FREE WHY THE ?: THE REASON FOR ANTI- SEMITISM PDF

Dennis Prager, | 272 pages | 01 Dec 2003 | Simon & Schuster Ltd | 9780743246200 | English | London, United Kingdom The Reason For Anti-Semitism

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email. The Chosen Why the Jews? The Reason for Anti-Semitism. Much that is important about this audaciously subtitled book the one and only reason for anti-Semitism? The book is the second collaboration by these authors. In this book, inevitably, there is some weeping—no treatment of the subject could avoid it—and also some crude formulations and awkward writing. But there is very little self-pity. The reason is that the authors find the root of anti-Semitism not in racism, , the need for scapegoats, economic depressions, or any other universalizing factor. The occasion for the hatred of Jews they find in itself—hence the simplicity of the subtitle. It is important to recognize from the outset, they argue, that Judaism is unique. Unlike other religions, it is Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism a nation. Unlike other nations, Jews maintained a sense of peoplehood even when they were without a state. The traditional Jewish formulation of this uniqueness is expressed as God moralityTorah lawand Israel peoplehood. All anti-Semitism, announces this book, is a reaction to one or more of these three pillars of Judaism. The idea that anti-Semitism is a manifestation of a primitive revolt against morality, civilization, and God Himself must be particularly appealing to the modern Jewish mind grown weary of the scapegoat theory and other de-Judaizing explanations for the . Pre-modern Jews understood this, accepting as axiomatic that the persecution they suffered was chargeable to their challenging religion. A who sacrificed his life rather than give up his faith was said to have died al kiddush hashemin sanctification of the name of God. Satisfying as such speculation may be, its usefulness as Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism explanation is limited. As the authors themselves stress more than once, was a unique form of anti-Semitism. The naked neo-paganism of a Hitler Youth slogan may be fascinating in Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism own terms, but is uninstructive on the causes of the more universal forms of anti-Semitism. It is historically and theologically reductive, to say the least, to reason that the Jewish rejection of Jesus was perceived by Christians as fealty to monotheism in the face of an invitation to some other kind of faith. Christianity adopted monotheism: its quarrel with Judaism is a family one—with, to be sure, all of the bitterness and hatreds such quarrels engender. This feature became even more inflammatory with the rise of nationalism in Europe. The Jews should be denied everything as a nation, but granted everything as individuals. There cannot be one nation within another nation. The focus had merely shifted from the God component of Judaism to the Israel component. But the two are not severable. How can Jews give up their nationhood and yet remain Jews? This communal religion touches every aspect of life, and adherence to even a few of its dictates marks the Jew off from the larger society. Perhaps anti-Semites never truly understood this. Prager and Telushkin have assembled quotation after quotation by Enlightenment, Socialist, and Communist theorists first confidently predicting the assimilation of the Jews and then, disappointed, renewing every anti-Semitic calumny they could unearth, the most vile being the current Soviet accusation that during World War II the Jews collaborated with the Nazis to murder Russian prisoners of war. But while the nationalist component of Judaism sets it apart from other faiths, religion has itself molded the nationalism of the Jews, and nowhere more strikingly than in what is, perhaps, the most provocative doctrine in history: chosenness. But the authors protest. Should it not rather have Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism an occasion of derision where it was known at all? Their explanation offers some interesting insights. They speculate that the traditionally higher standard of living which Jews always enjoyed relative to their neighbors gave the claim to chosenness a certain discomfiting plausibility. Jewish poverty, for example, was less visible than that of others because the law of Moses made charity justice tzedakah —and justice a religious obligation. Poor Jews, though ever with us, were less conspicuous than poor , contributing to the belief Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti- Semitism the Jews suffered no poverty. Adherence to the religious laws regarding family life meant that abandonment and wife-beating were exceedingly rare. Alcoholism was almost unknown. The doctrine of chosenness, Prager and Telushkin conclude, was resented as much for its circumstantial persuasiveness as for its intrinsic effrontery. The emphasis on chosenness is surely correct, and evidence for it crops up again and again throughout the broad historical sweep of the book. The precept was anathema to pagans, Christians, Muslims, Enlightenment liberals, Socialists, and no doubt to Zoroastrians though the book is silent on this. But in their apology for the doctrine, the authors slide into defensive parochialism. Noting that Jews have always been aware of its offensiveness, and that two groups, 19th-century Reform Jews and 20th-century Reconstructionists, have moved to excise the idea from Judaism, they complain that it has been consistently misunderstood. Jews, they argue, saw themselves singled out not for privileges but rather for onerous responsibilities. But this insistence that Jews were chosen only for obligation and suffering is disingenuous. Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism Jews found their status onerous, it was almost certainly because of the envy it excited among fellow mortals, not because they would have preferred some other relationship to God. A beautiful woman might feel her beauty a burden when surrounded by her lesser endowed Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism, but she would be unlikely to surrender her gifts if the opportunity were offered. A better response would be to point out that the claim to chosenness, while undeniably obnoxious, was never cruel—as it was when Christians transmogrified it. One of the strengths of this book is the intellectual housecleaning it undertakes. The authors briskly dispose of several lingering myths about the causes of anti-Semitism. For example, the argument that wealth causes hatred of Jews is refuted by a simple comparison. In Eastern Europe, where Jews were poorest, they suffered the most. In North America, where they have been the most affluent, they have suffered the least. Again, although the authors devote considerable attention to Christian anti-Semitism, they take due notice of the important fact that today, moderate and conservative Christians are crucial allies and friends. The was ghastly and obscene, but its modern inheritors can be found in the souks and the Soviets, not in the churches. Neither the demoralization of the non-Jewish nation nor the resultant. Trotsky refused. There is no single explanation for anti-Semitism; their title identifies only the victim. But their insights into the various outbreaks of anti-Semitism take us very far. The book is as valuable for the theories it explodes as for those it propounds. Login Access your Commentary account. Email address. Remember me. Forgot your password? Username or email. Reset password. Go back. Share via: More. You may also like. Alternate History by Mark Horowitz. Jew-Tagging Wikipedia by Edward Kosner. Scroll Down For the Next Article. Share via. Facebook Messenger. Copy Link. Copy link. Copy Copied. Why Do People Hate The Jews?

Who has allowed us to suffer so terribly up until now? It is G-d who has made us as we are, but it will be God, too, who will raise us up again. Who knows it might even be our religion from which the world and all peoples learn good, and for that reason and only that reason do we suffer. We can never become just Netherlanders, or just English or representatives of any country for that matter. We will always remain Jews. Anti-Semitism is unique amongst the hatreds in the world in a combination of four aspects: 1 Longevity -- it's been around a long time 2 Universality -- virtually everywhere in the world 3 Intensity -- it's expressed in a particularly virulent manner 4 Confusion -- there is surprisingly little agreement on why people hate the Jews. Historians offer many "reasons" to explain why people are anti-Semitic: Jews are too powerful or too lazy; too separate or a threat to "racial purity" through assimilation; pacifistic or warmongers; capitalist exploiters or revolutionary communists; the "killers" of Jesus or the progenitors of Jesus; possessors of a Chosen People mentality or an inferiority complex. These reasons have one thing in common -- they have nothing to do with our being Jewish. One might think that we are just the victims of bad luck -- always possessing the needed quality to be hated wherever we are in the world at exactly that time in history. Do you know who disagrees with the historians? Anne Frank. Writes Anne Frank on April 11, in her diary: "Who knows -- it might even be our religion from which the world and all peoples learn good, and for that reason and that reason alone do we now suffer. We can never become just Netherlanders, or just English, or representatives of any other country for that matter. Anne Frank made a point of stressing that Jews have something of special Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism to give to the world, and that is precisely what the world has resented, and that is why people have persecuted Jews. Anne Frank identifies anti-Semitism as a Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism of Jewishness, a loathing altogether different from Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism bigotry or racism that other peoples experience. The Tractate Shabbos 69 cites the source of anti- Semitism using a play on words: The - the source of the Jewish system Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism laws, values and moral standards - was received at Mount Sinai. The Hebrew pronunciation of "Sinai" is almost identical to the Hebrew word for "hatred" - sinah. At Sinai Jews were told that there is one God, Who makes moral demands on all of humanity. Consequently, at Sinai the Jewish nation became the target for the hatred of those whose strongest drive is to liberate mankind from the shackles of conscience and morality. At Sinai the Jewish nation was appointed to be "a light Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism the nations. They object to morality. Those would-be harbingers of darkness attack the Jews as the lightning rod for their hatred. This "call to Sinai" - the message entrusted to and borne by the Jews - ultimately transforms the world. Yet, it is this very message that draws forth the wrath of those who would give their last ounce of strength to resist it. A great many people simply can't cope with the burden of being good. However, when they act in ways that are bad, they can't cope with the resultant feelings of guilt. Try as they may, they can never cut themselves loose from the standards of absolute morality dictated by the Torah. Stuck in this "Catch" situation, people turn with their mounting frustrations against the Jews, whom they perceive as personifying humanity's collective conscience. When the Jews entered the theological arenathey showed people all the mistakes they had been making: Pagan gods are nonsense - there is only one God for all of mankind, Who is