Warning! Paradigm Shift Ahead.................by Dan Friedman

Jew-hatred is a powerful emotion our Creator etched into human nature. To wit, some Jews hate themselves, some gentiles hate the Jews even though they never met one, and still others are willing to murder Jews at the cost of their own lives. Bottom line, the Jewish state of Israel must steel itself physically and spiritually to ride out a prolonged siege lasting decades or generations - if she expects to survive let alone prosper. Judaism, being an iconoclast faith, its state is an iconoclast nation too. So the solution to Israel’s dilemma won’t be found worshipping manufactured icons or old bromides. After 20 years, mercifully “land for peace” is on its death bed and there’s nothing in line to succeed it. Why do you think the Beinarts and the Tom Friedmans sound so petulant and panic-stricken? They’ve simply run out of new ideas to help Israel commit assisted-suicide.

Today’s reality insists Israel has to become more Jewish, not less. Looking to our ancient sacred texts for divine guidance on life and statecraft is the Jewish sine qua non. Without it we would never have come this far. But on a temporal level, Israel might want to take her cue from Abraham Lincoln, a great man who fought fiercely to keep America whole and firmly believed G-d wanted him to do it. Israel needs to put the world on notice: she is a nation of the Jewish people, by the Jewish people, for the Jewish people, and it’s here to stay even if other nations don’t like it. Then Israel and the rest of us can move forward from there.

Dan Friedman
NYC