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Why the Jews?
The outpouring of love and support for Jews following the Pittsburgh synagogue shootings has deeply touched me. I’m not surprised by it, but the reminder of the inclusiveness in our community is one more tribute to Ricochet. In one of the many posts I read, someone asked, “Why have the Jews always been treated this way?” It may have been a rhetorical question, but I took it at face value and decided to share my views about the reasons for anti-Semitism.
It’s important to say at the start that there is no way to provide every explanation for anti-Semitism:
Perhaps the most striking facet about Jew-hatred is its irrationality. There are as many reasons for hating Jews as there are people. Everything that upsets, hurts, or displeases people they often attribute to the Jews. Jews have been blamed for manipulating the media to their needs, usury, blood libels of various forms, well poisoning, dominating slave trade, disloyalty to their host countries, organ harvesting and AIDS spreading.
In addition, the Jews are not the only group that experiences hatred of others. You only need to look at the list of 20th and 21st genocides to see that the Jews are not uniquely victims of hatred.
The Jews have endured as a people and religion, however, longer than any other group, and have been on the receiving end of loathing and violence for a very long time:
Between the years 250 CE and 1948 CE — a period of 1,700 years — Jews have experienced more than eighty expulsions from various countries in Europe — an average of nearly one expulsion every twenty-one years. Jews were expelled from England, France, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Bohemia, Moravia and seventy-one other countries.
The reasons for these rejections vary, but here are a few:
Economic reasons: Even though Jews as a whole were often among the poorest people in any given population, they also included people who were financially successful. Part of the reason for their success was because Jews were strong advocates of education in their families; they also were unable to own land in many countries and therefore developed a reputation as moneylenders, a profession open to them. As a result, they were seen making profits on the backs of others by charging interest (although Jews were not permitted to charge interest to other Jews).
Deicide: Historically the Jews were blamed for killing Jesus. In 2011, however, Pope Benedict VI declared that the Jewish people were not collectively responsible for the death of Jesus. Nevertheless, there are Christians who hold to this belief and hold all Jews responsible for killing Jesus.
Outsiders: Many people regard Jews as outsiders for many reasons, particularly their Jewish practices and in some cases, their appearance and clothing. Jewish efforts to assimilate were not successful, however, as we saw in the actions of Nazi Germany.
Despised Race: Calling the Jews a race is incorrect; Jews are represented in most races of the world and are not exclusively any race. Not only that, anyone can convert to Judaism.
Chosen People: In spite of the Jews being labeled as elitists for their designation as a chosen people, that call from G-d is not always easy. “Chosen” speaks to the command by G-d that we are to bring the Noahide Laws to the rest of the world: not to worship idols, not to curse G-d, to establish courts of justice, not to commit murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, and not to eat flesh torn from a living animal. Many of us live out these laws simply through our own example; it is a great responsibility, not to be taken lightly.
The most recent attacks on Jews come from the hatred of Israel and Zionism. There are some who say that Judaism and Zionism can’t be conflated, but for all intents and purposes to our enemies, they are the same.
For another description of the reasons Jews are hated, you might want to view this video.
All of these reasons could, of course, be listed in more detail, depending on the time period and the civilization in which Jews have lived.
Can anything be done to eradicate anti-Semitism? I think not, although there are many things that can be done to help protect and defend Jews, by Jews themselves, by their countries and communities. But this is one reason why I think it will persist:
A conviction that Jews are responsible for all the problems and must therefore fix them implies that anti-Semitism does not arise during crises because Jews are easy scapegoats, as some believe. Quite the contrary, in people‘s eyes Jews are indeed the perpetrators. When things are fine people let Jews be. But when troubles ensue, the Jews are blamed for causing it. Evidently, willingly or unwillingly, Jews never stopped being the chosen people—chosen to fix the world. And the reason why there is anti-Semitism is very simply that the world is still not fixed.
And so it is.
Published in Religion & Philosophy
Ethnic Indians made up most of Uganda’s banking and merchant class; Idi Amin had them expelled from the country in the early 70s.
[crash position]
I don’t think anti-semitism actually has much to do with anti-semites. And it goes far beyond Jews being “the other” or successful or (in my case) insufferable.
Anti-semitism exists because G-d keeps reminding Jews that we are here for a purpose. We do not fulfill that purpose by being passive, or by simply relying on G-d to handle our problems for us. We fulfill our purpose by actively working to make this world a better place. And anytime or anywhere we forget or stray too far, G-d reminds us.
We are not one nation among many. We are uniquely Called to invest and risk and educate and grow and push. It is a dynamic and constantly-demanding calling.
