Dear Mr. Howard,



As you certainly know, traditional Jewish texts — from the Talmud to the most recent material — are presently being published and circulated in millions of copies on all five continents and in every possible language. They include such masterpieces as the book Birur Hilchot Harigat Goy (Laws of Killing Gentiles) and On the Exalted Nature of Israel and Understanding its Exile, published in recent years in Israel and the US by Orthodox rabbis. All of these books contain, to various degrees, racist and other despicable material available to anyone — from Orthodox Jews to diehard anti-Semites. You will easily find references to these works on the Internet. Not such a long time ago, some Orthodox know-it-alls published a mass edition of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch in Russia of all places, and in Russian to boot, without even bothering to delete its undisguised racist statements. As a result, thousands of Russian citizens, including quite a few Jews, have demanded a ban on both the book and the religious institutions that openly identify with it. Would you not say that it is the publishers of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, rather than Daat Emet, which at the most merely quotes this book, who are adding grist to the anti-Semites’ mill? And if so, why aren’t you raising your voice in protest against their dangerous activity?

To this day, we are not sure whether you are troubled in any away by the heart of the matter: the racist substance of traditional Judaism and the glaring ignorance and intolerance it openly advocates. Your letter makes no mention of this. We, for one, are more than troubled; as you know, we are doing our best to combat the reactionary forces of Orthodox Judaism. As part of our efforts, we openly disseminate the material you have come across on our site. In so doing, we certainly do not invent the information that discredits Judaism, but rather oppose it. Our criticism is leveled at the racist ideas that are openly and massively disseminated by Orthodox Judaism. Any anti-Semite can (and does) read in our holy books, including the most recent ones, that gentiles are more abominable than beasts, that their ordained role is to walk on all fours and serve the Jews, that the gentile soul and body are unclean, and that shortchanging a gentile is a sacred duty.

We highly doubt that the existence of Jews like ourselves, who openly challenge traditional Jewish racism, is capable of inciting unbiased people who have read our original sources, let alone ardent anti-Semites, against the Jewish people. The opposite is far more likely.

In conclusion, modern history clearly shows that openness is a pretty good way to combat extremism, racism, and ignorance. We have taken the difficult yet true path of open polemic with reactionary Jewish orthodoxy. If you know of a more effective way of doing this, you are welcome to share your knowledge. We will be deeply grateful to you for this.



Sincerely yours,



Daat Emet

If I may contribute, as someone who is not Jewish but does have some Jewish blood as well as Jewish friends and family I care for. Obviously I would definitely NOT like to see unbridled hate aimed at them.
 
But I feel it is important to clear some things up. The religious fanatics of Jewish thinking have some very major issues and their perceptions and treatment of others is scornworthy. 
Labelling all objections to mal adaptive behaviour as anti semitism is both patronizing and trivialising legitimate issues that people have had to deal with.
Now I would say, on the contrast, this website shows a decent, respectful and level headed element of Jewish culture that will also help to allay the frustration of others who feel Jewish people will never admit any real wrong doing or take correction. This page shows that this is not true.
So I for one am hearted by and appreciative of the efforts put forward by the people of this page.
 
Peace.