States of Exile

The Jewish religion was admirably fitted for defense, but was never designed for conquest . . . - Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Islam: Judaism if it were designed for conquest.

[The] desert is monotheistic; sublime in its immense uniformity, it reveals to man first of all the idea of the infinite, but not the sentiment of unflaggingly creative life that more fertile climes have imparted to other races. That is why Arabia has always been the boulevard of the most exalted monotheism. - Ernest Renan, History of the People of Israel Shalom/salaam in the Middle East requires theological accord between its peoples. All Semites are united by inveterate monotheism. We must construct a shared narrative recognizing: Aten: Founder of Monotheism, apostle to the Egyptians Moses: Law-giver of Monotheism, apostle to the Hebrews Jesus: Poet of Monotheism, apostle to the Assyrians/Christian Arabs (ideally reconceived as Christian Hebrews) Mohammed: Warlord of Monotheism, apostle to the Arabs

Every Jew possesses in the history of his fathers and grandfathers a great fund of examples of the coldest self-possession and endurance in fearful situations, of the subtlest outwitting and exploiting of chance and misfortune; their courage beneath the cloak of miserable submission. - Friedrich Nietzsche Jewish citizens of the state of exile include: Abraham , Elisha ben Abuyah , Ahasver , Hannah Arendt, Isaac Babel, Benjamin of Tudela , Walter Benjamin, Leopold Bloom, Yosef Haim Brenner , Joseph Brodsky, Martin Buber , Elias Canetti, Albert Caraco , Abraham Miguel Cardozo, Benjamin De Casseres , Paul Celan, Marc Chagall, Monsieur Chouchani , Uriel da Costa , Abraham ibn Ezra, Benjamin Fondane , Semyon Frank, Judah Halevi, Heinrich Heine , Edmond Jabès , Jeremiah, Franz Kafka , Arthur Koestler , Koheleth , Karl Kraus , Emmanuel Levinas , Isaac Luria, Norman Manea, Moses, Harry Mulisch , Nathan of Gaza, Lev Nussimbaum , Franz Rosenzweig , Joseph Roth , Sarmad , Saul of Tarsus , Bruno S...

Life is just a sukkah, and sukkahs weren't meant to last.

I was astounded (and somewhat amused) to read the following old statement in an Iraqi Jewish Journal : The move by Afghanistan’s religious leaders to destroy the idols of Buddhism is to be applauded. They offend the followers of monotheism, worshippers of the one true God, Creator and Sustainer of our universe, especially Jews and Moslems. So who is ranged against the courageous Afghan move? It is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the fundamentalist regime of Iran, the puritan kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the supreme authority of Al Azhar Imam of Cairo. President Hosni Mubarak tells the Afghans that Egypt has not destroyed the pharaonic idols. But the followers of these idols no longer exist, whereas Buddhism is thriving. The tradition of destroying idols goes back to Abraham, ancestor of both Jews and Arabs. What makes Afghanistan head and shoulders above the rest of Islam? It is the Jewish connection of the Afghan people. "The Afghans have a tradition that they descend from the l...

Interesting article from the Politics of Well-Being blog : The way the Greeks first invented and imagined the 'separate self' was through the figure of the exile, the outcast or refugee. This figure was a nightmarish prospect for the Greeks, because they did indeed have a very strong communal sense of the self. Their identity was, as MacIntyre says, defined by their membership of the polis. And yet people could be thrown out of the polis. They could be ostracized, sent into the wilderness. And that terrifying prospect haunted them like a nightmare. It raised the question, which niggled at them and would not go away: 'who am I when I am outside the polis?' And we see this question addressed in some of the greatest tragedies of the fifth century BC. Two of the last plays that Sophocles wrote, for example - 'Philoctetes' and 'Oedipus at Colonus' - have as their heroes people who have been thrown out of their societies to wander in the wilderness. For sure, ...