The Exile Mentality
By Rabbi Berel Wein

(September 21) It is clear that after thousands of years
of exile, powerlessness, persecution and bigotry, the
mentality of exile is still dominant in our psyche. 

Caution, suppressed jealousy of others' rights and privileges, 
and a superiority/inferiority complex regarding non-Jews marked 
that exile mentality. The exile forced Jews to choose either 
isolation from the contamination of foreign cultures and the 
creation of a ghetto - real or figurative - or a slavish 
imitation of the values and lifestyle of the dominant society. 
The former allowed Jews to survive as Jews, but left them 
ill-suited to confront the ideas, challenges and norms of 
Western modernity. The latter choice led to heartbreak and 
disaster for the Jewish people, both individually and nationally. 
Intermarriage, conversion to other faiths, and a complete loss 
of Jewish identity were and are the hallmarks of assimilation. 

One of the cherished goals of Zionism over a century ago
was to end this exile mentality and to provide a proud,
self-sufficient, nationalistic alternative. In its zeal to
destroy the effects of the exile mentality, the Zionist
movement denigrated the entire experience and history of
the exile. In the classic example of throwing out the baby
with the bath water, secular Zionism created a "new
Jew," freed from the shackles of tradition and religion. 

But this triumph was short lived. For the "new Jew"
somehow brought the exile mentality along with him. 

ISRAELI SOCIETY is a sad imitation of many of the
aberrations of Western society. It has no agenda of its
own, no original value system, no inner integrity. Its
pursuit of a "democratic" state is almost pathetic in its
excess and in its discarding of all Jewish tradition, history
and outlook. In short, the classic exile mentality of
rootlessness and assimilation influence Israeli societal and
governmental behavior. 

Oddly, the other side of the exile mentality, the
"ghettoization" of a large part of the Jewish people, is
also alive and healthy in the State of Israel. A great
number of Jews - knowledgeable, talented and creative
people - have attempted to rebuild the isolated ghetto of
European and Middle Eastern Jewish life in Israel and in
the Diaspora as well. 

Having been in the US for the past two weeks, I was
struck by 
the reactions within American Jewry to the nomination of
Senator Joseph Lieberman as candidate for Vice-President. 
The ghetto Jew disapproves of the matter because somehow 
he fears it will yet reflect badly on Jews and create 
unforeseen problems. He is also troubled by the high 
public profile of an observant Jew, by the continuing 
press and media coverage of Jewish customs and Halacha 
engendered by Lieberman's candidacy, and by the fact 
that Lieberman, without essentially compromising his 
Jewishness, is nevertheless 100% American. The ghetto 
Jew's exile mentality does not allow him to savor this 
moment of triumph of the Jewish people and the 
Jewish way of life. 

In the same way, this outlook allows much of religious
Jewry to be comfortable with the fact that secular Jews
run the State of Israel. These Jews believe that a Jewish
state cannot function in accordance with Jewish tradition
and with halachically-observant Jews at its helm, and 
therefore it is "better" to allow the secular nonbelievers 
to operate our army, economy, government and diplomacy. 

The assimilated Jews, the Anti-Defamation League and
the Jews who have elevated the cause of "civil liberties"
into a religion are also disturbed by Lieberman's
candidacy and campaigning. It is uncomfortable for Jews
who almost never attend synagogue, observe dietary
restrictions or observe the Sabbath in any way to come
face to face with the "old Jew" in a new and amazingly
unexpected reincarnation. Convinced that the only way
to be successful in American life is to jettison one's
Judaism, they are now faced with the fact that keeping
the baby and throwing away the dirty water is the true
road to achievement and respect. 

Here in Israel, it is almost laughable that the strident
secularists and Leftists, the post-Zionist "democrats,"
have thrown out the baby and retained the bath water.
The exile mentality does not allow them to map out what
a truly democratic Jewish state should look like.
Substituting Jefferson for Maimonides is insulting to the
thousands of years of Jewish history. Worrying more
about the Palestinian state than the Jewish state is
suicidal. 

It is the exile mentality taken to its extreme. We should
free ourselves from all of the manifestations of this
outlook. The sooner we do so, the better our chances 
for spiritual, social and national redemption.