Resilience, achievement, advancement. The Jewish community represents everything humanity should aspire to be. The contrast with the anti-Semites couldn’t be more clear.
When we see the success of others, human beings face a choice.
We can see that success as the result of a conspiracy and let jealousy take over.
Or we can see that success as something we can learn from, and as something to be admired.
Successful civilizations and nations choose the latter path.
Failed civilizations and nations choose the former.
And this brings us to anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism is the ideology of losers, those nations and civilizations who are unable to succeed and who choose to find a scapegoat for their failures.
Both the far-left and the far-right (who tend to be bitter failures within their own nations) are deeply anti-Semitic.
Many of Israel’s neighbours (who fail to build successful countries despite having massive amounts of resources) also choose to blame Jewish People for their failures rather than learning from Israel’s success.
Yet, we continue to act as if there is some sort of substance to the hatred Israel’s enemies feel towards the world’s only Jewish state, rather than acknowledging that the hatred is based on jealousy, an inability to cope with failure, and the need for scapegoats.
The success of the Jewish community despite having faced such long-term and widespread hatred, oppression, and genocide is something that should be inspiring to all of us.
But it’s that very success and resilience against the odds that so enrages the failed nations and civilizations that choose to follow the path of anti-Semitism.
Israel’s enemies are humanities enemies
Consider Israel’s success for a moment.
The Jewish People managed to build a highly prosperous, highly advanced, and highly powerful first-world nation on a tiny amount of land that has almost no natural resources, isn’t great for agriculture, and which is surrounded by enemies.
And literally from the beginning, Israel had to fight for survival, as they were attacked by their neighbours and faced immediate destruction had they not won.
What other country, what other people could have succeeded under those circumstances?
In Israel’s story of resilience, survival, and success, we see everything that human beings should aspire to: A willingness to fight for freedom, a commitment to human rights even under immense pressure, a culture of debate, respect for the rights of women, respect for the rights of cultural and religious minorities, a strong national identity, a commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, the veneration of those who help society advance, a never-ending drive for progress, an understanding of the need for military strength, and a willingness to turn former enemies into friends in the pursuit of a peaceful future.
We see the same with the Jewish community across Canada and around the world. We see a community that succeeds against all the odds and makes our country and our world a better place, a testament to the resiliency of a People that has refused to let hatred and oppression hold them back.
This is why the enemies of the Jewish community and the enemies of Israel are also the enemies of humanity. Those who stand against Jewish People are making it clear that they stand against human progress, against the pursuit of knowledge, against freedom and against human flourishing.
It’s no surprise that the most anti-Semitic regimes and terror organizations are also completely dysfunctional, oppressive, barbaric, savage, corrupt, and obsessed with killing others. In a sad way, it’s almost fitting that those who hate the life-affirming Jewish community would turn out to be death-affirming and would seek to crush all the positive achievements of humanity.
And for this reason, we cannot allow the Jewish community to be left alone against the anti-Semites. All of us who believe in humanity and in the best that humanity has to offer must come together and stand with the Jewish community in this moment of peril, and in every moment thereafter.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
