Why they hate us: Anti-Semitism Explained

Courtesy: lehrhaus.org

The Jewish people have been persecuted since the dawn of mankind. When Abraham, the first Jew, sets out on his quest to reveal the true G-d and rid the world of idol-worship, we’re told of how the evil ruler Nimrod throws him in a burning furnace. While Abraham comes out unscathed, persecution at the hands of the local kings and rulers follows him and his offspring wherever they go.

What’s at the root of the disease known as “anti-Semitism” and how is it to be cured? How do we, the Eternal Nation, help the people of the world internalize that we are and always have been one of the central pillars of world civilization and that they, themselves, have profited abundantly from the countless sacrifices we’ve made for the sake of humanity?

The Jewish people are referred to in the Torah as “עם קדוש, ממלכת כוהנים”–“A holy people; a kingdom of priests.” We’re also told that we are an עם שוכן” לבדד”–“a Nation that dwells alone.” These are the words of the evil prophet Bila’am, who sets out to curse the Jewish people at the behest of the Midianite King Balak. Bila’am unintentionally ends up blessing the Jews but his blessing sets in motion a paradigm that has also served as a plague.

We’re told to be a holy nation and to imitate the ways of G-d “כי אני קדוש”–Because I’m Holy. We’re also told to “dwell alone”–not to be “like” the Nations of the world; not imitate their ways by eating their foods and engaging in their customs. Every time in history that we’ve strayed from these seemingly simple guidelines, the Nations of the world have been there to remind us just how Jewish we are.

When the Hellenist Jews of ancient Greece tried to bring down the Jewish morality code and way of life, we suffered massacres, wars and a decline in our national culture that eventually led up to the creation of a foreign faith and the destruction of the Second Temple at the hands of the Romans.

Every time we tried to move away from our traditions during the Middle Ages, pogroms and crusades followed and when we created the Reform movement and disavowed our Judaism calling Berlin the “New Jerusalem,” six million of our people were systematically murdered. (And just like the Reform movement deemed it enough for one paternal grandparent to be Jewish for an individual to be considered a member of the Tribe, the Nazis considered you a “Jew” and thereby sentenced you to death if you had a Jewish grandparent).

Following the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and the founding of the State of Israel, we’re witnessed the spread of a new type of “anti-Semitism:” mainly “anti-Zionism.” While anti-Semitism is no longer “vogue” in most of the world, the new trend is to “support freedom for Palestine,” and rail against Israel’s “civil rights abuses” while people are being tortured and starved to death in half the world including countries like: Iran, North Korea, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Egypt and another 30-40 states all of which are included in the UN Security Council leaving Israel on the outside looking in.

The Nations of the world always follow the lead of the Jewish people. If we set the right example, they will undoubtedly stop hating us. It’s in our hands to prevent anti-Semitism. We can do it by sticking to our centuries-old traditions and way of life, by marrying Jewish, observing Shabbat and holidays, eating kosher and returning en-masse to Israel. What we must not do is allow assimilation to rule the day and American society with its allure for pluralism and self-indulgence, stands at the very front of this battle.