Holocaust Remembrance

 

I, I Who Have Nothing

I, I who have nothing
I, I who have no one
Adore you and want you so
I'm just a no one with nothing to give you but, oh
I love you

To all of the outcasts, you are NOT no one.

On tomorrow's Holocaust Remembrance Day, let us remember all of the outcasts. The Jews were outcast by Christian and Islamic societies. At some point, the fundamentalists in each faith decided that the collection of interest was forbidden and those who collected it were outcasts. However both societies had to come face the fact that they needed interest. (maybe not as high as the 50% implied by the adage that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”, but still). The Jews did not view interest as wrong. Consequently Jews became the world’s bankers who made loans and charged interest. Why do you think Shylock in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice was a Jew? Why do you think Jews came to be over-represented in the banking industry, most famously by the Rothschilds? Because if you outcast those who collect interest, then why is a surprise that outcasts then dominate the sector that deals with interest. You reap what you sow.

The entertainment industry was once considered to be demeaning, so unsurprisingly many of the earliest pioneers in Hollywood and comic books were Jews. (For example, while they may have anglicized their names, Jack Warner was born Jacob Warner and Stan Lee was born Stanley Liberman.) If you outcast a people and outcast a sector, but you value that sector, then why is it surprising that outcast people come to dominate the sector that you value. No one should ever be an outcast. Love is the most important thing that can be given. I may not be a Jew, but on behalf of all of your fellow outcasts, you are appreciated and remembered.