Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
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But don’t Jews have the whole world to go to just like everyone else on the planet?
I recently posted on Instagram, “Golda Meir famously said that Israel has a secret weapon: We have nowhere else to go.”
And @jeanade5 responded: “Okay, but you have the whole world to go to just like everyone else on the planet.
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@jeanade5, I generally don’t respond to hateful comments but I assume yours is not spiteful, just uninformed. unfortunately, throughout our long history, including today, Jews cannot just go anywhere else like everyone else on the planet.
You see, Jews are not like everyone else on the planet. We, as a people, have been ethnically cleansed from over 80 places. In modern history, from 1938 through 1945 Jews were systematically exterminated just for being Jews in all Nazi controlled areas.
Before 1948 close to a million Jews lived in what are now Arab states. We were systematically expelled from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Sudan, Afghanistan and others. These were places with large, old, established Jewish communities. Today these places are “judenrein”, a term used by the Nazis to describe a successfully ethnically cleansed Jew-free world.
This isn’t new to our people. Just take a look at the list below that lists some of the places we’ve been expelled.
Jews don’t feel the same sense of security to go wherever they please in the world, which is why we need a place to call home when our current home outside of Israel is becoming increasingly inhospitable. As Martin Luther King said, “Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality.”
Today in America, more and more Jews are getting the message that we are not welcome here.
There are 27 official Muslim countries and 33 official Christian countries in the world, but only one Jewish state. Only one place where Jews can always have a home no matter how the tides shift in our host countries. When we talk about the law of return, guaranteeing every Jewish person has a home to return to from across the globe that it not to the exclusion of everyone else. It doesn’t mean that no one else has the right to be there, just that our people, that have been expelled more times than we can count can always count on having a place to return to.
So @jeanade5, we do not have the “whole world to go to just like everyone else on the planet.”
Places Jews have been expelled from:
250 Carthage
415 Alexandria
554 Clement, France
561 Uzes, France
612 Visigoth, Spain
642 Visigothic Empire
855 Italy
876 Sens
1012 Mayence
1181 France
1290 England
1306 France
1348 Switzerland
1348 Alsace
1349 Hungary
1388 Strasbourg
1394 Germany
1394 France
1422 Austria
1424 Fribourg and Zurich
1426 Cologne
1432 Savory
1438 Mainz
1439 Augsburg
1456 Bavaria
1453 Franconia
1453 Breslau
1454 Wurzburg
1485 Vincenza, Italy
1492 Spain
1495 Lithuania
1497 Portugal
1499 Germany
1514 Strasbourg
1519 Regensburg
1540 Naples
1542 Bohemia
1550 Genoa
1551 Bavaria
1555 Pesaro
1559 Austria
1561 Prague
1567 Wurzburg
1569 Papal States
1571 Brandenburg
1582 Netherlands
1593 Brandenburg/Brunswick Austria
1597 Cremona, Pavia & Lodi
1614 Frankfort
1615 Worms
1619 Kiev
1649 Ukraine
1649 Hamburg
1654 Little Russia
1656 Lithuania
1669 Oran, North Africa
1670 Vienna
1712 Sandomir
1727 Russia
1738 Wurtemburg
1740 Little Russia
1744 Bohemia
1744 Livonia
1745 Moravia
1753 Kovad, Lithuania
1761 Bordeaux
1772 Pale of Settlement, Russia
1775 Warsaw
1789 Alsace
1804 Russian Villages
1808 Russia Countryside
1815 Lubeck and Bremen
1815 Franconia, Swabia and Bravaria
1820 Bremes
1843 Prussia & Russian-Austrian Border
1866 Galatz, Romania
1919 Bavaria
*Jews left in Arab/Muslin world:
*Yemen 1
*Egypt 3
*Iraq 3
*Syria 5 {as of 2022) (At least 3 in 2024)
*Lebanon 20
*Morrocco 1,000
*Tunisia 1,000
*Iran 8,000
*Turkey 14,500 [As of 2022]
Algeria; Jordan; Sudan, afghanstan saudi Arabia no Jews
I should like to see an interntional conference bringing together all Jewish groups, at the end of which, there would be a declaration that the "Chosen People" belief is a curse and that it is being repudiated.
