Mu?

Aggression

Commentary by Dr. Ursula A. Falk

 

Bullying

 

Bullying, teasing, baiting, hating, and labeling are all related words.  The victims of all of these words  have been the Jewish people, historically and to the current day.  It is a way of minimizing the individual or the group, where they appear worthless.  The outcome is a diminishment of the individual and/or the group who is thus labeled, thus categorized.  The children who are thus exploited, jeered at, ridiculed, and affected, feel they have no way out.  They can hide, they can attempt to retaliate, they can annihilate themselves, or they can become superior, above their exploiters, their enemies.  The Jewish people have been labeled as “Christ Killers,” “killers and consumers of the blood of gentile children," and much more.  Who invented such lies originally, we do not know.  No one has seen Christ, nor do we know whether he ever lived.  There is no absolute proof for any historical figure/deity, who was labeled as a religious leader of men, who cannot be seen. If indeed he lived he was a Jew, and if so then we are all self haters if we “killed” this deity.  We are self haters because we mistreat one another and believe those who turn against us with their fairy tales and lies, bullying us with unprovable assaults.  We hide by intermarrying, have Rachmones (pity) for our enemies and become self haters, committing emotional suicide  by accepting the Rosches (evil doers) in our midst.

Let us examine the similarity between the bully and the Jewish person.  The bully chooses his victim by finding him, and then minimizing him.  The person thus attacked may have a facial tick, a strange straggling gait, unmanageable hair, or another anomaly, real or imagined.  He may not wear the same types of clothing that the others in a classroom wear, or he may have an accent that is different from that of the crowd.  The bully finds others who need to leave out their aggression, their hatred.  It makes them feel superior to the victim and gives them “friends,” other haters, who will follow them in their persecutions of the victim.  The haters will have the security of the group and feel accepted by others of their ilk.

The hatred against the Jewish people can readily be compared to the above.  Jews are a minority in the world. They are different.  They do not belong to the common herd.    They do not have the manpower in numbers to stand up against the majority.  They have often been deprived of occupations that were special, such as major politician or other important, high level status position, in one country or another; they do not have the same following in numbers as the majority.  They have a different religion.  For the small number/contingency who are kosher, orthodox, etc., they are not acceptable by the larger group. They are a minority and are easier to minimize, to attack.

Historically Jews are the people of the book.  Learning is very important, rather than working with hands. 

The greatest attribute the Jewish people  have is the importance of studying,  learning, of attaining  knowledge.  Bullying lessens when there is ability, knowing and carrying out the result of that understanding more and better than the average individual.  What cannot be done with brawn is accomplished more and better with brain.  This can be seen by what the Jewish people have accomplished; this cannot be taken away.  We are a tiny minority but have a disproportionately high number of physicians, attorneys, and other notable professionals compared to our numbers than has the general population.  Alcoholics are hard to find among the   Jewish population, and college education for the children is underscored in the majority of Jewish homes.  It is considered a Schande (shame) if a normal child refuses to be serious about attending higher education.

As Jews, there is much that we have in common with the bullied ones:  We are different; we have been labeled falsely and with cruelty; our superior qualities and efforts are ignored  (the world renowned genius Albert Einstein was rarely labeled as a “Jew”); we are in a minority and the majority can easily overpower us, just as done to the bullied child.  The bullied child needs the approval and protection of his parents and his teachers as well as the discipline, the consequences for the attackers who are the antagonists; his self worth and his abilities must be nurtured/recognized.  The Jewish people need to accept, value one another and stand together, be unashamed of their abilities, have their strengths recognized, and have the protection of the law when all else fails!

 Lehitraot.

 Dr. Ursula A. Falk is a psychotherapist in private practice and the author of several books and articles.

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