invisible, Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism and perfect. Infanticide and human sacrifice are unacceptable. Every human being is born with specific rights. No one can live as he pleases, for everyone must surrender his will to a higher Authority. On a certain conscious level, people recognize the Jews' message as truth. Those unwilling to embrace the truth have found that the only way to rid themselves of it is to destroy the messengers - for the message itself is too potent to be dismissed. That is what is so irksome about the Jews, and that is why, for some people, nothing less than total destruction of the Jews will do. If Judaism were just another ideology, people could laugh it off and continue on their merry way. But deep in his soul, every human being recognizes the essential truths of morality - people can't just laugh it off. For the last 2, years the Jewish people have gone through enormous amounts of persecutionhatred - ultimately leading to . And through it all, the Jewish people always held onto being Jewish. And the reason why is that they really understood that it was worth it. They understood what the meaning of being Jewish was, and they were willing to pay the price. The pain that is part and parcel of being Jewish is obvious; if people cannot see any meaning to that pain, it is unlikely that they will be willing to stand by their Jewish identity. That is why we find such widespread assimilation today - Jews do not see why they should "lose out" on life and set themselves apart from their host societies. If we can come Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism understand why Jews are so hated, we can understand who Jews are and, more important, who Jews can be. A powerful effort has been made to remove the Jewish element from anti-Semitism, and in doing so, to ignore the critical message anti-Semitism teaches about the uniqueness and preciousness of the Jew. This alone is a compelling reason for Jews to learn about anti-Semitism and what it means to be a Jew. : how the origins of history’s oldest hatred still hold sway today

Antisemitism also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism is hostility to, prejudice, or against Jews. Antisemitism is generally considered to be a form of racism. Antisemitism may be manifested in many ways, ranging from expressions of hatred of or discrimination against individual Jews to organized by mobs or police forcesor even military attacks on entire Jewish communities. Although the term did not come into common usage until the 19th century, it is also applied to previous and later anti-Jewish incidents. Notable instances of persecution include the massacres preceding the in Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism, the Edict of Expulsion from England inthe — persecution of Jews during the Black Deaththe massacres of Spanish Jews inthe persecutions of the Spanish Inquisitionthe expulsion from Spain inthe Cossack massacres in Ukraine from tovarious anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire between andthe — in , in German-occupied Europe during World War IISoviet anti-Jewish policiesand Arab and Muslim involvement in the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries. The root word Semite gives the false impression that antisemitism is directed against all Semitic peoplee. The compound word Antisemitismus 'antisemitism' was first used in print in Germany in [6] as a scientific-sounding term for Judenhass 'Jew-hatred'[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] and this has been its common use since then. The origin of "antisemitic" terminologies is found in the responses of Moritz Steinschneider to the views of Ernest Renan. As Alex Bein writes: "The compound anti-Semitism appears to have been used first by Steinschneider, who challenged Renan on account of his 'anti-Semitic prejudices' [i. Steinschneider used this phrase to characterise the French philosopher Ernest Renan's false ideas about how ' Semitic races ' were inferior to ' races '". Pseudoscientific theories concerning race, civilization, and "progress" had Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism quite widespread in Europe in the second half of the 19th century, especially as Prussian nationalistic historian Heinrich von Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti- Semitism did much to promote this form of racism. He coined the phrase "the Jews are our misfortune" which would later be widely used by Nazis. According to Jonathan M. Hess, the term was originally used by its authors to "stress the radical difference between their own 'antisemitism' and earlier forms of antagonism toward Jews and Judaism. Observed from a non-religious perspective in which he used the word Semitismus interchangeably with the word Judentum to denote both "Jewry" the Jews as a collective and "jewishness" the quality of being Jewish, or the Jewish spirit. This use of Semitismus was followed by a coining of " Antisemitismus " which was used to indicate opposition to the Jews as a people [ citation needed ] and opposition to the Jewish spirit, which Marr interpreted as infiltrating German culture. The pamphlet became very popular, and in the same year he founded the Antisemiten-Liga League of Antisemites[24] apparently named to follow the "Anti-Kanzler-Liga" Anti-Chancellor League. So far as can be ascertained, the word was first widely printed inwhen Marr published Zwanglose Antisemitische Hefteand Wilhelm Scherer used the term Antisemiten in the January issue of Neue Freie Presse. reports, "In Februarya correspondent of the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums speaks of 'Anti-Semitism' as a designation which recently came into use "Allg. On 19 Julythe editor says, 'This quite recent Anti-Semitism is hardly three years old. The word "antisemitism" was borrowed into English from German in Oxford English Dictionary