Pointless daydream?
Yes.
But everyone needs to admit that as long as the "Chosen People" belief persists, so too will anti-semitism.
All of this "Light unto the Nations" nonsense has got to go.
Of course, if you beieve that you're superior to everybody else, you're going to create anti-semitism.
Someone without belief in the supernatural like yourself cannot be argued into faith but it is worth having your facts straight.
First, blind Freddy can see that humankind has something wrong deep down which will not go away.
For thousands of years multiple ways of interpreting the cause & trying to discover the remedy abounded to no avail. Each man & woman could still become overall sort of good or overall quite bad - little less than a god or diabolical. The supreme being, our creator allowed this to run its course & then picked one fellow at random from one district in one town in one region & called him out to make a lineage being led & instructed on the way humanity was to live & how not to behave.
That is what is meant by chosen.
A double-edged sword!
The concept of the Chosen People means only that HaShem chose the Jews to receive and obey His laws. That is the basis of the Covenant. There is no other implicit or explicit meaning of the concept of the Chosen People. The "Nations" referred to in Isaiah 42:6, in the phrase "Light unto the Nations", are the ancient Hebrew nations, the ancient Jewish nations, no other nations, the nations like Judea and Samaria, and enclaves of the 12 Tribes of Israel. But bigots, Jew-haters, interpret the concept as Jews feeling superior.
The whole concept of the "Chosen People" is a curse.
All it has ever done is to cause anti-semitism.
Jews Have Nowhere Else to Go, that is a false statement even though there are obstacles and we, as people, have learned to jump the hurdles and out strategized them. We have survived many roadblocks and nothing is going to stop us now or ever. In government now, we have leftists, and if empowered, I would hang each and everyone of them. Yoav Gallant would be amongst the first that I would send to the gallows.
I think there has to be a certain level of introspection?
It's always everybody else's fault and never ours?
I did once talk to a Palestinian, he said that the concept of the"Chosen People" made the Jews believe that they were superior and better than anybody else and it ws that which caused hatred and resentment towards the Jews.
That is typical non-Jewish thinking, like interpreting “eye for an eye etc” as carte blanch for unlimited revenge.
Isn't "non-Jewish thinking" precisely what the article is about? The problem of antisemitism can only be addressed by understanding and affecting change in how Jews are viewed by others.
Please look in a mirror.
Yes, but also Muslims view themselves as the "chosen people" whom Allah selected to replace the Jews who had broken their covenant with God. This makes the Jewish concept even more irksome for them.
It is long past time to repudiate these absurd claims of God's favor. There will never be peace while these attitudes persist.
What difference is made?
Jews don't think they are better -- they DO think their Torah is better, and following it makes us non-murderous, non-vengeful, and potentially a source of blessing to their host cultures -- unlike the destructive empires that preceded us or conquered us. Palestinians would do well to take a look at their own vengeful and bloodthirsty views and behavior.
I don't agree that it always succeeds as we might wish in how it affects us. But I understand and agree as to the intentions of Torah.
Attitudes are attitudes. Actions are actions.
Agree and both the attitude and action can be right or wrong "no room for striding the fence" a wrong attitude an action can't be excused but the person can be forgiven if they "sincerely" ask.
I guess that is why in 2000 they rejected having their own state WITH SHARED CONTROL OF JERUSALEM in favor of blowing up Jews going out for pizza.
The mixed breed of Muslims doesn't want a two state they want all the land and all Jews dead. Fact is Israel have little left of the land God gave them in GENESIS 15:18-21. Israel giving land for Peace has left them with a small piece. God will not wink if Jerusalem the City of David is made be shared with the enemy of God's chosen people. God chose Jerusalem the City of David out of all Israel for Himself.
