Eternal Vigilance, Cont.

A story, out of many — a great many: “He rushed from Maryland to Israel to fight. On Friday, he was killed.” That is a headline from the Washington Post. The subheading of the article reads, “Rockville native and Israeli reservist Omer Balva ‘brought a lot of light to the world.’” He was 22.

Is this too much to say? On people such as Omer Balva, the survival of Israel, and of the Jews more broadly, depends. I admire Omer Balva, and those like him, no end.

Eternal vigilance is a gross imposition. Completely unfair. Also, there is no acceptable alternative.

• This is something encouraging — arresting, encouraging:

• An incident, out of hundreds, or more like thousands:

I borrow a line from Seth Mandel — some variation on “Another for the annals of ‘anti-Zionism, not antisemitism.’” (You remember what Paul Johnson, the late historian, told me: “Scratch someone who is anti-Zionist and it won’t be long before you reach the antisemite within.”)

• Something else to note:

As I’ve said before: If people like Putin for his opposition to “the gay agenda” and woke ideology, wait’ll they meet Hamas!

• Looking at all the Israel-hating radicals on U.S. campuses, I think of a line from Oscar Hammerstein II: “You’ve got to be carefully taught.” Yes. They were taught to think, and feel, as they do. They didn’t come out of the womb that way.

• From Jennifer Medina and Lisa Lerer of the New York Times, a superb and illuminating article: “On Israel, Progressive Jews Feel Abandoned by Their Left-Wing Allies.” Many people are now having a “Kronstadt.” They are seeing something that shakes their previous beliefs and will reshape their understanding, going forward. This is both a painful and a salutary experience. Millions have had it — regarding Communism and other errors.

• Listen to Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D., Mass.), quoted in this article: “What I’m seeing on campuses is what I think of as illiberal leftism. I worry about Gen Z. Colleges are increasingly illiberal, and there is a rise of illiberal progressivism that is hostile to the concept of individual rights, free expression, free enterprise, free inquiry.”

Young Mr. Auchincloss has done well by his old and honored name.

• Just an episode, just a vignette — but something that says a lot about the present moment (and many moments, stretching over centuries):

• “As a secular Jew, I didn’t feel I could comment on the war. Till now.” That is the heading over a column by Deborah Ross, in the Times of London. She didn’t want to write the column. But she felt she had no choice. It is a powerful piece of writing: for its simplicity, its directness, its honesty. There is nothing fancy about it (thank heaven). It just states the truth.

• A word from Michael Oren:

Yes. I think of Bernard Lewis: “We cease, they fire.” Ever and always.

• As Sergei Lavrov landed in Tehran, Michael McFaul had something to say:

I recall being in Tel Aviv in the summer of 2019. Netanyahu was campaigning, as usual. There was a giant, giant poster showing him with Putin, all smiles. The poster read: “Netanyahu: In a Different League.” This old Bibi fan (me) was nauseated.

• Cornel West is often thought of as iconoclastic, and in some ways he is, I’m sure. Also, however, he is utterly — and depressingly — conventional:

• I would like to make a comment about Senator Lindsey Graham:

Sure, Graham flew to Israel, along with all those others. The GOP “base” is pro-Israel (for now). But he has also flown to Ukraine, because he knows it’s important. So — kudos.

• In a tweet, Michael Powell drew attention to this article: “On the time J.R.R. Tolkien refused to work with Nazi-leaning publishers.” Wrote Tolkien,

Thank you for your letter. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.

Good goin’, Tolkien.

• Years ago, Norman Podhoretz taught me an expression — an old expression: “Philosemitism is the higher antisemitism.” I get it, I think. The spirit is: Please don’t think about us one way or the other. We’d be better off. But to the extent that philosemitism is a response to antisemitism — I think it can be excused and lauded.

(In 2012, Gertrude Himmelfarb published a slim, wonderful volume called “The People of the Book: Philosemitism in England, from Cromwell to Churchill.” I wrote a three-part series on it: here, here, and here. So edifying, to read that extraordinary woman.)