The Jewish Press reports:
On the first day of Passover this week, three armed men in the eastern Ukrainian province of Donetsk distributed flyers warning Jews to “register” themselves and their assets with the new pro-Russian government, according to the novosti.dn.ua website.
The flyers were handed out next to a synagogue as people were leaving following holiday prayers. They read as follows:
“Dear Ukraine citizens of Jewish nationality,
Due to the fact that the leaders of the Jewish community of Ukraine supported (Stepan) Bendery Junta, and oppose the pro-Slavic People’s Republic of Donetsk, [the interim government] has decided that all citizens of Jewish descent age 16 and older, residing within the territory of the republic, are required to report to the Commissioner for Nationalities in the Donetsk Regional Administration building and register by May 3.
(Ed. Note: Stepan Bander was a Ukrainian nationalist leader in Kiev who fought with Nazi Germany in the 1940s against Soviet troops before switching sides and taking up arms against the German occupation.)
“ID and passport are required to register your Jewish religion, religious documents of family members, as well as documents establishing the rights to all real estate property that belongs to you, including vehicles. Evasion of registration will result in citizenship revocation and you will be forced outside the country with a confiscation of property. A registration fee of $50 is required.”
This frightens me. I think it portends ill for the welfare of Jews in the Ukraine. It also seems reflective to me of the way the world works.
It seems incontrovertible to me that Jews and other members of tribes have a different relationship to the nation-state than do non-Jews. To be blunt, I suspect that many tribes are less loyal than the majority population (as measured by law-abidingness, honesty with taxes, civic participation, etc). Because of this, it seems rational to me that a nation-state might want to keep a special eye on special tribes.
Most Jews are not revolutionaries, but history shows that a disproportionate number of leftist revolutionaries are Jews.
As Ashkenazi Jews are on average about 15 IQ points above the goy, they are going to have a disproportionate influence on society compared to their numbers. It would make sense for a nation-state to keep a special eye on them and to warn Jewish leaders that they will expel anyone who threatens the nation.
In the book, Why the Jews?: The Reason for Antisemitism, the authors write: “Finally, does not the fact of Jewish nationhood still mean that Jews are members of two nations — the Jewish nation and the nation among whom they reside? Yes, and in this respect Jews are unique; but so long as moral rather than national values are held supreme, this should trouble no one.”
When Jews adopt the majority’s national identity to the exclusion of their Jewish national identity, they soon cease to be Jews. They assimilate.
In my experience, to belong to a tribe means putting the tribe’s interests first. It’s hard to imagine any tribe penalizing a member who puts the tribe’s interests above that of the nation they live in.
As an Orthodox Jew, my first identity is that of an Orthodox Jew. My primary thoughts and concerns are about the welfare of Jews. While I abide by Jewish law, it is difficult to have much social intercourse with non-Jews and non-observant Jews. You belong to a people set apart. The more religious the Jew, the less he interacts with non-Jews and the more narrowly focused his life becomes.
If Israel were run by Torah law, sex between Jews and non-Jews would likely be illegal. It would also be likely that non-Jews would have to specially register and they may well face significant discrimination and be at risk of expulsion. So I don’t think we should be surprised when non-Jews establish nation-states that make minority populations specially register and receive extra surveillance and face the risk of expulsion if they rock the boat.
According to Wikipedia: “Kahane’s legislative proposals focused on transferring the Arab population out from the Land of Israel, revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages and sexual relations, based on the Code of Jewish Law compiled by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah.”
