You wouldn't believe it today, but naked antisemitism was once a mainstay hallmark of high culture. The liberal movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries widely embraced nationalism, unifying nations and promoting self-determination. Unfortunately, this national love-in was rarely accorded to Jews.
They were, as ever, perennial outsiders—niggling thorns in society's side. Celebrated thinkers freely laced their "enlightened" works and world views with vicious antisemitic venom. No more could one argue that antipathy toward Jews was a skin-deep curio of middle-aged ignorance. There was now no doubting it was something far more fundamental than that.
Post-Holocaust, it became unfashionable to openly discriminate against someone based on their genetics. Accuse Jews of running Hollywood, subverting democracy or organ harvesting, and you'll be deservedly branded a bigot. Antisemites needn't worry, though, because there's a straightforward get-out-of-jail-free card—an effortless ruse for them to pull.
You wouldn't believe it today, but naked antisemitism was once a mainstay hallmark of high culture. The liberal movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries widely embraced nationalism, unifying nations and promoting self-determination. Unfortunately, this national love-in was rarely accorded to Jews. man rights champions.s
These days, antisemites needn't worry because there's a straightforward get-out-of-jail-free card for their hate. Of course, Jews are well aware that this isn't an original trick. We've seen such a play before. It's an age-old gambit tweaked for current vibes. Throughout history, Jews have been coded as globalists, capitalists, communists, usurers and tax collectors. Find out what a group of people hate, and they are guaranteed to place it at the doorstep of the Jew. Once we were responsible for Deicide, now we are responsible for Genocide. Previously, we were loathed for our landlessness; now, we are despised for being landed.
Another way to mask your antisemitism is to initially claim you have no problem with Jews before qualifying your tolerance with a condition that has an intolerable impact on their lives. We've all heard this sentence starter before: 'I have no problem with Jews, but...' These days, it's popping up everywhere.
Former Representative Jamaal Bowman likes Jews. He's just frustrated with their tendency to keep to themselves. Comparing this phenomenon to a form of segregation, he complains that everyone else lives together. Of course, Bowman understands the necessity of community to maintain any semblance of Jewish life. That's the whole point. His attitude echoes Joseph Kennedy's: "Individual Jews are all right, but as a race, they stink." It's a philosophy that's been around forever. The Spanish claimed they had no problem with Jews, provided they converted to Christianity. The Greco Syrians as long as they Hellenised. The French, if only they universalized.
For a contemporary example of this trend, look no further than the Jewish peace organizations whose leaders strongly condemned Israel's defensive actions in Gaza. Of course, this wasn't enough; nothing will ever be enough. They are now pressured to endorse violent Pro-Hamas and Hezbollah demonstrations outside a memorial for October 7 massacre victims. 'We'll accept you Jews', activists smirk, 'as long as you sign off on your own annihilation'.
We are captivated by the tantalizing possibility of emancipation. Given our collective traumas, it is unsurprising that many seek to withdraw from the Jewish community. Over the centuries, some of our greatest foes were Jewish brethren - desperately struggling to shed the shackles of their despised origins. Too late, these tragic individuals confronted the futility of their labors. Despite making infinite concessions, society still branded them outcasts.
In Spain, Jews who converted to Christianity were brutalized by the Inquisition and stifled by early racial purity laws. Supposedly, "enlightened" France gladly hauled scapegoat Dreyfus before a kangaroo court. Proud Germans were consigned to concentration camps because of their Jewish grandparents. Bolsheviks may have denounced all faiths, but in the USSR, Jews were still purged from the communist Polish party.
Of course, trying to convince antisemites to treat Jews nicely is a fool's errand. You're more likely to catch Darth Vader sunbathing in the Bahamas. But there is a valuable lesson for us to draw here.
You're more likely to catch Darth Vader sunbathing in the Bahamas than be able to convince an anti-semite to renegade on his/her antisemitism. Communitarian philosophers have long dismantled the liberal conception of isolated identity. It turns out that the self-created Crusoe-esque maverick never really existed. The "I" we point to is not a standalone entity but relies upon a collection of social connections. Attempting to isolate oneself from others is not only unrealistic, it also undermines the very fabric of human existence.
As Jews, we believe that this is true on a more fundamental spiritual level as well. We daily thank God in our prayers for 'the soul you gave me'; this seems to make no sense. Surely, the soul is the self. How can we say that the soul is given to the self? The answer is that there is a deeper essence beneath our conscious awareness—a soul beyond our souls.
When Hillel was asked by a convert to teach the entire Torah on one foot, he consented and told him, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the whole Torah; the rest is an explanation. Go and learn it." We intuitively understand that it is good and correct to love our brethren. Certainly, it's a sound framework for all interpersonal commandments.
But what bearing does caring for others have on the parts of scripture dealing with man's relationship with God? The Bal HaTanya answers that true love for our neighbors flows from a realization that the boundaries that demarcate our identities are less rigid than superficially apparent. