How about in the spirit of mutual understanding and respectful dialogue, we start surveying Jews for their attitudes towards non-Jews? Are there such surveys? Why don’t the goyim have their own anti-defamation league?<\/p>\n
I appreciate the ADL’s survey of attitudes towards Jews in 100 countries<\/a>. Why not something similar about Jews views of the goyim?<\/p>\n Ex-Hasid Luzer Twersky writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n \nLet me answer some revealing questions about Hasidic Judaism. Does it withhold a broad education from their children in order to keep the children narrow-minded and uneducated? Yes. Does it vilify the outside world in order to keep its members from joining it? Definitely. Does it have a fear and\/or doomsday element to it? Of course. Is there ex-communication for those who dare to leave? Oh yeah.<\/p>\n I still have not received anything past a 5th grade education. In fact, since I never attended a regular school, I don’t actually know what a 5th grade education is — I just picked a grade that seemed right. I don’t know what algebra is; I know I can Google it but I wasn’t made to care enough to do so.<\/p>\n For most of my life, I believed that all non-Jews hate us and want to kill us. I believed that all goyim are murderers, rapists, degenerates and dirty second-class citizens. Of course, they\/we aren’t but I was taught that in order to make the secular lifestyle less appealing. I was told horrible things would happen to me in this world and the “next world” if I leave. I was told I would end up a criminal or drug addict. Many members of my family refuse to speak to me to this day.<\/p>\n I have had to transition both out of Hasidism and transition into mainstream culture. I have had to find a replacement for the void left by the lack of community and warmth. I had to replace my family, my friends and my moral compass. It was hard leaving everything behind but it was even harder to find something to replace it all with.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How about in the spirit of mutual understanding and respectful dialogue, we start surveying Jews for their attitudes towards non-Jews? Are there such surveys? Why don’t the goyim have their own anti-defamation league? I appreciate the ADL’s survey of attitudes … Continue reading