History provides far too many examples of man's inhumanity to man: social injustice, religious oppression, cultural clashes, ideological wars, class hatred, and most every other form of racism and intolerance.
One particular form, however, stands out amongst all others: Anti-Semitism. Unique in its universality, intensity, longevity and irrationality, anti-Semitism is a historical phenomenon which falls outside of normal sociological bounds.
In 1987, President Chaim Herzog of Israel commissioned a colloquium on anti-Semitism. Professor Michael Curtis of Rutgers University spoke there about the irrationality of anti-Semitism:
The uniqueness of anti-Semitism lies in the fact that no other people in the world has ever been charged simultaneously with alienation from society and with cosmopolitanism, with being capitalistic exploiters and also revolutionary communist advocators. The Jews were accused of having an imperious mentality, at the same time they’re a people of the book. They’re accused of being militant aggressors, at the same time as being cowardly pacifists. With being a chosen people, and also having an inferior human nature. With both arrogance and timidity. With both extreme individualism and community adherence. With being guilty of the crucifixion of Jesus and at the same time held to account for the invention of Christianity.
As historian Martin Gilbert observes in the Jewish History Atlas:
As my research into Jewish history progressed, I was surprised, depressed, and to some extent overwhelmed by the perpetual and irrational violence which pursued the Jews in every country and to almost every corner of the globe. If, therefore, persecution, expulsion, torture, humiliation, and mass murder haunt these pages, it is because they also haunt the Jewish story.
Which leaves us with one question: What is the root of anti-Semitism?
"Jews Are Rich, Powerful and Control The World"
Many claim that anti-Semitism is a reaction to Jewish political and economic power. Consider the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a book invented by the Russian secret police, purporting to be the discussions of Jewish elders plotting to take over the world. It was – next to the Bible – the best-selling book in the world during the 1920s. In the United States, Henry Ford sponsored its publication. It has since been printed in numerous languages internationally, and presently has widespread distribution in Japan.
But could Jewish wealth and power really be the cause of anti-Semitism? The Jews of Poland and Russia (17th-20th centuries) were poor and powerless. Yet they were still persecuted. Cossacks didn’t check bank accounts before initiating pogroms. When the Nazis liquidated the Warsaw Ghetto, the Jews lived there under incredibly impoverished conditions. The reality is that poor Jews have been just as hated as rich Jews.
As Jews were slaughtered en masse, the claim that Jews control governments became painfully absurd.
Furthermore, if it is true that Jews control the governments, then why didn’t even one country accept Jewish refugees struggling to escape Europe during the Holocaust? Surely with all their wealth and political power, at least one government would have allowed the Jews in! When government after government buried its head in the sand as Jews were being slaughtered en masse, the claim that Jews control governments becomes painfully absurd.
Jewish "success" may make an anti-Semite gnash his teeth, but that’s clearly not the root cause of anti-Semitism.
"Jews Claim to be the Chosen People"
The University of California at Berkeley conducted a survey, asking a group of non-Jewish Americans whether they believed a series of negative statements about Jews. By far the number one belief (held by 59%) was that Jews consider themselves as God’s chosen people.
It is true that Jews have always claimed to be different. Throughout history, Jews have kept to themselves, didn’t socialize with non-Jews, and had a completely different ethical, cultural and social system – including different dress, laws, and language. To top it all off, Jewish allegiance was never primarily to the countries in which they lived. The Jew always dreamt of going back to Zion. They were the ultimate outsiders.
If anti-Semites hate Jews because they claim to be chosen, then what happens when Jews dropped their claim of chosenness? When the Enlightenment came to Europe, many Jews said “Now’s our chance!” They shed their foreign dress, shaved their beards, enrolled in universities – and intermarried. In Germany and Austria, Jews for the first time said: "We’re no longer chosen. We’re going to become like you. Our home is here. Berlin is our Jerusalem.” After centuries of hatred, the Jews anticipated a warm welcome from their gentile neighbors.
Where do we see the most vicious outpouring of anti-Semitism? Precisely in Germany and Austria – at the time and place that Jews dropped the claim of chosenness!
