JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF ANTI-SEMITISM?

THE REMUH SYNAGOGUE, KRAKOW/POLAND

Monday, Kislev 26, 5777. December 26, 2016.

Shalom! World. 

There are two mysteries that have defied explanation for as long as anyone can remember. The first mystery is anti-Semitism, which is a mystery because there are few things in history that have been as consistent, as universal, and as predictable as anti-Semitism. From one country to another, from one culture to another, from one religion to another - although lifestyles, philosophies, and  so forth are extremely different, there is one thing all of  the peoples of the world had in common: They all, at one point or another, included individuals, and even large segments of their populations, who did not like Jews.

What did these people know about Jews? Sometimes a lot, sometimes very little, sometimes nothing at all. And yet all of them have a discomfort with Jews. Some of the things anti-Semites come up with concerning Jews and Judaism, make us wonder, "What did we do? What could we possibly have done to cause them to suspect such a thing?"

For example, there's the accusation that Jews are plotting to take over the world. We have our faults, we're vulnerable to some legitimate criticism sometimes, but, plotting to take over the world? Where did that come from? In order to examine the mystery of anti-Semitism, one needs to have an understanding of its target, which is the Jewish people. 

But that's not so simple, and brings us to the second mystery: What exactly is a Jew? What is Judaism? A religion, a culture, a family, a nation? What? What is it about Jews everyone hates?

Jews have always been  called the "chosen people," because that's how we are describe in the Bible. A more recent definition was provided by a non-Jewish professor at an Israeli University, a former priest who teaches philosophy. He was upset about the criticism of Israel when Israel went into Lebanon. He was more upset than the Jews themselves (who were being apologetic about it), so he held the press conference and said that Israel had every right to do what it did. It was a moral thing, it was the right thing, and so on. At the press conference, he was asked how he definies Jews. He replied, "A Jew is someone who is religious without knowing it, and this is true for all Jews from the extreme right to the extreme left." In fact, he said, this uniqueness is evident even in Jews who converted to Christianity.

These two descriptions of Jewish people, however, raise more questions than they answer. Chosen? Chosen for what? How did we get to be chosen? Why did G'd have to choose a people? And what does it mean to be religious without knowing it? How can a person be religious without knowing it?

Shalom! Aleichem.

Suporte cultural:  Jacob Jr. B.A.C.E., avec L'Integration d'Association avec Israel et dans le Monde/Cz.