By The Rivers Of Babylon

ASSIMILATION: A CONSEQUENCE OF EXILE

This week we begin the Hebrew month of Tammuz, a month named for a Babylonian deity.  It is an example of how assimilated we became when we were exiled to Babylon in the 6^th century BCE.

 Psalm 137 tells of our profound sadness and longing for Jerusalem at that time.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3QxT-w3WMo

[The information above this message is borrowed from another website – name withheld purposely]

[The opinion below this message is entirely my own]

Assimilation is the bane of Judaism. Many of our people did not leave Egypt. Many of our people did not return from Babylon. Many of our people stayed in Persia. Many of our people have been absorbed into the people surrounding them for the last 2000 years of Roman exile.

We know of Crypto-Jews, the Khmelnytsky pogroms, the Donmeh converts, Conversos, Marranos. This link displays a concise history of how the Crusades effected the Jews in Eastern Europe and Palestine. There is a Wikipedia article on the subject of History of Jewish conversion to Christianity and another article that lists notable Jews converted to Islam. All this information details how the Jewish people have been forced into conversions and assimilation. But why? 

Because we were chosen. To be a "Chosen People" means we were chosen (not that we did the chosing), for better and for worse. We have sure seen some of the worse part.

We have been conquered and exiled several times. We have been slaves. We have been spread through all the countries of the world. We have been hated, slaughtered, stripped of our humanity, experimented on, had everything stolen from us, incinerated, attacked at home and abroad, and still, we exist.

All of the empires that came against us in ancient days no longer exist. We still exist. We have been chosen. It was expected that we would be absorbed into each culture. We could have been. Some were (see the above links) assimilated and lost to our tribes. The unexpected result is that we remain. We are chosen.

We will not sing the songs of Zion in joy when we are not in Zion. We will not give up our land. We will not sit idle while the blood of our people is delivered to the adversary. We are chosen.

We are not chosen because we are wonderful. We are not chosen because we are special. We are chosen for a purpose. It was not our purpose when we were chosen. We are not good at acting upon this purpose. We do not always understand the reasoning behind this purpose. It is unexplained. We may be unworthy. But, we have been chosen.

We have been told by the words of the Bible that we are to be holy because our G-d is holy. We have not been holy. We have been told by the words of the Bible that we are to be a nation of priests. We are not a nation of priests. We do not seem to be holding up our end of this purpose, yet, we are chosen, and we exist.

Maybe we will exist until we have fulfilled the purpose for which we have been chosen. Maybe we will exist after we have fulfilled our purpose as well. 

Being chosen is a gift. Being chosen is also a burden. It is the yoke of heaven that should be as light as a feather but sometimes feels as heavy as a millstone around the neck. 

Many people are upset that we were chosen. Don't be so upset—it isn't an easy existence—being chosen.

Do know this—we are home. Israel is home. Here we will sing the Songs of Zion. We will not leave G-d's land behind again unless it is G-d's will. We are home. We will learn to be holy. It is expected of us. It is part of our purpose.

We shall also bring light to a world in darkness. We need to become holy individuals to become a holy people to return holiness openly to the land of Israel. It is not our job to give away to others the land that was given by G-d to our ancestors.

Let us all come to the Holy Land and learn to be holy people. Let us no longer sit by the Rivers of Babylon and refuse to sing the Songs of Zion to our oppressors.

Come Home.