If chosenness is, in fact, the real explanation for anti-Semitism, then many of peoples should be hated for similar claims of chosenness. Americans have the concept of Manifest Destiny – i.e. that it was the divine will of God to annex territory stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The name China means “center of the universe.” The name Japan means “the sun only shines for them.” But nobody hates them for this!
Other reasons have been suggested for anti-Semitism, but they also are lacking. Some say Jew-hatred stems from being different, or being outsiders, but as we have seen even when Jews been as German as the Germans, anti-Semitism has not lessened (usually the opposite). Others say Jews were a convenient scapegoat – but hatred must exist as a precondition to be chosen a scapegoat (i.e. no one ever chose midgets as the scapegoat for a country's problems).
Others suggest that anti-Semitism exists because of Deicide: Jews killed their God. But historians show that anti-Semitism existed much before Christianity, and has appeared in countless non-Christian countries.
We can see then that all the stated 'reasons' are not reasons at all, but rather are excuses for anti-Semitism. What is the real reason?
The Attempt to De-Judaize Anti-Semitism
In her diary, on April 11, 1944, Anne Frank wrote:
Who has made us Jews different from all other people? Who has allowed us to suffer so terribly up till now? It is God who has made us as we are, but it will be G-d, 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 that reason only do we now suffer. We can never become just Netherlanders, or just English or representatives of any country for that matter. We will always remain Jews.
Anne Frank said, in effect, that Jews have something special to contribute to the world – and because of that they have been persecuted.
But by and large, the world would rather de-Judaize anti-Semitism. When The Diary of Anne Frank was adapted into a Broadway play, we hear her explanation of anti-Semitism quite differently:
“Why are Jews hated?” she asks, “Well, one day it’s one group, and the next day another...”
In other words, the reasons for anti-Semitism have absolutely nothing to do with being Jewish. The Jews went through a Holocaust, the most systematic attempt to murder a people in the history of all humanity – and it was not for Jewish reasons. Dumb luck. We were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Hitler’s Reason for Anti-Semitism
There was one individual, however, who stated clearly that hatred of Jews is because there’s something unique about the Jews: Adolf Hitler.
His driving ambition was to turn the world away from monotheism and bring it back to paganism. He stood for the superiority of the Aryan race: "Might makes right... survival of the fittest... eliminate the infirmed and handicapped."
There was only one obstacle standing in Hitler’s way: The Jews. Hitler knew it was the Jews who introduced the ideas of love your neighbor, helping the poor and the sick, and all men are created equal. Hitler hated the message of the Jews because it totally contradicted what he wanted the world to become.
As Hitler said:
“Providence has ordained that I should be the greatest liberator of humanity. I am freeing man from the restraints of an intelligence that has taken charge, from the dirty and degrading self-mortifications of a false vision called conscience and morality, and from the demands of a freedom and personal independence which only a very few can bear.”
and
“The Ten Commandments have lost their validity. Conscience is a Jewish invention; it is a blemish like circumcision.”
Hitler’s anti-Semitism was not a means to an end. It was his goal. Long after the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 had effectively dismantled the Jewish community of Germany, Hitler was still not satisfied. In 1942, at the Wansee Conference, Hitler launched the "Final Solution" of genocide.
Hitler’s anti-Semitism was not a means to an end. It was his goal.
Then, with the Nazi invasion of Hungary in 1944, top German military officers determined that railway lines must be prioritized to transport vital troops and equipment to the battlefront. The Wehrmacht urged Hitler to provide this infusion of desperately-needed supplies. Ignoring their warnings, Hitler instead gave orders to allocate the precious rail-lines to deport hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews en masse to the extermination camps. Historians acknowledge this decision as a key factor in further debilitating the German war effort. Hitler, it seems, regarded the killing of Jews even more important than winning World War Two.
He said:
“If only one country, for whatever reason, tolerates a Jewish family in it, that family will become the germ center for fresh sedition. If one little Jewish boy survives, without any Jewish education, with no synagogue and no Hebrew school; it’s in his soul.”
The Torah View of Anti-Semitism
The Torah itself teaches that anti-Semitism will exist and that Jews will be hated for precisely the reasons echoed in Hitler’s words.
