Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Time for Jews to Admit: Other Gods Exist
The idea of God’s oneness sounds like an essential tenet of Judaism. But there are equally essential tenets that Jews have learned to forgo

“American Gods.” Depicts a reality in which ancient gods from mythology continue to live on, a captivating idea. Starz/Amazon Prime
“American Gods.” Depicts a reality in which ancient gods from mythology continue to live on, a captivating idea. Starz/Amazon PrimeCredit: Starz/amazon prime

A century ago, an odd Jew, Oskar Goldberg by name, lived and worked in Berlin. He was a rabbi, a physician, a kabbalist and biblical commentator. Formally he was affiliated with Orthodox Jewry, but his religious teachings were substantially different from those of other rabbis. In 1925, he published a book, “The Reality of the Hebrews” (in German), which presented a scandalous interpretation of the Mosaic Torah. According to Goldberg, the Torah was originally not a monotheistic work: It does not deny the existence of other gods, rather it assumes that the gods of the Gentiles are real forces that operate in the world.

How is that possible? God, Goldberg maintains, is the center of life of the people, embodied in their language and rituals. The relations between the people and God are reciprocal: The people need God, but God, too, needs the people. World politics, he believed, is actually a backdrop for the struggle between the gods, which act through their peoples. Sodom was destroyed because its people rebelled against the God of Israel, while residing in his territory; the Exodus from Egypt spelled the victory of the God of Israel over the gods of Egypt. The angel that Jacob wrestled with was the god of Edom, and when Jacob triumphed he conquered a domain on behalf of the God of Israel. The denial of the existence of other gods is an element that was introduced into Judaism in a later period.

Surprisingly, Goldberg illustrated the validity of his theory by quoting many verses from the Bible, and did so quite persuasively. Still, his interpretation was obviously rejected and he remained a rather marginal figure. His book was never translated into Hebrew and he is barely remembered today. That’s hardly surprising: The accepted approach in Judaism is based on the assumption that the Jewish people imparted to the world the idea of one God. For generations Jews have taken pride in this contribution, viewing it as the basis for the concepts of freedom and equality. This perception was perceived as a sort of welcome liberation from the polytheistic worldview, which is considered infantile, whereas monotheistic belief is deemed mature and progressive.

Many Jews are proud of the fact that Christianity and Islam – religions with billions of believers – inherited from the Jewish people its single God. It’s a well-worn cliché to say that we all believe in the same God. But actually, that is precisely the problem. Competition for the affection of the one god is the source of much of the violence, fanaticism and persecution that have caused so much human suffering over the past two millennia. For after all, although the Jews, the Muslims and the Christians believe in the same God, they also insist on the singularity of that belief. God is universal, but the attitude of all those religionists toward him is exclusivist and zealous. It’s quite possible that the Jews would not have been persecuted across the generations were it not for the theological affinity between the Hebrew Bible and Christianity.

When a crime is committed in the name of God, ideological secularists tend to hurl insults at the institution of religion and to argue that in the modern world only the foolish or the blind can keep the faith. But the attempt to refute religion by invoking science is itself primitive. It is based on philosophical notions 300 years old, which were already obsolete at the end of the 18th century. During the era in which Galileo lived, when the Church sought to determine whether the sun revolved around Earth, it made some sense to use the discoveries of science to confront the religious establishment. But like everything else, religious thought, too, has developed since then. A modern theologian can provide quite clever – albeit debatable – arguments for preferring a religious outlook. Only a childish person can claim that modern religious philosophers – the likes of Franz Rosenzweig, Alasdair MacIntyre or Oskar Goldberg – suffer from a lack of wisdom.

From this point of view, one can agree with Tomer Persico, a scholar of Judaism at the Shalom Hartman Institute, who recently published an article here critical of contemporary atheists who think that the problem with believers is their lack of knowledge and wisdom. In any case, religion is not a scientific hypothesis which, as such, is refutable. In his new book, too, “Man in God’s Image: The Making of the Modern World” (Hebrew), Persico argues that the question of whether God exists is not the central one for present-day Jewry. The problem with Persico’s hypothesis is that it flaunts the idea of the image of God – the whole book presenting “the decisive influence of that idea on the development of the Western world.”

That this concept had considerable influence is inarguable. The question is whether it was a positive influence. Persico states that the Book of Genesis “underscores the universality of the principle of the image of God,” in that “the figure of God sets apart and empowers all of his ilk in exactly the same measure.” Sounds good, but unfortunately that’s not how it works. From the moment the statement “we are all created in God’s image” is uttered in a specified language that is connected with a specified ritual – it becomes an exclusivist assertion that emphasizes the substantive superiority of adherents of the true faith over all the others. It leads to self-righteousness, which rapidly becomes zealousness.

Theological ‘tikkun’

Even Oskar Goldberg found it difficult to forgo the concept and also the importance of God’s image. In his view, the assertion, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26), which appears in the plural, shows that, upon the creation of human beings, the different gods sought to create separate types of humans in order to ensure their power on earth. But the God of Israel succeeded in preventing them from doing this, and created one human in his image. In Goldberg’s view, too, then, the supremacy of the God of Israel is assured: All human beings were born in the image of our God.

