One of the great ironies of history: The mass persecutions, ethnic cleanings and genocides of Jews over the past few centuries are what made Israel the powerhouse it is today. Jew haters are too stupid to understand that they continue to make the case for a strong Jewish state better than any Zionist ever could.
Jewish history is full of that irony. Movements that sought to marginalise Jews often ended up reinforcing Jewish solidarity, identity, and communal organisation. The challenge is that we should never need antisemitism to remind us why Jewish peoplehood matters.
You read my mind! Jew haters just don’t get it! They’re not lucky enough to be Jewish and feel what we Jews feel! After October 7th…someone asked me why I was so distraught…did I have family there? I told them all Israel is my family! All Jews are my family everywhere in the world!
I think one of the remarkable features of Jewish life is that many Jews genuinely experience peoplehood as something more than an abstract idea. Most nations talk about solidarity. Jews often experience it as kinship, even across borders, languages, and very different ways of living Jewishly.
What part of the essay struck you most? For me it was the distinction between an argument and a price. That feels like a useful lens for understanding a lot of what many Jewish communities have experienced over the past few years.
Those who wish us gone will take the destruction of the state as the first step. They have made it perfectly clear to anyone paying attention that those who aren't them are the real targets. Thank you Adam, love your stuff.
I think that's part of what Adam is getting at. For many Jews, support for Israel isn't ultimately rooted in agreement with a particular government or policy. It's rooted in the belief that Jewish self-determination itself is non-negotiable.
Fully in agreement and concordance, Adam. War is not peace, freedom is not slavery, and ignorance is not strength. Those who are willing to cede the foundational principles of reason and accept that injustice is just will never find a platform of stability on which to build a life of reason and truth. The justice behind the continued existence of the Jewish state naturally follows from the pursuit of Justice itself.
The distinction between "argument" and "price" may be the most important idea in this essay.
It reminded me that communities rarely disappear because everyone is persuaded against them. More often, the costs of identification gradually increase until fewer people are willing to publicly carry the identity.
Jewish history contains countless examples of this dynamic. Sometimes the pressure was legal. Sometimes economic. Sometimes social. But the mechanism was often similar: make belonging expensive.
What I found particularly interesting is your observation that paying a price for something can sometimes deepen commitment rather than weaken it. There is a long tradition of communities drawing meaning from the sacrifices required to sustain them.
Whether one agrees with every aspect of the analysis or not, the distinction between trying to change someone's mind and trying to change the cost structure around their beliefs is an important lens for understanding much of contemporary Jewish life.
One of the great ironies of history: The mass persecutions, ethnic cleanings and genocides of Jews over the past few centuries are what made Israel the powerhouse it is today. Jew haters are too stupid to understand that they continue to make the case for a strong Jewish state better than any Zionist ever could.
Jewish history is full of that irony. Movements that sought to marginalise Jews often ended up reinforcing Jewish solidarity, identity, and communal organisation. The challenge is that we should never need antisemitism to remind us why Jewish peoplehood matters.
You read my mind! Jew haters just don’t get it! They’re not lucky enough to be Jewish and feel what we Jews feel! After October 7th…someone asked me why I was so distraught…did I have family there? I told them all Israel is my family! All Jews are my family everywhere in the world!
I think one of the remarkable features of Jewish life is that many Jews genuinely experience peoplehood as something more than an abstract idea. Most nations talk about solidarity. Jews often experience it as kinship, even across borders, languages, and very different ways of living Jewishly.
Once again you have nailed it.
Thank you for writing and expressing what we all feel and can’t put into words.
I look forward to reading your work!
Keep it up. 👍
What part of the essay struck you most? For me it was the distinction between an argument and a price. That feels like a useful lens for understanding a lot of what many Jewish communities have experienced over the past few years.
Those who wish us gone will take the destruction of the state as the first step. They have made it perfectly clear to anyone paying attention that those who aren't them are the real targets. Thank you Adam, love your stuff.
I think that's part of what Adam is getting at. For many Jews, support for Israel isn't ultimately rooted in agreement with a particular government or policy. It's rooted in the belief that Jewish self-determination itself is non-negotiable.
Absolutely agree with you and Adam
Fully in agreement and concordance, Adam. War is not peace, freedom is not slavery, and ignorance is not strength. Those who are willing to cede the foundational principles of reason and accept that injustice is just will never find a platform of stability on which to build a life of reason and truth. The justice behind the continued existence of the Jewish state naturally follows from the pursuit of Justice itself.
The distinction between "argument" and "price" may be the most important idea in this essay.
It reminded me that communities rarely disappear because everyone is persuaded against them. More often, the costs of identification gradually increase until fewer people are willing to publicly carry the identity.
Jewish history contains countless examples of this dynamic. Sometimes the pressure was legal. Sometimes economic. Sometimes social. But the mechanism was often similar: make belonging expensive.
What I found particularly interesting is your observation that paying a price for something can sometimes deepen commitment rather than weaken it. There is a long tradition of communities drawing meaning from the sacrifices required to sustain them.
Whether one agrees with every aspect of the analysis or not, the distinction between trying to change someone's mind and trying to change the cost structure around their beliefs is an important lens for understanding much of contemporary Jewish life.
https://substack.com/@robertmoisescu/note/c-277956314?r=7a02yu