Tuesday, June 27, 2006

The Word 'Jewish' Does Not Begin With Z

By Judy Andreas
12-30-5

Though I no longer identify with the Jewish Religion, there are many who still consider me Jewish. More importantly, however, I have friends and family who are Jewish. These people are righteous people. They are not sitting around planning the takeover of the world, nor are they supporters of apartheid Israel. None of them has been invited to tea at the Rothschilds.Most of them are clueless about the racist Talmud, as I was at one time.
It always saddens me when I see people who clump Jews and Zionists together I realize that there are those who honestly do not recognize the difference, however, there are others who are motivated by a deep hatred for Jewish people.
The other day, I was listening to a show on Internet radio. The guest was an ardent anti-Zionist. I agreed with much of what she said. However, when a Jewish woman called in, the guest implied that the caller was being duped. She implied that all the higher ups in the Jewish religion are card carrying Jewish Supremacists who are racist Talmud thumpers. The caller was appalled. She talked about how loving the Rabbi at her Temple was. She talked about her anti- Israel feelings. She talked about how the guest's diatribe was merely creating a backlash. My heart went out to the caller and I knew that I had to write something. I only hoped I could be equal to the task. Words are a sadly imperfect vehicle upon which to carry such a sensitive message.
I have always striven to be fair. I have been outspoken regarding my feelings about apartheid Israel and its sins against the Palestinians. I have pointed a finger at Mossad involvement in 911. I have written about the death of Freedom of Speech and the travesty of what is being done to people like Ernst Zundel and others who have merely dared to question. And, as a result of my writings, I have been targeted by Zionists who have called me names and made my life extremely uncomfortable.
And yet, while I have attempted to be fair, I have also cringed at those who insist on painting all Jewish people with a broad brush. I have read essays in which the writer has combed the depths of obscure Jewish sects to find practices that the average Jew finds repulsive and grotesque. I have read essays which refer to Jewish people as soulless. The result is that people, who do not know any Jews, imagine that we sit around drinking blood and nibbling on sacrificed babies. It's astounding that there are those who believe that "all Jews have horns". The result has been an ever widening, ever more hateful divide. It pits Jews against Gentiles and, at the end of the day, plays right into the hands of the people who are looking to enslave us. Their divide and conquer strategy is alive and well and living amongst us.

People who have any familiarity with the events of World War two, are aware of how the Zionists sacrificed their Jewish brethren as a means to get more sympathy for the State of Israel.
I suspect that they would gladly sacrifice them again.

When I began my incarnation as an Internet essayist, I knew nothing about The Talmud.
I thought it was merely a book of laws. I soon learned that it was a book filled with hate against non-Jews.
I was thoroughly confused. After all, my father, who was one of the kindest, gentlest men I'd known, had studied the Talmud.
I had never heard the "g" word mentioned in my home. And when my sister and I married out of the religion, nothing hateful was said and the grooms were welcomed into the family.
My father's philosophy was that we are all children of God.
And yet, people I knew on the Internet were quoting abhorrent lines from the Talmud.

I began my search for the truth among people I knew.
I spoke with a Protestant man who had, at one point, begun a conversion to Judaism.
I asked him if he had read the Talmud.
He said that he had to study it.
I asked him if there was anything racist in it and he replied that there was not.

An Orthodox Jewish Doctor became my next interviewee.
I asked her about the Babylonian Talmud and the comment that "it is preferable to lie down with animals than to lie down with non-Jews".She said that she had never heard of such a thing. "Why would Abraham have been commanded to lie down with Hagar?"

A non Jewish friend sent me a DVD she had made of an interview with a man who belongs to a group called True Torah Jews.
This gentlemen, quoting the Talmud, remarked that it was a sin to steal from Jews and non Jews alike.

My confusion grew.
I consulted with the always knowledgeable, ever present google.
"Is the Talmud racist?" I asked.
A plethora of articles leapt onto my screen.

Michael Hoffman is often quoted for his writing about the racism in the Babylonian Talmud and the guest on the talk show had referred to him as well.
Here are a few of the many examples that Mr. Hoffman gives from the Babylonian Talmud.

Hitting a Jew is the same as hitting God
-Sanhedrin 58b.
If a heathen (gentile) hits a Jew, the gentile must be killed.
O.K. to Cheat Non-Jews
- Sanhedrin 57a .
A Jew need not pay a gentile ("Cuthean") the wages owed him for work.
Jews Have Superior Legal Status
- Baba Kamma 37b.
"If an ox of an Israelite gores an ox of a Canaanite there is no liability; but if an ox of a Canaanite gores an ox of an Israelite...the payment is to be in full."
Jews May Steal from Non-Jews
- Baba Mezia 24a .
If a Jew finds an object lost by a gentile ("heathen") it does not have to be returned. (Affirmed also in Baba Kamma 113b).
- Sanhedrin 76a.
God will not spare a Jew who "marries his daughter to an old man or takes a wife for his infant son or returns a lost article to a Cuthean..."
Jews May Rob and Kill Non-Jews
- Sanhedrin 57a .
When a Jew murders a gentile ("Cuthean"), there will be no death penalty. What a Jew steals from a gentile he may keep.
- Baba Kamma 37b.
The gentiles are outside the protection of the law and God has "exposed their money to Israel."
Jews May Lie to Non-Jews
- Baba Kamma 113a.
Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.
Non-Jewish Children are Sub-Human
- Yebamoth 98a.
All gentile children are animals.
- Abodah Zarah 36b.
Gentile girls are in a state of niddah (filth) from birth.
Abodah Zarah 22a-22b .
Gentiles prefer sex with cows.
Insults Against Blessed Mary
- Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus' mother was a whore: "She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters."
Also in footnote #2 to Shabbath 104b of the Soncino edition, it is stated that in the "uncensored" text of the Talmud it is written that Jesus mother, "Miriam the hairdresser," had sex with many men. (snip)

Copyright ©2000 by Michael A. Hoffman II and Alan R. Critchley.

To read this in its entirety, please go here.

I can well understand how anyone who has read the list of racist quotations and believes that all Jewish people think this way, would be furious and disgusted. And yet, is there more to the story? I needed to know.
I came upon an article entitled: Is the Talmud racist? How do I defend Judaism against these accusations?

"Q:
I am a Jew living in Dallas TX. I was watching news following the Presidential election and candidates. I was watching a news article on Pat Buchanan. They spoke of a white power activist group backing Pat. He said he didn't want their backing and the news mentioned a web sie. www.stormfront.org. I thought I would visit this site and see that they had to offer to humanity. I was shocked to see what I had found. There was a section on the Talmud. Now I have not studied the Talmud or anything of that sort but was surprised at what I saw. Proclamations such as:
Some Teachings of the Jewish Talmud
Erubin 21b.
Whosoever disobeys the rabbis deserves death and will be punished by being boiled in hot excrement in hell.
Moed Kattan 17a .
If a Jew is tempted to do evil he should go to a city where he is not known and do the evil there.
Hitting a Jew is the same as hitting God
Sanhedrin 58b.
If a heathen (gentile) hits a Jew, the gentile must be killed.
O.K. to Cheat Non-Jews
Sanhedrin 57a .
A Jew need not pay a gentile ("Cuthean") the wages owed him for work.
Jews Have Superior Legal Status
Baba Kamma 37b.
"If an ox of an Israelite gores an ox of a Canaanite there is no liability; but if an ox of a Canaanite gores an ox of an Israelite...the payment is to be in full." Jews May Steal from Non-Jews
Baba Mezia 24a.
If a Jew finds an object lost by a gentile ("heathen") it does not have to be returned.
(Affirmed also in Baba Kamma 113b).
Sanhedrin 76a.
God will not spare a Jew who "marries his daughter to an old man or takes a wife for his infant son or returns a lost article to a Cuthean..."
Jews May Rob and Kill Non-Jews.
Sanhedrin 57a .
When a Jew murders a gentile ("Cuthean"), there will be no death penalty.
What a Jew steals from a gentile he may keep.
Baba Kamma 37b.
The gentiles are outside the protection of the law and God has "exposed their money to Israel."
Jews May Lie to Non-Jews
Baba Kamma 113a.
Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.
Non-Jewish Children are Sub-Human
Yebamoth 98a.
All gentile children are animals.
Abodah Zarah 36b.
Gentile girls are in a state of niddah (filth) from birth.
Abodah Zarah 22a-22b .
Gentiles prefer sex with cows.

