(Jewish Progressives: “This Way to the Egress”)

From afar here in Israel, I’m watching and lamenting the demise of the Jewish-Progressive alliance in America.

Various Jewish organizations welcome and even advocate for proponents of antizionism, an anti-Jewish hate movement. That position is weirdly consistent with the thinking of many Jewish progressives who often tout their belief in a “big tent” that abides multiple viewpoints, including that of rabbis and others who say the Jewish State should not exist and seek its destruction.

“The term ‘big tent’ traces its origins to the traditional circus tents under which various acts performed, symbolizing a space that could encompass a wide variety of attractions to draw a broad audience. This metaphor was then adopted in political discourse to describe organizations or parties that aim to unify a wide range of views and interests.”1

America’s Jewish big tent has devolved into a three-ring circus, a ludicrous sight gag stealing the spotlight.

Under its glare, something went bananas, over which Jewish progressives are slipping, sliding, stumbling and falling flat on their faces. Those who claim a pluralistic Jewish religious culture can make room for anyone who works for Israel’s destruction are asking for pie in their face! One of the plurality of balls the earnest Jewish progressive has been juggling is a pin-pulled hand grenade.

I warned rabbinic leaders of the progressive Jewish movement with which I’d long been affiliated that their “big tent” embrace of antizionists would make them a laughingstock in a circus sideshow.

That circus is not Cirque du Soleil but Circus Maximus: bloodthirsty, violent, a spectacle of torture: what the world witnessed (and millions celebrated) on October 7, 2023. My protest met with accusing disdain followed by dismissive silence.

Some principled colleagues, still committed to progressivist Judaism, are trying to keep the lines of communication open. I admire their persistence and courage; I had to bow out.

The circus is leaving town. I see workers sweeping up, packing equipment, folding curtains and chairs, pulling stakes, striking the tent. Locking tigers and elephants and bears and seals back in their cages. Those poor creatures…

One reason the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey model tanked was animal abuse; the Jewish-progressive circus act, likewise, is going bust – like a clown car that zigzags aimlessly about, vehicle parts flying off the chassis as it crashes into one obstacle after another – because of irrational, inhumane forces driving it.

A former hostage related his experience as a captive in Gaza: “‘One of the terrorists called his friends and family, even his mother, to come observe us. They looked very happy, laughing and smiling. We felt like animals at a zoo.’”2 Another former hostage put it more bluntly: “They treated us like animals.”3 Rationales antizionists and their progressive enablers make for the Greatest Sham on Earth – Palestinian nationalism based on hatred of Jews – don’t change the fact that it’s a merciless enterprise.

Palestinian terrorists locked up, and enablers detained, by Israel’s government have in turn accused it of treating them as animals. These complaints are the distorted reflection of their brutality: While Israel’s military and law enforcement authorities are far from blameless toward Palestinians, the allegation of systematic mistreatment based on genocidal design is a grotesque funhouse mirror image of Palestinians’ own intentions toward Jews and Israel.

Walking a tightrope tied on one side to Hamas enablers and on the other side to Hamas itself, Jewish progressives sympathetic to the Palestinian cause are attempting an impossible balancing act. There’s no safety net. Thinking they can make room in their midst for antizionists, Jews who want to have it both ways – support Israel and abide its enemies – will lose their footing and tumble into the abyss.

P.T. Barnum, a master huckster, is said to have put up a sign reading: “This way to the Egress.” “Egress” means “Exit.” Thinking the sign led to another sensational or freakish attraction, circus-goers would hurry through the door and outside the circus gates. They’d been hoodwinked and would have to pay again to get back in.

Barnum knew how one can be both technically correct and manipulatively dishonest. Counting Jewish antizionists as members of Jewish community does fit a certain definition of a Judaism you could call “pluralistic,” but that’s a shamefully parsimonious reading of our history, intentions, and values. Plenty of Jewish progressives have fallen for the Barnum-like trick.

He also allegedly observed, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” How long – Jews who countenance antizionism – before your allies in the red-green alliance, who exploit you as Jewish cover (a polite version of the human shield) for their anti-Jewish viciousness, conclude you’re no longer of use to them and give you the sucker punch and then the boot?

Out the Egress, no way back in.

Where does that leave the goings-on inside what remains of progressivism’s “big tent”? They’re but a clownish pratfall, a slapstick caper – a scrap of red meat for the media circus surrounding today’s rendition of Jew-hatred.

How many antizionists can you stuff into a clown car? The politically progressive model affords no limit.

But it’s only a circus after all. Nothing to worry about, friends. Step this way. Popcorn and soda for me, please. Laugh, have fun, enjoy the show.

1 https://ultimatelexicon.com/definitions/b/big-tent/

2 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-830313

3 https://www.timesofisrael.com/bound-gagged-and-starved-released-hostages-report-severe-mistreatment-by-captors/

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