The attendance of a few ultra-Orthodox Jews at the recent Holocaust-denying summit in Iran brought anger to some and raised the eyebrows of others. In the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in New York and elsewhere, the acts of these six were met with fuming rage and unprecedented dissent.
Let me set the stage here: I am an ultra-Orthodox/Hasidic Jew. I spend a large portion of my time in the anti-Zionist circles of the Orthodox Jewish community. In fact, I write current event/political columns for a weekly publication whose editorial board is staunchly anti-Zionist and regularly attacks the existence of the State of Israel and its actions. I personally, however, am not anti-Zionist nor am I pro-Israel. I am a Jew first, American second and, politically speaking, conservative third. Nevertheless, since I belong in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, I frequently participate in, or listen to, debates that take place between the pro- and anti-Zionist factions of our community. Never, never ever, have I seen such outrage among the anti-Zionists crowd against those few who went to Iran and participated in the infamous summit.
For years, the anti-Zionists in our community have frequently and openly distanced themselves from, and protested against, the State of Israel. The anti-Zionists' opposition to the "Jewish State" is based on a religious belief that Jews in exile should not rise against their oppressors. Instead, they should wait for Messiah. Unfortunately, the extreme-minded element of the Jewish anti-Israel movement took it to the next level. As shown in photos, some of the six who were last week in Iran, have participated in pro-Arab/Palestinian rallies and met with the blood-thirsty terrorist Yasser Arafat. Recently, one of the radicals even hugged the anti-Semitic president of Iran. These acts were never welcomed in the mainstream of the anti-Zionist movement and were sometimes condemned by responsible leaders and editorial writers of the Orthodox Jewish community.
Last week's step by these six was over the top to say less than the least. The words disgusting and outrageous do not accurately describe the strong feelings that even anti-Zionists of the Jewish community have toward these six for their stupidity. In an unusual manner, the anti-Zionist editorial writers switched gears and unleashed the power of their pens against these six for the psychotic act of participating in a Holocaust-denying summit led by a Jew-hating clown.
Editorial writers, rabbinical leaders and the average Yossi and Moshe of the Jewish community ask the obvious: How is it possible that Jews whose families were torn, tortured, robbed and killed through Hitler's Nazi machine can participate in a summit of this type? Where is the conscious of the great suffering? Where is the respect for the Holocaust survivors who schlep around with un-healing pains of those dark years? No ideological agenda, no well-explained point of view, can speak more than the photos that made the pages of newspapers worldwide.
Although I personally know a few of these six and had prayed with them in one synagogue, I have to wonder if they can be identified as Jews. Certainly, this rhetoric is harsh. But I am honest to God that I am merely echoing the sentiment that has surrounded the anti-Zionist faction of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. The issue of remembering the Holocaust should not be associated with one's opposition or support of the State of Israel especially in the context of last week's summit.
I am not speaking for the Orthodox Jewish community; nor did the infamous six speak for any Jew but themselves. May God continue to heal the pain of those who survived the Holocaust and other atrocities. Amen.
The writer, a Spring Valley resident, is a political columnist at Der Blatt, a Yiddish language publication, and a freelance journalist for publications that circulate in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
