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At The City College of New York in the late 1930s, a father, an Orthodox Jew, wrote his senior class thesis on
anti-Semitism in America. He delineated common realities of the era, such as Jews’ admission to law firms, country clubs and colleges being denied
or restricted, and various other manifestations of popular and institutional anti-Semitism.
Yet he taught his two sons to believe that they, as Americans, were the luckiest Jews in Jewish history. With the obvious
exception of Jews living in Israel, he was right.
Despite the existence of anti-Semites and anti-Semitism in America, American Jews are indeed among the luckiest Jews in
Jewish history. Even with the re-establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, many more Israeli Jews have moved to America than American
Jews have moved to Israel. This is not a reflection on Israel, which has turned out to be a country with a high quality of life that is an
unparalleled blessing in Jewish life. Rather, this is a reflection on America and how good it has been and is for Jews.
Likewise, despite the existence of racists and racism in America, black Americans are among the luckiest blacks in the
world. A distinguished black journalist, Keith Richburg of the Washington Post, fully acknowledged the horror and cruelties of slavery.
Nevertheless, he thanked God that his ancestors made it possible for him to be born and live in America, not in Africa. After covering Africa for
the Washington Post, Richburg put it this way: “Let me drop the charade and put it as simply as I can: There but for the grace of God go I.
“Somewhere, sometime, maybe 400 years ago, an ancestor of mine whose name I’ll never know was shackled in leg irons, kept
in a dark pit . . . and then put with thousands of other Africans into the crowded, filthy cargo hold of a ship for the long and treacherous journey
across the Atlantic. Many of them died along the way, of disease, of hunger. But my ancestor survived . . . He was ripped away from his country and
his family, forced into slavery somewhere in the Caribbean. Then one of his descendants somehow made it up to South Carolina, and one of those
descendants, my father, made it to Detroit during the Second World War, and there I was born, 36 years ago. And if that original ancestor hadn’t
been forced to make that horrific voyage, I would not have been standing there that day on the Rusumo Falls bridge, a journalist — a mere spectator —
watching the bodies glide past me like river logs. . . . And so I thank God my ancestor made that voyage.
“. . . I empathize with Africa’s! pain. I recoil in horror at the mindless waste of human life, and human potential.
I salute the gallantry and dignity and sheer perseverance of the Africans. But most of all, I feel secretly glad that my ancestor made it out -
because, now, I am not one of them.”
That is why millions of Africans prefer to live in America than anywhere else. That is why more than 2 million Africans
immigrated to the United States in the recent past (compared with the 388,000 who came as slaves). Unlike the many Americans - black and white -
who believe the leftist libel about America oppressing blacks and all other nonwhites, the millions of Africans who want to come to America know
how lucky they would be to be a black in America, as do the millions who already live here. They know they are, or would be, among the luckiest
blacks in the world.
And what about Latin Americans? Like American Jews and American blacks, they are among the luckiest Latinos in the world.
How could they or anyone else deny this given the fact that tens of millions of Latin Americans left their families, friends, culture, language and
very homes to live in America?
And, finally, there are those white Americans - people born and raised in America, many of whose ancestors also fled war,
poverty and oppression in Europe - who today not only deny how lucky they are to live America but also vilify the founders of America who made their
blessed life possible. Their attitude transcends mere lying; it enters the realm of
pathology.[1]
Too often, we prosperous, free Americans take our many blessings for granted. Nearly all of us enjoy material wealth that
is the envy of people in other lands. We are free to do nearly anything our hearts desire, as long as our actions do not harm others.
Our nation itself is a blessing.
Our government is our servant. Public policy is meant to benefit us, not the other way around, as is the situation in many
other countries.
In effect, we govern ourselves by consensus, providing that any agreement by the majority is not detrimental to those who
happen to be in the minority. We recognize that we have many minorities, not just in race or religion, but also in our worldviews. We understand that
in important ways, we all are in the minority from time to time.
We say that our diversity makes us strong. We recognize that this is so not just in terms of the labels to which we often
restrict ourselves when talking about differences - but more importantly, in the thousands of traits that are reflected in what truly makes us a
melting pot of humankind.