Anti-Semitism is purely biblical. It will be with us until we have finished what we are here to do.
Walther Rathenau, a Prussiophile, may have saved the German General Staff from early and ignominious defeat in WWI, as he caught a strategic logistical planning failure just in time. He was objectively a hero of the nation, yet always in a precarious position. He was assassinated in the early 1920s by those who wanted the civilian Weimar government to fail, hoping to bring the military back to effective power.
Hey there, @ArizonaPatriot!
I hope you don’t mind if I break your comment down a bit.
For remaining distinct? Is that really a bad thing?
Please appreciate that we have never been an invasion force, or threatened to become one. That is a big difference.
Not so. We invariably learn the native language. Sometimes we even become quite good at it. Hebrew (or sometimes Yiddish or Latino) are used for religious or deeply cultural purposes, but Jews the world over speak the language of their host countries.
Guilty as charged!
Sort of. I have been called by many Europeans “the most American American I have ever met.” Jews in America are often deeply patriotic, and lovers of this country. American tolerance for other religions is one of its most beautiful features.
It may seem that way to the outside world. Speaking as a Jewish businessman – it is not so. The vast majority of the people I work with are not Jews, and Jews do not get special treatment.
Actually, this is not correct at all. Kosher food is found throughout supermarkets across the land, and it is NOT usually prepared by Jews. It is supervised to ensure that it is suitable for us. I’d wager that most of the food you eat would be considered strictly kosher at point of sale – we just don’t make a big deal out of it.
Also: “unclean” is a bad translation. Kosher food is “capable of elevation.” Because we try to elevate everything. Is that so bad?
Not so – most of my best friends are Gentiles. I eat with them all the time. I just am careful what I eat. You are more than welcome to join the iWe clan at our Shabbos table!!!
And there is no concept of non-Jews being dirty. “Dirty” is much more regularly applied to my people.
Guilty. Interestingly enough, this is not racial at all (Jews come in all colours). It is about belief and practise. If you thought you were the critical link in an unbroken chain going back thousands of years, would you want to be the person to break the chain?
How would you feel if a child of yours wanted to become a muslim? Or a Hutu?
Communities are tight things. Our communities stand for our traditions. If we include people who spit on our traditions within our communities… would there be a reason for it to continue to exist?
With the above corrections, would you? After all, I love and respect other people. I recognize that each person has their own path. I am a very American American. Is my desire for historical relevance and the resulting ambition really disqualifying as an American?
I think it’s Sowell that puts your economic reasons at the top. Other outsider minorities who acted as intermediaries in money and goods, Indians in Africa, overseas Chinese in Indonesia, Malaysia, Western US, Armenians and others I can’t recall, all had the privilege of being persecuted and often murdered. The Jewish diaspora played this role more often and globally and given the other reasons you list, got singled out more often and more regularly.
When we say other, it’s more than just being a minority outgoup; there is a rootedness, and moral foundation that keeps Jews “other” when centralized regimes, whether totalitarian or just authoritarian seek conformity. This role earned Christians some of the same treatment when they were minorities such as in Japan and now in the secularizing West. I’d go so far as to say that when evil grows in power and influence the Jews and now the Christians become targets if they continue to embrace their commandments. The growing anti semitism should be a wake up call for all the west.
So very true.
Thank you so very much, @iwe! This is a brilliant response to @arizonapatriot. @arizonapatriot, I refer you to @iwe who offers a much better response to your remarks than I could have. I’m baffled by your remarks: have you been around Jews very much? I fear you have fallen victim to much of the anti-Semitic ideas that abound. I would also add (and @iwe can correct me if I’m wrong) that part of the lesson from the tower of Babel was not just Jews elevating themselves to the level of the Divine, but because they were not to seclude themselves from the rest of humanity, but to influence humanity in positive ways. So G-d forced them out into the world. Orthodox Jews whom I know may reside within Jewish communities (most Jews do not and in fact have assimilated) but are very active in the world, as @iwe suggested. Every other description you’ve offered doesn’t apply to any Jew I know.
I believe the coast is clear!
I’ve been around Jews, and had Jewish friends, virtually my entire life. As a teen, I could almost recite the Bar Mitzvah lines, having heard so many friends say them. I actually discovered recently, from a DNA test on my sister, that I have a small amount of Jewish ancestry (about 3%), and I was happy about this.
I appreciate all of the feedback about my comment. This is an entirely new thought to me. I really have been a completely pro-Israel philosemite for my entire life.
