Return of the Wandering Jew

“There is nothing worse for mortals than a wandering life.” — Odyssey Homer

BOYNTON BEACH, FL – No; this is not a story about the care and maintenance of a popular houseplant of the same name. It is a tale of a Jew who lived in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. The origins of the term “Wandering Jew” are somewhat murky, but are believed to originate in Christian mythology somewhere around the 13th Century. Condemned to wander the Earth for eternity until Judgement Day for mocking the suffering of Christ, the Wandering Jew has become a metaphor for the fate of the Jewish people for almost two millennia. Over centuries, stories have been told, plays have been written, and in modern times, motion pictures have been made. In one account, he is depicted as a hunchback wandering the Earth in the company of Lucifer; in another, as a harbinger of plague. His perceived arrival or an outbreak of the plague, usually resulted in the extermination or expulsion of the local Jewish community.

The establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948, following world-wide revulsion over the Holocaust, at last gave all Wandering Jews a place they could call home, returning to their ancestral homeland. Unfortunately, Jew hatred throughout the Middle East and much of the world continued unabated, and the Wandering Jews found no peace. Israel’s victories in its four major wars were hailed as great triumphs; but victory did NOT bring about widespread peace and acceptance among its many hostile neighbors. With the passing of time, Jew-hatred has again reared its ugly head; not just in the Middle East but around the globe. Antisemitism has now gone mainstream. So virulent is this new form, that even foreign heads of state, such as President Erdogan of Turkey and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia openly express anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli viewpoints; while across the Islamic world, publications such as the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” still enjoy brisk sales. According to recent statistics; antisemitism has exploded around the world at levels not seen since the 1930’s. American Jews in particular, and most progressive Jewish organizations, as well as the far-left continually attribute most of this to the rise of the far-right neo-Nazi, and point to the attacks on Jewish houses of worship in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Poway, California as proof. While it is true that the far-right has been expanding in recent years, which could be interpreted as a reaction to the far-left tilt of the nation; the numbers according to FBI statistics are relatively small. What HAS expanded exponentially is the growth, power, and influence of both the radical left and Islamists, with an unconventional alliance between them; the ultimate goals of which is the destruction of Israel and the United States.

Most American Jews seem almost blissfully unaware of this turn of events. They cannot break with the leftist belief system of their parents and grandparents, and are unable to recognize that their precious Democrat party has moved so far to the left, that its allegiance has shifted to those who seek the destruction of the Jewish state, and by extension; the Jewish people. Jews speak of “tikkun olam” in reverent tones and claim that they are Americans; not Israelis. Jews in Germany during the 1930’s proudly proclaimed that they were Germans, but when the time came, they went to the gas chambers along with the rest of the non-German Jews. Note how they accepted the wooden bar of soap from their Nazi enemies just before entering the gas chambers, which was pried from their dead hands after they were killed, to be given to the next batch of victims. Jews today are accepting the cleansing-effect of their neo-Marxist ideology coupled with a constant barrage of propaganda from left-wing media outlets, their progressive leaders and rabbis, ADL, the Federations, and Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), who give them a false understanding of the true situation. They are abandoning the Jews of Brooklyn, America, and Israel.

All too often one hears: “Israel can take care of itself”; “Israel must make major concessions in order to achieve peace”; “Israel is a racist apartheid state”; and “Jews whine too much about the Holocaust!” The reality is that Israel is just a minuscule strip of sand along the Mediterranean coast that cannot survive without American aid. Given the shift of the Democrat party to the far-left, the next Democrat President cannot be expected to continue support of such a “genocidal state.” Democrat Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has already addressed this issue when he stated he would re-direct all American aid currently received by Israel to the Palestinians. Joe Biden has been endorsed by virulent Jew-haters Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI); both have not condemned Louis Farrakhan who insists Jews are “termites” and “satanic.” Biden also welcomed the endorsement of J Street, the far-left George Soros-backed group that has opposed most U.S. policies that support Israel, and whose leader embraced Palestinian Authority despot Mahmoud Abbas.

In Biden’s current state of mind, he can easily be manipulated by the mounting Jew-hate emanating from the Democrat party. During a recent demonstration, a small boy was observed holding a placard that read, “For world peace Israel must be destroyed.” This is not an isolated sentiment, but a belief widely held by many in the Islamic world and by a substantial number on the far-left.

