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 9 of 33, was the second of four posts discussing the consequences of Jewish separateness.

Preview of this post.

This post, post number 10 of 33, is the third of four posts discussing the consequences of Jewish separateness.

Separateness and its consequences

1. Jews question

Religions other than Judaism, often demand conformity and often treat questions as sacrilegious. Many religions simply cannot stand up to non-conformity or questioning^[1]. They want the followers to believe that their fate, no matter how miserable, is “God’s Will”, they wanted the followers to be anesthetized. Jews, on the other hand, believe it to be their sacred duty to question^[2] (in fact, the very first dialogue involving a human in Genesis begins with a question: the serpent asked Eve if she could partake of all the fruit in Eden)^[3]. Jews delight in lively debate and argument; religions in their early forms did not want such debate and argument and viewed it with suspicion and then with revulsion, especially if the debate touched on a point which could not be easily answered or which was sensitive. Judaism is a faith that values the mind. Thus, Judaism encourages questions. In the yeshiva, the home of traditional Talmudic learning, one of the greatest compliments a teacher can give a student is: “You raise a good question.” Jews have at least three types of questions: fact-based (science, etc); faith-based (questions relating to Torah, etc) and justice-based (“why do bad things happen to good people?”). The first two types of questions are answered in words, the third is answered by actions. The third type of questioning that is an anathema to some religions because it causes people to ask why their lot in life is so poor while others, who may be less pious and even evil, prosper. Why would their god allow such a situation. A simple “because it is God’s will,” and/or “God works in inscrutable ways” is simply not sufficient. Jews raising these questions made those in power very uncomfortable and they took steps to silence, or at least debase, those questioners.

Preview of the next post.

The next post, post number 11 of 33, is the fourth of four posts discussing the consequences of Jewish separateness.

^[1] See, for example, the famous mediaeval disputation in 1263 in Barcelona, Spain between Moses ben Nachman and Raymond Penaforte and Pablo Christiani, after which, Nachman had to flee Spain to Palestine in fear of his life because he had not “lost’ the debate about whether the Talmud had foreshadowed Christianity. See also, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus’s assertion in Prescription Against Heretics that Christians must avoid seeking philosophical understanding because it leads to heresy and should confine themselves to a law of faith which is the teachings that Jesus received from God and then transmitted to His apostles who, in turn, made them available to humans via apostolic churches: “This rule of faith was taught by Christ and raises among ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce.”

[2] Isidor I. Rabi, Nobel laureate in physics was once asked, “Why did you become a scientist, rather than a doctor or lawyer of businessman, like the other immigrant kids in your neighborhood?” “My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: “Nu? Did you learn anything today?’ But not my mother. She always asked me a different question. ‘Izzy,’ she would say, ‘Did you ask a good question today?’ That difference – asking good questions – made me become a scientist.”

[3] In fact, on Passover, which is one of, if not the, most important holidays in Judaism, the central aspect of the holiday, the Passover meal, centers around a question: “why is this night different from all other nights? And spends nearly the entire meal answering that question and inviting people, especially the children at the meal, to discuss, debate and think about the question and its answers.