I did not principally refer to Jewish lack of assimilation in America. I stated that Jews largely have assimilated in America. I was looking at problems in other countries, where there was not assimilation, historically speaking.
As I also stated, my views have not changed, but I’m seeing the situation from more than one perspective now.
@iwe, could you elaborate on this sentence? I’m trying to figure out if you’re saying that G-d allows people to “attack” Jews because we’re not fulfilling this purpose, or if G-d somehow instigates people to act against us because we are falling short.
iWe, I appreciate your response. These are new thoughts to me, frankly. Also, I was referring to historic Jewish practices in other countries, not in America. I’m going to respond, and perhaps seek further insight, about a few of your comments.
I understand, but historically, I think that they typically used their own language among themselves. This leads to inherent distrust, as it allows you to hide what you are saying from others.
Again, I know that this does not generally apply to American Jews, and there may be a translation issue. I was referring to historic Jewish practices that, I think, contributed to the centuries of hostility directed at Jews in other countries.
On the translation question, my impression comes from Acts, especially chapter 10 (Peter’s visit to Cornelius and his vision). The translation of prohibited food is consistently “unclean” in many translations. I do understand that these are English translations of a text originally written in Greek. The same term is used in the English translation of the Hebrew portions of the Bible.
However, here is a reference to Jewish law prohibiting both: (1) eating food prepared by non-Jews, and (2) eating with non-Jews. I know that many American Jews don’t follow traditional Jewish law on these issues, but that is because they have assimilated.
I also fully understand the importance of these rules in maintaining the existence of the Jewish people. Assimilation would have led to the end of the Jews as a people. I do not want this to happen.
In “Anti-Semite and Jew,” Jean-Paul Sartre explained Jewish survival as a consequence of persecution. That’s not an explanation that is in line with Jewish thought or belief and neither is the idea that anti-Semitic abuse is in some sense a wake up call to take action of one sort or another.
We cannot understand G-d’s ways and anti-Semitism is ultimately without explanation. Here is one analogy that has been advanced to understand anti-Semitic horrors in a positive light. If you knew nothing about medicine and were taken to an operating room, you would be shocked to see masked men and women taking out knives and cutting open a living, breathing human being. You would be under the impression that they had come to murder a helpless victim. So, too, the Jewish people (the patient undergoing surgery) are tortured and killed because of a higher purpose that could only be imaginrf and brought to fruition by G-d Himself.
The horrors of the Holocaust gave the nations of the world a brief moment of guilt that lasted long enough to vote to accept the independent sovereignty of the State of Israel (in the UN in 1948). When you finish walking through Yad VaShem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, you emerge onto a landing with a panoramic view of the Jerusalem Forest. Yes, the Holocaust was part of G-d’s plan in bringing the world to understand finally that Jews had an age old right to live freely in ancient Israel, a land of their own.
I’m going to continue with the discussion. Again, thanks for your forbearance.
No. But the apparent rule in our culture is that I would be a prejudiced bigot if, for example, I didn’t want my child to marry a black person or a Muslim or, more to the point, a Jew. My point is simply that a group that refuses to intermarry is, inherently, expressing a deep rejection of the other culture or national group.
I understand, I would not want these things. But I also know that I would be accused of prejudice and bigotry for expressing such an opinion.
Again, my original comment did not refer to American Jews. Most American Jews have assimilated, and my impression is that America is the first place where we have seen such a level of assimilation. My main point was that the lack of assimilation was one of the major factors that led to the historic oppression of Jewish people in many countries, and that this is understandable, because refusal to assimilate is going to be a source of continuous conflict with a host country or culture.
We are, right now, seeing precisely this problem with Muslim immigration, particularly in Europe. This is a very painful and uncomfortable topic. Douglas Murray has done excellent work on it, with his new book The Death of Europe. Immigrants who do not assimilate will inherently change the culture of the host country, and I think that it is perfectly reasonable for the people of the host country to prefer not to change.
Well, in a sense I have NOT assimilated. Not in any ways that, to me, would constitute compromising my principles. I try to uphold Torah values even when they are at odds with the common culture.
Are you suggesting that if Jews dress differently than other people, for example, that anti-semitism has some merit?
It is the reason Haman saved the Jews – the anti-semitism of the Purim story kept us Jewish when, at the beginning of Megillah Esther, the people were assimilating.
One way or another people rise up to kill us when we are not doing our job.
I’ll break these into bite-sized pieces.
Sure. But any culture has its internal language, ways of identifying insiders and outsiders.
