As far as the Jews of the world are concerned, the twenty-first century is beginning in an eerily and frighteningly reminiscent manner. It was exactly a century ago, at the dawn of the bloodiest century in human history, that the "Jewish problem" was at the forefront of Christian civilization's concerns. The Czar of Russia was embarked on an official program to terrorize and impoverish the millions of Jews living under his despotic rule. His policy towards the Jews was symbolized by his slogan of "one-third extermination, one-third emigration, one-third assimilation by conversion." France was reeling under the burden of the anti-Semitism in its midst, spawned by the Dreyfus trial and its debilitating aftermath. England was debating legislation in its parliament which would restrict any further immigration of Jews to its shores. The Kaiser of Germany mouthed openly anti-Semitic statements about his Jewish subjects, even though at that time ninety percent of German Jewry had already either converted, assimilated or "Reformed" itself. The Jewish immigrants to North America also encountered entrenched anti-Jewish bias at every level of society, with Jews being lynched and physically abused in scattered, but not uncommon, incidents in the United States. The open anti-Semitism of the Catholic Church had not yet abated and Christianity was still obviously frustrated at the unnatural survival of Jewry in its midst, in spite of centuries of attempted conversion and continuing persecution.
There then arose attempts to solve the "Jewish problem." Zionism was one of those attempts. It was founded on the erroneous notion that anti-Semitism was a problem caused by the Jews, created by the "abnormality" of the Jewish people. A state, a national presence, would "normalize" the Jewish people and anti-Semitism would disappear. Socialism/Communism also attempted to solve the Jewish problem by declaring anti-Semitism to be a byproduct of the behavior of the capitalist, exploitative class and that the creation of the "worker's paradise," whether in Russia or Palestine, would automatically eliminate anti-Semitism. In the time-honored fashion of the victim blaming himself for being persecuted, the secularist Jews, in their various political and ideological forms, blamed anti-Semitism on the failure of the "old" Jews to "modernize" - read to "Reform", assimilate, etc. Zionism thus came to create a "new" Jew as did all of the Leftist groupings within the Jewish people.
However, Hitler intervened and proposed the ultimate "final solution" to the "Jewish problem." That "solution" shocked the Christian world to its core and caused it to come to grips, at least partially, with its continuing role in fostering anti-Semitism. Though there is still a long way to go in the effort to eradicate anti-Semitism from its midst, credit must be given to the Church and to the democratic governments of the Western world for their efforts and progress on this difficult issue over the last decades of the previous century. Stalin's overt anti-Semitism and the cruel persecution of Jews in the Soviet Union began to open the eyes of the Left generally, and of the Jewish Left particularly, to the pernicious nature of anti-Semitism even in the modern, progressive world. Russia and Eastern Europe - all of the former satellite states of the Soviet Union in the Cold War era - have made significant progress as well in recognizing the dangers of unopposed anti-Semitism within society, all since the fall of the "evil empire."
Yet, as the scourge of anti-Semitism seemed to be checked in the Christian world, it has taken on new vigor and life in the Moslem world. That Moslem world, which originally imported much of its anti-Semitic theories, fantasies, lies and hatred from the Christian world of a century ago, is now exporting that disease back into the Christian world, albeit superficially disguised as anti-Israel politics. In the media and minds of the Moslem world though, it is no longer just Israel that is the enemy - it is the Jewish people wherever they are. The weak response, so far, of the Christian, Western world to this attack upon Judaism and Jewry bodes unfavorably for the success of the Western mission to uproot terrorism, especially Moslem terrorism.
Our "modern" Jews, who now look to settlements, "occupation," Jewish and Israeli "aggressiveness," the rise of so-called Orthodox "fundamentalism" and countless other "faults" within Jewish and Israeli society as the justification for the rise of this new/old anti-Semitism, would do well to remember the bitter lessons of the last century. We have faults, some of them listed above, that certainly should be addressed and corrected, but none of them are the cause of the current wave of anti-Semitism. Thus, the non-Jewish world would also be wise to realize where this virulent Moslem anti-Semitism will lead to. The Christian world is also an infidel in the eyes of the Moslem fundamentalists and anti-Semitism unchecked (such as the shameful behavior of the Christian European countries at Durban) leads to disasters, not only for Jews, but for all of civilized mankind. That lesson, at least, should be clear from the events of the past century.
