tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post7836855907265720470..comments2024-03-28T06:07:03.667-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: Divided LoyaltiesRobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-8669797512038387192014-01-24T03:36:35.882-05:002014-01-24T03:36:35.882-05:00GT that is a very good question. I would say that ...GT that is a very good question. I would say that my loyalty is to progressive men and women everywhere, including Israel and the Occupied Territories, but especially to my comrades in America and South Africa, where my actions have been concentrated. Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-40983497532779737552014-01-23T18:57:31.151-05:002014-01-23T18:57:31.151-05:00Well, I'd like to ask what is the state of you...Well, I'd like to ask what is the state of your loyalties, since you didn't actually say. Unless that's a bad thing to ask.GTChristiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14390368105725901371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-78416972441909149642014-01-22T16:16:50.652-05:002014-01-22T16:16:50.652-05:00Dr. Wolff,
Regarding Jewish ambivalence: The nexu...Dr. Wolff,<br /><br />Regarding Jewish ambivalence: The nexus you make by analogy with loyalty to the crown or the IRA is interesting. There may be an additional force at play here. <br /><br />True, even left-wing Jewish intellectuals seem reluctant about openly criticizing Israel’s bellicose foreign policy and its several other reprehensible policies. And you are right that the Israeli left “Intelligentsia” speaks its mind easily. Why is that? Certainly, the very concept of “loyalty” enters the discussion in no small part because its flip side is “disloyalty” - a concept fraught with negative connotation. Every Jewish kid is raised to be loyal to the Tribe and with the exhortation not to do anything to hurt this minority which has been wronged through the ages. So we must “stick together”… [so it is, for example, that there are organizations for “Jews with cancer” - they are more important to support than “people with cancer”].<br /><br />There is an additional element to the “must not criticize” phenomenon, I think, and it is rooted in language - thus quite powerful and subliminal: Jews who emigrate TO Israel are called “Olim” - those who go up. Surely you have heard the world “Aliyah” - literally, it means “going up”, or “ascension” - it is the term used for individual or group emigration into Israel. Those who emigrate FROM Israel are called “Yordim”- those who go down - descend, decline. By unspoken extension, it behooves them to keep their own counsel. That, to my mind, explains the (dangerous) reticence you are noting.<br /><br />decesserohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15764798594543433377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-90263033300766336082014-01-22T16:11:40.531-05:002014-01-22T16:11:40.531-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.decesserohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15764798594543433377noreply@blogger.com