In her words on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni warned against Israelis maintaining a “ghetto mentality”. She explained that today, Israel is strong enough not to be bullied at threats.
The senior minister addressed a memorial event in Kibbutz Tel Yitzchak on Sunday night, the eve of 28 Nissan 5774.
She stressed the importance of passing the “correct historical significance” regarding the Holocaust to the students of today. Livni explains we must be careful not to permit the dark events of the Holocaust to take control of our decisions and our future.
While acknowledging that the State of Israel today is under threat, she feels the threats faced today cannot be compared to the threats faced by the “scattered Jews of Europe”. She added that Israel today is strong enough to deal with the threats and there is no need to withdraw into the ghetto. She spoke of those seeking to destroy Israel and wipe the Jewish state off the map, but stated confidently “We are strong enough” to face any and all threats.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
The ghetto mentality is that Jews can exist except within a ghetto, preferably one with strong walls with firing holes in the walls to shoot at attackers (a characteristic of many shul several centuries ago).
Zionist is the ultimate display of the ghetto mentality, and the state of Israel is the ultimate ghetto.
akuperman, nice of you to disrespect mitzvat yeshuv ha’aretz. Do you throw you Tefilin on the floor too?
I can give you a lot of reasons why the 3 Oaths do not apply, but it is too long for a comment on a web post.
During the Bar Kochva revolt, Rabbi Akiva praised the fact that Jews were in control of Israel, even though they were not religious, and many of them probably worshiped idols. If you knew anything about the Greek and Roman times, you would know that even the worst things that you can think of about the Israeli government is not even a fraction of what was going on back then.
Do you know how many people are fulfilling the mitzva of Yishuv Ha’aretz because of the state? Do you know any other place in the world where all Jewish holidays are vacation days? How many people this year said Birkat Hailanot because there is a Jewish State here? Not to mention that despite budget cuts, you still have state funded Yeshivot, shuls, Mikvaot, and cemeteries. Do you know how many places in the US don’t have a shul or mikva due to lack of funding? So how is the State of Israel evil?
You can criticize government policies all day long (and I probably will agree with you on much of that), and our government is definitely not without fault (what government is?), but attacking the State in and of itself makes no sense for a Religious Jew.
Unless you like America and money so much that Torah doesn’t matter. But that’s a different problem.