Genetically Coded For Violence Poem by gershon hepner

God-soaked violence, according to Bill Moyers,
is coded among Jews genetically.
Such liberal pronouncements very much annoy us,
since they’re produced dysexegetically
on Bible readings that don’t correspond to what
the text declares. This isn’t what it means,
correctly read. When Moyers says Jews have a blot
both in their Holy Book and in their genes
he demonstrates not only ignorance, but prej-
udice that is a sign of liberal pride
that makes some Protestants protest while they allege
that God cannot support the Jewish side.
Outrageous claims that Jewish genes have all been coded
for violence have a spurious allure,
and fertilize weak minds by Jews so incommoded
they practice exegetical manure.

William Kristol writes about President Bush’s support of Israel during the right years of his presidency (“The Next War President, ” January 19,2009) :
In synagogue on Saturday, before saying the customary prayer for our country, the rabbi asked us to reflect on the fact that a new president would be inaugurated on Tuesday, and urged us to focus a little more intently than usual on the prayer. The congregants did so, it seemed to me, as we read, “Our God and God of our ancestors: We ask your blessings for our country — for its government, for its leaders and advisers, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority...” Barack Obama will assume that just and rightful authority at noon on Tuesday. After a dinner with him that I attended last week, as we said our goodbyes, I overheard one of my fellow conservatives say softly to the president-elect, “Sir, I’ll be praying for you.” Obama seemed to pause as they shook hands, and to thank him more earnestly than he did those of us who simply — and sincerely — wished him well. The incoming president is the man of the moment. He deserves good wishes and sincere prayers. But I’ve found myself thinking these last few days more about the man who has shouldered the burdens of office for the past eight years, George W. Bush. He wasn’t my favorite among Republicans in 2000. He has made mistakes as president, and has limitations as a leader. But he has exercised his just and rightful authority in a way — I believe — that deserves recognition and respect. It will probably be a while before he gets much of either. In synagogue, right after the prayer for our country, there is a prayer for the state of Israel, asking the “rock and redeemer of the people Israel” to “spread over it the shelter of your peace.” As we recited this on Saturday, I couldn’t help but reflect that a distressingly small number of my fellow Jews seem to have given much thought at all to the fact that President Bush is one of the greatest friends the state of Israel — and, yes, the Jewish people — have had in quite a while. Bush stood with Israel when he had no political incentive to do so and received no political benefit from doing so. He was criticized by much of the world. He did it because he thought it the right thing to do. He has been denounced for this, as Israel has been denounced for doing what it judged necessary to defend itself. The liberal sage Bill Moyers has been a harsh critic of Bush. On Jan.9, on PBS, he also lambasted Israel for what he called its “state terrorism, ” its “waging war on an entire population” in Gaza. He traced this Israeli policy back to the Bible, where “God-soaked violence became genetically coded, ” apparently in both Arabs and Jews. I wouldn’t presume to say what is and isn’t “genetically coded” in Moyers’s respectable Protestant genes. But I’m glad it was George W. Bush calling the shots over the last eight years, not

© 2009 Gershon Hepner 1/19/09