| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred and the Jews |
| 2006-11-16 |
| book review by Tom Teicholz David Mamet has written a book, "The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred and the Jews" (Shocken/Nextbook), that is by turns bold, courageous, and outrageous -- it is a book that calls Diaspora Jews to the table and asks: "In or Out?" . . . Mamet is the playwright who wrote "Glengarry Glen Ross" (for which he won the Pulitzer Prize), . . . . He is currently the co-creator and executive producer of "The Unit," a one-hour dramatic series that airs on CBS on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. When I spoke with Mamet recently, he explained that he has been pondering the idea of Jewish passivity for 15 years or so . . . . In "The Wicked Son," Mamet identifies the many contemporary forms of anti-Semitism, unmasks those who support it or who, passively, refuse to stand up against it. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #9 The Chassids (alternate spelling, since it's a transliteration from the Hebrew) are a cult, in my opinion, or perhaps an edge group as anachronistic as the Amish or the Pennsylvania Dutch. On the other hand, they don't stone accidental passers-by who aren't observing the rules they hold for themselves, like the Ultra-orthodox Mea Shearim idiots in Israel who don't like women wearing shorts in hot weather... and the Chassids do work within the rules of the greater society in which they find themselves. Our society happens to accept trading bloc votes for community advantage, so they do so. One branch of the Chassids is openly Zionist, several other branches not, and one branch believes their recently deceased chief rabbi is actually the Messiah, and await his imminent return when they expect him to announce himself. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-11-16 22:43 |
| #8 No, silly, you want the thread on illegal aliens. |
| Posted by: Lou 2006-11-16 18:35 |
| #7 Yeah, send them back to where they came from |
| Posted by: The Patriot 2006-11-16 18:30 |
| #6 Hasidic Jews were the key bloc that defeated Congresswoman Sue Kelly(R) and voted in an ex-rock musician (D) instead because she didn't meet their demands for large allocations of money to their settlement, which has been aggressively encroaching on local resources and other legal jurisdictions. They also supported Hillary in exchange for all sorts of other goodies for their dense settlement in NY. Their identity as Jews is quite firm -- it just excludes much respect for their neighbors. |
| Posted by: disgusted 2006-11-16 18:21 |
| #5 In. Exactly as religious as I need be, unashamed, and actively supporting both Israel and America. I posted an article on the trend of increasing numbers of Jews voting Republican, contradicting the "Exit polls say 87% voted Dem" canard I heard again on NPR this afternoon. But mhw is absolutely right. Like so many analyses, it's incomplete. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-11-16 17:58 |
| #4 I'm not sure if this is relevant to this article but interesting none the less. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-11-16 14:22 |
| #3 If Mamet believes that jewish observance correlates with a realistic view of anti semitism and left wing quackery he might be correct. However, it is likely a weak correlation. There are plenty of reform rabbis and leftist conservative rabbis who keep Kashrut (although maybe not at a strict level), who pray often (maybe not 3 times every day), who attend many a bris and many a bar mitzvah and who have completely bought into the left wing agenga, including the 'plight of the palestinians' nonsense. |
| Posted by: mhw 2006-11-16 12:52 |
| #2 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000519/ That's weird, I really liked Ronin, The spanish prisoner (excellent!), Spartan (idem), even Wag the dog... a good surprize to find this writer to be a non-idiotarian. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-11-16 09:18 |
| #1 not to mention the fact that teh American Jewish community overwhelmingly favors the democrat party, one which favors dhimmitude and capitulation to Israel's enemies, Joe L and Ed Koch are exceptions |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-11-16 09:11 |