"Before 1948 close to a million Jews lived in what are now Arab states. "
These were Arab states for centuries before 1948 but still they had this Jewish population.
I was taught to ask "why" and "what changed". Without an understanding of the dynamics, a fact like this gives no perspective.
Is it coincidental that 1948 is when the State of Israel was established? Is that what changed?
The Arab world turned more hostile to Jews because of the establishment of Israel, is what changed. Not that there weren't pogroms in Morocco in the 30's and the Farhud in Iraq in the 40's before, and Hebron in the 20's. But just as today, when after Oct.7 and BEFORE Israel entered Gaza antisemitic acts, riots and demonstrations everywhere immediately shot up, people in other countries take it out on the local Jews.
That doesn't answer "why?"
Why did the Arab world turn more hostile to Jews because of the establishment of Israel?
Why were there pro-Palestinian demonstrations even before the Gaza invasion?
We need to dig deeper.
not so deep -- they had Jews in thrall - in dhimmi, infidel status -- talk to Jews from Syria re how they brutalized them and when jews won their homeland at the UN 1922 oooh that Arab vengefulness just boiled over
Because they wanted Jews to live only under their control. Israel has repeatedly tried to negotiate a Palestinian state and it was always rejected BY THE OTHER SIDE.
Israel was born from the UN partition of the British Palestinian mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state (the "Palestinian state" that has never existed). At the end of Israel's war for independence in 1949 the West Bank and Gaza were still in Arab hands but they never lifted a finger to establish the Palestinian state. So the fault for there not being such a state is 100% Arabs', 0% Israel's.
Yes, all true what you say, but ... they would say:
But that's all water under the bridge now.
As much as both sides seem to be denying that their religions are at the heart of the conflict, it's hard to see how there can be a resolution until religious attitudes change.
The opposite has occurred with the rise of Islamism; governments which moderate away from strict Islamic adherence get overthrown.
If you are not a troll, your ignorance is abysmal.
Seven time, (7) the world has discussed and argued and co-operated in offering them a state of their own and THEY refused every time!
The first time was at the time of the creation of Israel.
It is more than fair, it is overly generous in the light of them being the occupiers of the Holy Land having migrated from Arabia as rulers of the Ottoman Empire with their serfs and servants.
Your argument isn't with me; it is with the people you are fighting against.
"They" refused a state of their own if it involved them ceding land to the Jewish immigrants. "They" don't think that it was fair.
Humankind is migratory; if conditions are poor where we are, we migrate to where conditions are better. There are Israelite migrations described in the bible. The migration into and occupation of the Holy Land is described with great violence.
Exactly and there are no such people as Palestinians
If that is genuinely puzzling to you, I suggest you make the Islamic faith something more real to yourself than just, well they are pagans.
They have a book which alleges that they are to kill Jews where they find them. They are promised that doing so is the only guaranteed ticket of entry to paradise, that and dying while fighting against the heretics and the infidels.
They are NOT people of the Book; some heterodox Jewish writings, some cultural misappropriation of patriarchs, some poems in Aramaic and a pagan culture from Petra were cobbled together so that the rising Arab world power would have a religion like contemporary other powers had theirs.
If you are fluent in English, The Critical Qu'ran by Robert Spencer is a brilliant translation and commentary on it.
Much of what you say in this post is inaccurate; and you are very wrong that I don't know what Islam is.
Rather than reading Robert Spencer, it is better to read Islamic sources (recommended to me by Muslims) like
All Jews should read these works by 20th Century Islamic writers and see for themselves how deeply embedded into Islam antisemitism is and how it continues into modern times. What I found particular shocking when discussing these books with Muslims is how blind they are to the hatred.
The attacks never ceased. Muhammed Amin al-Husseini instigated attacks and openly vowed to exterminate Jews. There were countless attacks on Jews througjout the Middle East and North Africa. When there weren't Jews were oppressed. Over taxed, restricted.
al-Husseini, the leader of the Palestinians during WWII, collaborated with Hitler and the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Yes, al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti, proposed to Hitler that they unite their efforts to get rid of Jews everywhere. Hitler essentially said that they didn't need to unite, that they should operate independently to meet their common goal.
