Difference between a Jew and a Zionist
SHORT VIDEO CLIPS, 14 Nov 2011
Rabbi: “The Jews have no right to have a state or to rule over the Palestinians and blow up their homes. Zionism is destroying the thousands of years old Jewish religion; it was started a hundred years ago by atheists.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxiwBpbGmoU&feature=related
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 14 Nov 2011.
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Compare the following passages of two different books of the Hebrew Bible, and you will learn something very important from them.
Genesis: 15:18-21.
18 That day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram in these terms: ‘To your descendants I give this country, from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the River Euphrates,
19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.’
Jeremiah: 31:31-34.
31 ‘Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah),
32 but not like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, even though I was their Master, Yahweh declares.
33 No, this is the covenant I shall make with the House of Israel when those days have come, Yahweh declares. Within them I shall plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I shall be their God and they will be my people.
34 There will be no further need for everyone to teach neighbour or brother, saying, “Learn to know Yahweh!” No, they will all know me, from the least to the greatest, Yahweh declares, since I shall forgive their guilt and never more call their sin to mind.’
(Source and translation: http://www.catholic.org/bible/)
PS.
Read not only Torah but also the whole part of the Bible.
In addition, if you are interested in, I recommend that you read “Zohar”, one of the main reading materials of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism (and more than that). Until some decades ago, it was taught only to a handful of selected Jews. You will surely be able to learn extraordinary things from Zohar. Probably the best translation in English so far is this:
http://www.sup.org/zohar/
(I heard that the volume 6 will be coming soon.)
My message/intention here is to let you face the problem (whatever it is) without any prejudice that you may have now. As such, to read the whole part of the Bible and study Zohar, for instance, might help you remove your prejudice gradually.
PPS.
Re: The video above and my first comment above.
Let me write a comment again on the above video that has inspired me to write this. My gratitude goes to four persons (or perhaps more); (1) Prof. Galtung who presides at this website, (2) the rabbi on the video, (3) the video/film maker and, but not least, (4) the TMS editor who selected that video (as well as everyone else who is supporting this website).
Six main paragraphs (therefore, six main points as well) and plus alpha are shown below:
1. “Genesis 15:18-21” is the foundation of the argument of the “so-called Zionists.” In these verses in Genesis, Yahweh promised Abram (aka Abraham = the father of Israel) that He would give Abram the land whose areas were mentioned in these verses. But, in “Jeremiah 31:32,” Yahweh said that Israelites had broken the Covenant. (This was why Yahweh decided to have the new Covenant, this time not with Abram or his descendants but with the House of Israel and the House of Judah.) This indicates that the promise as mentioned in “Genesis 15:18-21” is no longer valid. If what God said as such is true that Israelites had broken the Covenant, how Israelis, allegedly descendants of Israelites, can claim that the Covenant as mentioned in “Genesis 15:18-21” is still valid today? Read “Jeremiah 31:31-34” once again and you will know what happened to the validity of the (old) Covenant that is mentioned in “Genesis 15:18-21.” The broken Covenant means the invalid Covenant. Accordingly, it is useless to argue about the “broken Covenant” anymore. Yahweh made the new Covenant instead (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
2. In the above paragraph, I used the term the “so-called Zionists,” because they are not “true Zionists.” They are political activists by exploiting political interests from their religion. What might well-be called “true Zionists” are different. Then, who are true Zionists? For example, the rabbi, who appeared on the video above on this website, is one of true Zionists (although he might not consider himself as a Zionist because he understands the term “Zionist” as the conventional sense, that is, as the “so-called Zionist.”) The rabbi on the video surely understands that the promise in “Genesis 15:18-21” is no longer valid. A true Zionist is not a political activist. A true Zionist is a messenger of God and at the same time, is a practitioner of the message from God. A true Zionist practices God’s love. A true Zionist understands how Palestinians suffer because of political activists who pretend to be Zionists (= the “so called Zionists” as referred to in this comment). A true Zionist knows that Palestinians are his neighbors, brothers and sisters. A true Zionist has a heart with love and empathy. (The word “Zion” indicates “Jerusalem” where Yahweh’s magnificent temple (usually simply called the “Temple”) existed until CE70. Therefore, the word “Zion” also indicates “God” symbolically. Accordingly, the word “Zionist” symbolically implies the word “Godist.” If God is love, a “Godist” practices God’s love. This is the true meaning of a “Zionist.”)