Shabbat Shalom.
----------------------
Originally published in the Jerusalem Post. The article is posted with
permission of the author.
Rabbi Berel Wein, noted author and lecturer, is founder of the Destiny Foundation, dedicated to educating Jews about their historical and ethical heritage (JewishDestiny.com ).
There then arose attempts to solve the "Jewish problem." Zionism was one of those attempts. It was founded on the erroneous notion that anti-Semitism was a problem caused by the Jews, created by the "abnormality" of the Jewish people. A state, a national presence, would "normalize" the Jewish people and anti-Semitism would disappear. Socialism/Communism also attempted to solve the Jewish problem by declaring anti-Semitism to be a byproduct of the behavior of the capitalist, exploitative class and that the creation of the "worker's paradise," whether in Russia or Palestine, would automatically eliminate anti-Semitism. In the time-honored fashion of the victim blaming himself for being persecuted, the secularist Jews, in their various political and ideological forms, blamed anti-Semitism on the failure of the "old" Jews to "modernize" - read to "Reform", assimilate, etc. Zionism thus came to create a "new" Jew as did all of the Leftist groupings within the Jewish people.
However, Hitler intervened and proposed the ultimate "final solution" to the "Jewish problem." That "solution" shocked the Christian world to its core and caused it to come to grips, at least partially, with its continuing role in fostering anti-Semitism. Though there is still a long way to go in the effort to eradicate anti-Semitism from its midst, credit must be given to the Church and to the democratic governments of the Western world for their efforts and progress on this difficult issue over the last decades of the previous century. Stalin's overt anti-Semitism and the cruel persecution of Jews in the Soviet Union began to open the eyes of the Left generally, and of the Jewish Left particularly, to the pernicious nature of anti-Semitism even in the modern, progressive world. Russia and Eastern Europe - all of the former satellite states of the Soviet Union in the Cold War era - have made significant progress as well in recognizing the dangers of unopposed anti-Semitism within society, all since the fall of the "evil empire."
Yet, as the scourge of anti-Semitism seemed to be checked in the Christian world, it has taken on new vigor and life in the Moslem world. That Moslem world, which originally imported much of its anti-Semitic theories, fantasies, lies and hatred from the Christian world of a century ago, is now exporting that disease back into the Christian world, albeit superficially disguised as anti-Israel politics. In the media and minds of the Moslem world though, it is no longer just Israel that is the enemy - it is the Jewish people wherever they are. The weak response, so far, of the Christian, Western world to this attack upon Judaism and Jewry bodes unfavorably for the success of the Western mission to uproot terrorism, especially Moslem terrorism.
Our "modern" Jews, who now look to settlements, "occupation," Jewish and Israeli "aggressiveness," the rise of so-called Orthodox "fundamentalism" and countless other "faults" within Jewish and Israeli society as the justification for the rise of this new/old anti-Semitism, would do well to remember the bitter lessons of the last century. We have faults, some of them listed above, that certainly should be addressed and corrected, but none of them are the cause of the current wave of anti-Semitism. Thus, the non-Jewish world would also be wise to realize where this virulent Moslem anti-Semitism will lead to. The Christian world is also an infidel in the eyes of the Moslem fundamentalists and anti-Semitism unchecked (such as the shameful behavior of the Christian European countries at Durban) leads to disasters, not only for Jews, but for all of civilized mankind. That lesson, at least, should be clear from the events of the past century.
Shabbat Shalom.
----------------------
Originally published in the Jerusalem Post. The article is posted with
permission of the author.
Rabbi Berel Wein, noted author and lecturer, is founder of the Destiny Foundation, dedicated to educating Jews about their historical and ethical heritage (JewishDestiny.com ).