Here in Israel, many frum people have the sport of complaining of victimhood. We are victims of police brutality, we are victims of an evil anti-religious secular regime, we are victims of religious discrimination, we are victims of ....
In America there is also widespread victimhood, crying such messages as: "POOR US - THE GOYIM ARE SOOOOOO MEAN!!!"
If I am the victim, them I am holy! G-d is with victims. There are numerous sources to bear this out. Koheles: א-להים יבקש את הנרדף. And many other sources.
What is the REALITY??
The reality is that a Jew will always suffer from Anti-Semitism [="A-S"]. ההלכה בידוע שעשו שונא ליעקב.
Important caveats though: Not EVERYTHING is A-S. There are very few Jewish pro athletes NOT b/c of A-S. The President of the US is not Jewish NOT b/c the US is an A-S country. The Pope isn't Jewish NOT b/c of A-S..... Not everything is A-S or Anti-Religious. Claiming it is brings great harm upon us. We should focus on uprooting A-S where it really exists.
Also, it makes us meek. We should feel empowered. Jews, on the whole are an INCREDIBLY talented, resourceful and diverse group of people. We should focus MOST of our energies on making ourselves better people, making the world a better place, using our big brains to invent new contraptions to make life more pleasant and to diminish pain. We should write books helping people live more meaningful lives. We should behave in ways that are beacons of light in this dark world. Whatever our professions, we are and should be examples to all. Primarily, we should use our big Neshamos to serve Hashem and show the world how it is done.
Maybe this may sound harsh but it seems that some people think we are still in the Polish and Russian shtetls. Like, get over it. We got out of there. We live in mansions in Teaneck, the Five Towns, West Rogers Park and Beverly Hills [to name just a few]. We are VERY influential on the geopolitical scene. We are at the top of universities, hi-tech [have you heard of a guy named Zuckerberg and a lady named Sandburg?], medicine etc. etc. Things are MUCH BETTER than they have been in all of history [despite the Corona nightmare]. How many law firms have names like "Rosenberg and Feinstein"? How many hedge funds are run by Jews with names like Josh and Ari? How many buildings and nursing homes do we own and run?
How did we become sooooo successful? NOT by crying about the EVIL MEAN-SPIRITED Anti-Semites but by overcoming adversity and challenges - and no small amount of Siyata Di-shmaya.
I am not denying A-S [like I stated before]. I am just saying that our MAIN FOCUS should not be there. We should get out of places like France [if we can] where it is out of hand and realize that until Moshiach comes this will be a problem.
We should be sooooo busyyyyy thanking Hashem for his incredible bounty, and appreciating the GIFT of the USA and the State of Israel. Why? Not b/c these places are perfect. They are not. But b/c they are far better than any alternative. Would we prefer Hamas to be running Israel? It would be less than 15 minutes before they tried to kill every last Jew in the country. Would we want to leave Boro Park and instead move to Communist China or North Korea?
I am not a chossid of DeBlasio or Cuomo. But this war that is being waged against them is an embarrassment to me and many others personally and to the Jewish people as a whole. It is also a Chilul Hashem. I wish the people involved in all the rioting and bashing would be more sensitive to this. We are better than our President who just completely denigrates anyone with a different opinion. We have Torah. We have Mussar. We have basic standards of Mentchlichkeit. But we are losing them.
This applies to us as individuals as well. We are ALL suffering. Many of us suffer to varying degrees from our parents [whether it be childhood scars or present challenges], our spouses [he/she isn't EXACTLY what you thought you were getting when you stood under the Chuppah], our children [somehow they seem to have other opinions and behaviors that don't conform to our perceptions of how things should be], bosses, co-workers, bloggers who write really long posts etc. etc.
DEAL WITH IT!!! So is life.
Read this weeks Parsha carefully.
Hashem created a world that is TOV ME-OD!!! VERYYYYY GOOOODDDD!!!!
But we messed it up. And we were cursed. It remains messed up and we remain cursed.
The Christian answer is to accept Yoshke רח"ל רח"ל מהאי שיבושא and all is good. The Jewish answer is accept the present reality and try to perfect it. Hashem says to Avraham "והיה ברכה". We are supposed to be a blessing to the world. ARE WE???????? Does a Goy or non-Frum person see a religious Jew and say "He/she is SUCH a blessing to the world"??
If not - then we are failing!!! So we don't have to wait. RIGHT NOW we can start making changes and become more and more of a blessing to the world. Not by complaining but by living as Hashem commanded us to live.
Let Hashem do His job of protecting the true victims, punishing the aggressors [א-ל נקמות השם א-ל נקמות הופיע] and we should do our jobs of bringing light to the world.
The famous words of the Rav ztz"l:
הצדיקים אינם קובלים על הרשע אלא מוסיפים צדק
אינם קובלים על הכפירה אלא מוסיפים אמונה
אינם קובלים על הבערות אלא מוסיפים חכמה
