The Jerusalem Post on Sunday published an article from Rabbi Shmuley Boteach accusing God of antisemitism.
"Is God an antisemite?" the opinion piece is titled.
"Since there is no good reason not to like us, is God's disfavor toward the Jews something akin to the United Nations or the European Union, which just despise us irrationally?" reads the subheadline.
From The Jerusalem Post:
Traveling in Normandy for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, I chanced upon many Israelis in Paris who saw my yarmulke and walked over to say hello.
Not a single one wore a kippah but baseball caps. "Europa malei b'antishemim Europe is filled with antisemites." So what? I asked. The one thing no one would call Israelis are cowards. "You guys are brave enough to fight Hamas but you're too scared to go to the Louvre with a yarmulke?"
"For 2,000 years, Jews have been murdered in Europe. They're all antisemites."
For all the courage that Israelis exhibit and there is no braver nation on earth they still live in a Jewish bubble in the Middle East and when they venture out to a continent that they are convinced detests Jews, they want to avoid confrontation.
But what proves that Europe is antisemitic? Why, they have been murdering Jews for 2,000 years, right?
By the same token, might we say, God forbid, that the Creator is none too fond of Jews as well? After all, isn't He the one who allowed Jews to be murdered for two millennia?
Let me be clear. I do not believe in God. Rather, I am certain there is a God. I am certain that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, Master of the Universe, and Controller of all history. Maimonides said there is no commandment to believe in God but to know that God exists.
[...] And to those who say that we Jews are sinful and don't keep the Torah, give me a break. There is no nation on earth so faithful as the Jews. Even after Auschwitz, we continue to put on tefillin, eat kosher, and send our kids to Jewish day schools. No nation on earth has even approximated the loyalty of the Jews to God even when it seems He does not reciprocate.
Which brings me back to my original question. Is God an antisemite? Since there is no good reason not to like us, is God's disfavor toward the Jews something akin to the United Nations or the European Union, which just despise us irrationally?
[...] I have no idea what God is up to with the global resurgence of antisemitism. Yes, humanity has freedom of choice, and those who choose to hate the Jews like the maggot mullahs of Iran are culpable for their hatred. But if God did not will it, even amid their attempts at murdering Jews, they would not be able to harm a hair on a baby in Nir Oz or Sderot.
Why has God allowed all this garbage to come back? Were six million Jewish martyrs not enough?
Next week is the 30th anniversary of the death of the Rebbe. In one of his last public addresses, the Rebbe spoke of the rape and murder of a young mother in Crown Heights. He looked up at the heavens and sparred with God before a global audience of listeners. "Zechutz korbanos?" "Lord, do you need more sacrifices? "Ad matai?" Will it ever be enough?
In Deuteronomy, Moses famously says, "the hidden things are for God. But the revealed things are for us and our children." After October 7, I have no idea what God is up to. With two sons at war in Israel, I shake and shudder, mourn and grieve for every murdered IDF hero. Must another few thousand 20-year-old Jewish boys die before God's thirst is quenched?
But none of that is my business. My job is to protest God's seeming inaction, demand that He show himself in history as He did on the day that four hostages were rescued and when the demonic president of Iran was roasted in a helicopter crash and finally protect his people.
Is God an antisemite? My role is not to answer that question but to pray to him defiantly that He ceases giving any party even a hint that this may be so.
I don't understand why the world hates Jews. But my job is not to understand but to fight, to explain, to debate, and to win. My job is to be an Israelite, "he who wrestles with God." My role is to keep the Sabbath whenever God seemingly allows it to be violated, as on October 7. My job is to honor my wife and respect women even when God seemingly allows monsters to violate women. My six daughters' mission is to light the Sabbath candles and dispel the darkness even when God seemingly extinguishes hope as He did on October 7. And my job is to fight for Israel and support the IDF even when God seemingly allows their lives to slip through His fingers.
No, God is not an antisemite. The very fact that the Jewish people still exist proves it. But it's high time that he started showing His love rather than just talking about it. [Emphasis added] As a reminder, Rabbi Shmuley is the guy who introduced the Adelsons to Jared Kushner in 2015 and helped them meet with Trump before they decided to fund his campaign.
The Jerusalem Post in February published a call for "antisemitism" to be criminalized worldwide to silence critics of Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza.
In December they published an article accusing Palestinians of faking their children's deaths with crisis actors and in June they published a piece threatening Spain with "consequences" for recognizing a Palestinian state.
They're now at the stage of accusing God of antisemitism!
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