oing God’s will is serious business.  That, of course, is an understatement.  On the one hand, I am impressed by those who are committed to doing just that.  On the other, I am distraught by some approaches to doing God’s will.  Some have what I shall call the hands-off approach to doing God’s will.  This line of argument goes like this: If God means for something to happen, then it will happen.  Accordingly, there is nothing that one should do.  There are Jews who reason in this way; there are Christians who reason in this way.  I am utterly puzzled in either case.

As I recall the story of Moses’s mother, she built a basket and then put him in the river.  She did not, in name of a God-will-take-care-of-everything attitude merely plop Moses in the river.  One might very well say that she exercised a measure of commonsense, which consists in doing what we ourselves can do. 

The story would have been absolutely horrendous had Moses’s mother merely dropped him in the river.  Of course, had God commanded her so to behave, as with the case of Abraham being commanded to sacrifice his son, that would have been a different story.  But even there, Abraham had to do his part.

What makes this all particularly interesting are the Jews who showed up in support of Iran’s conference on the Holocaust.  These are Orthodox Jews from the sect called Neturei Karta. 

In one sense, their stance is most admirable: God has all power and nothing could happen if did not allow it.  Such profound faith can be most energizing and moving. 

As with any horrific horror, be it the Holocaust or American Slavery, suffering can be exploited.  But Neturei Karta Jews most surely go beyond the pale.  They may very well think that the state of Israel does not a right to exist.  But that was not the subject matter of the Iran conference on the Holocaust.  The aim of the conference was to support the view that the Holocaust is nothing but a myth.  Even if one accepts the proposition that (1) the state of Israel does not have a right to exist, what most surely does not follow from that proposition is that (2) the Holocaust did not occur.  These two propositions are entirely unrelated.  They are unrelated even if it is true that (3) the Holocaust was used as a tool of sympathy to bring about the creation of the state of Israel. 

Neturei Karta Jews seem to hold that (3) is true.  But that commits them to the view that the Holocaust did occur—which is precisely what Iran’s conference on the Holocaust denies.

So there is something down-right sick on the part of Neturei Karta Jews.  And one does not have to be pro-zionist or antisemitic to think that.

Consider, for instance, that there is much disagreement on the part of contemporary blacks regarding how blacks should conduct their lives.  But no one would think to argue that this or that form of behavior on the part of blacks suggests that American slavery did not occur. 

As Neturei Karta Jews know all too well, Judaism attaches considerable importance to the very appearance of things.  For example, the Orthodox tradition would deem it woefully inappropriate for a male friend to be studying with another man’s wife late at night at the home of the couple while the husband is away.  It would be inappropriate so to behave even if it is absolutely the case that studying is all that is being done and not an ounce of sexual attraction exists between the male friend and the wife. 

The explanation here is very simple: Such behavior too readily lends itself to unsavory gossip. 

I am rather certain that Neturei Karta Jews accept the example given.  So you no doubt see my problem with them.

Whether the state of Israel has a right to exist or not, it is another thing entirely to befriend those who would deny the Holocaust and who are committed to destroying the state of Israel. 

So If Neturei Karta Jews are not aiding and abetting evil, then I do not know who is.  And there is simply no way that they could not grasp this.

Thus, I find the behavior of Naturei Karta Jews as despicable as the behavior of the denizens of Nazi Germany who, in the name of the State, “looked the other way” when Jews were being viciously mistreated.  Indeed, I challenge anyone to come up with a difference between them.  Few in Nazi Germany could ever have thought that Jews were being provided a better home. 

Iran’s president Ahmadinejad was just delighted to have Naturei Karta Jews at the conference.  And as far as I can tell he thinks that the only good Jew is a dead Jew.  The exception, of course, is the Jew would agree with him.  And nothing beats an Orthodox Jew in this regard.

Now, as I have already indicated in the preceding blog-entry: I am ruthlessly in favor of free speech.  Accordingly, I hold that Neturei Karta Jews have the right to make the assertions that they make.  I also hold that those who hear their words and witness their actions have a right to hold them accountable for what they say and do. 

Aiding and abetting evil is a fundamental moral wrong.  We may do so by our silence; we may do so by our presence.  I would never tolerate in my classroom a racial epithet against Asian or Arabic students.  I would never show up at a rally in support of violence against women.  It would be woefully indecent of me to do either.

By attending Iran’s conference, Neturei Karta Jews stand guilty of aiding and abetting evil.  That is why I made the very harsh claim that I see no difference between them and a denizen of Nazi Germany who looked the other way when Jews were being harmed.  In fact, I am even willing to make a stronger claim, namely that the brazen behavior Neturei Karta Jews was itself evil. 

If I show up at a meeting fully understanding that you will take my presence as a sign that it is all right to commit acts of sexual violence against a particular group, then I do what is evil in showing up although I do not commit the evil of engaging in any act of sexual violence. 

For the president of Iran, Neturei Karta Jews at the conference served as nothing more than a justification for his venomous diatribe against Jews in general.  If Neturei Karta Jews can live with that, this only because they are morally depraved.  Once again, the difference between them and Nazi Germany citizens who looked the other way while Jews were being viciously mistreated disappears.