In the course of a political argument with a neurofeedback therapist as to the virtues of Hugo Chavez, I was told that "the Jews should leave Venezuela". Are the Jews not true Venezuelans after centuries of residence? Guess not. Are we true British, Americans, or anything other than Jews? Probably not. So we belong to Israel, our ancient homeland. But I read in another psychotherapist's blog that Jews are distinguished as being the only people without a homeland, and that our identity is a collective atonement for the death of a great Egyptian in another land where we were guests. Of course, this presupposes we have an identity to start with. A little circular, I think.Of course, when we attach ourselves to Israel, we are told that it is not ours, because we are supplanting a group of people whose ancestors settled there after we, as a group, were kicked out.All this leads me to question who, or what I am. What I come up with, is that I am the nation-less soul (which I use figuratively, because I am an atheist) who belongs nowhere except in a land that I have no right to inhabit. The convenient Nowhere Man, whose butt is a convenient target for anyone afraid to kick his own. I am thus led to the following little bit of dogmatism:I am a Jew.The nation of Israel lives.To make any sense of this at all, I am a committed Zionist.Those who object, may take a flying f**k. Of course, if you choose to eliminate us (as you have repeatedly), you will have only yourselves to kick in the Butt. OUCH! If we choose to eliminate you, we will also have to kick our own selves in the Butt. DOUBLE OUCH!So, we might as well leave each other alone, and admit that ultimately, we are all one, under the greater umbrella of man. And try to conquer something else. Like Mars. We could all use the room, and reviving the spirit of mutual growth and exploration could benefit us all. After all, Medieval is just sooo last year, and hard as hell to spell.