The television series “American Gods,” based on the book by Neil Gaiman and first broadcast in 2017, depicts a reality in which the gods from ancient Nordic, Greek and Egyptian mythology continue to live in the world, but are weakened because no one believes in them any longer. Although this is an entertainment product, the idea is quite captivating. From many points of view, its underlying worldview is more enticing than the monotheistic belief that has wrested control over a large part of the world.

It’s precisely Judaism, which is considered the mother of the monotheistic religions, that could be the pioneer in bringing about this important theological tikkun, or correction. After thousands of years of monotheistic patronizing, the Jewish people can allow itself now to acknowledge that other gods exist, too. The idea of God’s oneness sounds like an essential tenet of Judaism. But there are equally essential tenets that Jews have learned to forgo. Actually, it doesn’t demand so much from the Jews. It’s not necessary to stop worshipping the God of Israel – it’s just a matter of recognizing that he’s not the only one.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-time-for-jews-to-admit-other-gods-exist-1.10196719

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

The first thing I do when checking out an article on a source that I’m not familiar with is check the source! It is apparent that Haaretz has an agenda!


It’s no secret that the Tel Aviv- and New York-based newspaper and website Haaretz is left-leaning. This longest-running newspaper in Israel has made a name for itself as liberal, left-wing journalism. Haaretz describes itself as an “independent daily newspaper with a broadly liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on international affairs.” The Center for Research Journalism describes it as Israel’s “most influential and respected [daily] for both its news coverage and its commentary.”

In times of national turmoil, such as today in Israel, a nation’s media plays a significant role in how the world sees and interprets the situation on the ground, as well as affecting the mood of the national population and armed forces. With this in mind, Haaretz’s journalism can either be actively strengthening Israel—or weakening it.

The following are all headlines solely from Haaretz’s English-language website home page, as of Wednesday morning. See what you think:

Gaza Lives Erased: Israel Is Wiping Out Entire Palestinian Families on Purpose

This Is Israel’s Most Failed and Pointless Gaza Operation Ever. It Must End Now

Racism, Hate and Violence Are Jewish Values, Too

Israeli Oppression United Palestinians on Both Sides of the Green Line
‘
Why Should We Ask Israel Permission to Film Its Illegal Activity?’

There’s Systematic Expulsion of Arab Society in Israel, and We’ve Reached a Boiling Point’

Taking the Call in Gaza Before Israel Takes Out the Building

Netanyahu Is Leading Israel Into Civil War Between Jews and Palestinians

Gaza-Israel Conflict: 213 Palestinians Killed in Strikes, Including 61 Children

Three Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire in West Bank Clashes; Two IDF Soldiers Lightly Wounded

COVID-19 and Israeli Bombs Leave Gaza’s Hospitals Badly Struggling

Israel Demolished Tower Blocks in Gaza. Here’s What They Housed

Jerusalem, United in Violence, Marks Bloody Anniversary Today

We Palestinians Are Not Children of a Lesser God

House Democrats to Urge Blinken: Provide More Humanitarian Relief for Palestinians in Gaza

An Israeli Winery Guide, With Undertones of Occupation

‘The Underground Railroad’ Is Essential Viewing – but Not During Another Senseless War

A Feminist Achievement or More Israeli Militarism?



These kinds of individual articles are par for the course for Haaretz; still, the sheer quantity (and during a national time of war), took me by surprise. What does Haaretz have against Israel?

Some years ago, while living in Jerusalem, I queried what Israelis think of Haaretz given this type of highly biased, anti-Israel coverage. One of my friends informed me that the Hebrew version of the website and magazine is apparently not as extreme as the English one (putting aside such famously provocative writers as Gideon Levy). If that is indeed the case, I wonder how many Israelis, who frequent the Hebrew website, are aware of this type of journalism being disseminated to the wider world on their behalf? I struggle to believe that a bulk of the Israeli public enjoy a steady stream of self-abasement and disdain.

What is behind this clearly biased, left-wing media spirit of national self-hatred, appeasement of enemies and veritable betrayal? It’s not a new phenomenon (although today, it is more widespread and prevalent). The same was true just prior to World War ii, with the bbc famously effusive toward Hitler and UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s attempts to appease him, and famously unsupportive and critical of Churchill. How does the media get it so wrong?

What is Haaretz’s problem with Israel? The bbc’s problem with (once-Great) Britain? cnn’s, msnbc’s and the New York Times’ problem with the United States? Are these nations the worst blight on human history? You’d almost be forgiven for thinking so, despite living through a century of history’s three-greatest mass-murderers—Mao, Hitler and Stalin—and two world wars. But where is the gratuitous stream of German, Chinese, Russian, Japanese self-flagellation? These remain proud nationalistic countries.

What is the answer? It happens to be found in, and indelibly tied to, that Book often actively undermined by Haaretz—a book that is today widely rejected and criticized in the media and education today: the Bible.

https://watchjerusalem.co.il/1244-what-does-haaretz-have-against-israel

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

If you can't debate the topic, try to discredit the source

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

You mean like you attempt to discredit Israel for two days!

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

???

Sew_What

To suggest that jews violate the first ammendment is not ridiculous but you as a Canadian citizen need to mind your business and stop voting for Trudeau, dummy