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The Demonization of Judaism Klaus S. Davidowicz The Demonization of Judaism “Jew-hatred is the eldest social, cultural, religious and political prejudiceofhuman kind; Jew-hatred occurs in segregating and stigmatizingstereotypes, long beforediscrimination and bruteforce makethis resentment public, i.e. in passed down conceptions of the minor- ity by the majority,passed on uncriticallyfromgeneration to generation.”¹ Is there some continuity in antisemitism from Antiquitytothe Shoah up to the present,orare these rather separated periods because of the large local and his- torical differences?Inresearch on antisemitism,aline is drawnbetween the re- ligiously motivated Jew-hatred and the national and racist antisemitism that de- velopedinthe nineteenth century.Isthereacontinuous “history of anti‐Semitism” as described by Léon Poliakov in his four-volume book (1955– 1977) of the sametitle?² Shulamit Volkov put it aptlywhen she talked about the development of antisemitism as “continuity and discontinuity,”³ similar to the wayRaulHilbergshowed the connection between medieval Jew-hatred and National Socialist antisemitisminhis standard work TheDestruction of the European Jews (1961), but he alsodid not fail to point out the differences be- tween the two. Certainly,religion-basedanti-Judaism, racialantisemitism, and anti-Zionist antisemitism are forms of the same root—Jew-hatred, aphenomenon that can be encountered throughout the entire history of the Jews. Of course,there are large and importantdifferentiations between cultural and racist antisemitism, between primary and secondary antisemitism, just as there are surprising continuities with the phenomena of Jew-hatred. Certain antisemitic pictures from antiquity up to the present can be established that cre- ate new,often bizarre, bondsthat survive preposterous to reason. One of the cen- tral antisemitic perceptions is the alleged relation between Judaism and the devil, which will be shown here. The demonizationofJudaism began alreadyinancient times, especiallyat the beginning of Christianity, and its ramifications became reflectednot only in anti-Jewish legislation and pogroms but also in literature, arts, and movies. In antiquity,scribes such as Apion (20B.C.E.–45 C.E.) and Manetho (250 W. Benz, Wasist Antisemitismus? (Munich: Beck, 2005), 7. Translation by the author of this article. All four volumes of Histoiredel’antisémitisme werepublished in 1955,1961, 1968, and 1977 in Paris by Calmann‐Lévy;the English translation, TheHistoryofAntisemitism,was published in 1966,1973, 1975,and 1984 in Philadelphia by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Sh. Volkov, Antisemitismus als kultureller Code: Zehn Essays (Munich: Beck, 2000), 54. OpenAccess. ©2019 Klaus S. Davidowicz, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110618594-025 298 Klaus S. Davidowicz B.C.E.) used antisemitic elements thatshow an alleged connection between Jews and dark forces. The texts of Apion and Manetho are lost and passed on in ex- cerpts onlybyFlavius Josephus (37–100 C.E.), who points out aptly: “Would not anyone either laughatsuch nonsense or alternatively detest the effrontery in writing such things?”⁴ In the first century C.E., Josephus wrotearebuttal to the antique antisemit- ism of authors like Apion and Manetho.Inthe third century B.C.E., Artapanus of Alexandria also knew about the antisemitic textsofManetho, which should serveasaproof thatManetho himself wrotethem and that they werenot be at- tributed to alater Pseudo-Manetho. Artapanus of Alexandria, an earlyJewish historian of the second century,wroteahistory of the Jews entitled “Concerning the Jews” as an apologia against authorslike Manetho. Unfortunately, onlyfrag- ments of this text are preserved. Manetho, an Egyptian-Alexandrian highpriest from Heliopolis,spoke out harshlyagainst the Jews. He regarded them as “im- pure” Egyptians who pollutethe country.Itisofacertain importance thatin his text,Manetho described Avaris as the living and dwellingplace of the Jews, Avaris being the city of Seth, arather evil godofthe desert and ruler of war and chaos who killed OsirisaccordingtoEgyptian mythology. Antisemitism of the antiquity influences even today’sLatinlessons via later Roman authorssuch as Tacitus (58–120C.E.), who mergedideas with ancient antisemitic polemics in the fifth volume of his work “The Histories” in an “Excur- sus about the Jews.” The antisemite Tacitus deliberately ignored authors likeJo- sephus in favorofthese polemics. Tacitus, who contemptuouslydescribed Jewish monotheism and aniconism, makesuse of elements thatsound astoundingly modern. (5.1)This worship, however introduced, is upheld by its antiquity;all their other customs, which are at onceperverse and disgusting,owe their strength to their very badness. The most degraded out of other races, scorning their national beliefs,brought to them their con- tributionsand presents. This augmented the wealth of the Jews,asalso did the fact,that amongthemselvesthey areinflexiblyhonest and ever ready toshew compassion, though they regardthe rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies.