Jewish Tribal Syndrome and Respect.Reading the analysis of the Open Book posted on your web site may address the degree to which Judaism is still fighting centuries old wars for self respect despite their obvious intellectual acuity. To call it superiority might be a mistake.

We do not think Jews are "superior" to anybody. The Jewish community thinks itself to be "superior," and this obviously originates in the "Chosen People" concept -- the origin of Jewish identity. Of course. "Obvious intellectual acuity?" Sorry. We'll pass on that self-declared Jewish "superiority" too.

Superiority, intellectual or otherwise, is the result of the necessity to assign emotional awards where none may be needed as a claim to fame. The term derives from a defensive need to classify a result to hide feelings of inferiority that may reside in one's heart or brain.

The Jewish community does have a schizophrenia about itself -- it's true. On one hand, Jewish tradition champions itself as "chosen" above all others. On the other hand, the institution of Jewish "self-hatred" (self-criticism) is Jewish self-love's omnipresent parallel. Buried shame.

There are few cultures of ethnic minorities who may be entitled to this special "self respect pride as defense" manner of approaching the world to express their own dignity. Jews may be one of them if anyone is entitled to claim.

I'm sorry. No one is "entitled" to anything. Self-indulgent pride is self-destructive.

But so aren't blacks. This may account for the "shared" feeling of victim perspective that allows the two groups to view each other as emotionally similar.

Who says the Blacks and Jews are "emotionally similar?" Their histories are totally different. Most Blacks recognize this. Jews, on the other hand, gravitate to defining themselves as "victims" and coopt the African-American legacy for Jewish collective self-propulsion.

However, Jews, in attaining extraordinary success, they have (for whatever reason, obviously due, in part, to their tribalism and communal support) been effective in converting Gentile disparagement into respect, if and whether it is recognized, a goal they've had for some time. The blacks, having been servant victims, rather than ethnic victims, have yet to achieve their goals for recognition and individual self respect that has been automatic for majority cultures, traditionally whites.

There are of course exceptions to this. Black sports stars, entertainment artists, etc. have engendered enormous amount of "respect" for their community. Conversely, Politically Correct culture condemns "traditional whites" as racist, anti-Semitic bigots. Sorry. No respect here for "traditional whites" at all. On the contrary. The Jewish community -- with its vast power and influence -- has succeeded in morally toxifying the majority culture in the process of heralding itself.

The ethnic discrimination that Jews endured was illogical, ignorant, and brutal,

Sorry. Nonsense. Those whose "discriminated" against Jews ALWAYS responded to Jewish discrimination, which was "illogical, ignorant and brutal." It's always been a two-way street. Modern Jewish convention erases Jewish history in this regard.

just as the racial discrimination that Negroes suffer is. But ethnic discrimination is curable since the differences are not as visible as race is, usually. The fact that Jews, despite their obvious successes (completely earned by their diligence and hard work)

Not COMPLETELY earned by "dilgence and hard work." Granted, these ingredients surely are part of the mix, but most other people on the planet have been "dilgent and hard-working." Crucial to collective Jewish achievement is Judaism's ideology of hustling, i.e., exploiting others towards self-aggrandizement. And the Jewish tribal ethic of "taking care of one's own." In other words, the world Jewish Network, best exemplified today in international Jewish allegiance to Israel.

and the credit they are due for accomplishing that task (whether or not they should have had to) have continued to remain tribal in their perspective shows a lack of confidence in their own success. Individual, not group assimilation, is the key to harmony as the blacks have long recognized and had to deal with. Perhaps that is why many blacks do not go back and prop up their fallen heroes and brethren.

I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're talking about here. Your train of thought is diffused. And you may be making some presumptions about the world that others do not intrinsically share.

It's possible that they should since if Jewish elevation was made possible by these very methods. However, if ethnicity or racism must be encouraged so that all may be lifted together or not at all, then we increase the capacity for conflict, just as we have in the area of gender relations. Attitudinal changes occur over time, it's true. But if the protective covenants that are extended, are only extended to those trustworthy persons who happen to be in the same tribal group, assimilation is thwarted, not helped.

OK.

If the refusal to further assimilation is caused by lack of confidence, the need is to find ways to increase that confidence so that defensive (and potentially aggressive) tactics are used to effect the assimilation. Jews are, and have been, at a point where they are required to choose to belong, or to dominate and fight this assimilation. This will be performed upon the basis of their level of comfort in being taken seriously, legitimately, and according to the degree of actual respect they are accorded because of the self respect they allow themselves.

You frame Jewry as being obsessed with self-respect. The healthy individual (or community) NATURALLY has self-respect. Self-respect emanates from within, not from without. You CANNOT BUY IT, the way you can buy everything else. And the problem is that modern Jewry, as a group (particularly with its overwhelming dedication to Israel), is corrupt. And most Jews know it. But few have the courage (or "self-respect") to face it.