Take into account how triumphant and inexorable had been the march of Islam through the Northern Hemisphere since its invention in the seventh century.
Then, with World War One and Two they were arrested in their advances and much of their alienated land was overrun.
They had believed their victorious advance across the face of the earth was God given and deserved and were furious at the setback.
We are living in a time of Islamic resurgence, deliberate and intentional and very angrily.
Yes, and I would add that they blame liberalism as the Satanic force that evoked Allah's displeasure leading to the setback, hence the reactionary orthodoxy of the Islamist movement.
kicked out of 109 nations
and im somehow supposed to think its everyone elses fault and not the jew ?
Considering that Jews contribute positively to every country in which they reside - yes. See my earlier post.
A further word: I think you will find that the “Jewish arrogance” complained of consists in our refusal to drop Judaism for whatever the ruling elite wants us to adopt.
Judaism with its emphasis on questioning and personal responsibility is always a threat to those who wish to control others.
Good people, hard working from within faithful marriages and abundant beautiful and intelligent children obviously living life to the full while being good drive bad people nuts.
Envy, jealousy, anger and contempt poison their souls.
Isn't that the intention of all of the organized religions?
Most people with a useful brain know it is Iran that is the key. Destroy the leaders of Iran and the rest of the rats will run. Are you sitting on your nuclear weapons to make you feel powerful........use one of them on Iran. Otherwise, "where can you go?"
Re the list of expulsions, some countries appear more than once. It should be clarified that these countries invited Jews to settle (or resettle) when they needed the skills and knowledge that Jews would bring to them and ungratefully kicked the Jews out again when they felt they had mastered what they needed.
Not all Jews are welcome in Israel! The only Jews who have the right of return are those with Orthodox Jewish backgrounds. The religious courts of Israel need to start recognizing that those who follow other Jewish Movements are in fact Jews! This includes: Masorti, Conservative, Reform, Restructionist, and Humanist Jews! So all Orthodox Jews have the comfort and security of a Jewish State but those who follow the Movements I stated earlier are left to suffer from all the hate that is directed to Jews! Do you think antisemites care if you’re Orthodox or not? For those who hate Jews; a Jew is a Jew regardless of what Movement he/she follows! Israel needs to modify the Law of Return and allow ALL Jews to immigrate to Israel regardless of what kind of Jew they are!
I'm not sure where you are getting your information from. Anybody who is legally Jewish (i.e has a Jewish mother). has the right of return, even if they are a secular Jew, or if their mother\grandmother\great-grandmother etc. was a secular Jew.
It is now recognized by the majority of Rabbi's in Israel that if both parents are "Not" of the Jewish Faith it can be just either Mother or Father, no longer just the Mother who must be of Jewish Faith. Several years ago, it was said that the Mother must be of Jewish Faith, and did my not include Father. This now has changed. Your considered Jewish if either Parent is of the Jewish Faith.
If a new society in the UK set itself up as an alternative immigration ministry and started handing out citizenship and passports to foreign nationals, and then those people lived in the UK for a while and identified as British, started following football and drinking tea, would the British government have any responsibility whatsoever to start acknowledging the new alternative immigration ministry? Whose fault would it be if those foreign nationals are not accepted by the British government and are told they have to go through the proper channels in order to immigrate?
Why should different rules apply to the Jewish nation?
If someone wants to set up a new religion, no one is stopping them, but you can't give it the same name as an existing religion (which is actually the national constitution of an existing nation) that it bears no resemblance to and then get offended when that religion doesn't accept you.
Many ideologies in the world have been propagated by Jews - communism as a famous example - but that doesn't make them a form of Judaism. Calling yourself Judaism doesn't give the original Judaism any responsibility to accept you, and you would never apply such a rule to any other nation on earth, as demonstrated above.