America tolerates differences, especially religious differences. It was really the first country to do so on a widespread basis (after Amsterdam). Those differences come with baggage.
I appreciate that refusing to become Christian was a perfectly good reason to demonize, oppress and even sometimes kill Jews in medieval Europe. It was not only about Jews, of course. Battles between different Christian denominations were not always sweetness and light either.
I have no need to defend Judaism based on the errors of others.
Yes. It is common, but also very much in error. The meaning of kosher food is for the purpose of being able to elevate ourselves and the world around us. The Hebrew words for “tahor” and “tamei” have nothing to do with cleanliness.
Not quite. First off, I am a strictly observant Jew, and I follow the law as carefully as I know how. The texts you brought deals with separate issues.
First off: Food that is prepared in service to an idol is strictly forbidden. So, for example, a kosher Indian restaurant lost its Kosher license when the waiters would “offer” the food to the idol on the wall before it got to the table. “Idol Worshipper” is NOT the same as “non-Jew.”
Separately the laws of food prepared by non-Jews are quite detailed and specific – and again are about ensuring that the food has been prepared carefully. In kosher restaurants, for example, a single knowledgeable person will turn on the oven in the morning, as part of making sure that food is prepared in accordance with our laws and customs. But the rest of the food preparation can (and usually IS) done by non-Jews.
That is really only a collateral point. The rules exist because they are our way of trying to be a holy nation following the Torah and our highly developed Oral Law – NOT to separate ourselves from outsiders.
This Jewish Thinker disagrees. Survival is at least partly due to persecution.
Similarly, I believe this is an error. G-d gave the world Free Will, which means that bad people are free to kill us. We are commanded to engage in this world – and that means actively opposing evil.
Of course we can. Knowing G-d is a commandment. He made this world something we can – and should – seek to understand.
Ibid.
Ah! There is a HUGE distinction to be made between rejecting someone because of their nature or nature or rejecting them because of their CHOICES.
Ultimately, Jews do not oppose marrying someone who is of a different race, or was brought up in a different environment. We care about what someone views to be important.
So in part I agree with you: rejecting a marriage because the person is not Jewish (in blood) is basically racism. Rejecting a marriage because a person does not have a growing relationship with G-d and His Torah is just common sense.
I do not want to invest in my children only to have them reject everything that I believe is important in this world. What kind of parent would?
Again, the distinction I am making is about a person as defined by their choices. This is not racism in any form.
I have no problem with this position. Of course, it depends on the nature of the host culture and country.
Certainly.
And I agree that Jews also change a host country. But here’s the rub: I think Torah Judaism changes the world for the better (If I did not think this, I would not choose to be Jewish!). And Islam clearly does not.
iWe and Susan:
Thanks for your responses. I’m thinking through some new ideas here, and I don’t like where they seem to lead. I’m trying to be rational about it, which may be a part of the problem. I do not believe that morality can be entirely rational.
FYI, I don’t think that it’s been exposure to some white supremacist or anti-Semitic websites or views that have led me to this thinking. I admit that I visited Richard Spencer’s website once, but it was a while ago at the time of the Charlottesville demonstrations and attack, and my purpose was to determine whether or not he really was some sort of neo-Nazi. This smear has been directed at so many decent people, from George W. Bush and Mitt Romney to Charles Murray, that I tend to disbelieve it. I was somewhat surprised to find that Spencer actually was a white supremacist, and I determined that I never needed to listen to him again.
My principal sources for a new perspective are unusual — Douglas Murray, Ben Shapiro, Jonathan Haidt, and Jordan Peterson. Not a group that one would expect to lead to an anti-Semitic view, and I don’t think that I’m becoming an anti-Semite. What I’m starting to suspect is that I have a special rule for the Jews (and the Amish, by the way), and that for some reason I seem to be willing to tolerate cultural deviation from these groups that I doubt I would be willing to happily tolerate in others.
We are tribal creatures existing within a culture. We tend to like and value our culture, and this seems necessary to me, as if we do not, we will not defend or transmit that culture, and it will die. I don’t demand that other people around the world adhere to my culture, but I do demand that I be allowed to do so myself, in my own country. I generally accord the same courtesy to other countries.
It is very difficult for people of different cultures to live closely together. It has worked almost nowhere. I think that this is because it’s not really possible to live inside your culture if it is intermixed with another culture, or with multiple other cultures. This has been Douglas Murray’s point in some recent discussions, and Mark Steyn’s point before him.
I think that America has worked because immigrant groups have assimilated to the original culture, which was principally Anglo-American Nonconformist Protestantism. This is breaking down, which I think is leading to our increasing political polarization and strife.
