THE HOLOCAUST IS OVER WE MUST RISE FROM ITS ASHES

Despite the artificial claims of fundraising campaigns, most of the Jewish people nolonger need salvation. We have actually never been in better condition. As for thesecond element, Israel’s centrality is eroded due to the constant embarrassments thatit produces, which lowered its status in the eyes of many. Bitter identity struggles inthe 1970s and 1980s, centered around the “Who is a Jew?” controversy, and thelasting attempts of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox to narrowly define a “Jew,” didnot bring hearts closer. The rise of the ultra-Orthodox to political power in Israel andthe virtual ban on non-Orthodox streams of Judaism is how an unappreciative Israelreciprocated the warm embrace of American Jews.In Israel and in America, the guilt complex over the Shoah created a nationalobsession of exaggerated securitism, the longing for power that often morphs intoprimitive belligerence. In America, the collective feeling of guilt that more could havebeen done if the U.S. government was prodded to act sooner is ever present. I donot know the details of the Jewish American experience, but I know the leadershippretty well. The Jewish masses are diverse and have a much more sophisticatedagenda than presented and expressed by their leadership. The destruction of theShoah seems to have been burned into the leaders’ minds. One result is that JewishAmerican leaders tend to justify their government’s wars and support the most rightwingforeign policies, especially vis-à-vis Israel and the Middle East. They are againsteverybody, including Germany, Russia, and the Arab countries. Furthermore, theofficial, organized Jewish voice is a power to reckon with in every election campaign.It is very difficult to be elected to high office in America against the wishes of theJewish lobby. Financial and organizational resources, public support, legitimacy—andnot least, the damage the Jewish lobby can cause to unwanted candidates—turnJewish involvement in American politics into a factor with strategic internationalconsequences.Jewish influence sometimes causes American political candidat es to sound likeShoah victims. “Never again” speeches, Auschwitz themes, and black skullcapsduring memorial ceremonies, complete with God Full of Mercy prayers, arefrequent. The inevitable outcome of this attitude is a feeling of power, and the furthererosion of the Jewish idea of revival that was the basis for the American Jewishautonomy. American Jews, like Israelis, are stuck in Auschwitz, raising the Shoahbanner high to the sky and exploiting it politically.It seems natural then that the third supporting pillar, the Shoah and the vow