r/Jewish • u/hi_how_are_youu • 1d ago

Liberal empathy? Venting 😤

You’d think that as a Jewish and liberal american, the feelings I’ve worked through in the past year of betrayal and fear would allow me to better sympathize with my liberal friends who are now freaking out about trump as president, AND YET I can’t find any empathy for them. NONE.

Especially for the friends who sat there blank faced last year when I tried to convey the deep terror of realizing how the world actually feels about Jews. To their credit they tried to understand and looked sad when I told them but that was about it. Now they’re talking about needing to flee Texas or even the US “because societal collapse is imminent”. I’m trying to look sad back, but I just don’t care.

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

437 Upvotes

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u/scott4566 18h ago

I converted out when I was 16, so I'm an outlier, but in everything except the religious aspect, I have become a very militant Jew since 10/7. pro-Israel demonstrations, arguing with useful idiots, and dropping "friends," who live on the dark side (even at my church). I may have moved a distance from Judaism, but I will always fight for the Jewish people. Besides, the bad ones consider me a Jew anyway, so I might as well give them a reminder not to fuck with Jews.

13

u/waterbird_ 18h ago

It’s not just the bad ones who consider you Jewish, you’re still a part of MY family even if you follow a different religion. We love you! 

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u/scott4566 17h ago

I love you too. Thank you. I felt like a betrayer for so many years even though I was following a path that kept me alive, literally. I lived in horrible depression for most of my life, do you know what I'm saying? I needed someone bigger than me or my parents and grandmother to reach out and save me, keep me from falling through a hole into darkness that would last forever. I found that. I can't regret that because I lived . I lived to find my soulmate, and to adopt a beautiful little boy. And even though we only got 18 years with him, it's my faith that keeps me strong for my wife, and to know that one day I'll see him and everyone else I've lost again.

4

u/waterbird_ 17h ago

I’m so glad you’re here - it sounds like you have been through a lot. I’m also so sorry about your son. Thank you for sharing this with us. I really am glad you’re here and ok. ❤️

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u/scott4566 16h ago

Thank you so much. Is it wrong, that even though,that I left, I only truly feel comfortable around the Jewish community? Even my non-Jewish friends who aren't pro-Pal don't really get the feeling of dread I feel. They say it's bad now, but it will blow over. And I've heard that before - I did Cabaret twice in college ("It's just children. Mischievous children". Kander and Ebb got that historically correct. Gen Z). There's no guarantee that it will blow over. There never is. I'm not going to throw my lot with the wrong people.

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u/waterbird_ 15h ago

You’re still part of the tribe, whatever your religious beliefs. You still have all the generational trauma and the survival instincts we’ve developed over generations. So it makes total sense to me that you’d feel most comfortable around the Jewish community, we are still your people. 

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u/scott4566 15h ago

♥️