I find this Michael Chabon op-ed, written in the wake of Israel’s interception of the Gaza flotilla, to be remarkable, and not in a good way. A few extremely cleverly oblique references to God, while the figure who identifies that God rather than merely naming him — guess who? — is comprehensively repressed. Chabon apparently wants his fear to be taken seriously that inside any gentile who dares suggest Jews evolved themselves extra-big brains must be an anti-Semite. So fine: I don’t think Jews have been hated, or continue to be hated, because they’re crafty, Mr. Chabon. It’s not because they’re “the people of Maimonides, Albert Einstein, Jonas Salk and Meyer Lansky.” It’s because they’re the people of Moses.
Saturday, June 5, 2010, 8:22 PM
June 5th, 2010 | 8:52 pm
For the founding editor of this blog you sure are short for words and worthwhile criticisms of what amounts to a well thought out opinion piece by a well respected Jewish author. It reflects rather poorly on your blog for you to fail the test of basic analysis that is required to see the author’s point–that is, that Jews ought to be proud of their accomplishments, but wary of relating those accomplishments to their self-identification as the Chosen People. By doing so it can put them, or make them feel as if they were outside of the realm of scrutiny. That sort of hubris can and does lead to an inability to see the hypocrisy in carrying the torch of moral light that is the Bible while simultaneously gunning down humanitarian aid workers in international waters.
June 6th, 2010 | 12:58 am
It was a comical column. One would have to be truly stupid to be gregarious about Jewish accomplishment in the face of European accomplishment.
Thus, the column was about attitude. Which is as easy to adopt as a new set of clothes.
June 6th, 2010 | 8:19 am
I think you make a good point. Assimilated Jews like Chabon really have no idea of what it means to be Jewish, so they latch onto things like intelligence, accomplishment, wealth.
Chabon does not have the heart of a Jew.
June 6th, 2010 | 9:37 am
Gentile that I am I can hardly presume to know Chabon’s heart, but in that piece, at any rate, he really tips his head.
June 6th, 2010 | 5:40 pm
Mike the fallacy in your post is that they were humanitarian workers. As Greta Berlin, the spokesman for the flotilla said, this was not about aid, it was about breaking the blockade. And why is the blockade there Mike? Because Hamas declared war and rocketed israel and swears for their destruction. Who else recognizes Hamas as a menace and the legitimacy of that Blockade? Egypt. They have the same blockade. They were not humanitarian workers and israel had a right to react to the provocation of attempting to break the blockade.
June 7th, 2010 | 5:03 pm
Chabon’s column is best read along side this one:
http://weeklystandard.com/articles/praise-blockades
June 9th, 2010 | 10:20 pm
“One would have to be truly stupid to be gregarious about Jewish accomplishment in the face of European accomplishment. ”
“Gregarious?” Mark, that generally means, outgoing and sociable. What do you want it to mean?
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