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Increasing Knowledge about Jews and Judaism Teaching Aid 1 1. Increasing Knowledge about Jews and Judaism 2. Overcoming Unconscious Biases 3. Addressing Anti-Semitic Stereotypes and Prejudice 4. Challenging Conspiracy Theories 5. Teaching about Anti-Semitism through Holocaust Education 6. Addressing Holocaust Denial, Distortion and Trivialization 7. Anti-Semitism and National Memory Discourse 8. Dealing with Anti-Semitic Incidents 9. Dealing with Online Anti-Semitism 10. Anti-Semitism and the Situation in the Middle East Increasing Knowledge about Jews and Judaism In 2016, the world’s Jewish popu- lation was estimated to be near- “Out-group” refers to those people who do not belong to a specif- ly 14.5 million.1 Although that ic “in-group”. Research published in 2009 into the existence and may seem like a large number, relative strength of favouritism for in-groups versus out-groups since Jewish communities tend based on multiple identity categories (body type, political views, to be concentrated in certain are- nationality, religion and more) concluded that individuals’ behav- as, many students may have had iour towards others was significantly affected by their respective few, if any, opportunities to get to identities. In particular, the research found that: know Jewish people or to learn • those belonging to the in-group are treated more favourably than about Jewish traditions and the those belonging to the out-group in nearly all identity categories religion of Judaism. and in all contexts; and • family and kinship are the most powerful sources of differenti- Due to this lack of contact and ation, followed by political views, religion, sports-team loyalty understanding, prejudices, pre- and music preferences. sumptions and a mental collec- tion of hearsay, rumours, myths SOURCE: Avner Ben-Ner et al., “Identity and in-group/out-group differen- and stereotypes can build over tiation in work and giving behaviors: Experimental evidence”, Journal of time. This type of ignorance can Economic Behavior & Organization, Vol. 72, Issue 1, 2009, pp. 153-170. breed mistrust, and misunder- stood differences can lead to fear and rejection. This can pro- vide fertile ground for exclusion, intolerance and hatred. Seeing Jewish people as an “out- The purpose of this teaching aid is group” fosters prejudice against to provide basic knowledge about Teachers need to be aware that them. Increased knowledge and the religion, culture and diversi- this lack of knowledge and expe- familiarity with an unknown ty of the Jewish people; and foster rience makes reliance on stere- tradition is one of several understanding of the roots, prac- otypes more likely, and preju- teaching strategies that can be tices and customs, prayers and dices can be developed based employed to decrease prejudice beliefs, etc., of this diverse group. on limited information about and the perceived differences The teaching suggestions that fol- an unfamiliar group (a so-called between an “in-group” and an low can help students broaden “out-group”). “out-group”.2 their understanding of the many aspects of being Jewish. 1 “2016 World Jewish Population”, The Berman Jewish DataBank, <https://www.jewishdatabank.org/databank/search-results/study/831>. 2 Maureen McBride, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice, “What works to reduce prejudice and discrimination? A review of the evi- dence”, 14 October 2015, <https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0048/00487370.pdf>. 1 Background The Jewish people first emerged religious or ethnic groups, many • Ethiopian Jews are also known as a distinct group in the Middle migrated. Today, different terms as the Beta Israel, many thou- East in the second millennium are used to refer to this geograph- sands of whom reside in Isra- BCE. Jews today are a heteroge- ic diversity. el today. neous group of people with dif- ferent national origins, physical • “Ashkenazi” refers to Jews who • Other Jewish ethnic groups characteristics and various levels migrated into northern France can be found around the world, and types of religiosity. and Germany around 800-1000 from India to Canada. CE and later to Central and East- The term “Jewish” refers today to ern Europe, where many spoke Over the centuries, in some any person belonging to the Jew- Yiddish (a mixture of Hebrew places Jews were invited by ish people or to Judaism by con- and German). aristocratic rulers to settle in version. According to Jewish law a defined territory, with limited – Halakha – Jewishness is trans- • “Sephardic” describes Jews rights. Before the emergence of mitted by the mother, meaning who went to Spain and Portu- national governments, national that Jews are born Jewish. For gal, some settling in North Afri- law and citizenship as we rec- many, however, the term does not ca and the Ottoman Empire ognize them today, Jewish lead- explicitly refer to a religious affil- after being expelled during ers maintained a relationship iation but implies the