Representing Jews Internationally: Which Approach Is Best?

As of the end of this week, we have made it halfway through Kohelet. Woohoo! At this point, I think that we have a fairly firm grasp on the main philosophies of all three of the major characters. To recap, the three major characters are the Neheneh, the Ammal, and the Yirei Elokim. The Neheneh is a hedonist: he believes that G-d has predestined everything and that man had no responsibility for his actions, making him no different from an animal. Hakol Hevel. The Ammal is the overachiever: he wants to create perfection and fix the injustice in the world. When the things he creates are not perfect and when he realizes that he has no heir and no immortality, Hakol Hevel. Jealousy and competition are bad too. The Yirei Elokim's philosophy (so far) is the least extreme. He emphasizes that man has to create a partnership with G-d while simultaneously recognizing G-d's superiority over man. In his opinion, life is more about the journey than about reaching the goal.

I think the best way of looking at the effectiveness of each of these philosophies is to look at them in a real-world context. I know that Mrs. Perl has already given us an assignment in which we make our three characters talk about a modern issue facing the world. This is my take on that assignment. Please note that I am not trying to pass judgement on anyone; I am merely trying to point my observations and, maybe, inspire some thoughts on the topic.

Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking a lot about how Jews are perceived by the world. While there are many people all over the world who are accepting of Jews, there has been a recent rise in hate crimes against Jews. While surfing YouTube, I stumbled across a video in which someone was jokingly insulting someone else. What did guy A call guy B? A Jew. This Shabbat, all of my thoughts and speculations about the meaning of Kiddush Hashem and Chilul Hashem came alive. Here is the scenario:

On his way from one shul to another shul this Shabbat afternoon, a friend of mine was walking by a house with four teenagers sitting on a roof. (I don't know whether they were sober or not. It doesn't really matter.) As my friend was walking by the house, the teenagers stopped talking. Suddenly, they yelled out, "We don't like Jews." My friends just brushed it off and kept walking. Later on, after he told me this story, another situation arose when some children in the shul thought it would be funny to steal some ice from kids doing a snow cone sale outside. Not only was this a Chilul Hashem, but it really got me thinking about how our actions reflect on people's perceptions of Jews everywhere.

A lot of anti-Semitism throughout the ages started with one bad experience with one Jew. Maybe a Jew cheated in business once. Maybe Jews were portrayed as materialistic, shallow people on TV more than once. Maybe Jews ran successful businesses in Europe once, causing the gentiles around them to persecute and violently murder them. If Jews were to accept the philosophy of the Neheneh, we would be completely numb to the rest of the world and take no responsibility for our actions, good or bad. In the world's eyes, we would be extremists. If Jews were to accept the philosophy of the Ammal, we would all be working hard to create perfection that does not exist. Not only would we be upset, but we would lose the most essential element of our Jewish culture: our faith in G-d.

As I wrote last week, I find the philosophy of the Yirei Elokim to be the most human and practical philosophy. Why do I think that? I think that because I know man is imperfect. When life gives you hatred and sadness, what use is thinking that man is in complete control? Furthermore, if man is trying to make a difference in the world, isn't it better to have a partner with whom you can implement change? Working with G-d and recognizing G-d can solve a lot of the world's problems. Even the Ammal recognized that change was best implemented when people joined together as a nation. Maybe Am Yisrael can join together, put their best face forward, and help end the hatred.

What blog post is complete without a video? Here is a song from one of my favorite movies, Joseph: King of Dreams. The message of this song really rings true thousands of years after the story of Yosef.