Our nation is special, for that very reason. If we sometimes refuse to recognize that fact, people from other nations do
not, and consequently, nearly three-quarters of a million of them go through the rigorous process of becoming American citizens every year.
Let us not forget the blessing of living among the most generously compassionate people on the planet. Our hearts ache for
those in need, whether financial or otherwise - and we rush to do what we can to assist them. Whether their struggle is financial or otherwise, we
want to help. Think about how many of our public policy disagreements are not about whether to help, but rather, how to do it most effectively.
Our history as Americans may contain many errors, some of them exceedingly difficult to reconcile with our ideals. But
over-all, we strive always to live up to the ideals that form the foundation of our nation.
As a nation, we are consistently determined to do better and there is no place on this earth where it is more likely that
we can be better.
In today’s uncertain world, we give thanks for so many things -knowing that far from the least of our blessings is the fact
that we are blessed to be Americans. [2]
Daiyenu is a song that is part of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The word "daiyenu" means
approximately "it would have been enough for us", "it would have been sufficient for us", or "it would have sufficed for us." This traditional
up-beat Passover song is over one thousand years old. The song is about being grateful to God for all of the gifts he gave the Jewish people,
such as taking them out of slavery, giving them the Torah and the Sabbath, and had God only given one of the gifts, it would have still been enough.
The Hebrew word dai in “daiyenu” is pronounced the same as the English word “die” and simply means "enough".
Here in America, in the year 2024, let as all shout:
Dai! - Enough! Dai! - We’ve had
enough of the riots with the associated vandalism, looting, wanton destruction, deaths and injuries.
Dai! - We’ve had enough of the blatant pandering, outright stupid pronouncements of the obsequious
politicians and others.
Dai! - We’ve had enough of the imbecilic demands to brand all police as viscous murders of Blacks
and to “defund” or totally eliminate the police.
Dai! - We’ve had enough of the attempts to dishonor and erase from history the memories of the good deeds
of men and women in America’s history because they owned Black slaves in an era when that was more or less common and accepted.
Dai! - We’ve had enough of the attempts to rewrite our history and to erase portions of our history.
Leave history as it is, the bad with good so we all can learn from it.
Dai! - We’ve had enough of Liberals and Democrats falling over themselves in proposing and/or giving in to
unrealistic demands in order to win Black votes.
Dai! - Enough of the shouts and placards proclaiming “Black lives matter!” Instead, let’s have “All lives
matter”.
Dai! - Enough of the false charges of rampant killing of Blacks by White police. Instead, let’s make real
changes to weed out and eliminate the police bullies – no matter the color of their skin – those police who are guilty of police brutality and
misconduct.
Dai! - Let’s stop spouting the falsehood that “racism is a public health crisis” and replace it with
the inconvenient truth that the real health crisis is that of Blacks killing Blacks.
Dai! - We need to stop turning the death of George Floyd into a general indictment of America as a racist
and evil nation. Most Americans are tolerant and welcoming to all.
Today, let’s all shout Dai! and count our blessings for what we, as Americans, have and what the rest of
the world does not have
So, Dai! - Enough! Let’s end discrimination against Blacks, Jews and all other minorities here in
America,
Let’s treat everyone the same as anyone else. Let’s treat everyone as individuals and not as a group. Let’s treat each
individual on his/her own merits, qualities, humanity, and behavior – the exact same as I would do with anyone else.
Let’s all refuse to single out any group or individual for special treatment. Giving special treatment to any group simply
because they are identifiable as a group is racist, discriminatory and un-American. Someone once wrote that ”All men are created equal”.
Perhaps, more than ever here in 2024, all Americans need to recall and take this premise to
heart.[3]
Let us all, as Americans, remember that we need to be thankful for the bessings that we enjoy!
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References:
- Who Are the Luckiest Jews, Blacks and Latinos?, Dennis Prager, THE JEWISH PRESS, 13 March 2018.
- As Americans, we must count our blessings, Dennis Prager, Tribune Chronicle, 28 November 2019.
- How the liberal media and 'Looting Party' cultivates racism and hate in America, Robert Knight,
The Washington Times, 7 June 2020.
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