recognition the Inquisitions in the fifteenth with the monarch, who agreed of a common cultural history. and sixteenth centuries. Their to protect them.5 language – Ladino – is a Span- The Jewish diaspora began fol- ish-Hebrew hybrid. In addition to the languages of lowing the destruction of the national origin, Hebrew has first temple in what is now mod- • “Mizrahi” is often used to refer become a unifying language ern day Jerusalem by the Baby- to Jews outside of these two for Jews in Israel and beyond. lonians in 586 BCE and contin- European groups. Their ances- The re-birth of the ancient, bib- ued during the Roman Empire.3 tors largely remained in the lical Hebrew as a living modern While some Jews remained in Middle East or lived in North language in the late nineteenth the region, living alongside other Africa or Central Asia.4 and early twentieth centuries 3 De Lange, Nicholas, An Introduction to Judaism (Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 27. 4 For more on the term “Mizrahi” and how it is used around the world today see: <https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/who- are-mizrahi-jews/>; <https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/mizrahim-in-israel/>. 5 Examples of this relationship existed in France, England and Germany in the twelfth century. See: Gavin I. Langmuir, Towards a Defi- nition of Antisemitism (London: University of California Press, 1996), pp. 137-142. 2 is a remarkable cultural devel- opment. Jewish populations of selected OSCE participating States in 2016 Before the Holocaust, when Per cent (%) six million Jews were killed in Total Jewish population Country6 population Europe, there were 16.7 million population who are (in millions) Jewish people worldwide. As of Jewish 2016, the global Jewish popula- Azerbaijan 8,400 9.7 0.87 tion had returned to 14.4 million – less than 0.2 per cent of the Belgium 29,500 11.2 0.26 total world population. Today, Canada 388,000 35.8 1.08 the largest concentration of Jew- ish people live in Israel, which France 460,000 64.3 0.71 is inhabited by more than 6.5 Germany 117,000 81.1 0.14 million Jews – approximately 75 per cent of the country’s popu- Hungary 47,60 0 9.8 0.49 7 lation. Italy 27,40 0 62.5 0.04 At the end of the nineteenth cen- Latvia 5,000 2.0 2.5 tury, Jews were migrating to this Netherlands 29,900 16.9 0.18 part of what was then the Otto- man Empire. In the early twen- Moldova 3,500 4.1 0.85 tieth century and after the Hol- Russia 179,500 144.3 0.12 ocaust, the numbers migrating there increased considerably. Sweden 15,000 9.8 0.15 Switzerland 18,800 8.3 0.23 The fact that Jewish people rep- Turkey 15,500 78.2 0.02 resent a low percentage of the population of many countries Ukraine 56,000 42.8 0.13 (excluding Israel) means that United people in those countries may 290,000 65.3 0.44 Kingdom have never met a Jewish per- son. At the same time, it is also United States 5,700,000 321.2 1.77 possible that they have had con- tact with Jewish people without realizing it, since many Jewish curled sidelocks) is highly visi- into European Jews’ experienc- people are not visibly Jewish. ble.8 Some religious Jewish men es and perceptions of anti-Sem- Some people associate Jews with can only be recognized as such itism indicated they sometimes the ultra-Orthodox, or Hasi- because they wear a kippah (or avoided displaying their Juda- dim, whose traditional dress yarmulke/skullcap). However, ism in public.9 (black hats, beards and possibly respondents to a 2018 survey 6 Data from Sergio DellaPergola, “World Jewish Population, 2016”. Berman Jewish DataBank, No. 17 (February, 2017) p. 24. 7 Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Monthly Bulletin of Statistics – February 2019, “Population, By Population Group”, <https://www. cbs.gov.il/en/publications/Pages/2019/Monthly-Bulletin-of-Statistics-February-2019.aspx> 8 Many Hasidic men wear suits that are reminiscent of the style Polish nobility wore in the 18th century, when Hasidic Judaism began. 9 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism: second survey on discrimina- tion and hate crime against Jews in the EU (2018), p. 37, <https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2018/2nd-survey-discrimina- tion-hate-crime-against-jews>. 3 Religious Aspects According to biblical accounts, In Judaism, the central author- outlines the largest denomina- Jewish people are the descend- ity does not rest in one per- tional groups, though others ants of Abraham. The key reli- son but in sacred texts and tra- also exist.12 gious principle of Judaism is ditions. Traditional practice the belief in a single, omnisci- revolves around the study and Orthodox Jews retain tradition- ent, omnipotent, benevolent, observance of God’s laws and al Jewish laws and customs to transcendent God, who created commandments as written in varying extents, not only as they the universe and continues to the Torah and expounded in relate to liturgy but also regard- govern it.
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