re: #19 Buck

However, I ask why you clearly think his religion should insulate him from criticism?

Of course criticize him. But what kind of criticism would be accurate? This is where Jewish institutions have failed—what is the definition of Antisemitism?

Here’s the best definition that I’ve heard, one that would indeed scare the kiddies and upset the parents, and bring an avalanche of complaints on the head of the synagogue religious school:

I was watching a documentary about WWII and the script called for narrative using the writings of a soldier who liberated the camps. Paraphrasing—it was like the invasion of Europe, the road to Germany was a journey into the heart of evil, and when we reached Dachau, I knew that we had reached the deepest part of that evil heart.

So when you say that someone is Antisemitic, to me, you are saying that this scene, put it into poetry and images, this scene lies at the center of their being—and they enjoy it as a good thing, their secret hope and dream, the prayer they say when they know that they are praying but aren’t quite aware of the nature of that prayer. Yes indeed. It is so much more than ‘this person insulted Jews’.

So, would this image be in the heart of the heart of Rosenberg, and would it be a source of his hopes and joy, the secret compartment of his prayers? The answer is no.

That definition conjures a frightening thought, but there are people like that in the world. There are Antisemites. And that would be the beginning of learning the lessons of the Holocaust.