Now, let me anticipate the objection. I wrote:
How dare I say “my own country”? This country belongs to all of us! Americans can do whatever they darned well please.
But once your culture is broad enough to encompass everything and everyone, it stands for nothing. There is no common ground anymore, if all that we stand for is tolerance and diversity. I notice, by the way, that the most vocal proponents of tolerance and diversity are completely intolerant of my traditional moral views, and their idea of diversity is to openly discriminate against, and even celebrate the eventual hoped-for extinction of, my group.
I might also point out that this is “my culture” in “my country” because I have assimilated to it. I have joined the common culture. It took three generations in the case of my family. Of my original immigrant ancestors, none were British, none were Protestant, and none were English-speaking. The Italian half of my family was not really even considered “white” at the time.
Here’s the good thing about our culture. People of all racial and ethnic backgrounds can be a full part of it. But to do so, it seems to me that they have to join it.
I don’t mean “have to” to imply that we should impose a legal requirement for conformity. What I mean is that you can’t actually have a common culture unless you have a common language and a common set of beliefs and practices. Those who don’t conform are excluded from the group.
Which, wrapping around to the OP and my original comment, is precisely what Jews have historically done with their separatist practices, and what they continue to do in America, to some extent. Those who do not conform — say by marrying a non-Jew — are ejected from the group.
My objection is that our current political climate seems to think that this is a perfectly proper and appropriate thing for all minority groups to do, but that it somehow becomes completely improper, immoral, bigoted, and prejudiced if the majority group does the same thing. This not only seems unfair, but also seems to undermine the very ideal of assimilation that has made America a success.
I’m struggling with this comment, @yehoshuabeneliyahu. There are so many Jews who left Judaism because they couldn’t understand how G-d could let the Holocaust happen. I’ve believed that G-d intervenes or doesn’t on the horrors that men create upon each other. But to say that the Holocaust was part of G-d’s plan is difficult to swallow. Since we can’t know G-d’s motives or His mind, what brings you to that conclusion?
I never got anti-Semitism. In high school, I harbored some beliefs that might meet that definition, like “Jews control the financial industry / plot to control the world”, but my response was to want to sign up. All the Jews I knew about were brilliant scientists and other celebrated individuals. Jews would probably run the place better than Bill and Hill. So, Where are these Elders of Zion, and how do I work for them?
Ironically, my opinion of Jews fell incredibly while in college because you all were not superhuman Einsteins, just normal people.
@arizonapatriot, you bring up an interesting question: what does assimilation look like? What does it include? I think I see my next post coming up . . .
We do take converts, although not just anyone!
I am happily a Christian now, but I appreciate the offer. I recall that converts are intensely discouraged before they formally convert as part of the ritual.
I hear you loud and clear, Susan. You remind me of what Elie Wiesel said when asked, “Where was G-d during the Holocaust?” and he answered that the question is not appropriate. The real question, Wiesel said, is “Where was man?”
Let’s go back to Spain in 1492 when its entire Jewish population was expelled. Some of those exiles settled in Safed in Israel where they established a community that elevated the study of Kabbalah, laying the foundations for the Chasidic movement which began 200 years later. The Chasidic movement, mystical and joyous at its core, brought Jews out of the doldrums into which they had sunk during the Chmielnitzki massacres and the apostasy of Shabbtai Tzvi, a false Messiah who had created an immense following that was totally deflated by his conversion to Islam. It is not a stretch to say that Chasidism saved Judaism but it never would have been possible without the tragic exile from Spain.
Or much earlier, after the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans, it became a capital crime to teach Torah. As a result, Yehuda HaNasi, around 200 A.D., wrote down the Oral Law (as sacred as the written Torah/Bible itself), previously transmitted orally from teacher to student, because he feared that it would be lost. His writing, known as the Mishneh, was the precursor of the Talmud, the voluminous exposition of the Mishneh, upon which Jews relied as a guide to behavior, as a solution to legal issues, as well as for religious inspiration, down through the centuries, and all because the Romans meted out the death penalty to those who taught Torah in public.
So, too, the Holocaust. We have not yet seen what its ultimate impact will be. Certainly, the miraculous rebirth of Israel is the most noticeable reverberation coming from the concentration camps. To think that Germany is now selling submarines to Israel to assist in her defense! And I can tell you that when I hear children speaking Hebrew in the streets of Jerusalem, which to me is the sound of angels singing, I am quite certain that the souls of the children lost in the Holocaust are alive in them.
I know you are. ;-) But your comment is accurate.