Triumphant over Titus

ed note–as we have discussed several times on this website and accompanying radio program, 70 A.D.–the year that the Romans under the command of Titus marched into Jerusalem and destroyed the city, exactly as Jesus Christ Himself predicted, leaving ‘not one stone upon another’, is considered particularly heinous and hateful to Jews, since it was the cause of their ‘diaspora’ and subsequent ‘persecution’ for 2,000 years.

They–driven by the ‘eye for an eye/tooth for a tooth’ mentality of the vengeful and vindictive nature of Judah-ism, have been waiting now 20 centuries for the day/hour that ‘the tribes of Israel’ would avenge themselves against the Romans for what took place.

The ‘regathering’ of Jews in Israel in the 20 century that was only made possible with the active participation of the West, namely Great Britain, France and then America, followed up by the incalculable sums of money, political and military support in driving the Arabs out for the benefit of Jews, brought forward to the present ‘war on terror’ is all part of the initial process of creating a new Judaic festival modeled on others such as Passover, Purim, Hannukuh, etc, that celebrate the destruction of Judea’s enemies.

As the Jews see it, the West–including those places that later became ‘Western’ through the process of colonization such as America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc–constitutes ‘modern Rome’ in the sense that the people, culture, and political systems making up these entities are ‘Roman’ in their origin. Their alphabets are Roman. Most of the various Western languages are Roman in that they descend either directly or indirectly from Latin. Their governments are based on the old Roman model of the Emperor, Senate, and the Plebeian Curiate Assembly. Probably the most striking similarity exists with the model of the United States, which adopted the eagle–the national symbol of Rome, along with its military and economic dominance of the world.

What the world is witnessing right now is a recreation of the same story of Passover, but with a ‘Roman’ twist, which someday the Jews hope will be written into their lore–as they did with ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece and Assyria, whereby ‘Yahweh’, the violent, vengeance-seeking god of the Jews, destroyed yet another Gentile civilization who got sideways with his ‘chosen people’.

After Judea’s destruction, Rome minted coins in every language of the realm celebrating it. Now, the Great Seal of the United States features a group of stars organized in the shape of the Judaic Star of David hovering above the eagle, representing Judah-ism’s superiority and dominance over the new Rome.

David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom

Great waves of emotion tinged with historical echoes washed over me last week as I stood under the Arch of Titus on the Via Sacra in Rome. At first I felt small, then I grew triumphant.

The epic arch was built to commemorate the victories of Emperor Titus, including his destruction of the Second Jewish Commonwealth in 70 C.E. Its southern panel famously depicts Roman soldiers parading spoils from the Temple in Jerusalem: the gold menorah, trumpets and showbread table. Potent symbols of Jewish defeat and dispersion.

Yet here I was, a Jew living in the Third Jewish Commonwealth — the modern State of Israel — viewing the arch amidst the tens of thousands of tourists swarming the surrounding archeological park (which includes the Temple of Jupiter and the Colosseum, where Jews were fed to Roman lions for entertainment).

I could only smile in victorious amusement.

After all, the ancient Roman Empire has long dissipated and Lord Jupiter has been discredited, while Jewish civilization has prevailed and Jewish sovereignty has been robustly reborn in the land of Israel.

Indeed, the captured menorah on that arch served as the model for the liberated menorah on the State of Israel’s emblem.

And as for the plundered Temple artifacts themselves: Well, they may be buried deep somewhere in Rome or lost forever. Either way, new vessels are being fashioned in present-day Jerusalem, literally and figuratively, for worship and redemption — vessels that range from menorahs to flash memory chips, and from shofars to semiconductors.

Titus is long gone. The people of Israel, however, live on, live well, till the land of Israel once again, and make enormous contributions to global arts, culture, ethics, morality, science, medicine and more.

Excuse me for feeling triumphant.

Everywhere I traveled in Europe — Naples, Pompeii, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Cannes, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and more — people in the streets were thrilled to talk to real Jews and Israelis.
Curious and surprised to meet us, people immediately began asking questions: Why did we (Jews with North American backgrounds and accents) move to Israel? Have we been to Jerusalem? Is it safe to live in or visit Israel? What about military service?

People seemed to know about Israeli innovation and technology, and about the dysfunctionality and divisions of our Palestinian neighbors. Young and old were impressed by Israel’s achievements and buoyant about Europe-Israel relations.

Nobody seemed too perturbed about ‘Zionist conquests’ or concerned about Jewish settlements and Palestinian refugees. (Intelligent interlocutors, however, actually believed that the biblical Philistines and the latter-day Palestinians were one and the same; nonsense that is clearly a victory for Palestinian propaganda, and something that needs to be countered.)

Everybody we met wanted to know what the plan is for dealing with anarchic Islamic forces surging across the Middle East. And what really alarms them is the intrusion of radical Islamists into Europe! They understood Israel as a bulwark against such extremism.

This rosy picture stands in stark contrast to the doom and gloom about Israel’s reputation, foreign relations and ties with Europe that we regularly read about in the newspapers.

Perhaps this is because I was meeting plain people in the streets and cafes, not the sophisticated types in universities or parliaments. Or perhaps it is because not everybody has read the poisonous literature coming out of Israel itself.

I am referring specifically to books like Ari Shavit’s ‘My Promised Land,’ which I forced myself to read while traveling. Given that the book has been translated into half a dozen languages and been lauded by The New York Times and The Economist, I needed to know what messages about Israel the celebrated Haaretz journalist was marketing.

Shavit’s storyline is insidious. No matter how righteous or heroic the Zionist pioneers thought themselves to be, or necessary the Zionist movement was, Shavit finds Israel to be a tragedy, at best. It is colonialism that inevitably went sour.

To Shavit, Israel is villainous in its roots of dispossession (of the Palestinians), horrific in its nuclear policies, evil in its settlement policies, and cancerous in its social policies. It is a country disintegrating into extremist and fundamentalist tribalism. A catastrophe in the making!

Seldom have I read a more guilt-ridden book from somebody considered an Israeli patriot. I stopped counting when my tally of the words ‘colony’ and ‘colonial,’ ‘evil,’ ‘immoral,’ ‘insane,’ ‘cancerous’ and ‘blind’ reached well over 250 mentions.

The oh-so-tormented Shavit sees no triumph in Jewish and Zionist history, only tragedy. He sees little legitimacy for Israel, mainly criminality. He sees little love, mostly hatred.

Where others see decency, he sees brutality. Where others see necessity, he sees grotesqueness.

About the only phenomenon that he truly admires in this country is the hedonistic sex, drugs and gay culture of Tel Aviv.

‘Hurricanes are howling, precipices are nearing, and cataclysms are coming’ — yes, such apocalyptic language is characteristic of Shavit — because only a few ‘sane’ people, like him, are left in this country.

The roots of such depressing prattle, I think, lie in Shavit’s lack of faith in providence over Jewish history. Shorn of any grounding in tradition, he lacks confidence in the righteousness of our claims to the land of Israel.

I hope that none of the even-tempered and well-disposed people I met in Europe read Shavit’s fanatic tome. I know that Shavit is wrong, and if Titus could speak, I’m sure he would be forced to agree with me.