Watching poor Tevya being forced out his village in Fiddler on the Roof brought tears to my eyes. In the final song of the musical, Tevya laments:
A little bit of this, a little bit of that.
A pot, a pan, a broom, a hat.
Someone should have set a match to this place years ago.
A bench, a tree.
So, what's a stove? Or a house?
People who pass through Anatevka don't even know they've been here.
A stick of wood. A piece of cloth.
What do we leave? Nothing much.
Only Anatevka.
Anatevka, Anatevka.
Underfed, overworked Anatevka.
Where else could Sabbath be so sweet?
Anatevka, Anatevka.
Intimate, obstinate Anatevka,
Where I know everyone I meet.
Soon I'll be a stranger in a strange new place,
Searching for an old familiar face
From Anatevka.
I belong in Anatevka,
Tumble-down, work-a-day Anatevka.
Dear little village, little town of mine.
While I vicariously experienced his horror, I secretly relished the feeling that, thank the Almighty, it can never ever happen to my family.
Well, so much for delusions. As I live in one of the Shomron communities, it appears that not only can it happen to my family, but it may be imminent. My family?s expulsion is not by the official decree of the Czar of Russia, but by Ariel Sharon?s unilateral peace plan. Sharon will unilaterally determine new borders of a new terrorist country by ?moving? Jewish communities.
Sharon?s folly of (re)moving Jews is an affront to Judaism. Like all expulsions that Jews were subjected to during this past two millennia, this expulsion reinforces the belief that our prophesies are empty pipe dreams.
The secret agenda of the insidious world body politic in carving out a new terrorist country is to openly demonstrate that the establishment of the Jewish state is an anomaly that is reversible and does therefore not herald the end of days. To further this religious agenda, the very countries that despise the Palestinians and the terrorism that they invented are compelled to reward the Palestinians for killing Jews. To mask their disappointment that the security fence will make Jews less vulnerable to terrorist attacks, they vote almost unanimously that the security fence is a war crime actionable in the Hague.
We have to face the bald fact that the same world body that found apartheid so repugnant in South Africa insists upon it in the so-called West Bank. It is ironic that the most vocal proponents of (re)moving Jews from their homes are certain Black American officials who were the beneficiaries of integration and affirmative action programs in education and employment opportunity.
Every other country in the world decides its actions based on its own self-interest. We should be no different.
This is not a cycle of violence. It is our inability to act decisively that keeps them upping the ante. Our inaction facilitates their refinement of terrorist threats. Today, it is a new miniature bomb Hamas has developed that fits in a small pocketbook, so they will no longer have to wear cumbersome vests that are easily detected. Tomorrow, it will be mutated biological warfare.
Making the precedent of (re)moving one people solely on the basis of religion not only acceptable, but laudable, has legitimized population transfer. Every time a Jew is (re)moved, a Palestinian must be (re)moved. As the very presence of a Jewish minority is a ?provocation,? the very presence of a Palestinian minority is equally a ?provocation.? In the interests of equality, Palestinian minorities on both sides of the security fence and on both sides of the Green Line must be (re)moved. If this is unconscionable, then it is patently illegal to (re)move any Jew from his legal home.
The irony is that those who want to move are not being (re)moved. The so-called Palestinians want desperately to move. Instead of (re)moving Jews, the world body should provide assistance to those so-called Palestinians who desperately want to move, in order to be law abiding citizens and productive members of society in other countries. Those who live within the borders of Biblical Israel should be helped to emigrate. The rest can move to a small portion of Gaza that falls outside the borders of Biblical Israel.
This does not violate anyone?s civil rights, but rather provides an alternative and awards the so-called Palestinians dignity and respect for striving to provide a better life for their children. They should have the prerogative of selling their homes and lands to Jews.
It seems like a pipe dream, but it isn?t. Fifteen million people moved right after World War II within a few years. Two million so-called Palestinians can find places to settle. Many want to emigrate to Canada and would be glad to settle isolated areas, even in the North. They would gladly trade their homes and land for a homestead and a house in one of many abandoned ghost towns.
There is a great deal that we can do. Assisted Emigration Services is a grassroots effort to provide a humanitarian alternative to perpetual armed conflict by facilitating Palestinian emigration. Other groups, such as YeshaHomestead help them find customers for their homes and lands. Plans to make Yehuda and Shomron the exclusive suburbs of the future and to create new recreational facilities, such as the Wild, Wild West (Bank) Dude Ranch are in the works.
While it seems hopeless, be reminded of Batya, Pharaoh?s daughter. When she saw Moshe floating in a basket in the Nile, she reached out her hand and brought him to shore. One commentator explains that a miracle occurred and her hand elongated to reach the basket hidden in the reeds. If it was a miracle, what was she thinking? Why reach out when you know you never can reach your goal? But that is the very point. Only because she impulsively initiated the spontaneous act of compassion, was she worthy of the Almighty altering the laws of nature for her benefit.
