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MINITHREAD: SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT SHELDON ADELSON
When I heard the news about the death of Sheldon Adelson, I felt the same emotions that are so inevitable whenever the Jewish community loses a well-known Jewish personality with a complex history.
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When I heard the news about the death of Sheldon Adelson, I felt the same emotions that are so inevitable whenever the Jewish community loses a well-known Jewish personality with a complex history.
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On the one hand, he will be remembered for his incredible philanthropic contributions; on the other hand, he will be reviled for his political contributions to conservative causes and his gambling enterprises.
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But his story is an interesting one and not something that can be condensed into merely a positive remark or a negative dismissal. Like so many Jewish individuals of his generation, he grew up poor and made good through hard work and perseverance.
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(Mike Bloomberg is another individual who comes to mind in this regard.)
Adelson’s support of many causes that I don’t agree with contrasts with his tzedakah - an essential Jewish value that informs charitable giving in our community.
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Adelson’s support of many causes that I don’t agree with contrasts with his tzedakah - an essential Jewish value that informs charitable giving in our community.
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These elements help form a complicated person who, like all complicated people, cannot be lumped into one reviewable category.
Yet that’s exactly what antisemites do when they refer to him.
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Yet that’s exactly what antisemites do when they refer to him.
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Adelson, in the antisemite’s mind, is as bad as the Rothschilds and had become a favorite target via online memes and other digital content. His financial endeavors have led white supremacists & far-left antisemites both the paint him as the epitome of the Subversive Jew:
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the conniving, ugly Jewish man who continually undermines society through his puppeteering of governments and financial dealings. These bigots focus on Adelson’s appearance as an elderly man - to them, his purportedly homely physiognomy demonstrated his evil intentions ...
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a stereotypically Jewish trait.
Antisemites, like all prejudiced individuals, always focus on the superficial. That their understanding of Adelson is limited to what they find on the Internet relating to his recent efforts and appearance rather than his history provides ...
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Antisemites, like all prejudiced individuals, always focus on the superficial. That their understanding of Adelson is limited to what they find on the Internet relating to his recent efforts and appearance rather than his history provides ...
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further evidence of their inane, determinedly offensive embrace of sophistic belief systems and disciplines, such as phrenology.
I expect there is a lot of rejoicing within the antisemitic contingent, given their loathing of Adelson.
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I expect there is a lot of rejoicing within the antisemitic contingent, given their loathing of Adelson.
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They’re fixated on him as a symbol of Jewish wealth. Happily, most people don’t subscribe to such nonsense, viewing him instead as a complicated personality who mixed good with bad - &, like all such human beings, made a significant impact on the world.
That is his legacy.
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That is his legacy.
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