Hitler & Me
Ori Alon
“Sorry”
Perhaps no other person influenced Judaism and Israel in the last century more than Adolf Hitler. His actions and words are behind every book and in the background of every shul. They are the soundtrack in invisible speakers on the beach of Tel Aviv, at the Western wall in Jerusalem and in the checkpoint at the West Bank. I want to have a dialog with the guy.
“Shma Yisrael”, Listen, oh Israel, the most important Jewish prayer, stating the unity of God.
Flower Girl My older one She's not even six yet I can tell her that Hitler Was a flower girl, A famous one. She'll believe me, She wouldn't question my authority. I'd be her own personal holocaust denier. I'll protect her from knowing I'll keep the gas chambers away From her precious little soul.
Flowers! Flowers for Shabbat!
Freud: And then what, Adolf? Hitler: He was, like, with the belt...
Adolf Hitler was heavily beaten by his alcoholic father, Alois. Freud escaped Austria after the Nazi annexation and four of his sisters died in the holocaust. A meeting between Freud and Hitler could have saved the lives of approximately fifty million human beings.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (the third commandment, Exodus 20:6).
According to 2013 Pew landmark survey, 73% of American Jews consider “remembering the holocaust” as an essential part of their own sense of Jewishness. 19% cite “observing Jewish law” as essential and 42% see "having a good sense of humor" as an essential part of their Jewishness. In 2014 the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a new bill making the use of Nazi symbols and any illegitimate use of the word “Nazi” punishable. This legislation would be the most farreaching hate crime law yet introduced in Israel, carrying a sixmonth prison sentence and NIS 100,000 ($28,000) fine for offenders. Arab, Israeli and American leaders compare one another to Hitler on a regular basis.
Without Hitler, my grandparents wouldn't have immigrated to Israel and my parents wouldn't have met. Without Hitler there would be no Israel and no Israeli Palestine conflict, and I wouldn't have done a mandatory army service. Without the army service I wouldn't have become a writer and artist. I wouldn't visit the US with a Jewish Arab theatre group, wouldn't meet Ana there and wouldn't have Maayan, Sasha and Zakai. Thank you, Adolf.
“Traitor!”
In 1997 Benjamin Netanyahu told a famous Rabbi that the Israeli left forgot what it is to be Jewish. In 2008, a short time before I left Israel I saw a big red sign in Jerusalem that said “Leftists are Traitors”. It affected me deeply. In the past few years there were numerous cases of verbal and online life threats towards leftists, including calls to send them to the gas chambers. Recently participants in an antiwar rally were beaten in Tel Aviv.
“Death to Arabs!, Death to Arabs!, Death to Arabs!”, a common call in Kahane and other right wing groups demonstrations in Israel.
Gott ist der größte
“The wolf will live with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6)
Gandhi wrote two letters to Hitler, urging him to reconsider his actions. in the second letter (Dec. 24, 1940) he discuss the possibility of switching the British heel for a German one. Gandhi describe to Hitler the Indian nonviolent resistance that “can without doubt match itself against a combination of all the most violent forces in the world.” He signed both letters “your sincere friend, M.K. Gandhi.”
Hitler and you
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