Wednesday, November 22, 2006

And still, we fight.

I stand firmly behind the belief that the Jews' biggest enemy is the Jews. The internal fight and question of "who is a Jew" is the blemish we should be most worried about. Diaspora versus Israel. Orthodox versus Reform. Sephardim versus Ashkenazim. A Jew is a Jew is a Jew. How can the Jewish community expect to stand tall in the face of adversity when we're so busy locking our neighbor outside in the cold? HOW is this acceptable behavior? So many prominent characters in Torah were converts! Some of the greatest Jewish thinkers were converts! Embrace! I refuse to feel like a stranger in the midst of my fellow Jews! Moses was a stranger in the midst when Sarah died and he was embraced by the people and allowed to create a burial spot for himself and his family. He was a stranger! We've been strangers so many times before, have we not? How can it be acceptable to drive Jews out of the homes of Jews because of a WORD. Ger. Ach.

I'm ... disappointed. Frustrated at my people, if I can be permitted by the Orthodox Israeli rabbinate to call them that, of course. This blemish can be found here.