yidden and goyim

It all started by har sinai everyone had a chance. It is like someone got offered a job and he took it became rich now he passed it on to his kids and their kids to theirs kids. If they would have accepted the job they also would be part of the firm and the riches.( this is how I understand it)

However you explain them to yourself.

Sincere converts are accepted w/o regard to race in Judaism. Beyond that I would focus on the idea that Hashem made this world for a reason, He chose the children of Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov because they were the only family, tribe then nation to show themselves willing and worthy to fulfill His mission through His Torah which they have faithfully carried out through history despite all difficulties, and we made it to today.

What bothers many people is the issue of Amalek. There are two things to keep in mind. First of all, if their maker tells us to kill them there shouldd be nothing at all wrong with that. Morality dictates the value of life. Life is sanctified by the One who embued it. He tells us to kill them so it is perfectly moral to do so.

It becomes confusing when you are asked, well everybody kills in the name of G-d. The answer is simple: they are all liars. I know that I won’t convince you that we are saying the truth and the others are making it up, but you can agree that if you would know that G-d said to do it, it would be a moral thing to do.

The reason we all want freedom of religion to exist is because no religion is obvious, and history shows that anyone can do whatever he wants in the name of religion. However, in times of open Nissim and Nevua and in the days of Moshiach, when it will be a matter of fact that Hashem rules the world, freedom of religion would make no more sense than freedom of your neighbor’s posessions. Until then, rest assured, we aren’t killing any Amaleikim. Therefore, we will never be violating morality.

The second thing to keep in mind is that in early times a war wasn’t a hired or drafted army fighting its leader’s politics. Everybody, young and old, men and women alike, fought however they can. We see this somewhat in the Palistinian Arabs. The Sefer Hayashar describes how the women of the 7 nations would stand on the roofs and throw things down.

This is besides the fact that one side of the city would be left open for those who wish to escape.

In summary, these things were never carried out when it was not moral to do so.

As for being chosen, that is one great misconception. Anyone who believes he found the true path to eternity will therefore come to the conclusion that everyone else is wrong. That is why other religions always try to force or convince the world to join.

We never did that, for the simple reason that we look at it very differently. We were chosen to be Hashem’s servants. Technically, anyone who feels that it is a good thing can join. If not, how can they be insulted for not being included in something they don’t want. It’s like Esav complaining about the Bechora being taken, although he didn’t want it.

I would start with the following question:

Suppose G-d came to you and revealed Himself without a shadow of a doubt that He was the Creator of everything. He then told you that a certain person had sunk to such an immoral level that their very existence ran contrary to the purpose of the world and that as the Creator of the world (and that person) He was commanding you to kill that person; would you not do it? Would you stand up to the Creator of morality and take the moral high ground?

Now, you may not believe that G-d commanded us to wipe out the seven nations, but that is the narrative that the Torah tells us and the Torah is the single historical source that the Jewish people wiped out the seven nations. Therefore, if you believe the story in its entirety, there is nothing about which you should be ashamed; we were merely advancing the purpose of the word as defined by the Creator of the world. If you don’t believe the story, then of what are you ashamed; nothing happened. If you choose to believe only certain details which seem shameful out of context, then you are clearly looking to find fault and nothing can stop you from doing so.

As far as halachos that differentiate between Jews and non-Jews:

Don’t most people have a different standard for family? We are commanded to treat everyone properly and fairly. Beyond that, we have special privileges for family. A family, as pointed out by someone else, that everyone is free to join. It is not racist to treat your family as special. This is not just a cliche. Look around at Jewish society; we operate as a family. When there is a family celebration, we all rejoice. When there is a tragedy, we all take it personally (events from this past summer can attest to that).

In short- a racist looks down at certain groups. The Jewish people consider one another as family. Big difference.

Health brings up another great point: Judge people on their actions, not their books. When we complain of anti-Semetism it is about killings, beatings and discrimination, not about liturature. We don’t complain about Islam because of what is written. We talk about what they do.

We don’t kill people, and haven’t done so for thousands of years. Before discussing our liturature (which we already did, above) look at actions. Which European nation didn’t engage in mass murder in the last millenia, or even century?

If someone is ashamed of our heritage, who are they trying to measure it against, the Cossaks of the east or the many Crusaders of the west? How did the early colonists react when they met the Native Americans? (The first Spanish settlers — in their prime cultural moment — wrote back to their king that the Indians are so nice that it would be very easy to take them as slaves.) How did the Brits treat the Irish or all of their colonies, besides for pillaging national treasures and displaying them at home as a sign of western culture? The list goes on.

Zos Hatorah-

Thank you. I put some time into writing it so I’m glad that it was worth it.

Sof Davar, many peole believe the history in the Torah and dismiss any reference to Hashem and Nevua. You’d have to fight that issue first. The common attitude is to lump everything into one pot: Amalek, Islam killings, Crusades and Inquisition. To us, the main difference is between truth and falseness, but to those who don’t believe it has to be explained.

It is important to make the distinction clear. Amalek was always our enemy, and a barbaric on at that. Take a look at what Shmuel told Agag.

We are not merely saying that anything immoral becomes moral if Hashem tells you to do it. On the contrary, Hit can’t be that Hashem will command something immoral. We are saying that in the justified war against Amalek, who was always our bitter enemy, we were told by the One who knows them best not to leave anyone alive.