A kind of empirical proof of God
Although King Frederick II headed the Prussian Church, he had nothing to do with Christianity. He went down in history as a scoffer. He repeatedly teased his loyal General von Ziethen about his belief in God. One day, the king once again wanted to make fun of Ziethen. So he challenged the old warhorse with a question: “Prove to me the truth of the Bible!” Ziethen answered without hesitation: “Your Majesty, the Jews”.
To understand this reasoning, you have to be familiar with the historical context. For three and a half thousand years, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians…and in the last century even the Germans tried to exterminate this people. The hatred for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was boundless. They were brutally expelled from England, France, Spain and Portugal. Progroms took place regularly in Russia and Poland in which Jews were massacred by the thousands. Six million died in concentration camps on behalf of the Nazi dictatorship. Ukrainians, Dutch and French were only too willing to give the Nazis important tips during the purges. And let’s not kid ourselves, it was by no means only members of the NSDAP who were guilty. Locksmiths and truck drivers, civil servants and mayors from all walks of life lent a helping hand to complete the dirty work. But as everyone knows, the Jews are still there. They make up only 0.2 percent of the world’s population, but win 20 % of all Nobel Prizes, 100 times more than they should actually receive according to proportional representation.
In the old book it is written that they are the chosen people of God. You can see that however you like, but Jesus Christ also said that salvation for our world comes from the Jews. A very interesting statement.
As a schoolboy, I stood in front of the Wailing Wall for the first time in spring 1978 and 33 years later for the second time. The remains of the retaining wall of the Second Temple form the largest sanctuary in Judaism. From 1948 to 1967, Jews were forbidden to pray in front of these stones. Public opinion around the world didn’t really care. The apostles of human rights remained silent. Just imagine if Muslims had been banned from making the pilgrimage to Mecca for 19 years. Greta Thunberg and her friends, the United Nations and all the political activists on the left and right would have been so angry they could hardly breathe.
When Hamas murdered hundreds of Israelis celebrating a peaceful music festival and kidnapped 240 hostages on October 7, 2023, there were spontaneous celebrations in Arab capitals. The suffering of the hostages is well known. What few people know, however, is that in April 2024, over a thousand Jewish musicians gave a concert in the large open-air theater in Caesarea in honor of the hostages. The theme: Bring them home!
Whether we like or hate the Jews is our decision alone. We can criticize the policies of the Israeli executive for hours. Even in times of war, countless Israelis have taken to the streets in the holy land in large demonstrations against their own government. An act of freedom of expression. Such an event would be unthinkable in any Arab country. The buses of the secret police would arrive immediately and the tanks would roll.
If you ask me, I would like to agree with old Ziethen. We owe many of the epoch-making breakthroughs of our civilization to the blessings of Jewish scholars and scientists. The most brilliant minds I met during my education at Harvard and Yale were Jewish – no ifs, ands or buts. If you click on the following picture, you will witness a great concert in Israel. /KDJ
