The Jews! - The Jewish Standard

A few years ago, on a classic episode of Seinfeld, Jerry and George posed as neo-Nazis to get a free limousine ride from the airport. After alternating bouts of awkward silence and strained conversation with their racist co-passengers, George blurted out, “You know who’s responsible for Astroturf? The JEWS!” Years later, an intoxicated Mel Gibson, trying to talk his way out of a drunk-driving arrest, confided in a police officer, “You know who’s responsible for all the world’s wars? The JEWS!”

Blaming Jews for problems real and invented is hardly a new phenomenon. Millennia ago, when a fledgling Jewish people were comfortably ensconced in Egypt, the Egyptian king was warned: “You know who’s going to join our enemies if we are attacked? The JEWS!” The Jewish people have been vilified, attacked, inquisitioned, expelled, and brutally massacred since the beginning of recorded history. In the annals of history, no other group of people can compare their suffering to those of the Jews.

People smarter than I have devoted their lives in search of the reason for the profound hatred, and theories abound. I am less concerned about the why, as fascinated by the how.

Since the dawn of Christianity, Jews have been blamed for the crucifixion of Jesus. It was the primary basis for the Inquisition, Crusades, and centuries of Christian animus. But, it wasn’t really our fault that Jesus’ messianic preaching was irritating the Romans. And, certainly, we didn’t betray him to the Romans (that was his own followers) or arrest him and sentence him to death (that was the Romans). But you know who could have asked for his pre-Passover pardon but didn’t? The JEWS!

What’s more curious is that Jesus’ crucifixion is viewed as God’s gift to the world. You’ve seen the signs at football games: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Centuries later, the world – including many Jews – “knocks on wood” for good luck. The wood, or course, represents the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. And what thanks did we get for being the vehicle by which all mankind can have eternal life? The Crusades.

If the logic of the middle ages confounds you, let’s warp into the 21st century. Last week, James von Brunn, nursing a lifetime of hate, shot and killed a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. If his Website is still accessible, it is worth your while to read his collection of essays. The self-proclaimed basis for his hatred of Jews is our complete control over politics, media, and money. Not only do the Jewish people control economic markets, we are secretly using our power to oppress the world. Why don’t the newspapers report on this horrific abuse of power? Because the Jews run all mass media – including Hollywood (a point that was apparently lost on Mel Gibson). Certainly, our elected officials should step in and protect the general public from the evil cabal of Jews bent on world domination? Nope. They have to pander to the Jewish vote and powerful Zionist lobby. If someone had not been murdered in cold blood by this monster, the rantings would seem almost comical. After all, we have seen and read variations on this theme forever – since the first Jew printed it in his very first newspaper.

I don’t think it’s true. But just in case it is, I would like to call upon our leaders to funnel some of the world’s wealth into the Jewish day school system. We could really use it.

I have always wondered whether these anti-Semites actually believe the nonsense or whether it masks a more disturbing secret. After all, if the Jewish people are so genetically inferior and our belief and moral system so corrupt, how did we get all this power? Did governments hand us the reins of power? Did we steal the media from the gentiles? Money has always reined supreme in every government since the beginning of time. How did a people representing less than one-tenth of one-percent of the world’s population grab control of the world’s financial markets? What is more impressive is that we did it despite millennia of hatred and oppression. I mean, sure, if we had been more popular over time, I could see the remaining 6 billion people in the world allowing us to oversee and control their money, but they were too busy killing us to sign the checks.

So, what’s the answer Mr. von Brunn? Do we really control everything? If so, give us some credit for being able to accomplish what neither 1 billion Muslims nor 1 billion Christians could do. I doubt you would dare consider divine intervention, so there must be something positive about us that enabled us to amass such power and control.

It’s hogwash. I am pretty sure the cumulative “power” of a people cannot accurately be measured – especially if that power is amassed and asserted “secretly.” To be sure, the Jewish people have contributed to science, art, politics, and culture well beyond our meager numbers. I don’t have an explanation for it but I know we do not control anything beyond our own lives and common religious values. Heck, we don’t even control Teaneck’s City Council anymore.

If you dig a little deeper into Mr. von Brunn’s Website, you’ll find the elusive answer. As a child, Mr. von Brunn was caught stealing money by, as he puts it, a JEW! You’d like to think it was more complicated than that. There must be more to the story – a pretty Jewish classmate who spurned his advances, a Jewish business partner who cheated him, a fellow Jewish naval officer who refused to participate in the pork dinner organized by Mr. von Brunn as an act of camaraderie. But, none of those things happened. The hate could have festered over the one stealing episode that shaped von Brunn’s childhood. But he couldn’t justify his life-long enmity by admitting that he was a petty thief busted by a customer who happened to be Jewish. So he reaches for the common denominator – the Jews control everything and therefore my failures are their fault. My inability to rise to the top must be a result of their oppressive measures. My overall uselessness and unhappiness must have been ordained from the very top. And you know who sits on top? The JEWS!

It’s convenient and basic. But not much different from the Crusaders, who thanked God for sacrificing His son for the good of mankind but then murdered thousands of Jews for letting it happen.

Let’s face it. It’s never going to change. It is ingrained in humanity for some undisclosed purpose. But, when the dust settles, guess who has survived and flourished longer and stronger than any other people in history, despite – or maybe because of – the hate and destruction?

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