A Vile Anti-Semitic Tract
Last month, The Jewish Press published a statement by Socialist Workers Party candidate Seth Galinsky, in which he promotes Abram Leon’s The Jewish Question: A Marxist Interpretation.
That work is actually one of the most pernicious anti-Semitic tracts the Left has ever produced. Ignoring the Christian (and Islamic) theological roots of anti-Semitism, Leon identifies Jewish “usury” as the cause of pogroms from the Middle Ages to modern times.
As I explained in my book Antisemitism and the American Far Left (2013), Leon went beyond previous Marxist writers in declaring that medieval prohibitions against Jews’ owning land or working as artisans were “a fable.” He claimed that Jews were psychologically drawn to moneylending.
Guilds that excluded Jews were not motivated by “religious animosity or racial hatred,” according to Leon. They didn’t want Jews because they considered usury and peddling dishonest.
A militant anti-Zionist, Leon insisted that the Jewish population had been widely dispersed across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean long before 70 CE, with Judea containing only its “smallest” and “least vital part.” It is deeply disturbing that many contemporary far leftists and black militants have been attracted to Leon’s combination of anti-Zionist invective and crude economic stereotyping of Jews.
Stephen H. Norwood
Professor of History and Judaic Studies
University of Oklahoma
No, We Shouldn’t Join the Democratic Party (I)
Last week, Councilman Chaim Deutsch wrote a letter to the editor in which he argues that New York Jews should join the Democratic Party and help its leaders defeat the “extreme progressives” (read: socialists) in the party.
Apparently Mr. Deutsch does not realize that the party’s leadership agrees with the progressives and has at least tacitly supported them. The Democratic Party no longer holds the Jewish community with much respect because it believe Jews are Democrats before anything else and will simply do what they are told.
I can agree with the councilman’s statement about fighting back, though. We need to escape the clutches of the Democratic Party and work with like-minded citizens to push the extremists out of government.
Bruce Goldman
Baltimore, MD
No, We Shouldn’t Join the Democratic Party (II)
With all due respect, Councilman Chaim Deutsch’s plea for Jews to register as Democrats in order to “seize back the Democratic Party from the clutches of the most extreme leftist voices” is ludicrous.
The Democratic Party has become the most openly anti-Semitic, anti-Israel party in history, and to ask the few Jews who aren’t registered Democrats to become Democrats is totally irrational. It’s like asking German Jews in the 1930s to join the Nazi Party to try to change its direction.
The best course of action by far is to convincingly defeat the now far left, radical Democratic Party and let its leaders and members see for themselves where their hate-filled policies have led them.
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park, NJ
No, We Shouldn’t Join the Democratic Party (III)
With much respect for Councilman Deutsch, I am writing as the child of Holocaust survivors. My mother, z”l, was at Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz; my father, z”l, was at Dachau and Auschwitz.
I would ask the councilman to please reconsider his advice to vote Democratic so that our “voice [is] heard.” But our voice is not heard when you have Democrats like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib making virulent, hateful anti-Semitic remarks. It’s not heard when Bernie Sanders has Linda Sarsour as his spokeswoman, a woman connected to Louis Farrakhan.
No, Councilman Deutsch, Jews should not vote for any Democrat. This party is not hearing us, is not voting to help us, and does not care about Jews. Its rhetoric will only, chas v’shalom, lead to more attacks on our fellow Yidden.
Chaya Leah Malka
Atlanta, GA
No, We Shouldn’t Join the Democratic Party (IV)
Just imagine what would ensue if we weren’t mentally shackled to the Democratic Party. We – who represent hundreds of thousands of votes – could register en masse for the Republican Party and revive it as a force in New York City.
We could call on fellow decent New Yorkers – starting with religious New Yorkers (both Christian and Muslim) – to join us in combating the left’s secularist policies. Imagine what a kiddush Hashem that would be – Jews, Christians, and Muslims united in fighting for divine values.
Even if the aim were to influence the Democrats to become more sane – as Councilman Deutsch wants us to do – hundreds of thousands of voters leaving the party (or even threatening to do so) would have a far greater impact on the positions of leftist politicians than sheepishly remaining devoted Democrat voters.
All these considerations aside: It is simply immoral to remain a member of a party whose ideas diverge in such fundamental ways from core Torah principles. Let’s break our mental shackles and leave.
Josh Bernstein
Brooklyn, NY
It’s Always the Jews’ Fault
So a seven-year-old Arab child in Beit Hanina drowns in a tragic accident and, of course, a bizarre story of fiendish Jewish malevolence is immediately concocted to explain what happened.
That’s precisely how the first blood libels began. On March 22, 1144, Little William of Norwich was found dead, and the Jews were immediately accused, in a fantasized fable, of his murder. The story was memorialized by Thomas of Monmouth and spread widely. That likely led to the 1190 York Massacre and the 1290 expulsion of Jews from England, which was not formally reversed until 1655.
Of course, this libel spread much wider and faster than the original ones did. Hanan Ashrawi tweeted it to her many followers, as did U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) who has a sordid history of jumping the gun on dubious stories.
Ashrawi at least had the decency to delete her tweet and semi-apologize. The despicable Tlaib also deleted her incriminating tweet, but has not yet apologized. Her party botched an earlier attempt to condemn anti-Semitism forthrightly; will it now call out Tlaib’s blatant anti-Semitism? Will her constituents remember in November?
Richard D. Wilkins
Syracuse, NY
Impeach Tlaib
If any member of the three branches of government needs to be impeached, it is Rashida Tlaib. Her bigotry is blatant and continuous.
Donald Trump may have been wrong when he told Tlaib and three others to leave America, but that statement was necessary. Every day she remains in Congress is an insult to that esteemed body.
Nelson Marans
New York, NY
What a Waste
Neither Senator Schumer nor Governor Cuomo said a word about the warehouse in Puerto Rico filled with pallets of food, water, diapers, baby formula, cots, and awnings that were intended for the victims of Hurricane Maria two years ago. How many millions of dollars’ worth of other aid is still sitting unused in warehouses?
It’s ironic that Schumer and Cuomo cry about how long it takes FEMA to respond when a crisis occurs but are totally silent when it comes to waste, fraud, and abuse. Now Schumer has the nerve to ask for even more assistance from the government. How about some accountability for the billions already spent before asking for billions more?
Larry Penner
Great Neck, NY
Women and Torah
I’d like to make two points regarding Rabbi Chananya Weissman’s op-ed, “Should We Be Celebrating Women’s Daf Yomi?”:
1) Devotees of Jewish learning owe an incalculable debt of gratitude to Rashi’s daughter Yocheved, mother of the Rashbam and Rabbeinu Tam. She must have been a knowledgeable Talmudist herself, deeply involved in the active transmission of Jewish learning, and thus should serve as a powerful inspiration for all Jews.
2) Rabbi Weissman writes, “It seems even the most conservative segments of the Orthodox would feel the need to ‘throw a bone’ to women, for lack of a better term.” For lack of a better term, indeed. Does Rabbi Weissman think women are dogs?
Ed Yitshaq Levenson
Delray Beach, FL