The Hebrew Prophets after the Shoah. Hemchand Gossai

Читать онлайн книгу.

The Hebrew Prophets after the Shoah - Hemchand Gossai


Скачать книгу
certainly has its place, but in the midst of a fragmented society, the idea of coherency born out of an artificial construct or coercion is not only unacceptable, but destructive. Coherency of this sort simply awaits a time for further and worsened disintegration. Fragmentation cannot be made whole by a patch work or being “band aided” together. The etymology of sincere is instructive here. The common background of the word combines sin (without)+ cere (wax). The word is generally associated with marble sculptures in Roman times, some of which had imperfections that were filled with wax, which to the average eye, unskilled to discern imperfections would assume that the piece is not flawed or fragmented. A society cannot be waxed together in the face of fragmentation. In 1936, the Nazi regime “waxed” its deeply oppressive and violently fragmented society into a showpiece for the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Regarding the question of a boycott of these Olympics, Avery Brundage, president of the American Olympic Committee, stated: “The very foundation of the modern Olympic revival will be undermined if individual countries are allowed to restrict participation by reason of class, creed, or race.”17 Creating another “waxed laden” moment, Brundage was invited for an inspection tour which, following the “waxed” script of Hitler, he saw what he was meant to see, and indeed what he wanted to see. Brundage stated publicly that Jewish athletes were being treated fairly and that the Games should go on, as planned. He even alleged the existence of a “Jewish-Communist conspiracy” to keep the United States out of the Games. This is the problem when coherence trumps all else, and when coherence further generates fragmentation, and when personal ideology forges ahead for the world to see. Many who thought and might have felt otherwise, over the fragmentation, settled for the faux coherency. Even though many nations including the United States knew of this “waxing,” they nevertheless participated and closed their eyes to Hitler’s prohibitive “waxing” that was put into place. “Hitler’s Nazi dictatorship camouflaged its racist, militaristic character while hosting the Summer Olympics. Soft-pedaling its antisemitic agenda and plans for territorial expansion, the regime exploited the Games to bedazzle many foreign spectators and journalists with an image of a peaceful, tolerant Germany.”18

      Cost of Saving Nineveh

      As one reflects on the book of Jonah, and moves beyond what has become something of a simplistic tale of “Jonah and the Whale,” and indeed beyond the ill-conceived idea of Jonah being xenophobic and the purveyor of ideas that historically have lead to an anti-semitic perspective, we once again encounter the issue of theodicy. We know now, and the prophet and the people knew then, that the Assyrian kingdom had a propensity for the abuse of power, and impulse for violence, as witnessed when the Assyrian Empire destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 721 BCE. Given this, the searching and difficult question must be asked: why would God set out to save a nation, particularly with the somewhat extreme measures witnessed in Jonah, knowing that Assyrian Empire would in fact come to destroy Israel? So then, the question arises as to whether God should be proactive in saving Israel knowing that destruction looms or simply allow Israel, the people, including the innocents, and land to be punished? Part of the complexity in Jonah is the fact that it not only points to the theme of divine mercy for all people, including the Assyrians whose track record for abuse of power and violence is known and documented, but also the question of divine justice. Thus, would a just God save the Assyrians, or for that matter invite the Assyrians to repentance knowing that with the possibility of repentance, these very Assyrians will indeed destroy Israel? In this regard, perhaps one might argue that Jonah, aware as he was of the Assyrian history and propensity for violence, and the execution of unbridled power, simply did not want to have God exercise what is very much a part of who God is, namely a God of justice and mercy. One might also argue with some justification that one should not be condemned on the basis of what one imagines might happen in the future. This is a philosophical principle that humans might employ in pondering human realities, but it poses greater complexities with regard to God. It is far too easy and perhaps even simplistic to speak of devastating punishment and violence such as exile and Shoah; slavery or war,


Скачать книгу