The Talmud (Shabbat 69) declares:
Why was the Torah given on a mountain called Sinai? Because the great “sinah,” the great hatred of the Jew, emanates from Sinai. (Sinah, the Hebrew word for hatred, is pronounced almost identically to Sinai.)
Before the Torah was given, people built their lives on a subjective concept of right and wrong. At Sinai the Jewish People were told that there is one God for all humanity who makes moral demands on human beings. You can’t just live as you please; there is a higher authority you are accountable to.
The Russians were threatened by a handful of Jews who wanted to study Hebrew.
The Jews were given the responsibility to represent that morality and be a light unto the nations. So, despite the fact that they were never more than a tiny fraction of the world’s population, Jewish ideas became the basis for the civilized world. And with that, they became a lightening rod for those opposed to the moral message. That’s why the Russians, although they were a huge superpower in the 1970s, were threatened by a handful of Jews who wanted to study Hebrew.
Why would people hate the Jewish message?
Consider the words of Aldous Huxley, in his book, Confessions of an Atheist:
I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently, I assumed that it had none and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.
For the one who rejects morality and conscience, the only way to get of rid of the message… is to destroy the messenger.
Why Be Jewish?
The solution to anti-Semitism is the flip-side of the cause. Jewish values are the cause of anti-Semitism, and Jewish values are the solution. Only by studying Torah – and teaching it to others – can we ever hope to bring the world to a point where evil is eradicated.
When human beings embrace the moral doctrine that Judaism brought to the world from Sinai – that there is a God who demands ethical behavior from every human being – then there will be no holocausts.
And that is the exquisite irony of Jewish history.
The world cannot get the message unless the messengers learn it and teach it. The world desperately needs the Jewish message. Now go and study.
- Based on the seminar, Why the Jews, by Raphael Shore.
- Hitler quotes from Herman Rauschning, Hitler Speaks, Kessinger Publishing, 2006.
- Anne Frank quotes from Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin, Why the Jews, Touchstone, 2003.
(30) H.B. Winkler, February 22, 2019 3:23 AM
Wonderful original insights, but Huxley citation muddled
Despite the blasé title, Simmons has such great, original points to be made, culminating in an original insight of "why Anti-Semitism."
However, in citing Aldous Huxley's supposed book, "Confessions of an Atheist," Simmons wanders off into a fog. I cannot find such a book, though there are many citations for and against the authenticity of similar quotes attributed to such a book by creationists and atheists. As far as I can tell, Huxley was an agnostic, not an atheist; friendly toward people with religious outlooks.
As for Huxley's supposed amoral personal life, in the late 1930s, working in Hollywood as a screenwriter, he spent considerable sums bringing Jewish refugees out of Hitler's Germany.
(29) Miller, May 27, 2016 4:01 AM
to understand
The only way for any Jew to understand antisemitism is to disguise themselves as Palestinian and live in Israel for three years. And read Deuteronomy 28 every day for those three years. At the end of this time period, no who does this will have the slightest doubt of the real reason for Antisemitism. All other explanations are circumventing the truth.
(28) Beverly Margolis-Kurtin, June 25, 2014 3:25 AM
Here's why...
The eternal question is why, or is it what? In the book, “Why the Jews?” Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin included these words: “IT IS JUDAISM THAT BROUGHT THE CONCEPT OF A GOD-GIVEN UNIVERSAL MORAL LAW INTO THE WORLD—THE JEW CARRIES THE BURDEN OF GOD IN HISTORY (AND) FOR THIS HAS NEVER BEEN FORGIVEN.”
The Reverend Edward H. Flannery, National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In my 73 years on this planet, it has been my experience that people wish that there were no ultimate Deity that they could act as they pleased, that they could return to the days when they were pagans and had never heard of GOD!
Had those miserable Hebrews just have kept their mouths shut, all would be well. People could rape, pillage, steal, and perform every form of lechery imaginable WITHOUT FEELING THE SLIGHTEST TWINGE OF GUILT.
But no, those people not only felt their guilt, but had to SHARE it with our ancestors who used to run around worshipping rocks and statues and other things they called gods. And now we’re stuck with it!
People, that is exactly what Hitler wanted, a return to paganism. No guilt about anything which is why he had millions of us slaughtered. His followers wanted exactly the same thing and that is why they still hate us.
