The Wicked Son
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''The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Jewish self-hatred, and the Jews'' is a collection of
essays An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...
by
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
, published by Nextbook/Schocken in 2006. Mamet addresses the book "To the Jews…whose favorite Jew is
Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...
…who bow the head reverently at a baptism and have never attended a bris – to you, who find your religion and race repulsive, your ignorance of your history a satisfaction, here is a book from your brother." Mamet confronts his readers: "The world hates Jews. ... The world hates you."


Summary

In the
Passover Seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...
, four different sons ask a question. The wicked son asks, "What does this ritual mean to ''you''?", in essence separating himself from the group by sarcastically and scornfully declaring that the ritual has no personal meaning for him. In a series of related essays, Mamet uses this concept of the wicked son as a symbol of the
atheistic Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
or
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
self-hating Jew Self-hating Jew or self-loathing Jew, transliterated in Hebrew as auto-antisemitism, is a term which is used to describe Jews whose views are perceived as antisemitic. The concept gained widespread currency after Theodor Lessing's 1930 book ('' ...
in Western society.


Israel

Mamet gives his own personal, unapologetic explanation of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
's situation. He declares that "The Jewish State has offered the
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
world peace since 1948; it has received war, and slaughter, and the rhetoric of annihilation." He notes that "It is a country, and like any country, will make mistakes." Yet as Mamet sees it, Israel is "not by proof, but by the mere process of indictment, excluded from the family of humankind." Unlike more familiar defenses such as those by
Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...
in ''
The Case for Israel ''The Case for Israel'' is a 2003 book by Alan Dershowitz, a law professor at Harvard University. The work is a response to common criticisms of Israel. ''The Case for Israel'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller. Summary The book is divided in ...
'', Mamet focuses on what he sees as the
anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
psychology and underlying
double standard A double standard is the application of different sets of principles for situations that are, in principle, the same. It is often used to describe treatment whereby one group is given more latitude than another. A double standard arises when two ...
s of attacks on Israel. He sees the media portrayal of Israel as "a modern instance of the
blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...
- that Jews delight in the blood of others." For example, he writes: "The everyday announcements of the so-called 'cycle of violence' in Israel are race slander, a pro-forma reminder of the availability of the Jews as an object of disgust." He sees anti-Semitism in "the inability to assign to Israelis a basic humanity…the happy assignment of wicked motives to the Israeli soldier." He underlines the double standard of anti-Semitism: "…'reprisals'…'retaliation'…the very words are revelatory, for such actions by the United States are known as 'defense'…"


Jewish identity

Mamet goes on to analyze what happens when Jews abandon loyalty to their religion and tradition in order, as he sees it, to find acceptance in a liberal society antagonistic to Israel. "It is the sin of the spies, a 'coward generation' with a 'lack of belief in God.' People have a drive to worship something, and will fill the void left by rejecting God by worshipping sports, celebrities, 'wealth, fame, status, sex, physical fitness, good works, human perfectibility." In the lavish bar mitzvah, Mamet sees the sin of the
golden calf According to the Bible, the golden calf (עֵגֶל הַזָּהָב '' ‘ēgel hazzāhāv'') was an idol (a cult image) made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as ''ḥēṭə’ hā‘ēgel'' ...
: "in the absence of God, lapsed Jews worship Man, power, gold. It is self-worship, the idolatry of human power." "Our own enclave, the Jews, exists, in truth, in learning, containing wisdom, solace, tradition, and mutual support." "Secular Jews reject their birthright of 'connection to the Divine.'" "(Our religion) is a gift from God – what greater joy than to support it, to devote ourselves to it, and to enjoy it?"


References


Bibliography

*


Reviews

*David Margolick
Maybe I Am Chopped Liver
(Review of ''The Wicked Son''), ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', November 5, 2006. *Abigail Radoszkowicz
Rites and wrongs
''
Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...
'', November 16, 2006. *Shaun Smith
The only good Jew is a very angry Jew
''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', April 1, 2007 *Tom Teicholz
Mamet's Question
''The Jewish Journal'', November 10, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wicked Son, The: Anti-Semitism, Jewish self-hatred, and the Jews 2006 non-fiction books American essay collections Books about the Arab–Israeli conflict Books about Jews and Judaism Books by David Mamet