When a Jew is assaulted, the attacker never shouts, ‘Semite.’ He disdainfully yells, ‘Jew’, or during the Nazi era, ‘Jude.’ Thus, it was good to learn that recently Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and Lord David Wolfson, UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, both affirmed more apt terminology, Jew-hatred.
The German agitator and Jew hater, Wilhelm Marr, introduced the term ‘anti-semite’ in 1879. It caught on like wildfire because it described the anti-Jewish campaigns occurring throughout Europe. As historians have noted, it is inapt because Arabs are also Semites and not all Jews are Semitic.
However, Lord Wolfson’s reframing this hatred as ‘anti-Jewish racism’ to link it to the broader battle against racism is also imprecise. Jews do not constitute a race in the sense of a biological entity with shared genetic characteristics, an error Hitler made.
In yet another way, Judaism does not fit neat categories. Many Jews share middle eastern genes, many do not. The battle against Jew-hatred is more universal, not only against race, but against all forms of prejudice, hatred and abuse regardless of the source, Jew-hatred being the most ubiquitous and lethal of them all.
Judaism represents a vital component to western civilization, which as Matthew Arnold observed, is a balance of Hebraism and Hellenism. The Jew also signifies the right of all good people to be different.
This change in terminology will hopefully clarify the struggle to heal the world’s oldest mental disorder of Jew hatred.
Beyond only fighting against anti-Judaism, it's time to also promote "Jew love," to coin a novel term. An increasing number of Christians, from Mark Twain to Paul Johnson, have expressed admiration, respect and gratitude for the 'gift of the Jews.' Hopefully these core attributes of love will continue to spread.
Dr. Robert Schwartz is a clinical psychologist and author of scientific papers on emotional balance and health, as well as popular articles on Jewish issues, social values, and sexuality. He was founder and President of Cognitive Dynamic Therapy Associates and Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine.