The Crime that Never Was (On Communist Crimes Denial)

Tens of millions were murdered in its name through forced famine, murder and expulsion. Hundreds of millions more were subject to impoverishment and mass abuse of their human rights, on a scale never known in the democratic world. Life for all but the self-appointed leaders was one of hardship and repression.

No, I am not talking of fascism or even hard nationalism. I am referring to the victims of those who lived and those who are still living in states with a professed communist ideology. I do so because no-one in Israel, especially on the left or in academia seems willing or able to do so.

We have scholars and intellectuals calling for recognition of the Armenian genocide. We even have those who lehavdil claim Israel should stop its alleged "Nakba denial" and commemorate the Paletinians. However, I have yet to hear of anyone suggesting we should dedicate time and effort to commemorating the many people and peoples who were victims of communist atrocities.

This has been building up in me a long time. It started when a teacher of mine dismissed communist crimes with the excuse "I wouldn;t want to live there, but at least they narrowed the [socioeconomic] gaps" and at least "the leaders didn't live that well". Prying a little deeper, all the usual excuses came out: Lenin wanted something else. Stalin was nuts, Mao was nuts and so forth. Look how "good" Cuba is. Pitiful stuff that would be laughed out of court when it comes to Nazis is apparently acceptable when it comes to Communists. In another instance, a teacher of mine went on and on about the dangers of nationalism. When I mentioned communism, he gave me a blank stare and then excused it as simply "a dictator" who rose up, as if there was no underlying ideology.

Apparently intelligent people are meant to believe that all the communist leaders, subordinates, soldiers and carriers-out were all, at different times and in different places, seized by a mass psychosis. None of them was driven by ideology or capable of making moral choices. Forget the evidence. Forget the facts. They "meant well". They "really believe in what they do". They "dream of a better world", so to hell with all the people who need to be destroyed to get there. If all the excuses fail? Pretend it never happened.

Words can not describe how much I detest people willing to defend the crimes of genocide, democide and mass repression committed in the name of the "well-meaning ideology", all while condemning every supposed crime of democracies.

No-one who is genuinely serious about human rights in Israel can avoid the challenge of making "communist crimes denial" as illegitamite as Holoaust denial. We can start by translating "The Black Book of Communism", but to avoid the issue is, for me, tantamount to justifying it.

We screamed "never again". It's time we proved we meant it.

Be A Mentsch

We are now in the month of Elul, the month of self-reflection and teshuva. Hundreds, maybe thousands of shi'urim will be given in yeshivas, shuls, homes across the world about the 'need to change'. Pundits, religious and secular will soon be giving their opinion about what needs to be changed, though it's usually someone else - 'society-at-large', 'the government' - who need to do the changing.

Usually, this demand for change will be all-encompassing and immediate. Social Justice now. No road deaths now. No Loshon Hara now. Often terms like revolution will be used. It's as if nothing short of total change is enough.

Personally, I despise this attitude, regardless of its origin. For one thing, it's extremely unrealistic. It's the religious equivalent of telling someone who does some phycical exercise to do olympic-level sports at the drop of a hat. It's not just that people who try to undergo an "instant" revolution are doomed to failure. It's also the fact that many are likely to give up self-improvement altogether, since the benchmark, set at "perfect" or "near-perfect", is impossible to reach anyway.

There's something else, too. Nothing is easier in this world than to give 'society' musar without changing oneself. Talk is cheap, and the internet has made it even cheaper. There are few things I find more detestable than people who speak high-mindedly about humanity, human rights and human dignity, but who treat actual flesh and blood human beings horribly.

So when I read yet another pundit talking about how we need to inclucate "values" into society, I say let's try teaching our kids, and ourselves, to be mentsches first. All that high-minded talk about midos and kavod ha'adam is worse than worthless if kids won't give a seat to an elderly person on the bus, greet people besever panim yafot and at least try to refrain from hurting others. Ona'at Devarim (hurting someone else emotionally through hurtful words) is no less a lav than other sins.

It doesn't have to involve a great revolution either. The real test of whether one has really changed is in routine times, doing "routine" good acts or avoiding "routine" bad ones. Not during Elul or Tishrei, when everyone's on the spiritual mend, but during Tevet, Heshvan, and all those other "dull" months when it's easy to slip back into bad habits.

There's no need to change everything at once, either. My Ram's Ram had the best advice possible: change one thing during the year, and stick to it. It can be smiling when saying hello or thinking twice before saying something hurtful (especially if it's an attempt at frumkeit one-upsmanship). Maybe try to help people who look like they need help rather than walk by them thinking "it's someone else's problem".

Today, I saw a regular guy volunteer to offer his seat to an old man on the bus. No one asked or suggested to him to do so. To me, "little" acts like this contribute more to kavod ha'adam than all the lectures, articles and books written on the subject.

So please, before we go around trying to "repair" the world, let's try to make it liveable first.

Musings of A Gifted Human Being

I have to be the best. At everything I do. Ever since I was a kid, I usually got compliments for my grades and intellectual achievments. When I wasn't doing well, I would be told "you're so capable", "you have so much to give" and so on. They meant well, but it paralyzed me.

I have to be the best, because I can't imagine just being good. It's all or nothing. Either I ace, or I'm deficient, worth less somehow. I'd be a disappointment to my parents, my teachers, my classmates rooting for me. I'd be "wasted potential". In conversations around the cofee table, they'll talk about me with a sigh. That boy, he really could have been something.

My MA has to be a masterpiece. Because the subject is so hot-button. Because my advisor, one of the most brilliant minds in the country, believes I can do it. I'm so afraid of letting him down.

I have to ace every paper, impress with every presentation. Any criticism immediately cancells out all the praise. If 99% liked my paper and 1% hated it or belittled it, the other 99% doesn't count. I have to have everyone's adulation. Without it, I'm nothing.

The present-day Orthodox Jewish world is no help at all in this regard. Our "heroes" are picture perfect. Tzadikim who never made mistakes or savants who could memorize the Shas. All the rest of us are sneered upon. "Baalei Batim", people who do "mehkar" and so on. Even actual poskim are a few rungs lower on the ladder. God forbid actual public service and messy reality interfere with pure otherworldly matters.

I hate them. I hate the people, both in the religious and secular world, who will tolerate nothing but marble models and Greek gods. Mostly, I hate them because they make me hate myself even more, because I know I can never measure up to such ideals. I can barely begin many a paper for so long because I know, or am afraid that it will never come out as pristine and perfect as it seemed in my head. Even now, I'm thinking about all the possible critiques of this post.

I don't know what to do, really. It feels like a trap with no way out.

וכל המוסיף גורע

I was going to write a post about the Giyyur controversy, but I think the following poem, published in Hebrew by Tzur Ehrlich in this week's Makor Rishon, says it all:

בלבן רומנטי, בשדמות בית-לחם. סבתא-רבה רות הולכת עם דוד.

רות, עמך עמך ואת צריכה ללכת. אל תשירי שיר לנין במואבית.

מי גיר אותך? מתי באת לביקורת? הגואל שלך המרה שלוש שבועות.

למה נין מזרוחניק? מה עשית בגורן? איזו מין תורה קיבלת בשבועות?

רות, את קשה. את כמו ספחת. רות, להתיר אין שום דעה.

רות, מה מציץ לך מהמטפחת. למה מטפחת בלי פאה?

רות, לא נבחנת על כל הלקט. רות, את נפסלת. את רות בלאי.

רות, את אינפקציה, את דלקת, או עצי-רות אולי.

סבתא-רבא רות שמעה ולא החליטה אם לשוב מואבה עם דוד נינה

או למצוא רב שליט"א מאסכולת ליטא שיסכים בסוף לתת לה חנינה

בקצירת העומר היא כמהה כמוה לא להישלל בידי בית דין אלים.