editor James Murray wrote that it was not included in the first edition because "Anti-Semite and its family were then probably very new in English use, and not thought likely to be more than passing nonce- words Would that anti-Semitism had had no more than a fleeting interest! From the outset the term "anti-Semitism" bore special racial connotations and meant specifically prejudice against Jews. In this sense, the term is a misnomer, since there are many speakers of Semitic languages e. ArabsEthiopiansand Arameans who are not the objects of antisemitic prejudices, while there are many Jews who do not speak Hebrewa Semitic language. Though 'antisemitism' could be construed as prejudice against people who speak other Semitic languages, this is not how the Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism is commonly used. The term may be spelled with or without a hyphen antisemitism or anti-Semitism. Many scholars and institutions favor the unhyphenated form. According to Carroll, who first cites O'Hare and Bauer on "the existence of something called 'Semitism'", "the hyphenated word thus reflects the bipolarity that is at the heart of the problem of antisemitism". Objections to the usage of the term, such as the obsolete nature of the term Semitic as a racial term, have been raised since at least the s. Though the general definition of antisemitism is hostility Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism prejudice against Jews, and, according to Olaf Blaschkehas become an "umbrella term for negative stereotypes about Jews", [42] : 18 a number of authorities have developed more formal definitions. Elaborating on Fein's definition, Dietz Bering of the University of writes that, to antisemites, "Jews are not only partially but totally bad by nature, that is, their bad traits are incorrigible. Because of this bad nature: 1 Jews have to be seen not as individuals but as a collective. For Sonja Weinberg, as distinct from economic and religious anti-Judaismantisemitism in its modern form shows conceptual innovation, a resort to 'science' to defend itself, new functional forms and organisational differences. It was anti-liberal, racialist and nationalist. It promoted the myth that Jews conspired to 'judaise' the world ; it served to consolidate social identity; it channeled dissatisfactions among victims of the capitalist system; and it was used as a conservative cultural code to fight emancipation and liberalism. Bernard Lewis defines antisemitism as a special case of prejudice, hatred, or persecution directed against people who are in some way different from the rest. According to Lewis, antisemitism is marked by two distinct features: Jews are judged according to a standard different from that applied to others, and they are accused of "cosmic evil. There have been a number of efforts by international and governmental bodies to define antisemitism formally. The United States Department of State states that "while there is no universally accepted definition, there is a generally clear understanding of what the term encompasses. Inthe European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia now Fundamental Rights Agencythen an agency of the European Uniondeveloped a more detailed working definitionwhich states: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. It also lists ways in which attacking Israel could be antisemitic, and states that denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e. A spokesperson Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism that it had never been regarded as official and that the agency did not intend to develop its own Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism. Inthe definition was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The definition is accompanied by illustrative examples; for instance, "Accusing Jewish citizens of being Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations. Cuza organized the Alliance Anti-semitique Universelle in Bucharest. In the period before World War IIwhen animosity towards Jews was far more commonplace, it was Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism uncommon for a person, an organization, or a political party to self- identify as an antisemite or antisemitic. The early Zionist pioneer Leon Pinskera professional physician, preferred the clinical-sounding term Judeophobia to antisemitism, which he regarded as a misnomer. The word Judeophobia first appeared in his pamphlet " Auto-Emancipation ", published anonymously in German in Septemberwhere it was described as an irrational fear or hatred of Jews. According to Pinsker, this irrational fear was an inherited predisposition. Judeophobia is a form of demonopathy, with the distinction that the Jewish ghost has become known to the whole race of mankind, not merely to certain races Judeophobia is a psychic disorder. As a psychic disorder it is hereditary, and as a disease transmitted for two thousand years it is incurable Thus have Judaism and Jew-hatred passed through history for centuries as inseparable companions Having analyzed Judeophobia as an hereditary form of demonopathy, peculiar to the human race, and represented Jew-hatred Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism based upon an inherited aberration of the human mind, we must draw the important conclusion, that we must give up contending against these hostile impulses, just as we give up contending against every other inherited predisposition. In the aftermath of the inGerman propaganda minister Goebbels announced: "The German people is anti-Semitic. It has no desire to have its rights restricted or to be provoked in the future by parasites of the Jewish race. After the victory of the Allies over Nazi Germanyand particularly after the full extent of the Nazi genocide against the Jews became known, the term "anti-Semitism" acquired pejorative connotations. This marked a full