Chareydi
identity - like many particular identities - is built on them vs us,
self definition by negation rather than assertion....a straw man version
of "the goy" is built up, someone who is physical, base, brawn more
than brain, and possibly inclined to murder or theft or adultery or
incest. Contrasted against this charicature is the Jew, spiritual,
inherently pure, gentle and merciful, yoshev beohalim, ("a dweller of tents") able to
comprehend delicate spiritual concepts that "the goy" cannot....that
this breaks down at the level of individual variance is a
truism....there are many Jewish goys and many goyish Jews, and even more
nochlim bereshut HaTorah. (scoundrels with the Torah's permission - people who seem to follow the letter of the law but contravene its spirit at every turn.)
The way to enlightenment leads through the
shadow of the valley of death, owning our own unconsciousness, owning
the less attractive parts of ourselves, instead of living with some
fabricated idealised version of self that clashes with reality every
step of the way.
Don't get me wrong - to play with
polarities - white/black/ gay straight, hindu/muslim, black hat/kipa
sruga, male/female, goy/jew left/right can be fertile and
generative....but to rigidify the play play roles can become a real
bind..a meytzar, or place of constriction.
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