The past hangs heavy upon Mankind.
It has taken millions of years for humanity,
for us, we relatives of the apes,
to evolve, to get a feel for ethics,
to obtain a concept of time, and of death.
We know our religious stories well
Abraham bargained with God for Humanity's soul Job took instruction from the wind;
Moses proclaimed the laws: Thou shalt! Thou shalt not!
David cried out "My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me?"
John sang to the abyss,
and Jesus died with his Father’s words on his lips.
But there is another history
running parallel to the spiritual one.
A nomadic tribe speaking a Semitic tongue
migrated around 1700 BC from the land of the Chaldeans,
then to Palestine, Egypt, back to Palestine.
They conquered, were defeated, they conquered again.
Around 1000 BC they established a monarchy
which lasted a century, then splitting into two: Judah and Israel.
Assyria conquered Israel.
Babylonia conquered Judah.
Jews were enslaved again for generations.
Persia conquered Babylonia,
were conquered in turn by Alexander the Great,
and the Jews of Judah returned and rebuilt
their destroyed temple in Jerusalem.
The great river of thought that is the Talmud
was there joined by the great river of Hellenistic Rationalism,
of the great Greek thinkers and scientists and architects.
Mathematics, architecture, astronomy, physics
began to bring order to the incomprehensible.
But then came the Romans.
In 70 AD the second Great Temple was destroyed,
and the Great Diaspora began.
Jews were brought as slaves of Pompey’s armies
to Britannia, Germania, Gaul .
The destruction of Jerusalem
and the dispersion of the Jews
were interpreted by Christian leaders
as proof of God’s judgment.
Killing Jews became a righteous activity.
The rabbis answered with curses.
Segregation ensued.
Later on economic reasons
supported religious emotion.
Our isolation, our erudition, our successes
made us objects of fear and of hate.
Among Christians only the clergy could read and write,
among Jews all could.
“Rabbi” means “teacher”,
with the awe- inspiring connotation
of the Japanese word “sensei.”
The Christian rulers and clergy hoarded their knowledge.
The Jews gave it freely, like bees give pollen,
to spread, to grow, to change.
A history of 1900 years of vilification and mass murder began,
interrupted only briefly by moments such as the one we experience now,
of prosperity, and of pride, and of peace.
