With Chanukah ending yesterday, I’d like to connect
the holiday to the conclusion of my antisemitism series by finishing up with
Rabbi Spiro’s book.
Since Chanukah is a time to be loud and proud about our
Jewishness, it’s important to know where we come from and what it took for us
to get here.
The thing about history, though, is that it’s often written
by the winners and more often than not the minorities are excluded. But this,
thankfully, is not the case when it comes to the Jews. The facts are all there,
but the real issue comes down to how these facts are narrated.
The interesting thing about telling history is not only a
matter of perspective, but also the order and structure in which you tell it.
Rabbi Spiro’s book is such a retelling of history. People
might argue that if you wrote this book from another perspective or narrative
structure, its meaning and conclusion would be entirely different (similar to how I am also retelling this history).
But I would wholeheartedly disagree. The book does not dismiss other
cultures or their impact on civilization. Instead, it acknowledges that all
cultures helped shape this world, but it emphasizes
the extent of Jewish influence and that the Jew's mission and democracy’s
mission is, and always was, one in the same.
When Abraham destroyed all his father’s idols, he became the
first person since Adam and Noah to declare the existence of one God.
From Abraham to Isaac, Isaac to Jacob, Jacob to his 12 sons
(the Tribes of Israel) this belief was carried forward. This tradition is known
as “ethical monotheism” and the greater part of the world 4000 years later
adapted it as absolute.
But how did this come about?
After Joseph, who I discussed in my first post, was sold
into slavery and went to Egypt—and successfully became the number two guy
there—the Jews enjoyed a period of affluence and prosperity.
However, despite their years of loyalty to Egypt, the Jews
soon began to be viewed as a threat to Pharaoh. Next thing you know, more than 600,000
Jews became slaves in Egypt. Cue Moses, the 10 plagues, and the freeing of the
Jewish people.
To Moses, God said:
“You shall love the stranger as yourself, because you were
strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Unlike the Gods of the Greeks, Romans, Syrians, and most of
the Mediterranean peoples—whose Gods were amoral and indifferent to mankind—the God of Abraham, and the Jews, was one of righteousness.
More than 1700 years have passed since Abraham’s time. While
Israel has been attacked by the Philistines, Babylonians, and Assyrians, none
of the invaders—since the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks—tried to
annihilate the Jews because of
their faith.
Eventually, the Greek Empire fell away and the Roman Empire
took its place—though it absorbed its Hellenistic culture. Of the 50 million
people living in Rome at that time, as many as six to seven million (14%) were Jews.
Like the Greeks, the Romans had a huge problem with Jews.
Even though the Jews made up a minority, the Romans realized that their citizens were so
convinced by Judaism, that many people began converting in large numbers.
Only once did the Jewish kingdom try to force a group of
people—the Indumeans—to convert.
And it cost them dearly.
Not long after, Rome invaded Israel and conquered. The Jews
fought back—which was nothing short of suicidal—and miraculously drove Rome
from Jerusalem.
While the Rabbis suggested reconciliation, the zealot extremists
had had enough. They killed 6,000 Roman soldiers. Coincidentally, the victory
was won on the exact same spot where the Maccabees vanquished the Greeks.
Without a doubt, the Jews had betrayed their fundamental
principles. Had it not been for Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, the Jews might have
been lost forever.
Smuggling himself out of the city in a coffin, Zakkai was
eventually granted an audience with the leader of the Roman army and, having
found the general in good spirits after learning that Nero was dead and he was
to be emperor, he spared the center of Torah learning at Yavneh along with many
Jewish scholars.
The Jewish challenge to Rome that began in 66 C.E. lasted 70
years. But by then, Jerusalem—Israel’s capital King David had created one thousand years earlier—was now emptied of Jews.
Jerusalem had fallen. The Temple was no more. And Israel was
lost.
Jesus eventually arrived on the scene along with the
introduction to Christianity to the world.
The Jews, no longer viewed by the majority of the world as
the “chosen people”, now merely functioned—for the Roman Catholic Church—as
living proof of the validity of the Old Testament as well as the “Second
Coming” of Jesus.
But due to the Reformation and invention of the printing press,
the Bible found its way back into the hands of the masses. Everyone was being
introduced to Jewish principles once more.