The baloney that we rejected their Jesus is not the reason for their hatred; it is the fact that we Jews are the source of the gentile’s guilt is the reason for their unrelenting hatred. Even self-hating Jews are pagans in their black hearts, may Hashem forgive them.
(27) Rebecca C., September 28, 2012 7:37 AM
Interesting thing to note:
"The University of California at Berkeley conducted a survey, asking a group of non-Jewish Americans whether they believed a series of negative statements about Jews. By far the number one belief (held by 59%) was that Jews consider themselves as God’s chosen people." Hmm... I find it kind of offensive that this statement is just assumed to be a negative statement. I'm not even Jewish and I believe that the Jews are and will always be God's chosen people. It seems to me that the negative thing isn't that Jews believe this, but that others think they shouldn't believe it.
(26) Mauri Tuomisto, December 2, 2009 12:25 PM
Read "The Origins of Anti-Semitism" by Hyam Maccoby. "Antisemitism plays an essential role in christian myth of salvation."The Satanizing of the Jews" by Joel Carmichael 1992 indicates that the mystical anti-semitism in christianity is a long term current that leads to holocaust. The Greek Testament ie."New Testament" is a basis book for anti-semitism.
RMW, May 22, 2016 2:47 PM
And how this does explain anti-Semitism by ancient pre-Christian/pagan Greeks such as Apion? How about the antisemitism of Islam and communism, both of which are/were also extremely hostile towards Christianity?
Come to think of it, isn't antisemitism specifically invented by a German atheist named Wilhelm Marr?
(25) Tzippi, November 25, 2009 10:17 AM
anon. prophets writer is right
good article. The person who wrote about the prophets foretelling about the events is right. We Jews only receive Hashem's blessings in full when we are obedient to His Torah.
(24) Patrick B. Leek, November 24, 2009 8:58 PM
Keeping Kosher May Alenate
On YouTube, Wrestler Hulk Hogan is portrayed as trying to be neighborly by offering chocolate chip cookies to his neighbors most of whom say they keep Kosher. I think people misundertand that keeping Kosher means making food in a trief free environment. A lot have told me that Jews feel superior by insinuating that other foods are not good enough. This lack of understanding I think is one of the main reason for antisemitism.
(23) ben Zalman, November 24, 2009 6:35 PM
Excellant article Rabbi Simmons! To the world Jews are an enigma!
We Jews run the gamit of Moses, King Solomon, Sigmund Freud, Ben Gurion down to Madoff. But I agree that Jews are hated mostly because we gave the world God, Ten commandments, Jesus and even Allah. Too many restrictions for a "pagan" mentality! Maybe we Jews should have kept God a secret. Imagine Abrham telling the guys at the local store.."hey guys, guess what, I have just been Chosen!"
(22) Anonymous, November 24, 2009 6:13 PM
Ths is an excellent article. However I believe the problem started at the tower of Babel when Abraham alone stood for the One True God. Its interesting to note also that even when a non-Jew accepts Jewish teaching and begin to live llike the Jews in some areas of their lives, they are 'persecuted' too in some way or the other. Problems are observed even in one's immediate family. I am sure many can attest to this fact.
(21) Chatzkel, November 23, 2009 8:19 PM
It dates back to Greek Times
One thing that this article doesn't touch on is that Greek thought is the source of much of the Western world's anti-Semitism. Remember the Chanukah story - it was those who refused to join Greek "culture" who were persecuted. As for the Church's role, an old quotation should suffice: The G-d of Abraham was repackaged in Greek thought and brought to the Gentiles. How could the early church help but be anti-Semitic?
(20) Anonymous, November 23, 2009 5:36 PM
Believe Your Prophets!
I believe that Rabbi Simmons' reasoning is incorrect. The plight of Jewry in the world has nothing whatsoever to do with hatred of Jews originating with men. The judgment is completely in the hands of the Most High, Who rules over all His creation. Going all the way back to Moses, Jews have been rebelling, blaspheming, lying, murdering... breaking all G-d's laws. Have not the prophets of Israel testified against their people? Did the prophets not declare what would happen to them if they did not repent? Of course they did! Is that not simple enough? Does not that suggest that the Jews are the cause of their own woes?
