them somewhere in the world today > and somewhere in the world at any time in the past. > > If you want to understand how Jews think and behave, you must first > understand how large antisemitism and the Holocaust loom in the > psyche, emotions and minds of the vast majority of Jews. > > It could not be otherwise. > > While ethnic, racial, religious and national hatreds are as old as > mankind, none has been as universal and as deep as hatred of Jews. > > Jew-hatred was given the name "anti-Semitism" only in 1879 by a > German anti-Semite named Wilhelm Marr. The term is entirely > misleading since it has nothing to do with "Semites." Jews may be > Semites, but so are Arabs, and antisemitism never meant hatred of > Arabs, only of Jews. > > Jew-hatred or antisemitism has been so deep that tens of millions of > people have equated the Jews with the devil and many more have > desired that the Jews be erased from the Earth. Such an attempt was > made only one generation ago in what is called the Holocaust (or > Shoah, the Hebrew term). This was the German Nazi attempt to murder > every Jewish man, woman and child, which resulted in the murder of > two out of every three Jews in Europe. > > To give an idea of how many Jews have been murdered for being Jews, > all one needs to do is look at population statistics. Scholars > estimate the population of the Roman Empire at about 60 million at > the time of Jesus. According to the dean of Jewish historians, > Professor Salo Baron, at that time Jews comprised about 10 percent > of the population. That means that 2,000 years ago there were about > 6 million Jews. It is also estimated that at that time, the world's > population was about 200 million. > > Today the world's population is over 6 billion. While the world's > population is about 30 times larger than 2,000 years ago, the Jewish > population has barely doubled. Had Jews been left alone to procreate > at the same rate as others, there would be about 180 million Jews in > the world today. Moreover, even the 6 million number for the Roman > empire represented a huge loss of population due to extensive > killing of Jews in the 12 centuries from their inception. > > It is true that Jewish population losses have been also due to > assimilation, but this assimilation was itself overwhelmingly a > result of persecution
Not true...at least not true for America: today, 50% of Jews marry non-Jews and this is NOT a result of persecution. Jews in America enjoy a freedom of living unprecedented in history when considering Jews living as a minority in a country. Alan Dershowitz wrote a whole book on this. > -- forced conversions, desire to lead a far > safer life as part of the majority culture, etc. In fact, because of > the Holocaust, there are fewer Jews today than there were 100 years > ago. > > One can now understand why the Passover Haggadah -- the special > prayer book for the Passover Seder meal, first written about 2,000 > years ago -- contains this famous statement: "In every generation > there are those who rise against us to annihilate us . . . " > > As a result, Jews are probably the most insecure group in the world. > This may come as a surprise to most non-Jews since Jews are widely > regarded as particularly powerful. But Jews' power and Jews' > insecurity are not mutually contradictory. In fact, Jews' power > derives in large measure from their insecurity. The stronger the > Jews' influence, Jews believe, the less likely they are to be hurt > again. > > Fear of being hurt again is the major reason most identifying Jews > are so protective of Israel. First, they fear that without Israel, > Jews are far more vulnerable to another outburst of antisemitic > violence. And this has been true. Israel, for example, was Soviet > Jewry's great defender (along with America and Diaspora Jewry) and > the place to escape to. Only a very strong Israel, Jews believe, can > prevent another Holocaust. Second, Jews believe that Arabs and other > Muslims want to do to Israel and its Jewish inhabitants what the > Nazis did to the Jews. And given the Palestinians' desire to destroy > Israel, the Iranian regime's repeated calls for the annihilation of > Israel, and the number of Muslims who chant, "Death to Israel," this > fear is entirely warranted. > > Fear of being persecuted and even murdered solely for being a Jew > resides in just about every Jew's psyche. It helps to explain Jews' > preoccupation with Israel; Jews' preoccupation with teaching the > world about the Holocaust; Jews' fear of Christianity -- most Jews > are taught about European Christian antisemitism at a very young age > and link Christianity to the Holocaust; and even Jews' near- > religious commitment to liberalism, which most Jews see as the best > guarantor against antisemitism. An increasing number of Jews are > rethinking the latter two conclusions as a result of Christian > treatment of Jews in America and Christian support for Israel and > because of the lack of such support on the Left. But whatever one's > position on these matters, the fact remains that fear of pogroms, > torture, expulsions and mass murder shapes most Jews' psyches and > politics. > > > > > > > To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
