"Die, Jew." I don't think so.
"The warrior did what she needed to do to protect her own. Sometimes — for a person or for a country — there is no other choice."
Yesterday, after I sent out a column out on JEWDICIOUS by one of our Israeli writers about the need to confront Iran’s nuclear program and his description of conditions on the ground in Tel Aviv, I received the following message from a Substack reader:
“Die Jew.”
It was the only message that was hateful; all the others were supportive.
It’s not unusual for a publication that goes by the name of JEWDICIOUS to receive virulently antisemitic comments. But “Die Jew” kind of stood out. So brief. So simple. So direct.
And so reflective of the Iranian government’s self-described goal…
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been watching The Handmaid’s Tale. It is a gut-wrenching series. Spoilers to follow…
The story, based on Margaret Atwood’s landmark 1985 novel, is about a dystopian republic called “Gilead,” which has overthrown the U.S. Government. Fertile women called “handmaids” are prisoners in the homes of “Commanders” — who beat and rape the women in order to increase the falling birth rate. It is hard to watch, but easy to draw moral parallels in our current world.
Elizabeth Moss is spectacular in the leading role of “June Osborn,” a handmaid who narrates her fight for survival and that of other abducted women and children. Joeseph Fiennes is horrifying as “Commander Waterford,” who tortures and rapes June over and over, with the help of his wife.
Religious fundamentalists, the Commander and all of the other powerful people in Gilead’s patriarchy cherry-pick phrases from the Bible to justify their heinous crimes. Sound familiar?
As I watched the first few seasons, I felt a visceral strain of anger. Physical sickness. My friend Alicia had cautioned me early on: “It’s a horribly difficult show to watch. If you don’t commit, you will stop.”
By the time I got to Season 4, when June escapes to Canada and is just beginning to turn the tables on her erstwhile torturers, I was literally rooting for her to get the chance to make them suffer even a fraction of the fear and physical pain they had inflicted on her. I don’t remember ever feeling so bloodthirsty watching an entertainment. A fictional TV show.
June gets her chance in the season finale — and takes full advantage. At her orchestration, she and a group of former handmaids surround the Commander and beat him to death. Brutally. They get what they wanted — for their torturer to get what he deserved. And for them to do it. As a member of the audience, you’re cheering for this measure of justice. But there is also a sadness in the realization that June herself understands what these awful people have turned her into.
June voluntarily surrenders to the authorities. She’s fully prepared to face the consequences, but because of the “no man’s land” where the crime took place, the Canadian authorities let her go. It’s not in their legal purview.
Afterwards, a representative of what’s left of the U.S. Government, “Mark Tuello,” comes to June’s house. She admits to him that she’d used him to achieve the setting where the women could kill the Commander. Tuello knows this, and seems to accept her apology. Then June asks if he’d come to arrest her. He had not. Moreover, before he leaves, he says something that surprises both June and the audience:
“I just came to say (pause), well done. You did something terrible, that needed to be done. I understand what that costs.”
At end of the episode, June tenderly holds her baby “Nichole.” Tears stream down her face, and she coos to her: “It’s okay, sweetheart.”
The June Osborn that the audience met in the opening episode could have never thought she was capable of taking another person’s life. Not until she and her daughter had been kidnapped and their own lives had been changed forever. Not until she felt there was no other choice.
The warrior did what she needed to do to protect her own. Sometimes, for a person — or a country — there is no other choice.
MICHAEL GOLDEN is the founder of JEWDICIOUS and The Golden Mean — where he converts ‘hidden lessons’ into active wisdom.
I saw the hateful comment that was made on yesterday's post and my first reaction, after shock, was, "And there you have it." This was an excellent post, Michael.
So right !!
Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