היא, ובית דוד, וכל אשר כמוה ועמו עמינו: רבבות עולים

רות, את צריכה גיור לחומרא. רות, הדיין כבר לא בגיל.

רות, גיוריו של חיים דרוקמן לא נכללו בדיל

רות, בית דוד מדי ציוני. רות, בית ישי לא משלים מנין.

רות, בית שמאי, בית תהיו-כמוני, בא להדפך באמת בנין.

רות, אלמנת כליון. רות, וכמותה מיליון.

רות, לא ה"חי" בתליון. קובע, כי אם המחשוף.

רות, את אינך מיוחסת. רות, את בנאחס מנחסת.

רות, פה אין חן ואין חסד. רות, סוף.

ממקור ראשון

A letter to the someone I haven't met

To whoever you are,

I suppose you'd like to know a little bit about me. Well, I'm not going to read off my CV. I'm sure you'll agree with me that if you've read one, you've read them all. I won't tell you how I "have a great love of life", a "sense of humour" or how I like movies and books. I'm here to tell you about me, not Joe P. Average.

Well, here goes:

We'll start with what I am not. I am not a knight in shining armour, a gallant flawless prince who'll sweep you off your feet. I am not Brad Pitt or the next Gadol HaDor. I do not conform to the fantasies we create of our future spouse. I can not "promise a rose garden" of a relationship, and even roses have thorns.

Now that we've got that out of the way, I can start telling you what I am. I am a young adult, relatively mature for my age and with a penchant for deep introspection. I am quite knowledgable in some areas of life, though in others I could use some catching up. I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge for its own sake; I like to hope I "infect" people with this particular "bug".

Though I am not Brad Pitt, I am not bad-looking. I like to think that I carry myself pretty well, and I can be a great conversationalist on various deep subjects, though I have little patience for chit-chat and small talk. I hate large crowds, but I like small groups of people.

My life has not been a cakewalk, though not a running disaster. I have known my share of crises and moments of despair. I like to think I came out of these with a greater appreciation for life and all the good things we take for granted. I can't stand people who look at the world with nothing but cynicism; people who do nothing but criticise and make everyone else miserable. I like to help people; I often hope that at least some of the advice I've given people over the years has helped them along their journey, maybe even preventing them from making some of the mistakes I've made.

I love music. Not a generic "love of music", but music that touches the soul and makes it sing. Music like the symphonies of Mozart, the Romantic masterpieces of Chopin, or the beautiful jazz of Louis Armstrong. I like the kind of music that lets you along for the ride rather than artifically pull on your heart strings. I also love movies that make you think and reflect - I refer to films like the Shawshank Redemption or the Usual Suspects.

I am looking for you because quite frankly I'm tired of being lonely. I want a life partner in every sense of the word, capable of both physical and emotional intimacy. I want to be able to love and be loved. I want someone I can talk to, share good times and bad, raise a Jewish family together.

I think that's enough for now.

Wherever you are, if you're out there, please give me a real chance.

Shabbat Shalom, AIWAC

The Desire to Belong (Orthodox Academic Journal, Part II)

We want to be loved by our peers. It's a basic psychological need. Usually, we find some area in which we excel - sports, intellect, socializing or otherwise and "show it off" so people can "ooh" and "aah". Eventually, we find "our" crowd, that group of people with whom we feel "at home".

I thought that home was academia. Maybe I was wrong. I didn't realize just how much I am represent an insignificant minority. I am a Modern Orthodox Jew. I disagree emphatically with the idea that "sociological" (i.e. without kabalat ol mitzvot) conversion is enough. I also disagree with the notion that whatever is "liberal", "pluralistic" or "universal" is always good or that whatever is "conservative" or "particularistic" is always bad. I also think that the Haredi stranglehold on the Rabbinate and halakhic thinking is a disaster for the Jewish people in Israel and has caused nothing but hillul hashem and hatred towards Orthodoxy as a whole. Consequently, I don't follow the "dogma" of either camp and am forced to feel defensive and uncomfortable in either setting.

