If a Jew wants to solve the problem of antisemitism he must
commit some kind of suicide — either physical or at
least cultural. Antisemitism is part of the lot of the Jew,
and it will be around as long as the exile.
If there is anyone who doubts this, they are advised to
consult the beginning of sefer Shemos. "And a new king
of Egypt who did not know Yosef arose. And he told his
people, `Look, the nation that is the children of Israel is
big and strong within us. Let us be crafty with them . . . '
And they put tax masters over them . . . And even as they
oppressed they continued to multiply and expand, and they
could not stand the children of Israel. And they made Bnei
Yisroel work oppressively. And they embittered their lives .
. . " And the next thing you know Pharaoh asked the midwives
to murder the male Jewish children. (Shemos 1:8-14)
The Jews did nothing much to bring on the hatred against
them. They went about their business, raised their families,
participated thoroughly in Egyptian life. They just
maintained their basic identity in their clothing, their
language, and their names.
HaRav Shamshon Rafael Hirsch points out that if they had done
anything to harm the Egyptians, it would not have been
necessary to deal craftily with them. Pharaoh could have come
out openly against them, accusing them. Rather the hatred was
not the result of anything that Bnei Yisroel did in Egypt or
to the Egyptians, but came from Above, where the matter was
decided for Higher historical purposes.
The hatred that some have for the chareidi community in
Israel is similar. After Shinui had two successful years
dismantling State support for Judaism and eliminating Judaism
from the Jewish State, it just could not stomach the
restoration of even a small percentage of the monetary cuts
and left the government rather than accept any reconciliation
with United Torah Judaism. There is no basis for their
hatred, especially now when the community almost certainly
gets back in government support far less than we pay in, and
we have not been able use political power for anything as
members of the opposition. They just hate us; we cannot
change that.
There is no way to solve the problem of antisemitism on the
part of Shinui nor on the part of the nations of the world.
It cannot be eliminated. It must be managed, with the
understanding and the awareness that it will not go away.
Our ability to do anything about it is very limited. It is a
force that is too fundamental. We have to acknowledge it and
let it pass.
We should try to stop Palestinian incitement, especially in
the schools. However it is not realistic to have them educate
their youth towards acceptance of the Jews.
We should do what we can to soften it, while recognizing that
it is "normal" as long as the long exile continues. We cannot
eliminate it by not demanding our rights in the State of
Israel. We cannot eliminate it by giving the Palestinians a
state of their own. We will not eradicate it even if the UN
condemns it. Certainly it will not help if we do as Theodore
Herzl proposed, and all convert to Christianity.
We do not say, "Don't bother to do anything about it." Rather
we say that we should try as hard as we can to minimize it,
but we should put our trust in Hashem, where it belongs.
