Absence of riches is not poverty, and absence of arrogance is not humility. One need not be humble in order to avoid arrogance. Self-respect is a positive attitude.

Rabbis emphasized humility for a reason: stiff-necked Jews could be extinguished. Given the weakness of Jews compared to the imperial powers and the host nations of the Diaspora, it seemed to make sense to accept humiliations in order to survive, rather than be killed outright in unequal struggles. Though logical, the argument might not be correct. From the Babylonians to the Germans, hostile nations have almost annihilated weak Jews many times in our history. Desperate resistance could have saved more Jews than humility by deterring the aggressors from pressing too far. In the war of 66-70 C.E. Jews mostly hid from the Romans in town fortresses—a tactic which likely provoked the Romans to further depredations. After the defeat of 135 C.E., when Jews under Bar Kochba fought the Romans valiantly, the victorious Romans left the remaining Jews alone to such an extent that Talmudic rabbis praised Roman justice. Jewish strength in 132-135 allowed for the survival of a larger part of the Jewish nation than when the Jews met their killers with humility. In terms of social evolution, humility cannot be a beneficial trait. Jewish weakness provokes anti-Semitism.

Nor were the Jews humble. In fact, they were commanded to be proud. The blue thread in tassels, which every Jew must attach to fringes of his coat, is a symbol of royalty. Only the upper classes wore blue clothes in antiquity, leading the Romans to eventually monopolize the trade in blue pigment. The entire Jewish people were commanded to behave as a royal nation. Ashkenazi rabbis abrogated the requirement for the blue thread on the pretext that the necessary blue pigment was unavailable.

Repeated assertions of humility and submission to slavery led the Jews to the gas chambers; why defend something which professes itself lowlier than a worm? God calls Jews his workers, not slaves; that epithet is wildly exaggerated in rabbinical literature. A mob of slaves is easy to lead; the smallest rabbi is like a king compared to the humble slaves Jews profess to be in hundreds of prayers. God doesn’t need slaves, mindless instruments; Jews must be decent people, conscious of their worth, in order to be the beacon to nations.

Rabbis tried to make Jews nice, to make us “more pious than God.” Guess what, Jews are not nice. From those who fought under Abraham to those who robbed the Egyptians to those who knocked down the towns of Canaan to Dir Yassin to Kach—the Jews are anything but nice. Jews must serve God and their moral principles zealously, and how could humble people be zealous? Zeal is about certainty of one’s right and willingness to establish that right in the Land of Israel.

Nice Jews were supposed to talk nice, and rabbis invented the doctrine of evil tongue. What could be further from Judaism? It is the obligation of any Jew to talk bad—very bad—about deviants, and to denounce evildoers. That’s regardless of his or her own piety. Judges need not be unblemished and righteous in order to condemn sinners. The evil tongue is bad only if it spreads baseless rumors. Speaking evil of an evil person is an obligation. Jews need to denounce their own in order to cleanse society.

Modern rabbis have made Judaism into a copycat of Christianity by declaring “love your neighbor” to be the major commandment. It is only a technical commandment which bans inequality of aliens in the court of law. The major thing in Judaism is simply… Judaism. The Jews who oppose Judaism should be frowned at and expelled rather than loved. The rabbis’ toleration—even love—of all Jews sets a bad precedent: why, a common Jew asks himself, should I strive for righteousness if rabbis welcome even the sinners?

Rabbis thought that treating fellow Jews with respect (a realistic form of loving them) was the essence of the Torah. That kind of reasoning presumes society expunges evil from its midst. All Jews are fellows only in a relatively pure society. In the modern Diaspora or Israel there are many Jews whom the wildest lover of Jews wouldn’t call his fellows: atheist rabbis, corrupt politicians, the Peace Now members, ad infinitum. The injunction should be rephrased, with the emphasis on “fellow.” For example, “Treat with respect the Jews who accept Jewish values.” With such a wording, “Jews” becomes a meaningless qualification. A Gentile who accepts the yoke of Jewish values upon himself is as good as any Jew. The injunction can be meaningfully shortened to: “Respect those who accept Jewish values.” Such an injunction hinges on our own acceptance of Jewish values; we automatically respect those who share our system of values. The injunction, therefore, boils down to, “Accept Jewish values.” That is indeed the essence of the Torah.

Judaism is not a religion of self-immersion and quietly purifying one’s soul; it is not a monastic or individual religion. Judaism is about deeds, and the deeds invariably affect others: Arabs, homosexuals, criminals, and self-hating Jews. A peaceful homosexual next-door destroys the fundamental Jewish need for culturally homogenous neighbors. Atheist propaganda in school destroys even the best parents’ attempts to raise their children as good Jews. Good Jews cannot “live and let live,” but have to establish a Jewish habitat—not across the entire world, nor a continent-spanning empire, but on a tiny piece of land. It is the very smallness of the land which allows no compromise: the Jews literally have no room for compromise.

The reform rabbis initiate interfaith dialogues, speak about universal humanity (so marry a cannibal), and then are surprised at the assimilation rate. What is the Jewish identity if our first identification is with humanity? On the contrary, the identification goes from the strongest to the weakest—family, nation, Jewish population of the Land of Israel, civilization, then humanity. The last identification is all-inclusive and therefore meaningless: identification is only possible on the background of opposites. Why be Jewish if Jews are humans like any others? Their rich traditions don’t make French or Italians to refrain from marrying others or assimilating into other cultures. Why go to the Jewish temple if it is a house of worship on par with that of any other religion? Why be loyal to Judaism if it is a religion like any other? Judaism hinges on a single question: Did God reveal himself on Mount Sinai? Jews would flock to synagogues if rabbis answered that question with a wholehearted, resounding Yes. Strength feeds on itself. People join the strong both for security and out of snobbishness. When religious Jews make a strong, proud group, arrogant in its declared superiority, secular Jews will be happy to join them. The cure for assimilation is simple: strength of arms, associations, and beliefs. Assimilation is the consequence of political correctness; politically incorrect Jews who proclaim our religious superiority won’t assimilate.

Don’t be afraid to say that the Jewish way of life is inherently better than any other. Jews are more ethical because we adhere to more ethical prohibitions. Judaism is about strength—social and moral. Only a strong society can expel deviants for every moral offense. Only a strong society unrelentingly executes and otherwise punishes those who threaten its moral integrity and ritual purity. Only a strong society exterminates Amalek.

Strength inhibits assimilation. For American Jews, in the 1967 war “we won,” but in the peace process “they are giving the land away.” The Diaspora identifies with strong Israel, and dissociates from the weak.

I fell in love with Nietzsche the moment I read him praising the crowd of club-wielding Hebrews.