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{"source_url": "http://lubavitch.com", "url": "http://lubavitch.com/news/article/2109103/Do-We-Need-Anti-Semitism-To-Keep-Us-Jewish.html", "title": "Do We Need Anti-Semitism To Keep Us Jewish?", "top_image": "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610476/image%7Cjpeg/shutterstock_1319923598.jpg", "meta_img": "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610476/image%7Cjpeg/shutterstock_1319923598.jpg", "images": ["http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610463/image%7Cjpeg/cover.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://lubavitch.com/images/leftArrow2.png", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610477/image%7Cjpeg/02-5tevet-lubavitch%20%281%29.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610443/image%7Cjpeg/out%20window.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610458/image%7Cjpeg/shutterstock_429570871.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://secure.quantserve.com/pixel/p-05fYvgvzgWg0Q.gif", "http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/viewthroughconversion/972614193/?value=0&guid=ON&script=0", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610475/image%7Cjpeg/shutterstock_1319923598.jpg?scale_max=597", "http://lubavitch.com/lubaintl/issues/2019-12/9FFA200F7655484C067D587D05BB4010/Page_1.jpg", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610476/image%7Cjpeg/shutterstock_1319923598.jpg", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610454/image%7Cjpeg/100rostov.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610448/image%7Cjpeg/rock.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://lubavitch.com/images/rightArrow2.png", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610441/image%7Cjpeg/shutterstock_757506682.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610465/image%7Cjpeg/eassex%20cover.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610460/image%7Cjpeg/krisky%20menorah.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610168/image%7Cgif/Keren-Hashana-5780---Web-Ad---339x82.gif", "http://lubavitch.com/images/news.png", "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610475/image%7Cjpeg/shutterstock_1319923598.jpg?cropscale=149,149,c,m"], "movies": [], "text": "by Baila Olidort\n\nIn 1962, Harvey Swados, an American novelist and social critic, visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He wanted the Rebbe\u2019s opinions on issues related to the Holocaust.\n\nSwados\u2019s account of that discussion, which appeared in The New York Times some thirty years later, is of particular interest today, as anti-Semitism is once again normalized on the streets of major cities and campuses across the country.\n\nHe began the conversation by asking the Rebbe about the behavior of the German masses. Much to the novelist\u2019s surprise, the Rebbe \u201cmade no reference to abstractions, whether theological or philosophical. He pointed instead to political realities.\u201d\n\nSwados asked the Rebbe whether it was his opinion, then, \u201cthat the tragedy was not a unique visitation upon the Jewish people, and that it could happen again?\u201d\n\n\u201cMorgen in der fruh. Tomorrow morning,\u201d he said without hesitation. A surprising statement, perhaps, coming from the Rebbe, who was renowned for his unflappable optimism.\n\nAnd when Swados asked the Rebbe why he was so certain of this, the Rebbe \u201cdid not speak mystically, nor did he harp on the German national character and its supposed affinity for Jew-hatred.\n\n\u201cRather, he insisted upon the Germans\u2019 obedience to authority and their unquestioning carrying out of orders\u2014even the most bestial\u2014as a cultural-historical phenomenon that was the product of many generations of deliberate inculcation.\u201d\n\nThe Rebbe then turned the questions to his visitor, and asked him how he explains \u201cthe survival of Judaism over three millenia.\u201d In response, Swados pointed to \u201cthe negative force of persecution [that] has certainly driven people together.\u201d He wasn\u2019t sure, he said, if in the absence of such persecution, our Jewishness would not disintegrate.\n\nThe social critic may have been onto something.\n\nAfter all, Jews do band together when they are threatened. Under attack, Jews from diverse streams will band together. Students will come to Chabad and other Jewish venues. People who\u2019ve never sought out Jewish community spaces before look for ways to give and gain support. And that solidarity is commendable.\n\nBut it makes one wonder: what would happen to Jewish continuity if we were not isolated by such hatred? Is persecution somehow essential to the project of Jewish continuity?\n\nNow, as the negative forces loom large, it is good to remind ourselves that Jewish life grows not out of negative energy, but rather from the fertile forces of a community that shares a commitment to our historic values, that draws strength, vitality and real joy from our intellectual and spiritual heritage.\n\nBy now, the response of Chabad shluchim to every negative event is familiar, to the point, perhaps, of it sounding like a clich\u00e9. But increasing in acts of goodness really does underscore our conviction that we do not need to be persecuted to be Jewish; that we draw our strength and our vitality from light.\n\nA negative force, the Rebbe insisted, in his conversation with Mr. Swados, could not possibly be the only answer to our continuity.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": ["chabad", "lubavitch", "habad", "judaism", "jewish", "torah", "jewish education", "chasidus", "chassidus", "hasidim", "hasidism", "talmud", "rebbe", "moshiach", "mashiach", "messiah", "rabbi", "parshah", "parsha", "israel"], "tags": [], "authors": ["Chabad Lubavitch", "Lubavitch.Com", "Wednesday", "January", "Mussi Sharfstein", "Baila Olidort", "Tuesday", "Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky", "Monday", "Saturday"], "publish_date": null, "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "In 1962,\u00a0Harvey Swados, an American novelist and social critic, visited the\u00a0Lubavitcher Rebbe. He wanted the Rebbe\u2019s opinions on issues related to the Holocaust.\u00a0 Swados\u2019s account of that discussion, which appeared in The New York Times some thirty years later, is of particular interest today, as anti-Semitism is once again normalized on the streets of major cities and campuses across the country.", "meta_lang": "", "meta_favicon": "", "meta_data": {"viewport": "initial-scale=1,width=device-width,height=device-height", "keywords": "chabad, lubavitch, habad, judaism, jewish, torah, jewish education, chasidus, chassidus, hasidim, hasidism, talmud, rebbe, moshiach, mashiach, messiah, rabbi, parshah, parsha, israel", "description": "In 1962,\u00a0Harvey Swados, an American novelist and social critic, visited the\u00a0Lubavitcher Rebbe. He wanted the Rebbe\u2019s opinions on issues related to the Holocaust.\u00a0 Swados\u2019s account of that discussion, which appeared in The New York Times some thirty years later, is of particular interest today, as anti-Semitism is once again normalized on the streets of major cities and campuses across the country.", "author": "Chabad Lubavitch", "copyright": "Chabad Lubavitch Network", "DC.Title": "Chabad Lubavitch Brooklyn New York NY World Headquarters", "DC.Description": "Chabad Lubavitch NY World Headquarters Brooklyn New York US. Chabad-Lubavitch a philosophy, a movement, and an organization. Considered to be the most dynamic force in Jewish life today.", "DC.Subject": "chabad, lubavitch, habad, judaism, jewish, torah, jewish education, chasidus, chassidus, hasidim, hasidism, talmud, rebbe, moshiach, mashiach, messiah, rabbi, parshah, parsha, israel", "DC.Creator": "Chabad Lubavitch", "DC.Publisher": "Chabad Lubavitch", "DC.Source": "http://lubavitch.com", "DC.Coverage": "global", "DC.Rights": "none", "distribution": "global", "robots": "all", "rating": "general", "og": {"image": "http://lubavitch.com/files.html/8610476/image%7Cjpeg/shutterstock_1319923598.jpg", "title": "Do We Need Anti-Semitism To Keep Us Jewish?", "desc": "In 1962, Harvey Swados, an American novelist and social critic, visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He wanted the Rebbe’s opinions on issues related to the Holocaust. 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