opinions & letters
Germany Has
Changed, Antisemitism Has Not
BY MICHAEL LAITMAN
A recent survey of Germans and Muslims
who live in Germany conducted by the
American Jewish Committee found that 60% of
both populations consider antisemitism to be a
widespread phenomenon in Germany that has
increased over the past 10 years.

But the study also brought to light the
wide gap between the two populations in
terms of the reasons for this hatred and how
deeply rooted antisemitism is in all sectors
of society.

The survey states that 34% of the general
German population and 54% of Muslims who
live in Germany agree with the statement,
“Jews today use their status as victims of
genocide during the Second World War in
their favor.” The survey also revealed that 18%
of Germans and 46% of Muslims agree with
the statement “Jews have too much power
in the media,” and similar percentages think
“Jews have too much power in politics.”
population is no longer a generation highly
conscious of the Holocaust and the Third
Reich, so what do they care? While Germans
may still express support for the Jews and
Israel because it remains a national obliga-
tion for them to do so, deep down the sorrow
and sense of guilt has disappeared. They
are already fed up with the issue and do not
understand what we want from them. Such
attitudes eat away at the status of Jews in
Germany who stay there because they feel
they are doing well — but one might ask, for
how much longer?
The same goes for the status of bilateral
relations between Germany and Israel. Israel
has considered Germany a strong ally in
Europe. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel,
for example, said in 2008 that Israel’s security
was part of Germany’s national interest. She
felt obliged to speak about it and expressed
her sympathy for the Jewish people because
of Germany’s past. She belonged to the gen-
eration for which that was common, a kind of
polite commitment that is quickly becoming
We Jews need to reach a point where we
become partners to one another, among
ourselves, so that our future does not depend
on external support.

This AJC poll was released at a time when
German authorities report record-high levels
of antisemitism. In 2021, 3,028 hate crimes
targeted Jews. That is the highest num-
ber registered since police began to track
reported antisemitic incidents in 2001.

I am not surprised by these statistics. I
evaluate them as a factual reality that does
not seem to improve over time. I have not
seen any decisive action by Jewish organi-
zations to eliminate this phenomenon. There
have only been formal measures: Antisemitic
incidents are widely reported, funds are allo-
cated to address the problem, an ineffective
campaign is carried out and then the cycle
begins again. Endless talk about the constant
threat to Jews without solving the problem is
an empty effort. It prevents nothing now, just
as it never prevented anything in the past.

German Jews should also take into
account the fact that German demographics
and mentality have changed. The current
irrelevant. A new government is in power,
and the mentality of the people has changed
in regard to Israel.

In the volatile world we live in today, there are
no guarantees of unbreakable partnerships.

We Jews need to reach a point where we
become partners to one another, among
ourselves, so that our future does not depend
on external support. We can trust no one but
ourselves. Our nation was founded in order to
realize the principle “love your friend as your-
self” and to become a conduit for this princi-
ple to all humanity — “a light unto the nations.”
In the final analysis, the more divided we are,
the more antisemitism rises; and the closer
we are to each other, the more the world will
have a positive view of us. JE
Michael Laitman is the founder and presi-
dent of Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education &
Research Institute. This op-ed was originally
published by Israel Hayom.

Abortion Choice a Personal One
The op-ed by Rabbi Yaakov Menken (The Torah Is
Unequivocally Pro-life,” May 12) is interesting in the case he
tries to build in saying that the Torah is “pro-life.” I agree that
the Torah is in favor of life.

Where we disagree is whether being in favor of life means
that the Torah would side with the so-called “pro-life” move-
ment. Even Menken acknowledges that the Torah has “authority
over moral judgments.” Moral judgments are what we as
individuals use to lead our lives. Perhaps under a Jewish
theocracy it could be banned. I note, however, that even
in Israel abortion is not banned, but a lower percentage of
women tend to get them as compared to the rest of the
world. Apparently, women are using their moral judgments
to make these decisions.

There is no place in Torah, however, to find support for the
idea that a secular government ruling over a diverse commu-
nity of varying beliefs, has the right to weigh in on the side of
a fetus against a woman’s choice based on bodily autonomy.

Under our secular law, as it has always been, a person gets
legal rights once born alive.

The choice to get or not get an abortion is an agonizingly
personal one. Let’s leave it to the woman, and whoever she
might choose to consult, to make it.

Jules Mermelstein, Dresher
Op-ed Left Out Part of the Story
While I appreciate greatly the number of articles about the
abortion issue in the most recent edition of the Jewish
Exponent, I was extremely disturbed by the piece used to
represent the Torah-observant opinion. The Torah is most
definitely not unequivocally pro-life as described by Rabbi
Yaakov Menken (The Torah Is Unequivocally Pro-life,” May
12) in his piece that leaves out several verses from our holy
books specifically addressing this critical issue.

In Mishna Oholot, Chapter 7 verse 6, our sages wrote
2,000 years ago, “If a woman is having trouble giving birth,
they cut up the child in her womb and bring it forth limb by
limb, because her life comes before the life of [the child]. But
if the greater part has come out, one may not touch it, for
one may not set aside one person’s life for that of another.”
In Exodus Chapter 21, verses 22-23, the Torah states, “And
should men quarrel and hit a pregnant woman, and she mis-
carried but there is no fatality, he shall surely be punished,
when the woman’s husband makes demands of him, and he
shall give restitution according to the judges orders. But if
there is a fatality, you shall give a life for a life.”
While these verses are very specific and graphic in nature,
they both obviously are quite clear about one thing: In the
Jewish tradition, the life, health and well-being of the mother
takes precedence over the fetus inside her and its unfortu-
nate loss is not considered a fatality on par with the loss of
the mother carrying it. JE
Bettina Dunn, Rhawnhurst
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