circle shift in Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism, from an era just decades earlier when "Jew" was used as a pejorative term. Nobody says, 'I am anti-Semitic. The word Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism gone out of fashion. Antisemitism manifests itself in a variety of Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism. The forms identified are substantially the same; it is primarily the number of forms and their definitions that differ. Bernard Lazare identifies three forms of antisemitism: Christian antisemitismeconomic antisemitism, and ethnologic antisemitism. Louis Harap separates "" and merges "political" and "nationalistic" antisemitism into "ideological antisemitism". Harap also adds a category of "social antisemitism". Gustavo Perednik has argued that what he terms "Judeophobia" has a number of unique traits which set it apart from other forms of racism, including permanence, depth, obsessiveness, irrationality, endurance, ubiquity, and Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism. If they live in non-Jewish countries, they are accused of double-loyalties; if they live in the Jewish country, of being racists. When they spend their money, they are reproached for being ostentatious; when they don't spend their money, of being avaricious. They are called rootless cosmopolitans or hardened chauvinists. If they assimilate, they are accused of being fifth-columnists, if they don't, of shutting themselves away. Harvard professor Ruth Wisse has argued that antisemitism is a political ideology that authoritarians use to consolidate power by unifying disparate groups which are opposed to liberalism. She also cites as an example the formation of the Arab League. Louis Harap defines cultural antisemitism as "that species of anti-Semitism that charges the Jews with corrupting a given culture and attempting to supplant or succeeding Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism supplanting the preferred culture with a uniform, crude, "Jewish" culture. Religious antisemitismalso known as anti-Judaism, is antipathy towards Jews because of their perceived religious beliefs. In theory, antisemitism and attacks against individual Jews would stop if Jews stopped practicing Judaism or changed their public faith, especially by conversion to the official or right religion. However, in some cases discrimination continues after conversion, as in the case of Christianized Marranos or Iberian Jews in Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism late 15th century and 16th century who were suspected of secretly practising Judaism or Jewish customs. Although the origins of antisemitism are rooted in the Judeo-Christian conflict, other forms of antisemitism have developed in modern times. Frederick Schweitzer asserts that, "most scholars ignore the Christian foundation on which the modern antisemitic edifice rests and invoke political antisemitism, cultural antisemitism, racism Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism , economic antisemitism and the like. Some Christians such as the Catholic priest Ernest Jouinwho published the first French translation of the Protocolscombined religious and racial antisemitism, as in his statement that "From the triple viewpoint of race, of nationality, and of religion, the Jew has become the enemy of humanity. The underlying premise of economic antisemitism is that Jews perform harmful economic activities or that economic activities become harmful when they are performed by Jews. Linking Jews and money underpins the most damaging and lasting Antisemitic canards. In the modern era, such myths continue to be spread Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism books such as The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews published by the Nation of Islamand on the internet. Derek Penslar writes that there are two components to the financial canards : [91]. describes six facets of the financial canards:. Gerald Krefetz summarizes the myth as "[Jews] control the banks, the money supply, the economy, and businesses—of the community, of the country, of the world". In opposition to this view, Derek Penslar contends that in the modern era, the economic antisemitism is "distinct and nearly constant" but theological antisemitism is "often subdued". An academic study by Francesco D'Acunto, Marcel Prokopczuk, and Michael Weber showed that people who live in areas of Germany that contain the most brutal history of antisemitic persecution are more likely to be distrustful of finance in general. Therefore, they tended to invest less money in the stock market and make poor financial decisions. The study concluded "that the persecution of minorities reduces not only the long- term wealth of the persecuted, but of the persecutors as well. Racial antisemitism is the idea that the Jews are a distinct and inferior race compared to their host nations. In Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti- Semitism late 19th century and early 20th century, it gained mainstream acceptance as part of the eugenics movement, which categorized non- Europeans as inferior. It more specifically claimed that Northern Europeans, or "", were superior. Racial antisemites saw the Jews as part of a Semitic race and Why the Jews?: The Reason for Anti-Semitism their non-European origins and culture. They saw Jews as beyond redemption even if they converted to the majority religion. Racial antisemitism replaced the hatred of Judaism with the hatred of Jews as a group. In the context of the Industrial Revolutionfollowing the Jewish EmancipationJews rapidly urbanized and experienced a period of greater social mobility. With the decreasing role of religion in public life tempering , a combination of growing nationalismthe rise of eugenicsand resentment at the socio-economic success of the Jews led to the newer, and more virulent, racist antisemitism.