FAQs: Why is There So Much Anti-Semitism?

I am a Christian and understand much of what you said and agree with much as well. From my background I would add the concept of sin keeping man from accepting God and man lashing out at God through the messenger through the vehicle identified as Anti-Semitism. The Jewish people are a tangible representation of God saying the way you live takes you away from me. I wonder if it isn't the rejection of God that is the issue as you may be suggesting along with His mission. I beleive what I have jsut said may be little more than putting what you said into my frame of reference or language but maybe that perspective will be helpful. Humbly submitted.

Dear Ken, I have a problem with considering Judaism as the major source of morality as your article seems to imply. What about Budhism, Confuscus etc.The eastern philosophies seem to have achieved a certain morality without ever being aware of Judaism. By the way Anti-Budhism doesn't seem to be such a big problem. Then too there's radical Islam which claims to have morality but with quite a different twist than Judaism. They also claim to be spiritial as well as biological children of Abraham. In short I think there may be many people including myself who might not be completely satisfied with your explanation for Anti- semitism.

Thank you for talking about the underlying issue. May we work hard to bring peace to this world!

The term anitsemitism was invented by a German sociologist to make the idea of Jew-hatred more benign. I suggest we make every effort to discontinue use of the term an replace it with Jew-hatred so that those who engage in dispicable behavior s against Jews and Israel will be confronted with what they are...people of Hate.

Bravo to the brilliant Rabbi Spiro!

Rabbi Spiro, Thanks for a wonderful message. However, I too am struggling with the idea and reality of "Jewish values" and the Jewish mission (as Light unto the Nations, fix the world, bringing peace, etc) and the Israeli-Palestinian issue. As a spiritually and culturally strong Jew, I continue to struggle with the "lines" we commonly use, e.g., we offered land but it was refused, "they" broke the blockade, we were there first, no other Arab nations have offered assistance to the Palestinians, we off-load medical supplies, etc., when in reality, "they" have been there multitudes of years as well and we were not (whether or not the fault of the latter is the fact that we were dispersed. Why do "we" have to maintain such a hard line, keep people in refuge camps (when we know full well what life is like in those camps because of, as you said, our primary identity with the Holocaust, occupy a country, limit supplies, and contribute to the death of individuals. Why cannot we/Israelis just come to terms with the fact that the Palestinians deserve peace and home as well as we do? If we can't understand that, then how can we be a Lght unto the Nations, fix and bring peace to the world? Thank you.

By following His precepts, we are exalting Hashem's name. G'd told us that if we follow His Torah, He will bless us and destroy our enemies, but if we don't,..well,,then he won't, which is what we've seen all along our history. So yes, this article makes total sense. By following the Torah, everything in the world "falls into place".

Thank you for your clear explainations, I pray every day for the peace of My people, may God soon intervine for His chosen people!

I agree with what the video says entirely. I would go so far as to say that people unconciously sense a Jewish soul and react to that from such an unconscious level that the antisemitism 'happens to them'. They can only understand how bizzare it is to be in such revolt if they some how get some insight into their real motives. That would take some real doing!

Thank you for that clear and concise explanation. It makes perfect sense. I have been searching for an answer for years. Now I am satisfied.

I am a proud conservative Jew. But i honestly think one of our main enemies is the Liberal Jew! They are self haters who side with our Islamic enemies. They are always trying to change America for the worst. When the ACLU ( mainly liberal jews) try to stop people from saying Merry Christmas, or school kids cannot sing Christmas songs, Of course People will turn against them. When Liberal Jews come out against Israel and defend terrorists, what else will people think?

While I realize your message is global, as it applies to the U.S., I believe this message can be confusing as many of our problems today in the U.S. can be attributed to liberal democrats. That is why I think perhaps this message could be stronger if you had defined by what you mean as "liberal democratic". If you look today, most of the U.S. anti-semitism comes from the liberal democrats whereas most conservatives support Israel. Liberalism is perhaps an overused word and should be replaced by something more concrete in your message. Otherwise, I think this is an excellent video. Thank you.