(19) Neal, November 23, 2009 4:12 AM
Interesting, but...
Very good article, but two quibbles of fact: The author's phrasing about the Wansee Conference could lead some to assume Hitler was present. He was not. Second, although most nations cruelly refused to take Jewish refugees from Europe, a tiny percentage -- but a substantial number -- of Jews found refuge. (Generally, this was before the war, not during, when borders were closed). Britain took thousands of Jewish children; a Japanese consul in Lithuania far exceeded his authority in giving thousands the documents to live out the war in China, and thousands more Jews found a haven in what may seem the unlikely destination of high-altitude Bolivia. An interesting, charming book was published a few years agoabout the last, entitled "Hotel Bolivia."
MESA, July 25, 2018 1:39 PM
1) Even if Hitler was not present at the Wannsee Conference, it was on his orders that no Jew be allowed to survive. He was the one who ordered that trains be used to deport Jews to the death camps instead of using the trains to transport soldiers and supplies to the front. In his final message, his only goal was the elimination of world Jewry.
2) Even though there were places that gave the Jews refuge, they were few and far between. The US wouldn't extend its quotas or even allow too many Jews on the existing quotas. Cuba revoked the visas for the Jews on the St. Louis and the US guarded the coast to not allow any Jews from that boat to jump off and swim ashore. The British blockaded Eretz Yisrael and wouldn't allow refugees. The majority of the world, including the major powers, sat and did little to nothing while millions of Jews were murdered.
(18) Jgarbuz, November 23, 2009 3:43 AM
Isaac vs Ishmael and Jacob vs. Esau
There are those who give another spiritual interpretation as to the core of virulent Jew-hatred. Some believe that Ishmael and Esau have both felt cheated out of some blessing by Isaac and Jacob respectively. Like Cain's response to Abel's apparently finding favor in the eyes of the Lord, rather than doing good themselves to win favor, their blind rage makes them feel that Jews are perennial cheats and the source of evil in their world. The fact that their material holdings in terms of territory and actual power far exceeds that of their little upstart brother, they nonetheless feel that the Jew has "got it over" on them. Whatever individual or collective failures - real or imagined - they experience must be somehow due to the satanic power of the upstart Jew. Buried somewhere very deep in their primordial conscience, may exist that subconscious feeling they were cheated at the very beginning of God's favor and blessing.
(17) Donna, November 23, 2009 2:03 AM
Hashem is the answer.
When a people create their own god, Hashem always confuses and upsets them. They want to strike at God Hashem, Jews are the closest target. They will pay for eternity. Jews have always kept accurate history, which is a fly in their rambling accounts of their beliefs. The population does not want a god they cannot control. Hashem laughs.
(16) Larry, November 23, 2009 1:11 AM
the Church is the foundation for anti-semtism
From its inception the Church has spewed forth anti-semitism. Quoting the Encyclopedia Brittanica "From St. Augustine in the 4th century to Martin Luther in the 16th, some of the most eloquent and persuasive Christian theologians excoriated the Jews as rebels against God and murderers of the Lord. They were described as companions of the Devil and a race of vipers. Church liturgy, particularly the scriptural readings for the Good Friday commemoration of the Crucifixion, contributed to this enmity." Today's Church still contends in Vatican II that Jews commited theocide, but that we are blameless since Jews are amoral.
(15) Eileen Dewalt, November 23, 2009 12:36 AM
Very well said
I am not Jewish but a christain. I loved your article. and I love the Jews. If we would have held onto our Jewish roots no christain could have been antisemitic. I have always work for Jewish people and have always been very blessed. To tell you the truth I fond it much better to work for Jewish people because of your understanding of the ways of God something alot of so called christains have yet to understand because we have detached ourselves from torah teaching and traded it in for paganism. Sorry for all that was done in the name of Christainity. We have much to learn and I pray many of us will go back to our beginings.
