Letter to the Editor | Response to martyrdom, ostracism

I think the best thing I can say for an overview of Max Shmookler’s recent editorial, “Reflections on Jewish History, Tradition” in the 10.7.05 edition of The Miscellany News, is that I found it grossly misinformed. I know Max Shmookler, and I hope I don’t offend him when I say that such outright displays of propaganda have no place masquerading as rational discussion; my interest is entirely polemical. His portrayal of the politics that he suggests accompanies a Jewish consciousness rings steadily throughout with the phrase “my way or the highway.” At no point does he formulate a thesis other than, perhaps, that the “healing” of something or other can only be accomplished by the self-enforced isolation of Vassar’s Jewish population.

What is clear is that Shmookler wants us all to see that the “healing” can only begin after “publications like The Imperialist take lightly words that we know all too well.” The words to which Shmookler is referring, I gleaned on my second time around, are “ghettoes” and maybe “zoological preserves.” He insists that we, Vassar’s Jewish population, must restructure ourselves such that we will never again fit in, all in order to attain some militant, fantastic ideal of proud ostracism from society. He seems to insist that the martyrs of the Jewish faith did so to preserve a mere reputation.

The guarantee of safety for the next generation, not the needless continuation of struggle, has been the primary objective of nearly every Jewish martyr. That we don’t have to fear for our lives is, sad to say, a luxury only rarely accorded the Jewish people, and never for very long. For us to reject this gift out of some fantastical wish to play soldier is ridiculous.

It is not until the last few paragraphs that we learn how we can play doctor and “heal” this phantom invalid. No longer can we remain white America’s ethnic sidekick, enjoying the benefits at the expense of our moral fiber. It seems to go without saying that all of us, each and every one, know we are traveling the wrong path. By insisting that only fear of ostracism prevents our self-improvement, Shmookler glosses over the possibility that anyone might genuinely disagree with his ironclad “ethics.”

And what of the Jewish religion, I ask? Shmookler’s personal politics would have us aligned with the minority against the majority. I would like to point out the actual position of Judaism through the ages. Rather than associating itself with any group of gentiles, downtrodden or otherwise, the Jews have made every attempt to stand apart from the crowd, to remain a separate people. Despite what some would say, Judaism considers its members neither better nor worse than anyone else, but eternally and inextricably different.

I strongly believe that all Jews must learn to appreciate foreign cultures, to stave off our own obsolescence, if not to see their beauty. However, if Shmookler would suggest that we must reclaim our birthright by allying ourselves with the Vassar minority, I would point out that the true calling of the Jews is to mind our own business.

—Marc Gottlieb ’07