Antisemitism throughout Jewish history is the norm. The Golden Age of American Jewry is the aberration.
“I can’t believe what is happening on college campuses.”
“It’s crazy that this could be happening in 2024.”
“I thought the world had evolved. To see antisemitism today is shocking.”
These are sentiments I have heard from many Jewish friends and family, people concerned, frightened, and confused by the onslaught of Jew hatred seen today across the United States.
My response: We shouldn’t be surprised. Bothered and upset? Yes. Angry and concerned? Yes. But surprised? No, for the following three reasons:
1. Antisemitism is woven into Jewish history.
The last 75 years of Jewish history have been an aberration, not the norm. The sentence from the Passover Seder, “In every generation they rise against us to destroy us”, is not meant as a dramatic exaggeration – it’s a fact.
From our slavery in Egypt, where it was said about the Jews that “if a war will occur, they may join our enemies” (Exodus 1:10); to Persia after the destruction of the First Temple where Haman attempted a genocide against the Jewish people; to the Greeks who imposed social segregation against the Jews for rejecting pagan ways; to the expulsion of Jews from Rome in 139 BCE; to thousands of Jews killed in the Alexandrian pogrom in 38 CE; to the banning of circumcision by the Romans Emperor Hadrian in 119 CE; to Constantine’s expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem in 325 CE; to Jewish book burnings in Persia in 351 CE; to the centuries of Jews being forced to convert to Christianity or face expulsion; to the decapitation of 600 Jews in Medina in 624; to the pogroms committed by both Christians and Muslims over the centuries; to the Crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries; to the frequent blood libels across Europe; to the expulsions of Jewish communities from almost every country across Europe; to the burning of the Talmud ordered by Pope Innocent IV in 1244; to the Black Death persecutions that destroyed entire Jewish populations across Germany in the 14th century; to the Inquisition of the Middle Ages; to the Hebron and Tzfat attacks of 1517; to Martin Luther writing “On the Jews and Their Lies” in 1543; to the massacre of over 100,000 Jews by Ukrainian Cossacks in the mid 1600’s; to the blood libel of Damascus in 1840; to the Dreyfus Affair in France in 1894; to the Kiev pogroms of 1919; to the printing of Henry Ford’s “The International Jew” in 1920; to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 leading to the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust.
And I left almost everything out – the list is endless. This is the history of the Jewish People.
Since the Holocaust, the majority of the Jewish community in the west – certainly in the United States – has not faced real antisemitism. Possibly due to a feeling of guilt because of the Holocaust, antisemitism laid dormant.
For anyone born from 1970 on, antisemitism was something of the past, read about in textbooks, or maybe in the testimony of grandparents who had family in the Holocaust.
How wrong we were. Antisemitism is a pillar of Jewish history; it’s the norm. The Golden Age of American Jewry is the aberration.
2. Our enemies are upfront. We should believe them.
Another reason we shouldn’t be surprised by the outward antisemitism of today is that the haters of the Jewish People have been very clear and vocal about their intentions. Many have just not wanted to listen.
Adolf Hitler was evil, but he was not crazy. Crazy people pick up a gun and start shooting people. Adolf Hitler had a plan. He said and wrote exactly what he intended to do in his book Mein Kampf and elsewhere. Many didn’t want to believe him or take his words literally. But he meant every word.
Our enemies today are also very clear.
The Hamas charter written in 1988 quotes a Muslim hadith saying, “The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, 'O Muslim, O servant of G-d, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'”. Their intentions are clear.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei in 2014 described Iran’s 9-point plan to destroy Israel, stating the “barbaric” Jewish state “has no cure but to be annihilated.” Pretty clear.
Nick Fuentes, a popular right-wing Christian nationalist has stated that Christians are in a holy war with Jews saying, “We're in a holy war and I will tell you this. Because we're willing to die in the holy war, we will make them die in the holy war. And they will go down." He’s not mincing his words.
When Israel haters are screaming on campuses for the erasure of Israel through chants like “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free”, “By any means necessary” and “Long live the Intifada” – we should believe them. They mean what they’re saying – they want to destroy Israel.
3. This is what Judaism says will happen.
Perhaps the most surprising reason we shouldn’t be surprised about the wave of antisemitism is that Judaism predicted this would happen. In the Torah, as well as the Talmud, multiple references to antisemitism are found.
In Leviticus (26:36), the Torah prophesizes that Jews in exile will live under tremendous fear and horror: “I will cast a faintness into your hearts in the land of your enemies. The sound of a rustling leaf shall put you to flight. Fleeing as though from the sword, you shall fall though none pursues.”
In Deuteronomy (28:32), the Torah continues, “You will become an object of horror, an example, and an abject lesson among all the nations.”
And in Deuteronomy (28:65-67), the Torah says: “Yet even among those nations you shall find no peace, nor shall your foot find a place to rest. The L-rd will give you there an anguished heart and eyes that pine and a despondent spirit. The life you face shall be precarious; you shall be in terror, night and day, with no assurance of survival. In the morning you shall say, ’If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you shall say, ’If only it were morning!’ – because of what your heart shall dread and your eyes shall see.”
According to the Torah, Jewish existence in the exile will be one of persecution and terror.
Why should this be?
A World With or Without G-d?
There are two traditional approaches, and each one presses some politically incorrect buttons. So, gird yourself and invest some time delving into them before rejecting them out of hand.
The Torah’s descriptions of terror in exile is a result of what will happen if the Jewish people remove G-d from the picture. If instead of seeing G-d’s Hand in our personal lives and national events, we view events as random and happenstance, G-d says He will fulfill our wish. “You want to take Me out of the picture, then fine, I’ll remove Myself and see how that goes for you.” When G-d’s protection is removed, chaos ensues. The solution? To realize there is an Infinite, Loving Being Who watches over every iota of existence, and that we are only protected from the whims of the world if we have G-d’s protection.
Of course, we must do our part in confronting antisemitism. Lobbying our elected officials, writing letters to the editor, organizing protests, posting on social media, speaking up whenever we can. This is all crucial. But the Torah is teaching that our ultimate success in battling antisemitism is ensuring that G-d protects the Jewish People by our choosing to bring Him into our lives.
Source of Hatred, Source of Pride
The second explanation for antisemitism is explored in the Talmud. The question is asked: Why is the mountain where the Jewish People received the Torah called “Sinai”? The Talmud answers: Because when G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish People, hatred “sinah” in Hebrew, towards the Jews descended. Why would receiving the Torah solicit hatred? Because the Torah conveys an all-encompassing code of ethics and morality that demand selflessness, humility, sacrifice and self-restraint. While many embrace this opportunity for self-perfection and making the world a better place, many reject the responsibilities and expectations as too onerous and burdensome. Stamping out the message requires stamping out the messenger – the Jewish People.
Ironically, antisemitism can spur Jewish pride.
The Talmud’s message is that antisemitism can teach us about the essence of the Jewish People. If they hate us because of the morality and ethics we have brought to the world through the Torah, then we have the opportunity to respond by embracing the mission of the Jewish People.
Ironically, antisemitism can spur Jewish pride. When it becomes clear that the battle is against the ethics and morals the Jewish People represent, then we see the nobility and importance of standing up against antisemitism. The answer to antisemitism isn't to run and hide; it’s to be even more strong and proud to part of the Jewish People's role of being a light onto the nations.
Reprinted from the current website of aish.com
