The Sigma Jew: The Ontological “not giving a fuck”

By: Jonathan Seidel

The Jew is the ultimate sigma. There is a notion that two types of people exist alphas and betas, recently more have entered the scene namely sigmas omegas and gammas. These constitute personality types. The sigma is associated famously with the John Wick movies. A total introverted independent badass. This Wickian individual is void of traditional hierarchies. He does not try to fit in and is self-motivated to his own goals. He is mysterious following a personal method of living, one that differs from the norm. He is a nonconformist living by his values and aspirations. 

The Jew is notably the outcast and isolated from the middle. He is persecuted for who he is. Dating all the way back to Egyptian racism then to Haman’s plot to hellenistic universalism to theological monism to modern programs and Nazi genocide to contemporary discrimination. The Jew is attacked for his ontology. He is different. For the Egyptians, it disgusted them to eat with Hebrews (though this may have less to do with blunt racism and more to do with the Hebrew sheep diet). Haman sought to destroy the Jews for their difference for acting incongruently with the Persian monarchy (or due to his Amalekite heritage and used that reasoning to sway the king). The Greeks and Romans attempted to preach their own vision at the expense of others. This universalistic model persisted with Christianity and Islam. Jews were forbidden to safely religiously express themselves and in the latter were excluded and regarded as second class citizens. More recently the idea of uniform measures in communist Russia and Nazi Germany fuelled harms against Jews for acting differently. Today, Israel is discriminated against. There is a genuine proposal due to the complexity of the situation but there is evidently an anti-semitic strand. The UN human rights councils’ horrid persona and sole Israeli targeting points to a greater chasm than ethical troubling.   

To a certain degree this is the Jew’s fault. He chose to be different. Traditionally God commanded difference with the consequences involved. The monotheistic theology and human participation were novelties in the ancient world; a revolutionary attack on paganistic ideology. The prophets and then sages kept preaching a specific particularism. Jews have a rigid blueprint that contradicts much of the rest of the world. Yet, it is forlorn to simply conclude it is due to ritual practices. There are underpinning values diverging from societal coercion. It is this difference that enables growth via particularised pursuit. It is the Jew’s will not the world’s will to conform. When Jews conform they are lost hence the haskalah movement and mass assimilation. The rituals supply a systematic blueprint to maintain a cherished life philosophy. 

The Jew has his own cultural mission. A mission that is God given not societally demanded. By living outside the frame, the Jew remains honest to his core with his integrity in check. For this preempted alienation the Nazis responded by physically excluded Jews to a point of genocide while Heidegger (Nazi party member) excluded Jews philosophically due to their transcendence. Both denied Jews on ethnic grounds. The Jewish difference is the power of independence and confidence. Jewish difference is baked into his ontology. He is by virtue different in the way he acts. He demonstrates varied merits unfounded in other cultures. It is not merely the ritual but what it represents. 

The Jew is a lone wolf. He is an isolated being. His tradition is filled with such characters. Noah alone distances himself from the cruelty of his time to listen to God and save himself, Abraham alone leaves his homeland to follow the divine call. Moses enters to dismantle controversy multiple times in his youth, David and Solomon in their own right carve unique paths. Ruth also fits the bill of a women who though not born a Jew (yet a descendent of Abraham influence) chose the lone wolf route of becoming a Jew via her conversion. The narratives are filled with independent choices to form fulfilling destinies. Even internally thinkers like Maimonides, Kook, Soloveitchik, Baal Shem Tov produced significant revolutions. The sigma vibe is not solely a grandiose ideal to the nation but to insular individuals as well. 

A great contemporary example is the Aliyah rate. People leaving their comfortable homes in the US to move to a foreign land with a different language and culture. An ideological thrust compels the move. I have the utmost respect for those who leave their families at eighteen to join the IDF and then remain studying and working. I am fortunate to be part of this group. It was not easy nor simple. Yet, there was a valuational tug motivating us to take the leap. We do miss our family and friends but our convictions  are more important. We live by what we believe. Our convictions take precedence. The Jew is the ultimate loner in the world to what Soloveitchik was correct in existential loneliness. It is not only supernaturally but also naturally. Spiritual disenchantment is tough but so is social isolation. The Jew lives in his own world but it is his conviction and his surrounding support that propels him forward. 

        The Irony is the hatred is the Jew's success through it all. He excelled despite prejudice but was targeted nonetheless for his success. William of Orange brought the Jews to England to aid the economy and when they succeeded were exiled. Referring to the past two examples of Russia and Germany. Jews pushed for the socialist cause putting the Czar out of power and then were punished for their heritage. German Jews as well though aided in Germany's development were ostracised backstabbed by their former colleagues. Yet, what did the Jew do in each of these situations, he fought back whether physically or emotionally. During the hellenistic periods they fought with swords but their defiance also lay in their continued observance of rituals against prohibition. After the holocaust, Jews picked up and started over. The greatest power of the Jew is not necessarily to tower over his opponent like an alpha but to persistently thrive like a sigma. The Jew beat them all. They all in ruin and he yet lives not just surviving but thriving, "what is the secret of his immortality?"