TARRYTOWN, New York — Starting from very ancient times, world history presents many examples of dictators who desired world domination, or at least domination of as big a part of the world as possible. The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Roman empires are some ancient examples of this. More recent examples are the Spanish, Portuguese, British, and Russian empires, and the most recent example is Nazi Germany.
The ambitions, and often, cruelty, of such rulers has led to wars and the suffering of many. But this has never stopped them. Their big concern is to get rid of anybody who can be a problem and stand in the way of accomplishing their ambitions. Often enough, the Jews have been seen by them as such a problem.
To start, let us mention just some of causes of anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews:
We lost our land and became unwanted guests of different countries.
In each place of the Jewish Diaspora, we became a defenseless minority.
The early church brainwashed illiterate masses to hate the Jews.
Evil leaders used Jews to redirect the anger of unhappy masses.
Jews became a scapegoat for the suffering of the masses.
Thanks to Jewish talents and abilities, Jews were successful (if left alone), which lead to envy—a strong factor causing hatred.
This list can continue and become much longer, but let us introduce just two more causes of anti-Semitism, which are rarely, if ever, spoken of:
- The fear of Jewish intellectual abilities.
What brought hatred of Jews to such extremes as pogroms instigated by rulers like the Russian Tsars’ regimes, or the Holocaust committed by Nazis led by Hitler—a crazy, cruel monster?
Often enough, evil people suspect and blame others of the evil things they want to commit themselves. An example of this is the Russian lie called the, “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
Russian Tsars, who forced their domination on many countries around Russia, found it helpful to use this lie in order to redirect the world’s attention from their oppressive regimes’ to a convenient scapegoat—the Jews. Part of why this was done was the concern that, eventually, Jewish ability and talent might become an obstacle to the Tsars’ desire to dominate.
By the way, this did materialize: Jews played a very important role in overthrowing a Tsar’s cruel domineering regime. Unfortunately, the result was not what one would hope for.
German Nazis had an evil desire for world domination, ruling many people, making them work for the benefit of “Great Germany.” But why did they decide to exterminate the Jews? They weren’t afraid of Jews physically, but they recognized that Jews are very talented and able people. (As a matter of fact, before Nazism, and despite traditional German anti-Semitism, Jews in Germany were in large numbers scientists, lawyers, doctors, and so on.)
Nazi rulers, using force and propaganda-based lies, recognized that it might be impossible to dominate a people who possessed a high level of intellect for an extended period of time. Yes, Nazis hated Jews, as well as many other people, but the above-mentioned concern and, of course, hatred—these are what led to the Holocaust. Obviously, the murderers never did, and never will, admit that.
- The darkest side of some humans’ nature.
The murderers and the torturers—the ones who committed pogroms and the ones who commit cruel violence—just look for any reason to express their natural cruelty. Their cruel acts give them a kind of evil satisfaction.
The Jewish defenseless minority was always a convenient victim of their cruelty. If not the Jews, they would have found (and did find) other victims. Back in the Soviet Union, there was a joke about an old Armenian man instructing his children and grandchildren to take care of and safeguard the Jews. When asked why they should care about the Jews, his answer was: “After they finish with the Jews, they will start with us.”
To conclude, let us talk about what the Jews living as minorities in different countries really desired:
They desired to be safe and treated as any other citizens of the country.
They became patriotic towards the countries where they lived, and used their talents to make great contributions to these countries—as, by the way, we are required to do by our religious philosophy.
They were praying, not for any domination, but for being able to reestablish a country of their own—maybe small, but their own, where they would be able to protect themselves.
Before Israel was established, Jews, again according to Jewish religious philosophy, were ready to wait for the Messiah to bring them to the Promised Land.
But anti-Semitism forced the Jews to act and fight for establishing the Jewish State.
As for anti-Semitism, unfortunately and shamefully, it is still around, but now the Jews have an unquestionable place of refuge—the country of their own, the country they love and are proud of, and where they are able to defend themselves.
Our great United States is and always was a big friend of Israel. On November 3rd, at an important event in the life of our country, unrelated to what we think about Trump’s personality, let us remember something before we cast our vote. Of all Trump’s predecessors, President Trump is the one who, in addition to a number of other important things:
–Moved the US embassy to Jerusalem.
–Recognized Golan Heights as Israel’s territory.
–Took a tough stance towards Iran.
–Played a critical role in making possible a peace treaty between Israel and UAE and Bahrain (for which he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize).
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Arkady Mamaysky is a mechanical engineer who emigrated directly to the United States from the former Soviet Union in 1979.
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The conclusion of voting for a man who will reneg on his word as soon as it suits him is tragic and I’m sure has had devastating results for Jews in the past. after all, this is when we read Ecclesiastes. “There is nothing new under the sun.”