In all honesty, I am quite worried by the mindset as displayed in the contribution Alan on Palawan. Does it make sense to lump together armed revolutionaries that expropriate property and shoot opponents with persons like President Obama who was democratically elected and who is just seeking more regulation of big business and a more amiable social and economic environment for the poor? Does it mean that any left should be banned and free marketism without ifs and buts should be declared the only possible way forward? I am not a Jew, but I symphatise with Judaism (and with the State of Israel!) and such reasoning runs counter to the idea of avoiding extremes and striking a healthy balance instead, which seems to me to be emphasised in Judaism very often. The Cabbalistic Tree, with its Rahamim in between Din and Hesed, may serve as a good example.

Patricia LoGiudice's family friend's clear memory is a good example of how people "remember" stereotypes. Vienna had a long history of virulent anti-Semitism. After WW1 impoverished Jewish refugees ored in and were subjected to intense job discrimination (from the Wikipedia). Years of hearing anti-Semitic propaganda doubtless caused her "clear" memory.

I found this to an interesting piece. I remember asking the title question in grade school more than 40 years ago. I wish the good Rabbi would explain these "liberal values". If he means the Liberal politics of the U.S. left, then I could also learn to hate Jews. My world history understanding is that Liberalism has destroyed every economy it gets control of. Castro, Chavez, Mugabe, Lennin, were all liberals who though they were helping the poor & somehow benefiting society as a whole. They destroyed their economies & now Obama with overwhelming Jewish support is about to do the same thing to the U.S. economy.

Rabbi Spiro, thanks for making this video. Especially a good point about how some evil people in the world want freedom from rules and responsibility, and they don't like how the Jews try to spread such messages. Recently, I found out about this author D.M. Murdock, a.k.a. "Acharya S", who devotes her books to exposing the pagan origins of Christ. However, in trying to debunk the myth of Jesus Christ with such zeal, she also attacks the Jews, even claiming (like some atheists) that we Jews were originally polytheists in ancient times, later pretending to be monotheists. She even goes so far to say that we Jews "harassed" our pagan and gentile neighbors, imposing ourselves upon them; however, at the same time, she seems to stop just short of saying that we deserved the persecution or had it coming. (I'm mainly talking about her book "The Christ Conspiracy" here.) So, yes, not a book which I would recommend if you're just hoping to do counter-missionary work. At the same time, this author also bashes Christians and Jews for being evil, while completely ignoring the evils committed in the name of other atheists, such as the Communists. (Still, if anyone could help me debunk such claims that the ancient Israelites were actually polytheists and that the history books were then rewritten to make them look like monotheists, that would be great.)

The only personal experience I have with "Where on earth did the hatred of Jews come from is NEVER even mentioned as a componant of the reason much of europe looked the other way when the Jews were targeted (horribly in excess!) for "dislike" is the experience I had as a young woman listening to a family friend who lived in Vienna prior to WW II. It was her clear memory that at the time just prior to the war, the Jews owned most buisnesses, almost all of residential property and were tightly "clannish" to the point that if you were a non-jew, you were shown only the "back" apartments, the most run-down houses, etc. That was her experience for much of her life until middle-age coming to America. Non-Jews became extremely angry at Jews because of the conduct of the Jewish community. This is never discussed. The madness that the anger developed into is mankind`s major shame, but it should be recognized that "Jewish hatred" did not appear out of thn air.

It is by learning the Torah and keeping the Mitzvos that we bring tikun to the world, that is the way to "fix" the world. Everything else will follow from there. Peace will not reign til Moshiach comes, and that is how we can bring him.

Great explanation

Well Spoken! Thank you.

