Do not reach out for something which is not yours !

B"H

In Germany, it has been quite popular for Gentiles to present or introduce themselves as "Jewish". This kind of behaviour cannot be called a "sport" or "fun" but those non - Jewish Germans presenting themselves as Jewish are serious. At the very moment they are telling their environment that they are Jewish, they even believe it themselves.

Not only once I have witnessed it in Israel: Suddenly a German tourist claims that he may be Jewish but he has no papers. The claim is mostly a lie and mainly used by Christian missionaries. However, regarding the German false "Jews", people make the Jewish claim for two reasons:

1. They are really Christian missionaries and try convincing their environment of their false Jewish identity.

2. Having a bad concience regarding the Holocaust and in order to get rid of it, some Germans take the role of the Jewish "victim". Thus, creating a different identity and, at the same time, getting rid of the role as a "murderer".

It may sound strange to foreigners but it is extremely hard to describe German behaviour in regard to the Holocaust.

A Christian making the claim to be Jewish is not necessarily a German problem but is being used by all kinds of Christian missionaries. How many times have I met Christian tourists in Jerusalem who suddenly announced that they were actually Jewish ? They don't have any documents nor were their ancestors Jewish but they have a "feeling". 

When I hear those false claims from Germans or international Christians I am immediately thinking of a certain Talmud teaching where it says that "One should not reach out for something which isn't his". Meaning that G - d is running the world and it is Him deciding which person is reaching a special task in life. The Talmud, for instance, gives King David's son, Avshalom, as an example. Avshalom was striving for a position which was not meant to be his but the one of his father. This is why Avshalom could not be king and, in the end, died.  The same happened to Korach who rebelled against Moshe. Also here we see that Korach was not meant to be the leader of the Jews but only Moshe. Therefore Korach failed. 

It is important that we realize our own capacities and do not reach out into other fields for tasks we are not able to fulfill. A Jew is not only a Jew but, as Kabbalists and the Alter Lubavitcher Rebbe in his book TANYA stressed: "A Jew has a Jewish soul and therefore also different tasks in this world". A Jew has the task to correct this world (Tikun Olam) and his own soul (Tikun) by fulfilling Mitzvot and walking in the way of G - d. Through certain actions, a Jew can cause something in this world wheras a Gentile has totally different tasks. He cannot take over the tasks of the Jews, as he is not meant to do so unless he is converting to Judaism.

G - d created Jews and Gentiles and each of the two groups have their own tasks in life. Obviously G - d wants Jews and Gentiles, otherwise He would have only created Jews or only Gentiles. If the Christians stuck to their own tasks and weren't constantly intruding the Jewish world, we would get along much better.