Emunah Shlemah: March 2007

Mar 6, 2007

Love and Hatred on Purim

So, this post is more of a question. Given recent events in Bat Ayin (where I live), specifically the brutal murder of Erez Levanon (HY"D), I have been struggling with the issue of hate. We are clearly not supposed to love everybody. We are, in fact, enjoined to hate enemies of the Jewish people in general, and Amalek in particular. Nonetheless, where is the line? Are we capable of deciding who is worthy of hatred these days? If not, is it possible to love those who wish to annihilate you? Those who take pleasure in killing a Jew just for being a Jew living in Eretz Yisrael? Even if it is possible, is it desirable? Is it right to love them? My personal answers, at least at the moment, would lean in the negative.

Twice over my two day Purim (first day in Bat Ayin, second day in Jerusalem), there were hippy-love-fest style toasts made to the effect of 'loving everybody, [pointedly] including Arabs.' Both times I made it clear that I would not drink to that. With this sort of universalist 'love' what does the term even mean? I certainly don't love them in any emotional sense, even those who are perfectly wonderful people who have no problem with me or Am Yisrael, I am, at best, indifferent to them as individuals. As a group, they are an enemy nation of sorts, a group of people bent on the destruction of Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael. Should I make a point of mentioning how I have nothing against individuals just because there are individuals worthy of not-being-hated even though I hold a bitter hatred in my heart for the group more generally and what they represent in the world?

Waddaya say people? If this post doesn't wake up the peanut gallery, nothing will.

Labels: amalek, erez, hate, levanon, love, murder, purim

Name: Eitan

Location: Bat Ayin, Northern Judea, Israel

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A short auto-biography, written pretentiously in the third person:

Eitan Levy was born in Topeka, KS. That's in America, but oddly still thousands of miles from both New York City and California respectively. At the age of three he moved back to the original hometown of his parents and grandparents in Denver where he grew up in a Conservative-ish Jewish home with his loving parents, two sisters (one older and one younger) and an assortment of pets that changed with the seasons. He was sick a lot of the time growing up, especially in middle school and high school but, thank G!d, is now perfectly healthy.

After high school, Eitan went to Sarah Lawrence College, which surprisingly has been coed for over 30 years! He wanted to learn creative writing, but soon became much more interested in classical (Greek) philosophy, which he majored in. During those years Eitan became very involved in pro-Israel politics and also made teshuvah (returning to the faith/Judaism). It's all a pretty interesting story. You should ask him about it some time, but only if you're looking to get an ear-full. His sophomore year he organized a Birthright trip to Israel, which he went on, and fell in love (with the country, not a person). Then he came back in 2004 for his Junior year as a 'year abroad' student at Hebrew University. He has only been back to the US for about 5 months since then to finish his degree, and made Aliyah in January 2006.

From January 2006 Eitan was learning Hebrew in an Ulpan in Jerusalem and living on a very loud street in the center of the city. He learned a lot of Hebrew, made and kept some amazingly wonderful friends, and wore ear-plugs every night. Then he started looking for yeshivot, and he found one that was in a settlement, English speaking, and with a baal-teshuvah program in Bat Ayin. He loves Bat Ayin because the people are nice and outdoorsy and serve G!d with all their hearts and souls, with an incredible intensity. The Yeshivah gives the water to grow and only prunes the thorns, letting your healthy branches grow in any direction.

Eitan used to play classical piano, then jazz improvisation, and then he stopped having a piano/keyboard around and stopped playing. He is equally partial to Beethoven concertos, Dave Brubeck and American Country music like Toby Keith. He keeps a copy of the Iliad (the Richmond Lattimore translation) in the bathroom, because it's his favorite book which is not a sefer kodesh (holy book, which cannot be brought into the bathroom). He's proud to be from America, even though he has chosen to live elsewhere, and uses words like "y'all" and "darlin'" when the mood strikes him. He loves to ski, hike, backpack, bike, and otherwise move through G!d's creation to appreciate its wonders. He's also a very religious, Orthodox Jew, though he doesn't quite fit into one community (Hasidic/litvish/dati-leumi/etc). He likes to stop for a moment and think before reciting a brachah (blessing), and studies Shmirat ha-Loshon (laws of proper speech) every morning, but he doesn't manage to go more than a day without saying something he shouldn't.

For the time being Eitan is living day to day, learning Torah and trying to be a decent human being, Jew, Israeli-Zionist, Settler, American and any other title he bears with pride.

Ecce Homo