We need only to start and the Almighty will see to the rest.
A little bit of this, a little bit of that.
A pot, a pan, a broom, a hat.
Someone should have set a match to this place years ago.
A bench, a tree.
So, what's a stove? Or a house?
People who pass through Anatevka don't even know they've been here.
A stick of wood. A piece of cloth.
What do we leave? Nothing much.
Only Anatevka.
Anatevka, Anatevka.
Underfed, overworked Anatevka.
Where else could Sabbath be so sweet?
Anatevka, Anatevka.
Intimate, obstinate Anatevka,
Where I know everyone I meet.
Soon I'll be a stranger in a strange new place,
Searching for an old familiar face
From Anatevka.
I belong in Anatevka,
Tumble-down, work-a-day Anatevka.
Dear little village, little town of mine.
While I vicariously experienced his horror, I secretly relished the feeling that, thank the Almighty, it can never ever happen to my family.
Well, so much for delusions. As I live in one of the Shomron communities, it appears that not only can it happen to my family, but it may be imminent. My family?s expulsion is not by the official decree of the Czar of Russia, but by Ariel Sharon?s unilateral peace plan. Sharon will unilaterally determine new borders of a new terrorist country by ?moving? Jewish communities.
Sharon?s folly of (re)moving Jews is an affront to Judaism. Like all expulsions that Jews were subjected to during this past two millennia, this expulsion reinforces the belief that our prophesies are empty pipe dreams.
The secret agenda of the insidious world body politic in carving out a new terrorist country is to openly demonstrate that the establishment of the Jewish state is an anomaly that is reversible and does therefore not herald the end of days. To further this religious agenda, the very countries that despise the Palestinians and the terrorism that they invented are compelled to reward the Palestinians for killing Jews. To mask their disappointment that the security fence will make Jews less vulnerable to terrorist attacks, they vote almost unanimously that the security fence is a war crime actionable in the Hague.
We have to face the bald fact that the same world body that found apartheid so repugnant in South Africa insists upon it in the so-called West Bank. It is ironic that the most vocal proponents of (re)moving Jews from their homes are certain Black American officials who were the beneficiaries of integration and affirmative action programs in education and employment opportunity.
Every other country in the world decides its actions based on its own self-interest. We should be no different.
This is not a cycle of violence. It is our inability to act decisively that keeps them upping the ante. Our inaction facilitates their refinement of terrorist threats. Today, it is a new miniature bomb Hamas has developed that fits in a small pocketbook, so they will no longer have to wear cumbersome vests that are easily detected. Tomorrow, it will be mutated biological warfare.
Making the precedent of (re)moving one people solely on the basis of religion not only acceptable, but laudable, has legitimized population transfer. Every time a Jew is (re)moved, a Palestinian must be (re)moved. As the very presence of a Jewish minority is a ?provocation,? the very presence of a Palestinian minority is equally a ?provocation.? In the interests of equality, Palestinian minorities on both sides of the security fence and on both sides of the Green Line must be (re)moved. If this is unconscionable, then it is patently illegal to (re)move any Jew from his legal home.
The irony is that those who want to move are not being (re)moved. The so-called Palestinians want desperately to move. Instead of (re)moving Jews, the world body should provide assistance to those so-called Palestinians who desperately want to move, in order to be law abiding citizens and productive members of society in other countries. Those who live within the borders of Biblical Israel should be helped to emigrate. The rest can move to a small portion of Gaza that falls outside the borders of Biblical Israel.
This does not violate anyone?s civil rights, but rather provides an alternative and awards the so-called Palestinians dignity and respect for striving to provide a better life for their children. They should have the prerogative of selling their homes and lands to Jews.
It seems like a pipe dream, but it isn?t. Fifteen million people moved right after World War II within a few years. Two million so-called Palestinians can find places to settle. Many want to emigrate to Canada and would be glad to settle isolated areas, even in the North. They would gladly trade their homes and land for a homestead and a house in one of many abandoned ghost towns.
There is a great deal that we can do. Assisted Emigration Services is a grassroots effort to provide a humanitarian alternative to perpetual armed conflict by facilitating Palestinian emigration. Other groups, such as YeshaHomestead help them find customers for their homes and lands. Plans to make Yehuda and Shomron the exclusive suburbs of the future and to create new recreational facilities, such as the Wild, Wild West (Bank) Dude Ranch are in the works.
While it seems hopeless, be reminded of Batya, Pharaoh?s daughter. When she saw Moshe floating in a basket in the Nile, she reached out her hand and brought him to shore. One commentator explains that a miracle occurred and her hand elongated to reach the basket hidden in the reeds. If it was a miracle, what was she thinking? Why reach out when you know you never can reach your goal? But that is the very point. Only because she impulsively initiated the spontaneous act of compassion, was she worthy of the Almighty altering the laws of nature for her benefit.
We need only to start and the Almighty will see to the rest.