American Jews continue to believe that the American system will protect them. “We are safe here,” they claim, and smugly assert that pogroms and expulsions could never happen here. Many are shocked to learn that BOTH already have. In 1991 following the accidental death of a black child struck by a Jewish motorist, mobs of blacks rampaged through the streets of Eastern Parkway, Crown Heights, Brooklyn incited by none other than Al Sharpton who screamed Jews were diamond merchants; alluding to their privilege and wealth. Black Democrat Mayor David Dinkins condoned loud shouts of blacks threatening, “Kill the Jews!” and “Death to the Jews!” Attacking Jews on the streets, looting Jewish stores and breaking into Jewish homes easily identified by the mezuzot on the doorposts, as this “pogrom” continued for three days; one Jew named Yankel Rosenbaum was stabbed to death; dozens of others assaulted. As for expulsions, in December 1862, General U.S. Grant issued his infamous General Order #11, expelling Jews from most of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

What has happened before could happen again; in which case that little sliver of coastal real estate on the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean just might come in handy. This is no longer a question of disagreement with policies of the Israeli government – this is about the very survival of the Jewish state and the Jewish people.

American Jewry in short, is torn between conflicting loyalties. In all probability, the vast majority will continue to cling to their ancestral ideology. Jews continue to receive requests in the mail for donations from leftist Jewish organizations calling out right-wing Nazi white supremacist hate, complete with imagery and text showing iconography of swastikas and Heil Hitler salutes that give the impression the threat to Jews comes from one side only. Nowhere in these letters does it mention that progressive Jewish groups are allying with their enemies who are tied to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. When the source of murder, assault, and violence to Jews comes from Muslims and Blacks, the donation request letters illusively describe the assailants as “thugs” or “hate-mongers,” giving the impression hate comes mostly from white supremacist neo-Nazis.

FBI 2018 Hate Crime statistics show a list of “offenders” that include White, Black, Hispanic, and others, but Islamists are excluded. Are Islamists not perpetrating hate crimes? Anti-Islamic/Muslims, are though, included in the statistics as “victims” of bias hate crimes. Jews encompass only 2% of the total population of the US, yet are the victims of 56.9% of all hate crimes. This statistic should be a sobering reminder to every Jew and should dispel the notion that “We are safe here.” Does it have to be that you only feel “safe” until such time as something happens to either you or someone you know? It is time for leftist newspapers to print opposing views, warning their devoted Democrat Jewish readers that there’s plenty of hate out there coming from ALL sides and by ignoring these facts, Jews are not able to determine how best to safeguard for their future.

Mainstream media and social media fuel the Nazi-narrative and Jews predictably ingest this propaganda 24/7 from most of their rabbis, politicians, academia, and their Torah of choice: The NY Times, as if areas like Crown Heights and Williamsburg in Brooklyn and college campuses all over our nation are chock full of KKK and neo-Nazis. A great many of these assaults go under-reported by mainstream media because of the ethnic make-up of the attackers. It is just NOT politically expedient to show Blacks or Muslims beating up Jews. The Democrat party after all, still needs the Jewish vote.

Jews historically have been at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement and many who love to support “social justice” embrace Black Lives Matter, but seem unaware that in 2016, the BLM platform denounced Israel for committing “genocide” against the Palestinians, ignoring the numerous terrorist attacks directed against Israel from the Palestinian territories. This part of the doctrine has now disappeared from their website and the Internet. Before Jews place Black Lives Matter banners on their Twitter and Facebook accounts, have they asked BLM leaders why part of their agenda is supporting BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) against Israel? If BLM declares, “Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon,” with the goal of defunding cops, is it in the Jews best interest to forsake their own security when Jew-hatred is exploding all around them?

If there is one thing that can unite a neo-Nazi skinhead and a far-left ideologue, it is hatred of Israel and the Jews; and if one thing can unite a Sunni extremist and a Shiite fundamentalist, it is hatred of Israel and the Jews. It will be a perfect storm of Jew-hatred. The process of the delegitimization of the Jewish state has already begun. Many Jews whose progressive ideology is their religion have fallen for it; hook – line – and sinker!

There is no other country in the entire world whose very right to exist is being called into question, nor is there any other country that is held to a standard of behavior that no one else on this planet is called upon to endure. We have to all understand that our enemies look at us not as Israelis, Americans, Britons, Canadians; Liberals or Conservatives; Republicans or Democrats; Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, or non-observant, but ONLY as Jews! We should all be united in our support of the one single state which offers us sanctuary in the face of this global tsunami of antisemitism that is about to engulf us. It is high time the Wandering Jew came home, at least in spirit, if not in actual body, for if the current trends continue unabated, and all indications are that they will; there will be NO PLACE for us to flee to and the fate of the Wandering Jew will once again serve as a metaphor for his people. Time is NOT on our side … and neither is the ideology of most Jews.