Two American Tragedies And The Parallels Between Them

The Manhattan terrorist attack occurred not far from where the twin towers used to stand. A few years after their destruction, conspiracy theories about the Jews’ involvement in the incident started spreading around the world.

In every evil the world tries to find the “Jewish trace.” I would not be surprised if this too will be blamed on us, and maybe even faster than in the past. Why?

It is written in the tractate “Yevamot” 63, “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.” From the point of view of common sense, it sounds religious, mystical, and even absurd. But the fact remains that this is how the world “traditionally” perceives the role of the Jewish people. No matter our contributions to the world, it doesn’t see any good in us, only harm.

This attitude comes through in social media, politics, official documents, decisions of international organizations, even in Google searches. We keep being assigned blame for things that do not have the slightest relation to us. And it becomes even more urgent after tragic events.

The real cause behind all this is really us. But just not in the sense that it seems to the confused the world. It is just that the Jewish people are the carriers of the methodology for unity, the potential for peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding that everyone needs today.

But we ignore this treasure; we pretend that it doesn’t even exist. And then calamities come to remind us, and the world, that it is the nation of Israel that has the ability to give an example of healthy social connections, an example of rising above hatred to unity.

Of course the Jews did not plan the terrorist attacks. But we did not prevent it either, although we could have. This is our responsibility. This is why we are hated now and will be loved when the people will see good progress on our part.
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