The time of robbing Jews of self respect is long gone.

Who "robbed" Jewry of self-respect, if not Jews themselves? Jews have never EARNED respect from their non-Jewish neighbors. They have always BOUGHT it, which, by definition, bankrupts the truest notion of "self-respect." Those who think that "self-respect" arises from money in the bank, gold necklaces, expensive automobiles, materialist accumulation and so forth, will always be deluded. And resentful of those who possess "self-respect" for free.

The time of challenging their claim to moral, intellectual superiority may be here, since, in theory, there is no one race or ethnic group entitled to such claims. If there were, to the extent that the benefits are used only for tribal elevation, rather than human elevation, we would fail as a race because there would exist a hidden war of intellectual (and possibly, economic) superiority, but still a war, presumably without guns.

OK.

While we may perceive a world without war, we may need more work to perceive a world without the racial and ethnic based economic incentive wars that may not yet have been given credence in a society where entrepreneurs are valued and idolized for their capacity to perform. If Jews seek economic dominance along with recognition of supremacy, then there is no assimilation even if Jews are married to Gentiles. It simply continues the war under a different banner, by different mechanisms, and would more nearly fall into the category of a vendetta seeking resolution, a racial and ethnic justice yet to be recognized, but sought.

OK.

It's unknown at this time whether blacks or Jews intend to pursue assimilation (and white redemption only through the satisfaction of revenge), but the invisible issue has been there "on the table" for some time.

Are you stating here that Jews are actively, consciously, seeking "revenge" against non-Jewish "whites?"

Whether justified or not, there is a measure of unease in the marketplace, and in social relations among people because of this unseen and perhaps unwanted but contemplated guest who might be seen as the ghost or shadow that might appear at any time to cloud the benefits of assimilation.

It seems to me that you paint the "vengeful" Jewish community, obsessed with its struggle for "self-respect," to be a real danger to everyone.

It is fair to say that addressing and management of this shadow is the delicate but necessary process for any group to fully address its desire for harmony and assimilation. It could be thought of, with respect to Jews, to be ironing the finer wrinkles from the garment so that the garment created may be seen with integrity and without flaws. There are obviously similarities with regard to other ethnic and racial groups as well in the need to accomplish this "common ground." Ignoring it accomplishes very little, and it may be the reason that denying reparations can cause more harm than good, because refusal invokes the "shadow" of continued but subdued discrimination. The same might be said of gender relations, however, and the rights of married wives. There is a long evolution of compounded errors in human relations the world over that remain as obstacles to individual self respect and fair recognition.

I'm sorry but you've lost me. I can't follow your argument because it is not clear. What metaphor is "garment" supposed to represent, for example?

To the extent that non-management or mismanagement becomes the norm rather than the fix, human society may not be able to resolve its differences and resort to indulging its differentials instead. There is a great danger of that happening, and in fact, to some extent, it has already taken place. Backtracking rather than forward tracking may be a key to resolution in most cases, accounting for the errors that have become the compounded source of such dissention and complexity.

You're beating vaguely around the bush. Please state what you mean succinctly.

To operate society by emotional agreement to dissent rather than by intellectual expression of the recognition of differences in the desire to reconcile them ignores the enormous and acknowledged capacity of Jewish scholars to use that intelligence and brilliance to reach a palatable solution,

Only a Jewish commentator would refer to Jewish scholars' innate "intelligence and brilliance." Sorry. That claim doesn't fly here. Just like your Jewish "obvious intellectual acuity," stated earlier. It sounds pompous, bogus, and self-flattering -- because it is.

and instead indulges the fantasy that mere recognition of performance is enough to justify or ameliorate the harm done from their prior discrimination.

If you are insinuating that all of Jewry's neurosis stems from Gentile discrimination against them, you are deeply mistaken. Jewish-inspired "discrimination" is the ESSENCE of Jewish identity, and it has always been so.

The danger in ethnic and racial discrimination is that there will never be integration, a responsibility that Jews and blacks, in conjunction with all other races and ethnic groups, as well as gender oriented groups share. The goal of integration is the success that assimilation requires to be considered a success rather than a mere display of recognition. All groups are required to define what constitutes success, as Martin Luther King did in his "I have a Dream" speech, and proceed to work toward that goal, smoothing the obstacles along the way to reduce the interference as well as the collateral damage that do arise from them.
Pat Ross Wellesley, MA

I'm sorry. I'm not sure what to make of your email commentary here. It's obtuse with enough requisite platitudes and a sprinkling of Jewish self-congratulatory myth that I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to say. "Can't we all just get along?" But thanks for your comments.