Israeli Debate on Spinoza

In response to “Jewishness Debate: Once Again, Spinoza Stirs a Furor” by Daniel Williams (Part I, Feb. 10.):

If Spinoza were sent to a concentration camp, Hitler’s minions would not hesitate to stamp “Jude” on his body. Yet Rabbi Goren hesitates to put it on his visa. If it was good enough for the Nazis, why isn’t it good enough for Israel? This is doublethink with a vengeance!

Spinoza did no harm to the Jewish community, or anyone else, during his lifetime. On the contrary, he always returned good for evil, like another Jew who was martyred long ago. As Bertrand Russell once remarked, “Spinoza is the most lovable of the great philosophers . . . as a natural consequence, for a century after his death, he was considered a man of appalling wickedness.”

The Arab-Israeli conflict pales beside what Jews are now doing to each other. If we don’t stop, soon there will be no Jews left to persecute. Which would gladden the hearts of anti-Semites, who have long awaited the “final solution.” Pogo was right: We have met the enemy and he is us. Let those who oppose Spinoza and what he represents beat their gums into plowshares.

PROF. DENNIS ROHATYN

University of San Diego