WHAT’S GOIING ON?

Mezuzah

I can’t help but notice that lately there has been a lot of awareness about the Holocaust, and the ugliness that came with. The other morning April 8, on a news show they reported how someone had targeted a cluster of apartments in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn and burned Mezuzahs, sacred objects that are attached to an entryway of homes. April 8 is Holocaust remembrance day.

There is a lot of mention on Facebook that I have seen and people are commenting. Anti-Semitism along with gay bashing seems to be coming to the forefront. It seems that a lot of people are finally starting to speak out, and I don’t mean just Jews and Gays.

We should NEVER forget! To persecute, prosecute and then murder for a belief in God, the crime is the biggest one can perpetrate against not only mankind, and the Jewish people, but God himself!

I know a lovely lady, one who no one would think of hurting in any way, put in words what she goes through. I say ‘Goes through’ because it is still going on. She is Jewish, and her last name was not, I used to call her ‘Mex’ because it sounded Spanish.

“Growing up as a Jew with a non-Jewish name (and, apparently, not "looking" like a Jew, whatever that means), I have heard the most disgusting comments about Jewish people my whole life. Right to my face. People think they are commiserating with a fellow goy when they are actually speaking to someone who grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust. I've heard really heinous things from the most unlikely people... I know the hate and ignorance still exists. It burns in people, and it's frightening.”

This lovely young woman is a talented writer; she owns a smile that hides her beautiful brown eyes. This is what we should hate?  Her belief in God is her business, she never raised a hand against a Muslim or a so-called Christian, you know the ones I am talking about, they love Jesus, and want you to, too. Of course it slips their mind when they bash a gay person or slander a Jew.

I have a friend, my best friend, a man who has always been there as a brother, not a Jew, not a anything but a brother. He and I met in college and we have stayed friends ever since. He is a Jew, and I am proud to know him, proud that he would count me as a friend, but I am not pinning laurels on myself, what I am saying is he is as Christian-like as few Christians are. His are actions, not pronouncements that speak for themselves, who is the better Christian? He is.

Years ago, I had a friend who was gay, who was a great guy. I hired him to work for me and I knew he was gay. But I also knew he could make my life easier as I ran my department. We got to be close friends, and we never discussed his being gay, and I never needed to. He was a good guy, worked harder than anyone I know, and we always stayed in touch. Then one day I left the company and went to work for a new company, and I hired him once again, he was that good. He wasn’t your stereotyped gay man: he was a man who was gay. He started to get sick often, calling in for time off, and this became more and more frequent. A fear developed in my mind and I was right, he had aids. Finally I had to know for his sake, because there was insurance involved and he needed the health plan. I went to HR and he was set up, set up to die. He was confiding in me about his being gay, and we talked once a week. He had gone home to die in Pennsylvania, where he finally succumbed to aids. His mom sent me a letter telling me how much it meant to her son that I stayed with him to the end, that I supported him. His being gay had affected me, it made me realize that his being gay was his business, that he didn’t hate anybody, and didn’t deserve to be hated in kind.

Jews, Gays, who cares? What the hell does it all matter to you or me or that punk who looks for trouble? Who is to say being Christian is right? Other Christians? How can you condemn anyone for believing in God? I often wonder if believing in Jesus gets in the way of believing in God. Does it color or complicate the relationship directly with God? God is God, no one can take that away, but if we all believe in God, then why do we pick on innocent people?