The English Revolution changed the course of European
history by bringing about the near end of European nobility. And it would not have happened without the Bible. The Puritans were obsessed with it and they
used it for a model of a just society.
The Puritans saw themselves as the mirror image of the
Jewish people and their struggle against the pharaoh of Egypt.
John Milton himself event felt that there were “no songs
comparable to the song of Zion; no oration equal to those of the prophets; and
no politics like those which Scripture teach.”
Given that the Book of Deuteronomy spoke of the Jews being
scattered “from one end of the Earth to other” and that the medieval Hebrew
name for England was Ketzeh Ha-Eretz—“end
of the Earth”—the Puritans reasoned that the “Second Coming” could not happen
without the Jews returning to England. The Jews, eventually, made their way
back to England in small numbers.
When Cromwell died, so too did Puritan rulership. But their
legacy outlived them.
The Enlightenment—which stressed that the human mind was
necessary for the advancement of civilization—also embodied the belief that the
mission of human beings was to improve humanity.
A mission that the Jews had been carrying out centuries
before.
The Puritans brought their values to America—a country that
many consider to be the pinnacle of modern society. Debatable, in many
respects, but let’s accept it for argument’s sake. So, the Puritans—solely
influenced by the Jews and their bible—founded America: the land of the free
and the home of the brave.
Of course many Americans today are bible-thumping Christians,
but the Old Testament is still considered the original and pure source of
Christian values—as well as a legalistic and ritualistic guide—something that
the New Testament was not.
Moreover, education for all was the hallmark of Puritanism in
America. Again, one of the fundamental values of Judaism. In fact, at some of
the most prestigious American universities, both Hebrew and Bible studies were
offered as required courses.
Hebrew was, in fact, so popular in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, that several students at Yale delivered their
commencement orations in Hebrew.
Many of America’s founding fathers, in their speeches, would quote extensively from the Old Testament.
Rabbi Spiro spends a lot of time breaking down the
wide-reaching extent of Judaism’s impact on early America, but I want to jump
right to the end of his book.
He concludes by citing Congressional
Quarterly’s comparison of urban public school problems of 1940 with those
of 1990.
Top 7 problems in schools in 1940:
1.
Running in the halls
2.
Chewing gum
3.
Making noise
4.
Wearing improper clothing
5.
Getting out of line
6.
Littering
7.
Smoking in the lavatories
\
Top 8 problems in schools in 1990:
1.
Pregnancy
2.
Venereal disease
. 3.
Drug abuse
4.
Suicide
5.
Rape
6.
Assault and burglary
7 7. Arson
8.
Murder/gang warfare
This is not to suggest that extremely bad things never
happened in 1940 schools. I have no doubt that they did and many incidents most
likely went unreported. But given the sheer amount of what’s happening with our
youth today, the numbers are hard to ignore.
Of course it’s every person’s job to help better themselves
and the world, but the mission of the Jewish people has always been to be a ‘light
onto the nations’.
However, as of right now, they have a far more pressing
matter at hand: getting themselves
back on track.
Jews make up such a small percentage of the world’s
population, but when a Jewish person does something, the world immediately sits
up and takes notice, be it good or bad.
That’s a lot of pressure.
We must educate ourselves, at the very least, if we’re going
to take on the world’s problems.
Before we do anything, we have to know what our priorities
are. We can’t expect to have an impact unless we make an effort to change ourselves
first.
Often I get so caught up in wanting to “fix” the world that
I forget that I’m in no position to do that unless I myself undergo a huge
transformation.
The statement “Be the change you wish to see in the world”
does not merely mean practice what you preach, but to actively embody your
fundamental values and do good with them.
But this is extremely difficult in the face of extreme antisemitism.
In 1991, a three-part TV documentary mini-series entitled The Longest Hatred aired. The
documentary begins a thousand years ago and ends in the early twentieth century. It’s on
youtube if you’re interested in watching it.
But my point in mentioning this documentary is that
antisemitism did not disappear after the Holocaust. In fact, it’s actually on
the rise, particularly in Europe, once more.
A survey published this past November by the European Union
Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) revealed that 66% of the 5,847 self-identified Jews
polled thought that antisemitism was a problem and 76% believed it has gotten
worse in the last 5 years.
