The Wicked Son
Encyclopedia
The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Jewish self-hatred, and the Jews is a collection of essays by playwright
David Mamet
, published by Nextbook/Schocken in 2006. (ISBN 9780805242072)
Mamet addresses the book "To the Jews…whose favorite Jew is Anne Frank
…who bow the head reverently at a baptism and have never attended a bris – to you, who find your religion and race repulsive, your ignorance of your history a satisfaction, here is a book from your brother." Mamet confronts his readers: "The world hates Jews. ... The world hates you."
Seder, four different sons ask a question. The wicked son asks, "What does this ritual mean to you?", in essence separating himself from the group by sarcastically and scornfully declaring that the ritual has no personal meaning for him. In a series of related essays, Mamet uses this concept of the wicked son as a symbol of the atheistic or agnostic self-hating Jew
in Western society.
Unlike more familiar defenses such as those by Alan Dershowitz
in The Case for Israel, Mamet focuses on what he sees as the anti-Semitic psychology and underlying double standards of attacks on Israel. He sees the media portrayal of Israel as “a modern instance of the blood libel - that Jews delight in the blood of others.” For example, he writes: “The everyday announcements of the so-called ‘cycle of violence’ in Israel are race slander, a pro-forma reminder of the availability of the Jews as an object of disgust.” He sees antisemitism in “the inability to assign to Israelis a basic humanity…the happy assignment of wicked motives to the Israeli soldier.” He underlines the double standard of antisemitism: “…’reprisals’…’retaliation’…the very words are revelatory, for such actions by the United States are known as ‘defense’…”
: "in the absence of God, lapsed Jews worship Man, power, gold. It is self-worship, the idolatry of human power."
“Our own enclave, the Jews, exists, in truth, in learning, containing wisdom, solace, tradition, and mutual support.” "Secular Jews reject their birthright of ‘connection to the Divine.’" “(Our religion) is a gift from God – what greater joy than to support it, to devote ourselves to it, and to enjoy it?”
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
, published by Nextbook/Schocken in 2006. (ISBN 9780805242072)
Mamet addresses the book "To the Jews…whose favorite Jew is Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
…who bow the head reverently at a baptism and have never attended a bris – to you, who find your religion and race repulsive, your ignorance of your history a satisfaction, here is a book from your brother." Mamet confronts his readers: "The world hates Jews. ... The world hates you."
Summary
In the PassoverPassover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
Seder, four different sons ask a question. The wicked son asks, "What does this ritual mean to you?", in essence separating himself from the group by sarcastically and scornfully declaring that the ritual has no personal meaning for him. In a series of related essays, Mamet uses this concept of the wicked son as a symbol of the atheistic or agnostic self-hating Jew
Self-hating Jew
Self-hating Jew is a term used to allege that a Jewish person holds antisemitic beliefs or engages in antisemitic actions. The concept gained widespread currency after Theodor Lessing's 1930 book Der Jüdische Selbsthass ; the term became "something of a key term of opprobrium in and beyond Cold...
in Western society.
Israel
Mamet gives his own personal, unapologetic explanation of Israel’s situation. He declares that “The Jewish State has offered the Arab world peace since 1948; it has received war, and slaughter, and the rhetoric of annihilation.” He notes that “It is a country, and like any country, will make mistakes.” Yet as Mamet sees it, Israel is “not by proof, but by the mere process of indictment, excluded from the family of humankind.”Unlike more familiar defenses such as those by Alan Dershowitz
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...
in The Case for Israel, Mamet focuses on what he sees as the anti-Semitic psychology and underlying double standards of attacks on Israel. He sees the media portrayal of Israel as “a modern instance of the blood libel - that Jews delight in the blood of others.” For example, he writes: “The everyday announcements of the so-called ‘cycle of violence’ in Israel are race slander, a pro-forma reminder of the availability of the Jews as an object of disgust.” He sees antisemitism in “the inability to assign to Israelis a basic humanity…the happy assignment of wicked motives to the Israeli soldier.” He underlines the double standard of antisemitism: “…’reprisals’…’retaliation’…the very words are revelatory, for such actions by the United States are known as ‘defense’…”
Jewish identity
Mamet goes on to analyze what happens when Jews abandon loyalty to their religion and tradition in order, as he sees it, to find acceptance in Israel-bashing liberal society. "It is the sin of the spies, a ‘coward generation’ with a ‘lack of belief in God.’ People have a drive to worship something, and will fill the void left by rejecting God by worshipping sports, celebrities, ‘wealth, fame, status, sex, physical fitness, good works, human perfectibility.” (p62) In the lavish bar mitzvah, Mamet sees the sin of the golden calfGolden calf
According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai...
: "in the absence of God, lapsed Jews worship Man, power, gold. It is self-worship, the idolatry of human power."
“Our own enclave, the Jews, exists, in truth, in learning, containing wisdom, solace, tradition, and mutual support.” "Secular Jews reject their birthright of ‘connection to the Divine.’" “(Our religion) is a gift from God – what greater joy than to support it, to devote ourselves to it, and to enjoy it?”
Reviews
- David Margolick, Maybe I Am Chopped Liver, (Review of The Wicked Son), New York Times, November 5, 2006.
- Abigail Radoszkowicz, Rites and wrongs, Jerusalem Post, November 16, 2006.
- Shaun Smith, The only good Jew is a very angry Jew, Toronto StarToronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, April 1, 2007 - Tom Teicholz, David Mamet has one question—for the wicked son, The Jewish Journal, November 9, 2006