I like Batya, but her notion that Jews in America were not oppressed is so off the mark. Simply because we could hide that we were Jews, by taking advantage of our lighter skin shade, and move into a more accepting society does not mean we were not oppressed. Yes Jews were able to use the American system to create successful laws and lives, but the reason they needed to do that is because they were marginalized by the powers that be.
There are investment banks, because Jews were not allowed to work for banks. There are “Jewish” law firms because they were not allowed to become partners in White Shoe Law Firms. There are Jewish social clubs, because Jews were not allowed in the Older Country clubs. Brandeis University was created because of jewish quotas at the ivy leagues. There were parts of deeds that houses could not be sold to Jews.
I grew up in the Bible Belt, and was singled out with my sister by the public schools because we would not celebrate Christmas. We had to say christian prayers in public school even after the Supreme Court cases. Antisemitism was pervasive and is still pervasive within large parts of American society.
And considering that Crown Heights was a pogrom, and she herself wrote for years about the physical assaults and antisemitism being faced by religious Jews in Brooklyn how can she say that physical threats were not part of the American landscape.
I think Batya is mixing ideas here. No there was not an outward Pale of Settlement, and the ghettos were more because refugees and immigrants tend to live close to each other and there was no outward laws defining where Jews could live, but it doesn’t mean that Jews were always welcomed and that society was welcoming. Now lets talk immigration…..WW2, the Holocaust….
I will deal solely with today. I ( and we) are not oppressed. But we are despised by some. What is important is knowing who the some are. I am less concerned with an anti Semite who has no interest in socializing with me than one who has political power ( or is a strong supporter of a person who has such power).
In years gone by the liberal Jewish assumption or proclivity was to put that label on Christians . Many leftist jews still bitterly cling to those assumptions. While there are some church goers in particular churches ( that lean hard left) who may still deserve this broadbrush, the vast majority of Christians who live in accordance with their Christian values are anything but oppressors. Recent polling makes this clear. As do recent various words and actions and protests where jews are among those targeted . This is one of the objectives and lessons of intersectionality that is omnipresent in many settings.
I just finished your book. It inspired this thought about how we might go about countering the oppressor/oppressed worldview of the Woke:
"Yes, it is true: A terrible human price has been paid to build the modern world. Throughout history, ever since the rise of civilization, there has scarcely been a man on earth who was not both exploiting and being exploited. What is different now is that, unlike in other civilizations in which the evil fruits of oppression were largely wasted in war and display, our Judeo-Christian forebears were able to redeem the past by turning them into something good. Our job today is to complete the task."
We cannot underestimate the power of these elite organisations and people. They currently dominate the agenda (as proven by the countless articles and comments on Substack that have been written to counter these attacks on Israel's legitimacy - amazingly this is what they managed to achieve). This could only change somewhat if the 'silent majority' votes for the Republicans (who also have thier own fanatics) in the coming elections.
I like Batya, but her notion that Jews in America were not oppressed is so off the mark. Simply because we could hide that we were Jews, by taking advantage of our lighter skin shade, and move into a more accepting society does not mean we were not oppressed. Yes Jews were able to use the American system to create successful laws and lives, but the reason they needed to do that is because they were marginalized by the powers that be.
There are investment banks, because Jews were not allowed to work for banks. There are “Jewish” law firms because they were not allowed to become partners in White Shoe Law Firms. There are Jewish social clubs, because Jews were not allowed in the Older Country clubs. Brandeis University was created because of jewish quotas at the ivy leagues. There were parts of deeds that houses could not be sold to Jews.
I grew up in the Bible Belt, and was singled out with my sister by the public schools because we would not celebrate Christmas. We had to say christian prayers in public school even after the Supreme Court cases. Antisemitism was pervasive and is still pervasive within large parts of American society.
And considering that Crown Heights was a pogrom, and she herself wrote for years about the physical assaults and antisemitism being faced by religious Jews in Brooklyn how can she say that physical threats were not part of the American landscape.
I think Batya is mixing ideas here. No there was not an outward Pale of Settlement, and the ghettos were more because refugees and immigrants tend to live close to each other and there was no outward laws defining where Jews could live, but it doesn’t mean that Jews were always welcomed and that society was welcoming. Now lets talk immigration…..WW2, the Holocaust….
AAA known now as a roadside ‘insurance’ , used to be a true ‘driving club’ which of course did not admit Jews in certain areas.
I will deal solely with today. I ( and we) are not oppressed. But we are despised by some. What is important is knowing who the some are. I am less concerned with an anti Semite who has no interest in socializing with me than one who has political power ( or is a strong supporter of a person who has such power).
In years gone by the liberal Jewish assumption or proclivity was to put that label on Christians . Many leftist jews still bitterly cling to those assumptions. While there are some church goers in particular churches ( that lean hard left) who may still deserve this broadbrush, the vast majority of Christians who live in accordance with their Christian values are anything but oppressors. Recent polling makes this clear. As do recent various words and actions and protests where jews are among those targeted . This is one of the objectives and lessons of intersectionality that is omnipresent in many settings.
I just finished your book. It inspired this thought about how we might go about countering the oppressor/oppressed worldview of the Woke:
"Yes, it is true: A terrible human price has been paid to build the modern world. Throughout history, ever since the rise of civilization, there has scarcely been a man on earth who was not both exploiting and being exploited. What is different now is that, unlike in other civilizations in which the evil fruits of oppression were largely wasted in war and display, our Judeo-Christian forebears were able to redeem the past by turning them into something good. Our job today is to complete the task."
Or something like that.
We cannot underestimate the power of these elite organisations and people. They currently dominate the agenda (as proven by the countless articles and comments on Substack that have been written to counter these attacks on Israel's legitimacy - amazingly this is what they managed to achieve). This could only change somewhat if the 'silent majority' votes for the Republicans (who also have thier own fanatics) in the coming elections.