(14) Donna, November 23, 2009 12:35 AM
Why anti semitism
I think it is because Satan hates G-d and The Jews are his special people who know about the Torah etc and 10 commandments. Even christianity because we abide by the bible and 10 commandments and claim the G-d of abraham and Isaac and Jacob as their G-d are persecuted as well. ( know christians have been the perbetrators as well ) thats because they didn't abide by the 10 commandments Satan is the real cause If we all did the right thing there will be no more holocuasts, persecution or anti semitism. I just pray people recognize how unfair anti semitism is. Yours sincerely Donna
(13) Harvey Rogers, November 22, 2009 11:55 PM
The answer
Many years ago I started to look into the cause of anti-Semitism and started collecting proof of my thesis. I started writing a book on the subject but never finished it. Basically it's because an insult occurs when someone attacks the self-esteem of someone else. The Jews attack the self esteem of others by claiming to be the "Chosen People," by being so much better morally, by being successful and outstanding beyond their numbers and doing this against all odds. In connection with this, find an instance in history where Jews were attacked for something they actually did "bad," All you will find are ridiculous and baseless charges.
(12) drbill, November 22, 2009 10:32 PM
A little tweak?
Great article. A few examples however prevent me from emailing it to Palestinian sympathizers, including liberal Jews who cross my path. "Manifest Destiny" broke the spirit of the American Indian. We conquered them, ravaged their culture, and took their lands. They have a powerful gripe leading to hatred of Americans. Our Declaration of Independence declares "All men created equal." (The above illustrated American contradictions. If it was indeed a Jewish sentiment with ample grounds, then why were Moabites (among others) our slaves for centuries?
(11) Joe Pineda, November 22, 2009 9:31 PM
Where Jews have not been hated
Thinking of Antisemitism, there's the fact that Jews have *never* been attacked on India or China, despite the several centuries there. The difference with the West and Middle East is that both Christianity and Islam claim to have superseded Judaism (and Islam also considers itself as superseding Christianity, too), whereas Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. make no such claim. In fact, Jews weren't attacked in Iran prior to the Arab conquest. Zoroastrianism doesn't claim to supersede Judaism, au contraire, it sees Judaism as a fellow ancient monotheistic faith. So Jews were *very well* treated before the forceful imposition of Islam, which also resulted in hundreds of thousands of Zoroastrians fleeing to India, where they too were peacefully accepted to this day. The belief in this "superseding-ness" is a central tenet of both Christianity and Islam. As part of this, there's a fervent belief that, eventually, all adherents of the "deprecated" and "outdated" religions will convert to the brave new thing. When this doesn't happen, no matter how charming and polite the missionaries are, a crisis of faith comes, with adherents questioning the universality and supremacy of their religion. The very existence of Jews who stubbornly refuse to convert or, even worse, *rebuke* the proposed religion with (Heaven forbid!) **arguments** challenges these central tenets. The cognitive dissonance usually leads to rabid hate. Hence, Christian hate towards Judaism, and Muslim hate towards both. See the evolution in Martin Luther's thoughts on the Jews, for instance.
(10) Anonymous, November 22, 2009 9:28 PM
With due respect, wrong
The name "China" is composed of the characters for "middle, center" and "country/kingdom". China is the "Middle Kingdom", for ancient Chinese thought themselves to be at the geographic, economic and social center of the world, surrounded by barbarians. Japan's characters are "sun/day" and "origin, birth, beginning", plus the usual "country/kingdom" meaning simply "the country where the sun is birth" (i.e. where it rises). Compare with Korea, the Morning Kingdom. Nothing special here, and quite logical from a Sino-centric point of view. Now my personal opinion: I believe there are many different forms of antisemitism, with different origins. E.g. the ancient Greeks hated the Jews for they believed their own culture to be the pinnacle of human progress. The Jews also thought so and despite being conquered were never as fully hellenized as other peoples and still refused to accept everything Greek as "superior", this was bound to produce a full frontal collision sooner or later. In modern days, a lot of people have a vague antipathy towards Jews for not integrating in their new communities - mostly for not adopting language, dress styles and codes, non-verbal language, taboos, having new local friends, etc. These people usually resent, also, other peoples who also tend to become insular when emigrating and form close-knit communities excluding the locals. The Japanese are an example: Sony's founder, Akio Morita, dedicated one whole chapter of his autobiography "Made in Japan" to this issue and how he tried hard to fight it in himself, his family, and his top executives when abroad. And it's understandable, for a lot of people this immigrants' refusal to integrate raises questions on the motives of these foreigners. It also produces feelings of them somehow taking advantage of their new country yet giving back nothing in return.
