Within Israeli Society
…. It pays to remember that the notion of peace (shalom) never implied uniformity but actually harmony among different groups who each have their uniqueness or singularity: the twelve shevatim (tribes) each had their own path and respected each other’s different ways of serving God and their people…..
….. Israeli society presents unique challenges based on its historical heterogeneity since its citizens came from numerous countries with different lifestyles and customs. This leads to the existence of stereotypes, labels, and categorizations based on superficial criteria, creating multiple and complex issues…
…. Ethnic origin may be relevant to individual identity but it does not dictate behavior. Diversity is not fragmentation. From the moment of its creation, the Jewish people were divided into twelve tribes: as they left Egypt, Jews traveled the desert according to their tribes….
… prejudice toward a social group can be very subtle and yet include the seeds of hatred. It may manifest itself only as mild discomfort with no visible anger; the person nurses feelings of superiority, contempt, or disgust but these are not visible as open discrimination until they can be justified by some other factor such as behavior that we do not condone (the way they drive or the way they vote)….
…. the solution does not lie with some government program but with the conviction and strength of individuals who recognize that such attitudes and beliefs are essentially unfair and immoral….
… Why is it that in spite of all these warnings, baseless hatred and religious practice seem to coexist quite well? Simply because baseless hatred is powerful and insidious. Religious persons may not realize that hatred is a trap embedded in our inner brains. It cannot be curbed or diminished indirectly, as a by-product of religious practice. It must be tackled directly. It requires focus and specific training in order to control the damages of a primitive neural system out of control…..
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….. Israeli society presents unique challenges based on its historical heterogeneity since its citizens came from numerous countries with different lifestyles and customs. This leads to the existence of stereotypes, labels, and categorizations based on superficial criteria, creating multiple and complex issues…
…. Ethnic origin may be relevant to individual identity but it does not dictate behavior. Diversity is not fragmentation. From the moment of its creation, the Jewish people were divided into twelve tribes: as they left Egypt, Jews traveled the desert according to their tribes….
… prejudice toward a social group can be very subtle and yet include the seeds of hatred. It may manifest itself only as mild discomfort with no visible anger; the person nurses feelings of superiority, contempt, or disgust but these are not visible as open discrimination until they can be justified by some other factor such as behavior that we do not condone (the way they drive or the way they vote)….
…. the solution does not lie with some government program but with the conviction and strength of individuals who recognize that such attitudes and beliefs are essentially unfair and immoral….
… Why is it that in spite of all these warnings, baseless hatred and religious practice seem to coexist quite well? Simply because baseless hatred is powerful and insidious. Religious persons may not realize that hatred is a trap embedded in our inner brains. It cannot be curbed or diminished indirectly, as a by-product of religious practice. It must be tackled directly. It requires focus and specific training in order to control the damages of a primitive neural system out of control…..
PREVIOUS NEXT
