tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post9160523775754311415..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: The Amalek connection: Goldberg protests too muchAndrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-55418561952282767972009-05-29T15:44:53.939-04:002009-05-29T15:44:53.939-04:00Hi Andrew:
I'm a secular American Jew, raised in ...Hi Andrew:<br /><br />I'm a secular American Jew, raised in the conservative tradition, who came here by way of talmudic scholar Andrew Sullivan.<br /><br />You said:<br /><br />"And however softened and spiritualized by the rabbis over 2000 years, the Biblical demonization of Israel's enemies remains an important element in Jewish consciousness."<br /><br />Jewish consciousness? I don't even remember Amalek being mentioned in Hebrew School, and haven't heard it spoken about at Shabbat dinners. As a matter of fact, I wasn't aware of the concept until seven years ago, when a rabbi mentioned it in a Rosh Hashana lecture, in terms of wrestling with its meaning.<br /><br />Are you saying that this "demonization of Israel's enemies" was somehow passed down to me, and that that's the reason why I supported Israel's incursion into Gaza - not because of the thousands of missles that Hamas reigned down Israel after the Jewish state withdrew from that territory?<br /><br />And if that is the case, wouldn't that be part of my Jewish subconciousness rather than Jewish conciousness?<br /><br />Perhaps I'm misenterpreting you, and we should have a debate about the meaning of "subconciousness" over "consciousness", along with the use of "Amalek", and the word "explosion", as used in Ahjmadinejad's rants. <br /><br />I propose this: the endless hand wringing over a Netanyahu advisor's mention of this concept is in and of itself a red herring, an attempt to draw moral equivalence between Israel's desire to defend itself and Ahmadinejad's "conscious" annihilationist rhetoric.<br /><br />Tell me, is that my Amalekian consciousness at work?David Snoreply@blogger.com