(9) Rachel, November 22, 2009 7:57 PM
Still doesn't explain, since most faith systems today share our moral system
Certainly Christianity & Islam (in theory if not always in practice) also preach respect for neighbors, charity to the poor, and sexual restraint. Furthermore, these values are found as well in some polytheistic cultures today (e.g. Hinduism, Shinto, Buddhism). So saying that the reason for anti-Semitism is an attempt to remove conscience doesn't really explain -- while individuals (e.g. Huxley) may want to do without G-d, there are no major movements to wipe out these other religions.
(8) , November 22, 2009 7:48 PM
VERY COMPELLING, BUT OFFBASE
Marvelous Article, and very compelling in it's content. But it seems that the foolishness of Political Correctitude has blinded us again from the REAL Truth, the WHOLE Truth ... because of enormous upheaval, and the risk of further persecution, we are afraid to say that the Church persecuted the Jews for centuries.
(7) Mike Lampard, November 22, 2009 6:36 PM
Very disturbing!
I have always been disturbed by anti-Semitic and its irrationality, and the way the thought processes of otherwise civilized people are bitterly twisted. The suggestion that it is connected to the Torah and Mt. Sinai is very plausible and I, for one, accept this reasoning. What I cannot understand is why Christians indulge in anti-Semitic as Christians are also very much people of the book. However, anti-christian is becoming as bad and virulent as anti-Semitic. Not only are Jews killed for their faith; so are Christians: 1000s of them. maybe for the same reason!
(6) Rosen, November 22, 2009 6:33 PM
anti-Semites' sentiments
I have yet to hear any anti-Semite come clean and specifically admit, "yes, I am an anti-Semite, therefore I want to see the elimination of the Jews." Such bigots may be more likely to admit they are racists...Also, what's been bothering me is how much anti-Semitic rants there are of such bigots speaking their mind against the Jews (in particular) online on message boards and blogs. I often try to report these anti-Jewish sentiments to the ADL. But, I don't know whether free speech can accommodate hate speech - I've heard that the Holocaust began with words against the Jews before it rose to the next level and so forth.
(5) ruth, November 22, 2009 6:27 PM
the story of the Jews
It seems we are a target and have been a target for inconsolable, countless years, a history of pogroms, of the Inquisition, of people defying this hatred with the fire within, a fire that kept us going, emergent even from the ashes, and teaching a story that began with Abraham. There seems no end to the dimensions of human cruelty, and that notion, that one group is better under God than another is a fallacy. This is a story God wrote, and to complete this story we must achieve unity. God is very much in the wings throughout this collective story involving us all, and this story must wind its way back to Jerusalem and it will, when we all recognize that there is no "other" way.
(4) Frank Adam, November 22, 2009 6:13 PM
kick- the- cat and weak psyches
Jews are a minority in time and place throughout history and are convenient cats to kick as diversionary politics. Secondly - consult the Pharaoh of Exodus and Haman in Esther. Differences upset he blinkered small minds of the world who want everything to be their way at kit inspection or some other "bull- parade." At least Pharaoh had a realpolitik fear of fifth columns; but the quick way to deal with those is fair and equal opportunities for all. Haman, Hitler and the Pobodientsev's of the world all have some nagging inferiority complex that can not handle difference. This is odd as all our faces are simultaneously the same and different ditto allother body parts yet nobody complains!.
(3) Anonymous, November 22, 2009 4:43 PM
Until then we will suffer
Great article. A depressing way to start the week! When your child or fellow human being stumbles, we endeavor to help. Our culture needs help from G-d. Not just guidelines in our Torah. We need another Sinai event, visible to the world. Maybe then it will shake us into sensibility.
(2) Daniela, November 22, 2009 4:26 PM
one point of confusion
It says in the article : "...that there is a God who demands ethical behavior from every human being, etc." But the Muslims believe this as well. So what is the basis for their anti-semitism ?
(1) Irene Solnik, November 22, 2009 4:14 PM
Christianity
Until Christianity became the dominant religon there was no anti-Semitism; just the normal fights between nations. That is why Muslims hate Jews and even into Asia Chrisian hate has flourished.l