3. Imagine as follows: What if Native Americans claim that the American Continent is their homeland, promised by their God, so that all contemporary residents living in the Continent, including Jewish residents, should move out of the Continent? And what if these Native Americans start demolishing non-Native Americans’ residences, including those of Jews, and their other properties in the Continent? Furthermore, what if Native Americans start controlling almost all infrastructures in the Continent, including mobile/cell phone systems? (See also “Hacking Palestine: A Digital Occupation,” by Helga Tawil-Souri – Al Jazeera -, http://www.transcend.org/tms/2011/11/hacking-palestine-a-digital-occupation/) This is essentially the same logic and the same practice that the “so-called Zionists” have been claiming and doing since 1948. These Native Americans may argue: “If God’s promise for Israelites is valid in the Middle-East, God’s promise for Native Americans should also be valid in the American Continent. If what Israelis are doing in Palestine is legitimate, what we, Native Americans, do to you, Jews in the American Continent, should also be legitimate. Please keep this in mind: we, Native Americans, have never invaded your homeland in the Middle East. We will never invade your homeland. So, reciprocally, please do not invade our homeland. Therefore, please get out of our homeland immediately. We respect your God’s promise in the Middle-East. Vice versa, you should also respect our God’s promise in the American Continent.” As you see, this is a “fair” argument for both Israelis and Native Americans. But, if that would really happen in the American Continent, would Jews in the Continent accept the “fairness” that Native Americans claim as such? Native Americans’ argument is a litmus test for Israelis in Palestine.
4. God is love. He loves all human beings. If He loved only Israelites, why did He bother to create any other human beings? If He loved only Israelites, He would promise to give Israelites all part of this planet. If He loved only Israelites, and if He promised to give them only the Middle-East area as Genesis mentioned, what a stingy God He is! Do you think that God is such a stingy guy/being? The truth is, however, that He loved and loves not only Israelites but also all human beings. This is why He promised Israelites that He would give only some part of the land on the Earth; other part of this planet is for other peoples. (But that promise is no longer valid as mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31-34.) God loves all human beings (and all other creatures). Let me emphasize this again: If He did not love all human beings, He did not create non-Israelites or if He happened to create non-Israelites by mistake (?), He would erase them completely from this planet.
5. A true Zionist movement, if any, must be highly spiritual, far from being political. Spiritual matters belong to God, while political matters belong to humans. Therefore, if the Zionist movement becomes political, it can no longer be called the Zionist movement. It should, then, be called a “political movement for the seizure of other people’s land.” The promised-land, if any possibility for it exists, is to be given by God. It is not to be acquired by humans’ political effort in any sense, especially by oppressing and exploiting any other humans.
6. The essence of the Zionist movement is that humans (Israelis) should understand that it is God’s task to decide whether He should give a homeland to Israelis. It is not Israelis’ task to decide whether God should give a homeland to Israelis. This is because God does not abide by Israelis’ decision. (If God abides by Israelis’ decision, who actually is “God”? God or Israelis?) If Israelis decide to give a home land to them by taking other people’s land, it is their own decision. The decision as such is a humans’ decision, not God’s decision. Then, it has nothing to do with God. Therefore, the decision as such has nothing to do with the Covenant with God. Know the difference between God’s task (God’s decision) and humans’ (Israelis’) decision.
Plus alpha: May peace and love be with both Israelis and Palestinians! (Both of you are brothers and sisters. Did you know that?) May peace and love be with everyone of you, all peoples and individuals in the world! (All of us are brothers and sisters on this planet. Did you know that?)
Have a nice weekend, all of you!