Conference taveng::bagels

1478.0. "The Last American Jew" by TAV02::KREMER (Itzhak Kremer @ISO) Wed Nov 01 1995 10:13

    Author unknown... This was sent to me by someone who got it at a
    Bnei-Akiva Shabbaton. -Itzhak
    
THE LAST JEW
------------

My name? My name is not important. Who am I? I am the last American Jew. 
The year is 2124, the place is the Smithsonian Institution. I am in a cage 
on exhibit. People pass my way, staring, point and even sometimes, laughing. 
On the walls are the remnants of a Jewish culture; a Tallit, Torah, books 
of the Talmud, etc. Each day as I sit here I wonder how six million people 
who existed as Jews a little over a century ago could possibly have vanished.

My father and grandfather used to talk to me about the Jewish communities 
in the 19th and 20th Centuries; the large populations in L.A., New York and 
Chicago; about organizations - Bnai Brith, and so many others. I recall my 
father telling me how sucessful and prosperous the American Jew was. All 
this has vanished and disappeared. I contemplate the reasons, recall the 
events and search for the answer. I believe I know how the Jews disappeared. 
Small things that happened gradually. Families stopped attending Shabbat 
services, sending their sons to Hebrew schools and Bar Mitzvah classes. The 
Shabbat candles were never lit. My grandfather told me they were still good 
Jews - they attended Yom Kippur services, held the Passover Seder each year. 
The books say that this too, ended. To attend a "Kol Nidrei" service became 
a chore - not an honor, to hold a Seder became a task. The rituals of 
Judaism began to vanish.

This was the first step. I was reading of a Rabbi Rosenberg who demanded 
that the Jews fight for emancipation between the American and Jewish 
Community, to put aside all differences in order to assimilate. In time, 
the Jews became equal. The Jew was the same level as any Christian. Hatred 
toward the Jew died off. With this fight for equality, all differences were 
put aside. Jews stopped hanging Mezzuzot on their doors. When asked if they 
were Jewish, they would either give a brisk "No" or wouldn't answer. A 
non-religious Judaism was established in America, but they couldn't see 
that it couldn't exist. Judaism needs Jews, but Jews also need Judaism. 
Without one, the other is dead. Why didn't these people see it? When the 
final blow came, it occurred 50 years ago. The Arab nations became strong. 
They wanted Israel destroyed, and they acted. With two nuclear pellets, 
3 million Israelis were obliterated and the land was charred beyond 
fertility. When the news flashed across the globe, the Jew in America 
replied, "What could I have done?" Yet little over 150 years ago, a man was 
supposed to have slaughtered six million Jews, and my father told me that 
people swore they would never forget. They promised they would always 
support Jews across the world. They pledged their donations to Israel and 
vowed allegiance for the progress of all Jews. In time, the donations stopped 
coming and the vows were forgotten. How forgetful a people can be! When the 
people lost pride in themselves, their religion, and Israel . . . they lost 
everything. I am the last American Jew. In less than 20 years, I too shall 
die. Never again will another Jew set foot on this planet. MY G-D, WHERE 
DID WE FORSAKE YOU?