Originally Posted by ZeE23
Hi Guys,
Stephen Bloom has a love of fairness and justice typical of many liberal American Jews. A journalism professor, he saw the opening of a Kosher meat packer by Hasidic Jews in Postville Iowa in 1987 as an opportunity to study the Jewish-gentile dynamic in microcosm. He discovered more about Judaism and the causes of anti-Semitism than perhaps he wanted to know.
His conclusion from "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America" published in 2000:
"Initially I had gone to Postville to learn from the Hasidim [orthodox Jews], to share with them a sense of identity and belonging. Instead, what the Postville Hasidim ultimately offered me was a glimpse of the dark side of my own faith, a look at Jewish extremists whose behavior not only made the Postville locals wince, but made me wince, too.
I didn't want to partake in Hasidim's vision that called on Jews to unite against the goyim and assimilation. The world, even in Iowa, was too bountiful to base my likes and dislikes solely on religion. The word Hasid ...literally means 'the pious one,' but the Postville Hasidim..were anything but pious. You couldn't become casual friends with them...They required total submission to their schema of right and wrong, Jew vs. Christian -- or you were the enemy." (291)
In other words, if you're a Jew but don't buy their insanity, then you're no better than the goyim. IN DENIAL
This editorial suggests that the rabbis were ignoring the precepts of the "Babylonian Talmud." This reflects the naivety of assimilated Jews about the true nature of the Talmud, which is the central document of Judaism. The Talmud regards Gentiles as cattle and preaches hatred against Christians.
This is confirmed by the behavior of the Postville Hasidim. Stephen Bloom was put under the tutelage of one "Lazar", a "model Lubavitcher, a mensch as well as a tzaddik" (wise man.)
"I am a racist," Lazar told Bloom right off the bat. The Jews have persisted throughout history because "we are better and smarter." (192)
"Wherever we go, we don't adapt to the place or the people, Lazar preached..."It's always been like that and always will be like that. It's the place and the people who have to adapt to us."
Bloom reflected: "Lazar's comment underscored the Hasidim's contempt for non-Jews, which wasn't limited to Postville gentiles but to all Christians...Hasidim like Lazar have a total disinterest in anything or anyone who isn't Jewish...The Hasidim were waging a cultural holy war...Their world was Jew vs. non-Jew...If you didn't agree, you were at fault, part of the problem. You were paving the way for the ultimate destruction of the Jews, the world's Chosen People. There was no room for compromise...no room for anything but total and complete submission."
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