Rembrandt - Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law, 1659. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
There are four shining quarters to the Jewish discourse today:
- Projection – Formulas and concepts acquired through an osmosis or general education and then imagined to be the fundamental part of the old tradition.
- Lies – Cultural markers and metaphors deliberately or unintentionally used as a tool of power, intimidation, abuse and greed.
- Spin – Authentic works of art and literature spun beyond any recognition or reference to the creative genius of the original poets and prophets.
- Hate (fluctuates between 25% and 100%) – An identity framed by the defining negative symbols – Nazis, Republicans, Shvartzes, Arabs, Misnagdim, Maskilim, Liberals, the good old Goyim, etc.
Around all the four parts there is packaging of the utopian and nostalgic optical illusion of the past, so penetratingly described by McLuhan, the magical tunnel vision of the stubborn indebtedness to the generations that heroically, against all odds, passed along the optimal confusion and the legacy, the proud duty to perpetuate the dysfunction.
If you plan to write or interpret the Jewish culture today, ask yourself first, what part of the ethos pie are you reacting to? Are you responding to the projections, lies, spin or hate? A frontal assault on the ingrained ideology is futile, there is little to salvage and the only honest stance is an exercise in cultural archeology. But who wants to be dazzled, let alone worship the colorful kaleidoscope filled with sparkling, broken fragments of the inanimate objects?
Further reading: