Golus (or Galut) is the Jewish Diaspora. It's a curse.
Jews do not live in the Galus by choice. About two millennia ago we were forcibly evicted from Israel, where we belong. The traumatic and continuing ramifications of that event pervade many aspects of our existence today.
Our lives in the Diaspora have rarely been happy. Some major events come to mind - the Crusades, the Inquisition, the expulsion from Spain, and the Holocaust. Go ahead and add more examples to the list. It's the story of Jewish history.
However, the intervening "good" years may be even more revealing of our golus mentality than the bad years. They help remind us that they we are not really accepted as guests in our host's countries. That is, unless we want to ignore the obvious messages and signs.
Let's view the situation facing today's Jews in certain parts of the Golus. They live in relative security.
After an antisemitic event occurs in Israel, some Golus Jews come out with proclamations to the media. They try to assuage the intolerable and inexcusable situation with a series of unacceptable excuses. They may deny its severity or proximity. Tsk, tsk - too bad it happened to "them." I'm sure that it can't happen to me, or to us. That event happened miles away - or around the corner - or to an unfortunate neighbor, but that's OK. I'm safe here in Golus.
Some of our other brethren use advanced forms of denial in order to "prove" that a given antisemitic event differs from the norm in their location. For some reason, they feel that this demonstrates that it should be ignored.
Perhaps our collective Golus mentality serves a purpose. It helps Jews justify their continued life in the Diaspora. However, it doesn't change the facts.
It also does not change the effects. Our Golus mentality has pervaded and infiltrated our personas.
The time has come for Jews to end their Golus mentality. We must decry antisemitism.
We should not try to distort or to contort facts; we should not try to show that anti-Jewish events don't or didn't happen, and we should not make an effort to demonstrate how "this situation is different" or acceptable. The mass media in our host countries, as well as many discussion forums on the Internet, twist the facts too much already. We don't have to help them.
Until that time comes, we shall continue to live in the Golus, and the Golus will continue to live in us.
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