Illusion of Safety
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International

March 12, 2017, Judea, Israel

Ah, how we love illusions!

I was just watching a video of wealthy Jews in Vienna, Austria, circa 1930's. How happy they were. How comfortable they felt. They had a knack for business and built huge industrial empires. The sugar industry, the banking industry.

And they did not forget the little people. They donated generously to the "common man". They supported social causes. They sponsored young talent: they were patrons of the arts, music, painting, sculpture.

There was even one shop owner who felt pity for a young artist with no real talent, a drifter by the name of Adolf Hitler. The Jewish Samuel Morgenstern bought Hitlers' landscape drawings and sold them in his store, convincing customers to buy them. (Many Jews in fact showed kindness to the young Austrian loser)

Many Jews were successful and contributed greatly to the economy. They thought they would be appreciated, they thought they would fit in. They thought....but they were wrong.

The others viewed them quite differently. The envied them and were happy to get rid of them as soon as the opportunity arose. 

New leaders were emerging. They stood at street corners and preached their gospel. But those who would soon pay the price ignored the warning.

I was watching a video and the Jews in this video were so happy, vacationing, dancing, enjoying themselves. They had become complacent; they had bought their own illusions. They were living a life of delusion.

I was watching their home video and thinking, they had no idea what was about to unfold. They were too comfortable. Life was so good and they could not imagine that things might change. How we love to ignore the danger. How we love to live a life of illusions.

But reality has a way of waking us up, often too late.  We like to feel safe and each day that passes without violence helps us feed this fantasy. The police are not fooled, they live with this violence every day, they know the truth but keep quiet because no one wants to hear about it. It is not polite conversation.

So we carry on, we smile, we laugh, and we are not preparing ourselves.

Often while engaging in conversation, I will stop and say, "While we have been chatting several women have been raped, several people have been shot, several homes have been invaded. How do you feel about that?"

That usually does not make people feel very comfortable, of course that is not my goal.

How many people are actively involved in self defense training? And what are most Krav Maga associations doing? I will tell you. They are trying to recruit other Krav Maga schools. They are writing to Krav Maga instructors and offering them free ranks and financial incentives to join their particular association. But are they reaching out to the public that truly needs training?

I ask you, dear reader, to think about self defense training, to spread the word, to stop living a fantasy life. Danger is all around us, that is reality. Just ask any police officer.

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Ancient Jewish warrior, Judea. Original art work by Arie Katz, IDF paratrooper.

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