The Promised Land or Disneyland?

[jporter]

I've been on the sidelines for much of this most recent turn of the
discussion, mainly 'cuz I'm not all that informed about the topic (not
claiming innocence, here, just lack of knowledge).

Admittedly, however, I've never felt real comfortable engaging in
discussions that attempt to ascribe historical blame or victimhood to
specific groups or entities- mainly due to the "lack" of specificity. E.g.,
who are "The Jews?" I'm sure arbitrary definitions like the nazis used could
be forwarded, but, before that happens, does the group "The Jews" include
the likes of Ariel Sharon, or any of his ilk? And how about those Jews of
yore, depicted in the Bible, and noted by Simone Weil, who maimed and
murdered in the name of God- are those "bad Jews" of history still
considered representative? I have always been confused by: "The Jews." What
does it mean to be one of The Chosen People? Does that mean that said
individual is better, in a cosmic sense, than me?

And who or what is I.B.M.? Is I.B.M. just the Watson clan, or, does it
include all those brilliant minds who have taken shelter, sought advancement
and gotten rich under the aegis of Big Blue, many of them Jews, and some of
those who had even fled The Nazis, e.g., Benoit Mandelbrot? The whole issue
becomes very complex and resistant to simple analysis, not to mention
chaotic.

I have never understood Christianity, either, by the way. Although a goy, I
had the good fortune of having been raised by an athesist, and so, was never
compelled to worship a Jew as the son of god. In fact, I had to resist the
temptation to just imitate my father's tendency to mock and denigrate, e.g.,
those with plastic jesuses on their dashboards. I consider it a mark of
individuality, hard won, that I am an agnostic. But it's more complicated
than that. Well before my birth, when my own father was still a boy, his
father divorced my grandmother, and married a Jew- a Vaudevillian by the
name of Maude Rosen, aka Maude Hilton. She was Jackie Leonard's cousin and
the sister of the Rosen brothers- Al and Matty- who, during the 30's and
40's, were the managers/impressarios of Loews State Theatre at Broadway &
45th, i.e., Times Square. Maude was a colorful figure- good friends with Mae
West and Mary Livingston (Mrs. Jack Benny)- to name just two. At the time,
she was a well known comedienne herself, touring with the USO during the
war, entertaining the troops in The Zone (more of that later).

And while my paternal grandmother (whose own father came from Dublin, but
always, she would note in the same breath, was an Orangeman) was not
thrilled by the loss of her husband, she never blamed the divorce on Maude,
or Maude's Jewishness. In fact, I think she felt sorry for Maude- for having
to endure the temper tantrums of my grandfather. He was an ex-prizefighter
turned stage mananger of that old Vaudeville palace in Paterson, N.J., The
Fabian, where he first met Maude.

The Jewish Question was no less troubling for the other leg of my personal
V, i.e., my mother's side, where my maternal grandfather (whose family came
from the Isle of Wight) was busy carrying on a lifelong affair with a Jewish
mistress of his own. He eventually married Erna after my "real" maternal
grandmother died.  My mother was likewise upset by this turn of events, but
eventually also overcame the temptation to blame the "Vagaries of Love" on
Erna's Jewishness and accepted her. So, until Maude and Erna died, this
yankee lad- whose paternal roots are English colonials from Massachusetts-
had two Jewish grandmothers.

TBC,

jody