Yes! We, Jews, are Guilty
By Rabbi Avi Schwartz
I was twisting and turning last night thinking about what we the Jews have done, and I can no longer bear it, and I must admit our guilt. Yes! We, Jews, are guilty. We are guilty of drawing a line in the sand for the last 4000 years and proclaiming that there exists One Creator of Heaven and Earth.
We are guilty of proclaiming that the Creator made all human beings in His Image.
We are guilty of proclaiming that all human beings are holy.
We are guilty of proclaiming that all human beings have one Heavenly Father and one human father, Adam and one human mother, Eve and thus we are all brothers and sisters.
We are guilty of proclaiming that child sacrifice is evil.
We are guilty of proclaiming that marriage and family is sacred.
We are guilty of proclaiming "Honor thy Father and thy Mother."
We are guilty of proclaiming "Love thy neighbor as thyself," and "love thy stranger".
We are guilty of being redeemed from slavery.
We are guilty of accepting 613 commandments that proclaim the existence of a loving, compassionate and caring G-d.
We are guilty of bringing civilization to the world through such luminaries such as Joseph, Moses, King David, King Solomon, Queen Esther, Hillel, Rabbi Akiva, the Sages, and the man from Nazareth - Jesus, Einstein and so many others.
We are guilty of creating two Jewish States in Judea, Samaria and and other parts of the Land of Israel.
We are guilty of surviving the Assyrians, the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, the Crusades, the Muslim conquests, the Inquisition, the Nazis and the genocidal onslaught of 6 Arab armies, including the Palestinian militias in 1948, and then the genocidal onslaught of the Six Day War in 1967.
We are guilty of never relinquishing our right to our Land.
We are guilty of returning home repeated times.
We are guilty of rejuvenating forsaken barren wasteland.
We are guilty of re-establishing our third state.
We are guilty of winning our independence.
We guilty of losing 1% of our youth in the War of 1948 to ensure our survival.
We are guilty of absorbing 800,000 Jewish refugees from Arab Lands.
We are guilty of encouraging the Arabs in 1948 to stay in our Land and then providing them with citizen rights, health care, the freedom to vote, and to become professionals and leaders in our democratic Jewish state.
We are guilty of defending ourselves against 100,000 acts of terror.
We are guilty of providing technology and medicine to humanity.
We are guilty of being the first to send aid to countries and peoples in need.
We are guilty of saving our enemies by providing surgeries, medical assistance, water, and food.
We are guilty of attracting great people like Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy, Orde Wingate, Martin Luther King, JFK, Dumisani Washington, Kasim Hafeez and Chloé Simone Valdary to our cause.
Yes we are guilty of still acting like G-d's Chosen People even after the nations of the world of raped, maimed, slaughtered and defamed us.
And guess what? Of such guilt I am proud! I am a Jew, a descendant of the tribe of Levi, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham - the first human being to proclaim there is a Creator of Heaven and Earth and Who is the Heavenly Father of Humanity!
Rabbi Avi Schwartz is a son of the legendary Palmach fighter, Motzke HaGarzan. He is the founder of Shomrei Haam, a youth leadership organization geared towards activism on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people. He is the creator of the “Fight BDS - Help Israel” app. He initiated and co-organized the first historic New York City march and rally, “Silence? Never Again!”, a protest that was held against media bias, BDS and anti-Semitism.
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