Interesting Point that alas do not give any authentic answers... I do not have enough space to give the true answers to the causes of hatered of other people and even if I did, they would not be acceptable to people who be-lie-ve they have a mission to bring the word of God to the world. Religion and blind faith has been the cause of the death of millions and still today, people have the illusion of "a jealous God" Nobody on earth has the understanding of absolute truth, however, a united humanity can function on relative truths ...When relative truth is lacking because of intellectual ignorance, the results will always speak for themselves. There is a loving, joyful God that is formed and reformed by intelligent energy. It requires no praying, no donations and no-thing material and it will give a truly prosperous life to everyone who follows their true selves (The Soul) ... Once we can let go of a problem the solution will seek us out

Rabbi Spiro, is the real cause of antisemitism a “revolt against the national, historic mission of the Jewish people to bring certain values into the world”? Truly, unless the problem is correctly defined, there will be no solution. You say, “Ultimately, the only solution to antisemitism is for the Jewish people to finish that mission that Abraham started – to establish those values in the world.” But you don’t even hint at HOW. Is it not because you have not correctly identified the problem? Do not your own prophets in the Torah proclaim the cause and answer to all the woes of the Jews? Why won’t you read or believe the Torah? Did not Moshe, Isaiah, Jeremiah and several others declare that if Israel obeyed God, it would go more than well for them? Did they not solemnly, repeatedly warn by the Spirit of God that if the Jews continued in their sins, every kind of evil would come and overtake them? Are not the Eternal’s Words applicable today? Is He a deceiver or impotent hypocrite? Do not Jews make Him out to be these things when they refuse to acknowledge His crystal clear definition of the problem and the solution to it, as eloquently declared by the prophets at the cost of their lives at the hands of their own people? Do not Jews continue to slay the prophets today by blaming antisemitism or the world's lack of appreciation for Jewish values? Is not the problem the fact that Jews as a people do not represent the true values, as revealed by God? If they did, would God not be faithful to keep His promises, defeat the Jews' enemies and restore the glory they once had with Solomon and David? Abraham lived a righteous life and was greatly blessed. It was so with Isaac and Jacob, but as prophesied by Moshe and other prophets, later generations turned away from their God, and have suffered the horrific consequences. So what values, Rabbi Spiro? What is the problem and what is the solution? Why is there no reference to the sure testimony of the Hebrew prophets?

This was a fascinating clip to watch, I very much enjoyed it. There did seem to be one facet missing, that without anti-semitism would we still exist as a nation? It's not anti-semitism that we should be fighting against, we should be fighting for G-ds compassion, we should not forget Him and then ask why has He forgotten us.

The core of the problem simply and very clever explained.

How do you integrate your last few lines about Jews teaching peace on this video with the issue of the Palestinians? I struggle to integrate the 2 sides of the picture?

What about antisemitism in Spain in the middle ages when jews were marginalized along with the gypsies and later expelled, killed or forced to convert? I really hope someone can write and enlighten us about that. In mexico there are many families that come from that, that were forced to convert, and it's impossible to proove our jewish past now a days since there's no ketubas from our ancestors or any other proof. thank you

Hi, I thought that talk was informative, but it was lacking a "how to guide" to complete the job - clearly living a Torah lifestyle and having a centralized place for Judaism in the world isn't doing the job - so, what suggestions do you have?

Antisemitic feelings and actions began as a reaction against Godliness. In the modern day context it is fueled by media misrepresentation of non jewish negative actions labeled "jewish" actions.

Yes we know it, the problem can be not just as a whole, the Jewish people, or the Jewish State, but with each individual. The ultimate answer I think is when the Lord says enough is enough. As is taught each generation or person has to go through their own redemption. I'm on my journey you are on yours. We come together, we stand together, however we need to be redeemed individually. This is how we all do our own part in the overall redemption of the Jewish people as a group, and the overall redemption of Israel. The Lord did not intervene when Hitler left to his own self, killed himself. When those who oppose the morals we teach or G-d we believe in, are left to their own devise, they end up like Hitler's death. They are not saved even from themselves. By the encouragement you have given us Rabbi, we need to do what we know we are to do. Each grape makes a cluster and we are joined together by the intertwining of the vine.

excellent article

Your understanding of the Jews and their History has made an enormous difference in my understanding of it all. This explanation is the best I've heard, and I agree wholeheartedly. I think your books on Jewish history should be used to teach all our children. Thank-you!

An amazing and fascinating answer to this question! Thanks.

Well said, Rabbi. What you said makes a lot of sense. Thank you for this.