There is something really worrying about the mindset behind this song.
He talks about how he had to disguise and risk his life last year, facing degradation, in order to sneak into the Ukraine behind the backs of those wicked Goyim. How he had to not speak Yiddish or pretend not to recognize anyone in order to fool those Goyim and their evil anti-Semitic decrees.
Sounds like he is comparing himself to Jews in former generations who were really oppressed and put their life at risk in order to fulfil mitzvot, the Jews who risked their lived to bake Matzot in the Ghettos or while hiding from the KGB or the Inquisition.
In fact, the Ukrainian and Israeli Governments were not responsible for an evil anti-Semitic decree last year, rather they were trying to save lives by preventing mass gatherings during a global pandemic. Putting yourself at risk to defy these decrees isn't standing up for Judaism, it is standing up for a Pandemic which has killed over a million people. And had he been caught, he would not have been shot, sent to Siberia, or burned at the stake, rather he would have been given a fine and sent back to Israel, while provided with kosher food and a place to daven etc.
A segment of Haredi Judaism thinks that we still live under the Czar and sees the Cossacks as coming every time they interact with the government (any government). Glorifying this attitude in a song is really problematic, at least in my mind.
There is something really worrying about the mindset behind this song.
ReplyDeleteHe talks about how he had to disguise and risk his life last year, facing degradation, in order to sneak into the Ukraine behind the backs of those wicked Goyim. How he had to not speak Yiddish or pretend not to recognize anyone in order to fool those Goyim and their evil anti-Semitic decrees.
Sounds like he is comparing himself to Jews in former generations who were really oppressed and put their life at risk in order to fulfil mitzvot, the Jews who risked their lived to bake Matzot in the Ghettos or while hiding from the KGB or the Inquisition.
In fact, the Ukrainian and Israeli Governments were not responsible for an evil anti-Semitic decree last year, rather they were trying to save lives by preventing mass gatherings during a global pandemic. Putting yourself at risk to defy these decrees isn't standing up for Judaism, it is standing up for a Pandemic which has killed over a million people. And had he been caught, he would not have been shot, sent to Siberia, or burned at the stake, rather he would have been given a fine and sent back to Israel, while provided with kosher food and a place to daven etc.
A segment of Haredi Judaism thinks that we still live under the Czar and sees the Cossacks as coming every time they interact with the government (any government). Glorifying this attitude in a song is really problematic, at least in my mind.
You can find expressions of עבודה זרה just as bad as this, but hard to find worse.
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