(5.2) They sit apart at meals, they sleep apart,and though, as anation, they aresingularlyprone to lust,they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; among themselvesnothingisunlawful. Circumcision was adopted by them as amark of difference from other men. Those whocome over to their religion adopt the practice, and have this lesson first instilled into them, to despise all gods, to disown their country,and set at noughtparents, children, and brethren. Still they pro- Flavius Josephus, ContraApionem 2: 22, transl. and comm. J. M. G. Barclay, vol. 10 (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 179 – 180. The Demonization of Judaism 299 vide for the increase of their numbers.Itisacrime amongthem to kill anynewly-born in- fant.⁵ Tacitus connects the religion-based Jewish self-exclusion with hatred towards other peoples. He wants to limit Jewish influenceonthe Romans. According to him, Jews are rich and eager to reproduce heavilyinorder to rule the world at some point—these are all timeless ideas of antisemitism. Tacitus’ effectivehis- tory in the history of antisemitism has been researched onlypartlysofar.His book “Germania” serves as the background for the Deutsche Ahnenerbe-Studien- gesellschaft fürGeistesurgeschichte [German Ancestral Heritage-Study Societyfor Primordial Intellectual History]and influenced National socialist ideologist like Alfred Rosenberg.⁶ However,itwas not the antisemitism of the Egyptians and the Romansthat constituted the central world of images of antisemitism but Christian Jew-hatred. The so-called “Jesus Movement” turned into Christianity by encountering Greek paganism, whereas Judeo Christians and Greek Christians singled out the central points of theircommon “Christian” teachings stemmingfrom Philo of Alexan- dria’sintellectual world: Philo didn’tsee Jesus of Nazareth, his contemporary,asthe son of God and as ateacher,he probablydidn’tevenknow about him. His teachingsweretakenupbythe Greek Christians whoturned his concept intoanew world religion. This fact is beingdownplayedoreven denied by almost all Christian theologians of both confessions because of dogmatic rea- sons.This would lead to the conclusion that the profession of Christ in its displayisn’ta divine revelation but rather the outcome of acultural thinkingprocess.⁷ In Christian theology, the Jewishphilosopher Philo (20B.C.E–50 C.E.), who did not have anyinfluenceonrabbinic Judaism, is seen as alink between Greek and Jewishculturewith Jesusthe Jewinthe center of its faith. Nevertheless, asys- tematic demonizationofJudaism took place alreadyinthe very first Gospels. Adebate about the relevant paragraphs in the New Testamentbeing antisemitic is, in fact,apure theological discussion. Since these textsare the basis for the researchers’ ownfaith, it is important to freethem from anti-Judaism. The Publius Cornelius Tacitus, The Histories,transl. A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb, Book 5(New York: Random Hourse, 1942),1–10. Cf. K. Strobel, “Die Kanonbildung in der Alten Geschichte im Wilhelminischen Deutschland,” in Kanonbildung in der Romanistik und in den Nachbardisziplinen,ed. W. Dahmen (Tübingen: Narr,2000), 471– 94. A. Grabner-Haider and J. Maier, Kulturgeschichte des frühen Christentums:von 100 bis 500 n.Chr. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &Ruprecht,2008), 53.Translation by the author of this article. 300 Klaus S. Davidowicz New Testament has to be regarded as acollection of texts in its historical reality and most of the defamations should be seen as part of the disputes thatcame up when the Christians as apartial Jewish sect split from traditionalJudaism. Sim- ilar disputes occurred also in modern sectarian movements within Judaism, such as Sabbatianism. Nevertheless, one must not ignore the bloodyconsequences of anti-Jewishsections in the New Testament,nomatter if they had been part of a polemic debate or not—these text willnever be ahaven of charity.Despite engag- ed Christian theologians pointing out over and over again that the trial of Jesus was aRoman one and thatcrucifixion was aRoman form of capital punishment, the imageofthe Jewish deicides persists even today. In acentral study of Jesus’ trial, TheTrial and Death of Jesus: From aJewish Perspective by Haim Cohn (1911–2003), it is described how—as absurdasitmay sound—after the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, petitions, mostlyfrom Protestant clerics, weresenttothe newlyestablished High
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