Bro no one hates jews for ethnicity, news are hated for faith.
If you are an atheist "jew", no one gives a shit about you.
Stop pretending to be a victim and trying to appropriate antisemitic struggles.
I'll address these point by point.
Jewish readers, please share your thoughts!
You wrote: "No one hates Jews for ethnicity, [J]ews are hated for faith."
"Hitler...defined the Jews as a race and not a religious community, characterized the effect of a Jewish presence as a “race-tuberculosis of the peoples,” and identified the initial goal of a German government to be discriminatory legislation against Jews."
As David Baddiel put it, "I'm an atheist, but that would get me no free passes out of Auschwitz."
The Jews are a people. Judaism is the traditional religion of that people. A Jew who does not engage with that religion does not cease to be a Jew by Jewish definitions OR by antisemtic definitions.
You wrote: "If you are an atheist Jew, nobody gives a shit about you."
First, see above.
Second, you're incorrectly assuming that a Jewish atheist is not engaged with Judaism.
Here's the thing:
Judaism isn't necessarily theistic.
Let's set aside the explicitly non-theistic movement of Humanistic Judaism, for a moment (huge topic for another time) and just talk briefly about theism in Judaism.
Most kinds of Judaism, while certainly encouraging faith, do not require it. There are no thought crimes in Judaism, no crucibles of faith, and no requirements that one announce or perform proof of belief for witnesses. Those things are often parts of Christianity and Islam, but in Judaism...not so much.
In Jewish thought, it is not what you believe about metaphysics which lifts you up, ennobles you, improves you, or makes the world a better place. In Judaism, you pursue those things by how you behave.
Solo fide is a Christian concept which Judaism does not share. Judaism is a profoundly existential religion with ethics which are overwhelmingly humanist.
I was raised in Reform and Conservative congregations...and non-theistic/atheistic/humanistic views were very common there.
When I was studying to become Bar Mitzvah, our congregation's Rabbi made crystal clear to me that there was no contradiction between my identity as a Jew and my inability to swallow the idea of an anthropomorphic, sapient, interventionist God who cared at all about petitionary prayer. He felt that wrestling with God was a very Jewish thing to do. He introduced me to Maimonides' apophatic theology. Decades later, I'm still grateful.
Many Jews pray, I believe, not to be heard by God, but so they can hear their own hearts and minds. This is why kavanah is important and why I disliked (and still dislike) prayer-by-rote and rituals performed for the sake of ritual.
There's a famous Hasidic story, recorded by philosopher Martin Buber in his "Tales of the Hasidim," about how Judaism views atheism:
The Master teaches that God created everything the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.
One clever student asks "What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?"
The Master responds "God created atheists teach us the most important lesson of them all- the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in Goda at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right."
"This means," the Master continued "that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say 'I pray that God will help you.' Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say 'I will help you."
You wrote: "Stop pretending to be a victim and trying to appropriate antisemtic struggles."
I invite other Jews to advise if I have appropriated anything which is not mine.
Your opinion, though? Your view, as a non-Jew, about what is or isn't Jewish? On what is or is not mine in my heritage? Your claim in utter ignorance of what I or my family have experienced that I have not experienced antisemitism?
I don't have a single fuck to give about any of that, and neither does any other Jew. Your opinions on these things have no relevance.
Though I'd welcome the opinions of other Jews.
Still, I thank you for the writing prompt. It helps to crystalize my own thinking and provides an opportunity to educate.
