Most of the American Jews are not Jews Any More

by: David Zephaniah

The American Jew

There is a real rift today between Israeli and American Jews. Many American Jews don’t agree with the Israeli policies and resent them. Just to enumerate a few policies; the issue of settlement in Judea and Samaria, lack of flexibility to make peace with the Palestinians, strict rules of conversion to Judaism, etc.

Those are very serious issues. The American Jews “judge” Israel on daily basis, and while they are sitting comfortably in the USA, they want to dictate them about right or wrong. Lets examine the issue closely. Lets ask a major question; why are the American brethren so against the policies in Israel (at least large majority of them)? And, additionally, who are those American Jews?

I am a Jew of (Soviet) Georgian descent. My whole  family lives in Israel. I have been living in the USA for over 20 years and encountered thousands upon thousands of American Jews. I want to give you my assessment of them. This essay will explain the reasons for the rift between Israeli and American Jews.

One major fact is that vast majority of American Jews are descendants of European Ashkenazi Jews. Although some of their ancestors immigrated to the US before the World War II, many of them arrived here after the war was over. Then there was another major wave of immigration in 1960’s and 1970’s. That is when my family immigrated to Israel in their entirety.

The difference between my family and the Jews who immigrated to the USA, South America, and other Western European countries, is that the latter never considered Israel as their homeland. They never seriously considered immigrating to Israel.. Those were the Jews who mostly lost faith in God and Judaism. Many of them are children of assimilation and are not really Jews at all, by the Jewish law. Since large majority of them joined Reform and Conservative movements, they saw it fit to abandon their traditions. The Reforms and Conservatives (who are hardly conservative at all) performed (and perform to this day)  many  conversions that are not valid. The children of those converts call themselves Jewish, when in fact they are not!

I can tell you countless horror stories about the people who I encountered in America, who call themselves Jews, but they utterly lack anything Jewish! Some of them were the most materialistic and obnoxious people that I could ever  imagine. Many times I thought to myself, “No wonder that some people hate the Jews, because these obnoxious, materialistic, and loud-mouthed people tell everybody that they are Jewish!”

Dealing with these people was horrible. Many times I wondered if I should rebuke them and tell them that they weren't Jewish. I will  give you a couple of examples of their horrible behaviour. There was a client of mine who was claiming he was a Jew. At one point he asked me why I didn’t accept Jesus! There was another guy who was married to a gentile Latino woman and had 3 kids. He celebrates Christmas, but has no clue what Yom Kippur is! I could give you many more examples, but then this article would be pages and pages long. All these fake Jews had 3 things in common: 1) They worship money, and break  every commandment for it.  2) They never concern themselves with Israel or it’s cause. 3) They don’t like Israeli Jews.

That’s what things look like here in the US. As I said earlier, many American Jews are not Jews at all. However, most of them embraced the American populist culture of liberalism and materialism. They worship fashion, celebrities, and gadgets. They all have dogs at home, and care for them more than for their own children! They couldn't care less about Jewish or Israeli cause. Some of them belong to Reform and Conservative “temples”, where they practice sac-religion. Some of them try to go to real (orthodox) Jewish temples, but have no problem to drive there on Saturdays and complain about the customs. Some of them bring cell phones there. They don’t like male and female separation. They think that the truly Jewish people will heed to them and turn Jewish temples into churches!

Now you have an idea about why there’s such a rift between Israeli and American Jews. No wonder considering that most of them are not Jews at all.

Coming back to my background, my huge family lives in Israel. They are not “orthodox”, but their love to Israel and Jewish people is unlimited. Each of them try to observe as many commandments as they can. However all of them agree on the most important points of Judaism: 1) They consider Israel their home. The economics or safety are not important. 2) Until there is a Sanhedrin of 72 Judges who can change Jewish religious rules, or the coming of Mashiach, they do not try to change a single rule!

I have to point out that the orthodox Jewish community in the US is comprised of better Jews. However, it baffles me that they see America as their home, and do not encourage other Jews  to immigrate to Israel at all. They invest their resources in diaspora, without realizing that they are preaching the wrong doctrine. Do they think that their kids who will grow up in America, will be good Jews who will have the love of Israel? Eventually they will be lost as well. The negative populist influence is too strong.

Enough with venting. What is the solution for those people? I propose Israel to invest millions in educating and teaching in America. Whoever the real Jews are, or whoever wants to be a Jew will have to come forward and make a choice. The rest will be lost in the next generation though total assimilation.

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