Anti-Semitism

This a series of posts explores anti-Semitism, its origins, the motivations behind it, its various manifestations, its consequences, and its possible future. The series also proposes a method for determining when an act or statement is anti-Semitic and concludes with some suggestions for remedying the consequences of anti-Semitism. A series of discussion questions is also included.

Review of the previous post.

The previous post, post number 27 of 33, was the fourth of ten posts discussing a process for determining if an act or statement is anti-Semitic.

Preview of this post.

This post, post number 28 of 33, is the fifth of ten posts discussing a process for determining if an act or statement is anti-Semitic and focuses specifically on determining if the object of the act or statement was or is Jewish, since by definition, anti-Semitism is hatred of Jews.

 Determining Anti-Semitism

Of course, this last criterion (the act or statement was motivated because the person is Jewish) is based on the object of the act, statement or accusation being Jewish; therefore, one must determine if the object is, indeed, Jewish or perceived as being Jewish. That raises the thorny issue of “what, exactly, is a Jew?” Again, like the above issues that are so complex as to defy categorization sufficient to be encompassed in a single definition^[1], the answer can only be found using a process. That process is outlined and discussed in the series “Jewish Identity” (to be posted in the future). For the sake of convenience, the indicia of Jewish Identity will be summarized here.

• Faith in the Jewish God
• Attitude toward sacred objects (such as Menorah, etc)
• Attitude toward Jewish rituals, Shabbat, the Jewish moral code, the laws of Judaism, prayer, synagogue, the state of Israel, the history and heritage of Judaism, the sacred texts, the Hebrew language, as well as how the person is identified by others.

Preview of the next post.

The next post, post number 29 of 33, is the sixth of ten posts discussing a process for determining if an act or statement is anti-Semitic.

[1] Although many have tried (unsuccessfully) to formulate such a definition. See, for example, Imre Kertétz: “the name or label ‘Jew’ is an ambiguous designation only in the eyes of anti-Semites;”or Alain Badiou and A.B. Yehosuha who stated that virtually no Israeli can be counted\d as a Jew and that no non-Israeli can be so counted.