Living in the south I am bomb-barded with questions and attacks dealing with things of this nature. How does a Jew defend themselves when asked a questions of this nature? Where are they getting these writings? What does it all mean?"


A:
I quickly checked most of the statements listed below with the actual statements and context of the Talmud, and for the most part they are either inaccurate or not representative of Jewish law. The problem stems from a misunderstanding, or a perversion, of the literature of the Talmud. The Talmud is a collection of discussions on various topics of Jewish law, but not all of the material in every discussion:
1) represents the majority view;
2) applies today;
3) was meant to be taken seriously.
The statement that "whosoever disobeys the rabbis deserves death and will be punished by being boiled in hot excrement in hell [Erubin 21b]" is not even found in the Talmud. The correct statement is "whosoever transgresses the words of the Scribes is liable for the death penalty."
First, not every statement of the Rabbis falls in the category under discussion; and second, this is a typical example of exaggerated language -- there was no death penalty for violating a non-Torah law, but the Sages wanted to emphasize the importance of obeying the metaphorical fences they constructed around serious Torah prohibitions, in order to prevent people from accidentally violating the Torah law. .
In a note in the Soncino translation of the Talmud, Sanhedrin 57A, the editor notes that "not a few of these harsh utterances were the natural result of Jewish persecution by the Romans, and must be understood in that light. In actual practice, these dicta were certainly never acted upon, and it is significant that a commission of Roman officers, after investigating Jewish law in its relation to Gentiles, took exception to only two laws, one relating to the damage done by a goring ox, and the other permitting a Jew the use of property stolen from a Gentile. Rabbi Gamliel repealed this latter law." .
The word nidah does not mean filth. It means separated, and in the context of Avodah Zarah 36b means that it is forbidden for Jews to marry non-Jews.

Copyright (c) 2000 by Rabbi David J.B. Krishef
All Rights Reserved.

Although the second article gave me insights, it did not thoroughly negate the possibility that the Talmud was indeed a racist document. And yet, I suspect that the Jews who still mouth those beliefs are in the minority. I would venture to guess that most Jewish people are not privy to that version of the Talmud. I would venture to guess that the quotes may belong to an era which no longer exists and has little to do with today's civilization. To measure all Jews with a supremacist yardstick is akin to saying that all Christians chant in front of a 40 foot owl or all Catholics are pedophiles and cannibals.
A wonderful man recently said to me "Judy, you have restored my faith in Jewish people. Before I met you, I thought that all Jews were winking and nodding and planning to take over the world" His words aroused both a sense of gratitude as well as a sense of sadness within me. I realized how easily people have stereotyped ALL Jews because of the sins of SOME Jews. Perhaps I am unique or maybe I am not. I know that there are many who are far more outspoken than I. I suspect that there are others who are just too frightened to come forward. Organizations such as the ADL can make life a living hell. Perhaps there are Jews who retreat into fear and paranoia when they read the endless accusations and gross distortions. Perhaps there are others who strike back while pictures of the popularized version of the Nazi Holocaust play on the movie screens of their minds.
Too many people have been effectively silenced. And yet, it doesn't have to be this way.
Not long ago, a man on the Internet made a statement that there are no poor Jews. Having been a poor Jew for many years while I raised three children, I was aghast at his remark.Having interfaced with many poor Jews, I could only shake my head in amazement. Having had friends whose husbands had abandoned them when their children were small and they had been forced to work themselves out of the hell of welfare, I could hardly believe that this gentleman was serious. And yet, when you deal in stereotypes and hate rhetoric, you begin to believe the lies. You become a perfect pawn for the New World Order.
There is a great divide and it is growing wider with each passing day. We have reached crisis proportions. Divided we will certainly fall. It is imperative that we look beyond the labels and the stereotypes. Jews and Gentiles alike are being manipulated by diabolically clever strategists. Perhaps a disproportionate amount are Jewish, I haven't counted. I only know that we must find a way to communicate with one another. I only know that our bigotry and endless finger pointing are perfect fodder for the "divide and conquer" strategy of our manipulators.
"Blessed are the peacemakers"

Copyright 2005 Judy Andreas

www.judyandreas.com
JUDE10901@AOL.com