The law of return does need proof that one is a Jew by Jewish law, but doesn’t require observance.
Since many of the movements you mentioned allow intermarriage where the mother is not Jewish, those offspring are not Jews.
This is not arbitrary, nor is it arrogance. It is the preservation of identity without which Judaism would cease to exist. If you think this through you will see that it is so.
You didn’t mention Messianic Jews. Are they allowed also?
Probably not, because they are no longer considered Jews. There was a case in the 60's of a monk who wanted to live in Israel. He had been Jewish but had converted. He was refused entry under the Law of Return.
“Everyone” cannot go to any country and live there. Just look at the consternation over migrants at the US southern border. Many countries have age and health limitations.
I have always held to the belief that a country has to pay for its behaviour and any foul deeds , to which Germany in particular qualifies but was confounded by the fact that it has prospered BUT it may well be the situation is changing. Germany's prosperity has been the result on its manufacturing , of cars and machinery, both of which are now moving to the East. I read the other day a Chinese company intends to export electric cars at a price of circa £8000, wiping out German motor industry and other manufacturing, SO since the end of WW11, is a short time in " SOME EYES " and the cost of transgressions now coming to roost? The UK and USA can hold heads high in the realm of Biblical predictions.
Bob Dylan - Neighborhood Bully Lyrics | Lyrics.com" https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/6529928/Bob+Dylan/Neighborhood+Bully
As the apple of His eye, the Chosen people, wherever God has scattered His people, He has raised them to high position. Whoever harms them pays a high price. The establishment of a Jewish state is God ordained. It is to the benefit of all to respect this. It is also a benefit to all to have Jews living and touching all nations through our the earth.
As along as Jews continue with their arrogant claims like "the apple of His eye" and "the Chosen People" and that a Jewish state is "God ordained", they will be scorned.
It is because of people like you that I choose not to identify publicly as Jewish; I do not want to be associated with you and your arrogance.
Mind you, Jews are by no means alone in this sort of arrogance. Isn't it time for all those who say that they believe in God reconciled themselves to believing that they and even those who do not believe in God are all equal in the eyes of God?
Your frustration is understandable, but "Chosen people" actually refers to the idea that Jews are chosen to have more responsibilities and opportunities to come close to God and bring light and goodness to the world. Anybody who doesn't believe in God isn't interested in being 'chosen' for a religious purpose anyway, and anybody who does is welcome to join the club if so inclined.
Personally, I don't mind if people call themselves chosen as long as they interpret that to mean they are chosen for greater moral responsibility, rather than selfish privilege .
Chosen by whom?
Excellent answer!
Yes, you folks are brilliant.... try telling a Palestinian that the Jewish state is "God ordained" and see where it gets you.
He knows, it's written in his Koran too.
And you've read his Qur'an? If you have, then you should understand why the establishment of the State of Israel is so abhorrent to Muslims.
The role played by religious beliefs cannot be ignored. Jews, Christians and Muslims all need to repudiate their claims of what "God has ordained" for themselves. We are all equally part of God's creation.
If you believe in Gd, read His book, not latter-day attempts to revise it.
Once again ... trying telling that to a Palestinian and see where it gets you.
What does it say about your belief in God, seeing the vastness in space and time of His creation, that you believe that He dropped by billions of years after creation to uniquely give a book to Moses? It seems to deny the oneness of God.
Unfortunately, you seem to misunderstand the term "the chosen people". Please take some time to learn what it actually means - this website is a great place to start. As to your decision not to identify publicly as Jewish, that's all on you; don't blame anyone else for your choices.
It seems to me that the article is about blaming others for your choices. You need to look in a mirror and see how others see you.
In a mirror one sees one’s own view. Try looking out the window.
If I look out the window, I'll see something different from my own view?
Yes, the world as is, not reversed.
Read the accompanying article about the rising tide of antisemitism in Great Britain. Then explain to us exactly what British Jews have done that is as bad as Rotherham.