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 6 of 33, was the first of two posts discussing the Jews’ fear of assimilation as being one cause of anti-Semitism.

Preview of this post.

This post, post number 7 of 33, is the second of two posts discussing Jews’ fear of assimilation as being one reason for the rise of anti-Semitism and focuses on the Biblical teaching of remaining separate.

IV. Fear of Assimilation caused Jews to remain separate

B. Biblical teaching

One source of the desire to remain separate to avoid assimilation is the Bible itself.

As discussed elsewhere, scholars believe the Bible was written by several authors. One of those authors has been designated as the P source. The P portion of the Bible covers the first creation story, the stories of Abraham, Jacob, the exodus, the journey through the wilderness (most of which is a doublet of the J and E versions), the law of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.

The P stories and laws were present in Judah by the time of Jeremiah; that is, before the death of King Josiah in 609 B.C.E. Thus, it appears that the P portion of the Bible was written between 722 B.C.E. and 609 B.C.E., during the reign of King Hezekiah. Hezekiah’s reign began around the time of the fall of the Northern Kingdom. People were moving into Jerusalem from the North. These people followed Moses. King Hezekiah favored the priests, known as the Aaronids, over other followers, specifically those that followed Moses. Hezekiah established priestly divisions in which they were central to worship and controlled the rules, rituals and rites. He destroyed all places of worship outside the Temple thus placing the Temple as the center of worship, and of course, since the Priests officiated at the Temple and thus they controlled the religion.

The P stories, such as Leviticus, were written during a time when exile was either imminent or a fact and was written for a people in exile (the people of the Northern Kingdom) and people who were in danger of being exiled (with a conquest of Judah by the Babylonians or the Assyrians, these people also would be exiled). The religion would die if the people assimilated while in exile. Therefore, the Bible included stories which illustrated the evil of assimilation and raised assimilation to the level of a sin which would be punished by God. As discussed in other essays, raising an act to the level of a sin against God was a common tactic used by the Biblical authors to dissuade people from committing that act.

Furthermore, many Bible stories illustrate that repentance will create a clean slate with God. Therefore, a Jew in a foreign culture who assimilates into that culture and loses his Jewish identity can return to Judaism and be welcomed back if he repents. This gives hope to those who have assimilated and prevents them from despairing and never even attempting to return.

Preview of the next post.

The next post, post number 8 of 33, is the first of four posts discussing the consequences of Jewish separateness.