It's not just that, though. I never realized, or maybe I didn't want to know, how much non-religious Jews lump all Orthodox Jews in the same group. There I am, a university student with years of experience in secular self-education, and I may as well just walk around with Haredi garb for all the difference it makes. My (big) kippa is just so much window-dressing. There's no-one that I know to talk to here. There's no support system for religious students dealing with issues like this - everyone, including people on the teaching staff, seem to all deal with this on their own with varying degrees of success. Suffice to say that I am afraid many of us are "burned" religiously even if we still have a kipa over our heads.

After years of searching, I still often feel very alone. To be sure, I have my family, who are all very supportive and helpful. Maybe I should give up looking for "my crowd". Maybe such a thing doesn't exist, at least for me. Which brings me back to the original problem - what the hell am I doing here?

Good Revisionism, Bad Revisionism

"It's Time for Another Good Idea, Bad Idea" - Animaniacs

Revisionism. The word itself makes many an historian salivate. The thought of being able to up-end established scholarship and popular perceptions of what happened in the past is a great temptation for those of us wanting to quickly establish ourselves in the scholarly community. Unfortunately, the desire to do so contains many pitfalls, so I have written up a list comparing what I consider to be "good" revisionism - i.e. revisionism that contributes to academic debate and thought, and "bad" revisionism - the type that's good for juicy newspaper interviews, but not much else. Enjoy.

The "Official" Version: A simplistic black-and-white morality tale where the "establishment" is always the "good guy" and right, and its enemies are always the "bad guys" and wrong.

Good Revisionism: A careful, objective analysis of all sides, taking into account context, contingency, zeitgeist and other factors before arriving at a reasoned judgment.

Bad Revisionism: A simplistic black-and-white morality tale where the "establishment" is always the "bad guy" and wrong, and its enemies are always the "good guys" and right.

Good Revisionism: History ("what happened") is the primary concern. Historiography (how it was written) and collective memory (what people think happened) is a secondary concern that must not affect the historical analysis.

Bad Revisionism: Historiography/collective memory are the primary concern. History is thus dependent on what people think happened, regardless of what actually happened.

Corollary: Good revisionism considers "mythbusting" to be incidental (even if it's a nice added bonus) to the primary task of the research. Bad revisionism is obsessed with rebutting popular conceptions of history, and not so much with what actually happened.

Good revisionism: Causes most reasonable people to think and consider your arguments, even if they disagree.

Bad revisionism: Convinces those who were already convinced, usually because of previous political convictions and prejudices. Happy "revising". AIWAC

On Dealing With Depression

Winston Churchill called it the "black dog". Roughly one out of ten people will experience clinical depression before the age of 40. Many of the most brilliant minds have suffered from it. Even whacky comedians like Jim Carrey and Robin Williams have it.

I was diagnosed with it as a tennager. It was a nightmare, both for myself and for my family, who did not know how to help me. The "worst years" when I did not function at all are a time in my life I would much rather forget. Life was an empty abyss of despair. I couldn't physically smile or enjoy anything. I hated myself in every sense of the word.

I mention all this because contrary to popular myth, things like to depression do not miraculously disappear. The idea that someone can just "snap out of it" is complete bullshit - the statement of someone who has clearly never dealt with depression himself. It takes years of hard work and trial and error to be able to get back on track and develop a healthy sense of self-worth.

Even then, it never completely goes away. Like the yetzer hara, it is always looking for an opening - day in, day out. Every time problems occur or crises happen, it beckons. Like a drug, it beckons us to give up, to withdraw from life, either figuratively or, in more extreme cases, literally. I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted on many an ocassion to do just that.

So what keeps me from sinking back into the hole? A recognition that my problems won't go away by ignoring them. The knowledge that however bad things are now, they are exponentially better than they were then. A promise I made to myself that I would never hurt my family that way again.