One in five experienced an anti-Semitic verbal insult and/or
a physical assault in the year before the survey and 29% of people considered
emigrating because they feared for their safety.
The survey is available online: http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2013-discrimination-hate-crime-against-jews-eu-member-states_en.pdf.
Of course there are other forms of discrimination, have been
for centuries, but what is about antisemitism
that makes it so different from any other kind of hatred?
Many reasons but four main ones:
1)
Longevity
2)
Universality
3)
Intensity
4)
Irrationality
I’ve already mentioned how far back antisemitism goes. It’s
a long history.
Hatred of Jews is also everywhere. As shown in the FRA
survey, you’re likely to find antisemitism all over the world.
About 7-10 years ago, I was visiting my family in New
Brunswick. I’m the only Jewish relative on that side of the family. One Jew out
of 15 cousins on my father’s side. I always thought that was kind of cool.
While I was there, I went for a walk with one of my cousins.
We came to a bridge not even a two minute walk from my aunt and uncle’s house
and there, painted onto the pavement, was a giant yellow swastika.
This was in Quispamsis, New Brunswick. In the early 2000s,
its population was just under 14,000 people.
I guess with nothing better to do in such a small town, drawing
anti-Semitic graffiti is a fun way of filling the time. I fully admit that is the only time in the 20+ years I've been going there that I saw anything anti-Semitic. But my point is that there is no place in the world that’s solely free of antisemitism.
We are, on the whole, a hated people.
The intensity we’re reminded of every year during
Holocaust Education Week. Hitler wanted us wiped off the face of the earth. If
the rest of the world had not stepped in, the world, on the whole, would be a darker
and stranger place. And I, along with many others, would not be here today.
As for the irrationality of prejudice against Jews, I don’t even
know where to begin.
During the fourteenth century, European Christians widely
believed that the Jews caused the Black Plague by poisoning the Christian
wells. Never mind that the Jews, as well, were dying from it. That did not stop
the Christians from massacring Jewish communities.
Let’s not forget the infamous blood libels.
People actually believed that Jews required blood drained
from a Christian child in order to make their Passover matzah.
You might say, “Well, this was the medieval period, they
believed in the craziest things.”
That fails to explain why in 1840 the blood libel issue
resurfaced in Damascus and Jews were arrested, tortured, and tried for the
ritual murder of a missing Franciscan monk.
But it doesn’t stop there.
In 2003, the Syrian government produced a television series
which portrayed “Zionists” committing a ritual murder in order to obtain
non-Jewish blood for baking Passover matzah.
In 2003!
But even in 2009, Sweden was publishing stories accusing
Israel of selling organs from “murdered” Palestinian Arabs.
Along with selling organs, the Jews have also been accused
for the outbreak of swine flu as part of an “international Jewish conspiracy to
reduce the world’s population”.
It certainly doesn’t help when Time Magazine asserted on its front cover “Why Israel Doesn’t Care
About Peace” claiming that Israel is too obsessed with money to make time for
peace.
Folks, let’s do math.
With a GDP of about $195 billion, Israel is hardly at the
top of the world’s economy.
In 2009, Israel’s per capita income was $28,400. In fact,
poverty is a huge problem there—28% of its population is poor. So even though
Saudi Arabia is overflowing with oil, the Jewish State is clearly where the
money’s at.
More importantly, in 2010 a whopping ~70% of Israelis stated
that they favoured peace talks: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Poll-715-percent-Israelis-favor-peace-talks.
But the Israelis have been disappointed time and time again.
During the Clinton years, they watched with heart in hand as Yasser Arafat
walked away from the near-completed Independent Palestinian state deal.
Israelis even removed themselves from Gaza only to discover
that the land is now a haven for terrorists: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e2e9c888-3419-11e3-af0f-00144feab7de.html#axzz2mi3qKWI9.
Despite the fact that Israel is essentially at war, whose
soldiers live on the brink of death every day, the world still seems to think
that it is somehow an international powerhouse.
You think that would be bad enough, but people—particularly
those in power—openly blame Israel for Global Warming: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/jews-portrayed-as-guilty-again/story-e6frezz0-1111114403560.
