One look at Biblical history, however, proves the exact opposite to be true: Time and time again, Israel’s narrative is one of the individual attempting to lead the nation out of collective misery. The most notable example, Moses, was a total loner. Born a Hebrew but raised in an Egyptian household, he spent most of his life living among desert tribesman before returning to lead his people Israel out of bondage. Five minutes into their journey, the Hebrews begged for a return to slavery and spent most of their 40 years in the desert whining about how much better it was to stomp straw into bricks than be free and on their way to their own Mediterranean beach front real estate.
A few generations later, the young nation of Israel begged their prophet Samuel, “Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations.” This collective desire to be lorded over by another human being translated into a series of largely corrupt lunatics (with one glowing exception) who weakened the kingdom and left it vulnerable to eventual attack and destruction by surrounding tribes and nations who drove the people of Israel into exile.
Of course, a series of prophets repeatedly arose to warn Israel of impending disaster. These individuals, like the Judges before them, ranged from members of guilds and Temple service to average farmers, but they shared a few common traits. They each stood out as a lone voice of warning in the crowd, they were pretty much all thought of as lunatics, and the majority of them suffered horrible fates at the hands of the collective population of Israel who just wanted them to shut up.
In fact, Biblically speaking, Jewish collectivism has clamored for a return to slavery, sought to empower kings, was cool with being governed by corruption, and slandered, ostracized, evicted, and even stoned the only individuals who tried to get them out of their own collective mess. (So much for trying to be your brother’s keeper.)
The situation didn’t get much better after the Tanakh ended, either. More corruption in the priesthood led to Israel’s own Vichy of sorts—a Roman rule mediated by a crooked Jewish priesthood that led to a series of Zionist revolts, ending in the destruction of yet another Temple and a 2,000-year long Diaspora.
Next: The Baseless Hatred of the Collective…