Still, I have to wonder - what girl would ever want to have anything to do with someone who has to fight a daily twin struggle against depression and OCD? How can I build a family with the "black dog" just around the corner? I admit I don't really have an answer to these questions.

So if you're out there dealing with this, know that you are not alone. There are many who are dealing with it as well.

Justice Lost, but Sanity Prevailed (on Katzav)

A-way back when the Supreme Court Appeal against the Moshe Katzav plea bargain was heating up, I explained why I think that even though Katzav is a shmuck, overturning the plea bargain would have resulted in injustices on a far greater scale. Today, I am relieved that the Supreme Court voted narrowly to uphold the plea bargain. It is true that Aleph and Katzav's other victims did not get justice, and that Katzav is practically getting away scott free. Unfortunately, an overturning of the plea bargain would have likely resulted in scores more injustices, including the Alephs of the world. More often than not, the "right" choice is not between "good" and "bad", but rather the lesser of the two evils. Let us hope and pray that there will come a time when we no longer have to make such repugnant compromises.

Tip for Those Visiting Israel During the Winter

Don't bother bringing, or buying, an umbrella. The wind here will break it in short order and leave you helpless against the elements. Invest in a hat or hooded jacket instead.

I learned this valuable lesson only after living here for 15 years and buying two umbrellas. This message is meant to prevent further grief.

The Man Who Laughs

[I had been throwing around the idea of writing an post defending the new Joker before I heard of Heath Ledger's premature death. This article is dedicated to his memory. Warning: Any offensive or insulting remarks will be deleted without warning]

When I showed the latest trailer for The Dark Knight to my siblings, the reaction was lukewarm at best. "I don't like the make-up", "He's not Jack Nicholson" and "He's not funny" were the main complaints. A few years ago, I probably would have agreed. I fondly remember watching Nicholson's Joker as a kid – a depraved but strangely funny character who chewed the scenery and delivered many a memorable quote (Our favorite was "Bob, gun" – after which he proceeds to shoot Bob).

I now realize that that is precisely the problem – many of us think of the Joker primarily as a funny, insane criminal – a cartoon character, really. Ask your average non-intensive Batman fan to think of a word they associate with the Joker and terms such as funny, entertaining, depraved and insane probably come to mind. Scary? Horrifying? They're probably not even in the top five.

This is a shame – because there is another side to the Joker, a side that elicits not laughs but rather sheer terror. Behind the jokes and the wackiness lie a psychopathic, terrifying monster who kills and maims just for the fun of it. For the Joker of the comics, everything's a joke – society, law, morality and even human life itself. His crimes are utterly devoid of any logic; as Batman once put it – they "make sense to him alone".

Neither are his methods or actions reason for laughter. One example can be found in The Killing Joke, considered one of the ultimate Joker stories. In the story, the Joker shot and paralyzed Barbara Gordon (Batgirl, though he didn't know it), stripped her and took pictures. Then he kidnapped Commissioner Gordon and showed him the pictures with the express intent of driving him insane, thus proving that anyone can become like him after a "bad day".

Another demonstration of the Joker's "humor" can be found in the unedited version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. [Spoiler Alert] In a critical flashback scene, we learn that the Joker kidnapped Robin and brainwashed him into becoming a Joker sidekick named "JJ". When Batman finally tracks him down, the Joker shows him a movie graphically depicting Robin being electrocuted. Enraged, Batman attacks the Joker and pins him to the wall. The Joker simply tells him: "If you don't like the movie, I've got slides". Still think he's funny?

So I say: bring us the Joker of the Dark Knight. Bring us the Joker in his full, uncensored version – a "sick, demented monster" (World's Finest) whose high-pitched laughs send chills down your spine and whose "jokes" only demonstrate his complete lack of morality. If nothing else, we will perhaps finally begin to realize this lesson: there is nothing funny or "cool" about evil.