Anon asked Staff ago Hello,
How can you explain the issue of the eternal nature of Israel, that we have survived so many persecutions and crises and remained a nation?
In general, how do you explain the remarkable ingathering of the nations which is happening as in the prophecies?
Does religion and the decrees it sets have nothing to do with this?
If we were not so racist, we would have been killed more, assimilated more, and closer to extinction.
Isn’t that so?
Thank you,
Talia
jsadmin Staff answered 22 years ago
Hello Talia,
There is no doubt that the desire to be separate from the gentiles and the arrogant view of “the chosen people,” along with a scrupulously religious lifestyle are the main factors in the survival of the Jewish people throughout the generations.
But the question which should each person should ask himself is: what is he prepared to sacrifice to “preserve” the Jewish nation?
From your question it sounds like you are prepared to be racist as long as the Jewish people are preserved.
For more detail, see our answer to the question What is Judaism?
Sincerely,
Daat Emet
jsadmin Staff answered 22 years ago
Dear Yigal,
It is true that there are many people who want to and are interested in marrying people of their own nation, and not for religious reasons, but this reason by itself would not have preserved the Jews for long while they were dispersed and divided among the nations. The racism of which we have spoken is the legal racism of Halacha, like the law that one should not violate the Sabbath to save a gentile whose life is in danger, etc.
A person who does not distinguish on the legal level between people yet whose heart is drawn to members of his own nation is not racist.
Sincerely,
Daat Emet