Yes, we’re not only drinking the blood of Christian babies,
but we’re also responsible for the destruction of Mother Earth too.
Oy vey.
So why the Jews?
During the class on antisemitism in my Maimonides course,
Rabbi Mandel listed the following reasons:
1)
Economic
2)
Chosen People
3)
Scapegoat
4)
Outsiders
5)
Deicide
6)
Racial
I don’t want to delve too deeply into these reasons as I
think they mostly speak for themselves. But I do want to say a couple of points
about them before concluding this post.
Many people can’t stand the Jews because we think we’re the
Chosen People. But any person who is a self-declared (insert religion here) also believes the same thing. If they
don’t believe it, then why identify with the religion?
It’s called projection. Figures this concept came from a
Jew. People hate the Jews because for thousands of years, they never stopped
believing they were the Chosen People. They were harassed, assaulted, tortured,
almost annihilated, yet still the Jews believed.
Christians claim that Jesus is their savour and that the
Jews aren’t the Chosen People anymore because they did not believe Jesus was
the messiah.
But if they’re so confident in that belief, why bother
trying to convert us? We’re going to hell, according to them, either way. Yes,
they claim to want to “save us”—they want to save everyone—but why focus on
conversion when the real problem is, as it has always been, saving the world?
This is what I mean about priorities. We’re so focused on
other people that we forget the real problem lies within ourselves. If every
person just focused on becoming a better person, the world would be, without a
doubt, a better place.
So why am I choosing to pair the recent celebration of
Chanukah with a series of posts regarding antisemitism?
Well, as I said before, Chanukah is a time to be loud and
proud about being Jewish.
But I’m going to confess something to you: for ten years, I
have claimed to be agnostic. After my bat mitzvah days, when the rose-coloured
glasses came off, I took a look around and realized that I wasn’t impressed
with the Jewish people. Yes, of course there were many other horrible people in
the world, but because I was raised Jewish, I took a particular issue with it.
Close to home, and all that.
What I’m actually saying is—I was a self-hating Jew.
Recently, two people said to me that self-hating Jews were the
worst kind of Jews. The reason being is that a Jew who denies their identity
not only denies God, but also insults the memory of every Jew who came before
them. Of those who died for them.
In my opinion, there are two kinds of self-hating Jews.
The more common ones, or more widely discussed ones, are the Jews who hate being Jewish
because: it denies them the opportunity to walk in the world without being
noticed; denies them the chance to be just like everyone else; and denies them the privilege and perks of being in the majority. Even though many
of us are white, due to our cultural roots, many Jews have difficulty “passing” as non-Jews in this world.
These self-hating Jews feel that their Jewishness is worse
than a brand—it’s a stain. One they cannot get out.
The second kind of self-hating Jew is the one who, already
due to their critical nature, resents
the Jewish people for not living up to a higher standard that is ingrained in
the pages of the Torah and its Oral teachings.
They are resentful because they loathe hypocrisy and it is incredibly difficult to ignore the hypocrisy of some Jewish people.
I was that self-hating Jew.
During the eight days of Chanukah, I’ve had the chance to
reflect on my Jewish roots and Judaism as an ideological concept.
Last week when I was home, my mother was rummaging around
for the gifts I received for my bat mitzvah.
She discovered this:
I certainly hope that, as I continue to learn more about Judaism, my life will become more and more 'illuminated' with deeper meaning.
At the end of the class on antisemitism, Rabbi Mandel asked us an interesting question:
What are the positive benefits to antisemitism?
Anyone's first response might be that there aren't any, given everything I've already shared with you.
But after writing these last three posts, I think I've gained some clarity.
Jews benefit from antisemitism because it serves as a constant and endless reminder of everything our people have been through and will continue to face as we head further into the future of this world.
It has been a long and bitter journey, but not one that will end anytime soon.
We need to better prepare ourselves because the worst is not over. It is only just beginning.
The fact that antisemitism is stronger than ever means that we're giving the rest of the world something to talk about.
So let's, together, really give them something to talk about.
I wish for everyone to light up their lives with their own heroic spark of intelligence, compassion, and honour.
It will be a long and rough war to fight the darkness, but it's certainly one worth fighting for.
MB
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