Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
copyright notice at the end. |
 |
|
Why
Do People Hate Jews?
|
 |
Dear Gil:
A question that has come up in my (mostly non-Jewish) community recently
is the classic: "Why are the Jews always getting picked on?"
I would be grateful if you could provide me an answer and direct me to
resources that can answer this question for both school-age children as
well as curious adults.
P
Dear P:
Some years ago, my wife was a 4th grade public school teacher. She
had no Jews in her class and one day told her kids that she was Jewish.
One of the kids in her class formed two guns with his fingers, pointed
at her and made a rat-atat-atat machine gun sound.
This 11 year old obviously learned this thinking and behavior somewhere
-- probably at home. When my wife told me this story, I asked
myself, as your non-Jewish friends have asked you: Why?
The question is especially salient now, with the terrible outbreak of
anti-Semitism in Europe of late. Blaming Israel is simplistic and
another column altogether. (Israel was certainly not on the mind of my
wife's 4th grader.) Some are saying and writing that we are back
to the 1930's again. Books have been written with many
explanation of why Jews have always been hated. This complex
problem deserves lengthy treatment. With that as a caveat, I will
offer a few words of explanation.
At the root of the problem, I believe is the fact that, humans are
insecure tribal creatures. We are easily threatened by people who
are different. Since Jews appeared on the planet, we have
certainly been different. We suggested the radically
different (and highly disruptive) Jewish notions that there is one God
and that humans are therefore inherently equal; we dress, eat and behave
differently. These and other differences have confused,
offended, frightened and angered non-Jews around us.
Add to the problem of human insecurity, widespread ignorance and
misinformation about Judaism. Misconceptions run the gamut from
the crazy idea that Jews have horns (based on an incorrect translation
of the Bible) to the inaccurate assertion that Judaism is a race.
(Judaism is a "way of life" that anyone can convert to join.)
Some of these misunderstanding are innocent. Many are malicious
and evil. Horrible lies about Jews have been spread by
anti-Semites to ferment hatred. Also, these lies about Jews have
been used for political purposes. Over centuries, in part to stay
in power, The Church, monarchs, Nazis, Communists, Arab dictators and
others have blamed and focused the misery of their masses on the Jews.
These lies include that Jews: killed Jesus, caused The Plague,
spread AIDS to non-Jewish children, want to control the world, already
control banks, government and media, drink the blood of non-Jews for
Jewish holiday celebrations (this last lie - amongst others-- is
currently widely circulated in the Arab world.) In the
course of history, these lies have so regularly been disseminated, that
they have a life of their own. Anti-Semites quote ancient
anti-Semites and footnote earlier anti-Semitic writings to prove the
authenticity of the lies.
On top of lies and innocent misconceptions, there is another factor that
can lead to misunderstanding: Jewish etiquette can be an affront
to others. I seldom see this reason mentioned, but growing
up in the gentle, polite and non-Jewish Midwest of the US, I am
sensitive to how Jewish manners differ.
Specifically I refer to the Jewish tradition that encourages:
dissent, arguing, standing up for what we believe in, protesting the
status quo and speaking up for the powerless. I view this list
with pride, but it is easy for me to see how non-Jews (especially
leadership) could view this behavior as arrogant and threatening.
Making this worse is the confusing idea that Jews are "the
chosen people." You can see some of this played out in the
story of Joseph and how his brothers resented him and his words.
In all that I have written, I definitely do not mean to suggest that
Jews deserve to be hated! I have tried to explain that combining
human insecurity; widespread ignorance (which includes the propagation
of wicked lies about Jews) and Jewish decorum and you have a fine recipe
to get picked on.
But in the final analysis, this is tragic and wrong because
fundamentally, Jews are people like most other people: we work, we
play, we laugh, we cry and hope for a world of peace. The solution
is for Jews and non-Jews to know each other better. Learning is
the key.
Two resources to further answer your question that I'll suggest are the
book Why the Jews by Prager and Telushkin and the Website:
www.igc.apc.org/ddickerson/antisemitism.html
I hope you'll share this with your non-Jewish neighbors and that you
both find these comments lead to mutual respect and understanding.
Thanks for writing!
Gil
A FRIENDLY COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
only do I give you permissions to copy these Jewish Email
columns...I HOPE YOU WILL and that you share them with others!
All I ask is that you never charge anyone for them and that you
also include this little copyright notice. Thank You!
|
|
