It’s still Jewish Book Month. I wrote an exceedingly passionate post on Facebook just now and it struck me that, first, I can share Jewish books that have helped me in the past when I encounter these sorts of situations. Second, I’d love know of more books that help and heal in this kind of situation. They don’t have to be Jewish! (which is an old joke, but always good one – and also quite serious – books that help us understand the impossible and find our way through it are so important.
First let me share the post with you, so that you know precisely what I’m talking about:
“I have stepped back from answering posts (here or elsewhere) where a person claims to be solving the world’s problems and yet all they do is pull things down and never suggest alternate paths. Criticising reports is perfectly fine: but if the criticism is purely emotional and contains no positive suggestions, then our social fabric is torn and abused and things are worse from the intervention.
If someone, for instance, tears down the work of Jillian Segal without suggesting alternate ways that we can address antisemitism, then they’re not going to listen to anything I say, so I will move on. If they hate Israel and don’t link to one of the Palestinians who are finding ways through this morass, then they’re not going to listen to anything I say and so I will move on. And if they tell someone what an evil person I am (this has actually happened) then unless they help me sort out what I’ve done wrong (besides being Jewish, or ill, or Gillian) then I will move carefully around them and keep them out of my life.
And by this latter comment, some of you know that the alternate Gillian (a Machiavellian figure who has done things I’ve never in my life done) who appeared some years ago is apparently still in existence. Those blaming me for this or accusing me of that have not actually spoken to me directly. We’re not talking about many people, but most of them also do the tearing down of policies without suggesting ways we can build community and repair the world.
I’m not asking that anyone like Jews or Gillian: liking and disliking is always, always our own choice. I’m asking that people consider the wider community and the shared world and that tearing things down hurts more than the hated person or people.
Also, I’m very tired of being ghosted by people who I then discover hate in this quite particular way. If you don’t want to talk to anyone Jewish, don’t. Don’t play hate-games.
Another kind of hate-game I’m seeing more of is this denial of antisemitism. Don’t read the reports, don’t mourn the dead… but please stop saying that the hate doesn’t exist and that Jews are liars. All it does is turn the hater into a liar.
Not long now before the next annual report on antisemitism in Australia. I am not looking forward to it for so many reasons. The idiots who want to perform goodness while hating and who do all the things I’ve described in this post are the single biggest reason.
I intend to have a hate-free evening. I shall finally catch up on Patreon and on 3 critical emails and on my novel. Tomorrow I pay respects to a student who died far too young and have lunch with a friend and do some more messages outside the home. These are my reset buttons. I need them because today was a high pain day and a fatigue day and a day that contained too many useful idiots. It still, alas, is all three.“
And now I’ve opened the floodgates and there are a thousand writers I want to tell you about. Let me stop here and hope that you can tell me of some. I need to understand more and a good novel is by far and away the easiest way of discovering new paths to understanding.
Funny thing—Primo Levi broke my heart. I found some profound healing in Emmanuel Levinas though.