The Holocaust Did Not Benefit The Jewish Community
Dennis Ross
Specialty Ghostwriter to Family Offices | Preeminent Storyteller | Creator of The Ross Story Path and "Private Books."
Seth and I were hired around the same time. A financial brokerage in Los Angeles is where we spent our days. Both of us were interested in the capital markets, derivative trading and portfolio management. We studied together and passed our regulatory exams. We worked in the same place, but our places of culture were different.
Seth is Jewish and I, an African-American Christian. He wore a yarmulke. I wore a yankees cap. However, we had something in common, our humanity. Lunches turned into relationship, and our relationship turned into understanding. He educated me beyond what I could have learned in school about the Jewish people.
He told me about the bias and historical prejudice his family endured. He told me that despite the success of the Jewish community today, anti-semitism still lives strong in the halls of many American institutions. This shocked me.
I was shocked because I made the mistake of assuming economic success, political strength and judicial presence somehow reduced the evil effects of those who hate.
It would be an intellectual tragedy to assume the success of Seth's community is somehow a beneficial outgrowth of their suffering. Having to bind together because of shared persecution does not equate to a positive result from the same persecution. Association is not causation; just as discovering you are pregnant while attending a funeral does not mean you should be thankful for the death.
Likewise, the Jewish people would have been successful without the Holocaust. They just happen to be successful despite it.
As humans, our capacity for greatness does not necessarily require pain and suffering even though these two conditions represent two powerful incentives. I haven't talked to Seth in nearly thirty years. I'm sure he is doing wonderful well, not as a result of anything negative, but because that is just who he is.
Written by: Dennis Ross
Development Leader | Technical Services Contractor | Problem Solver | Energy Sector | Building Partnerships | Creating Solutions | Staffing and Technical Support | Navy Veteran | Post-Service Individuals Advocate
1yDennis Ross I love how you say “However, we had something in common, our humanity.” So true and so easily overlooked. Especially with the forces of hate that insist on reducing every human to an UNPERSON. Such as skin color, sex, sexual desire, disability status, veteran status…each of which doesn’t matter. We’re each wonderfully created humans, not less.
Chief Operating Officer AI-MD - Leading a New Era of Health AI | Customer Journeys | Saas | Board Member | Founder | TechConnect Speaker | ex. CBS, Deposco, Leidos, UPS
1yI wonder if you heard of the controversy in the Florida teaching standards that echoed this theme. It caused a big uproar, so I was wondering if this article was written to oppose that view. Otherwise, your timing is excellent as this is now a topic of discussion. Suffering in itself should not be espoused as a benefit because that is just inappropriate. However, the scars of survival can strengthen us in many ways. The same holds true for those victims of Domestic Violence or those who travelled the trail of tears, but not always so. There is no benefit in victimization. But the victims can find something positive despite it.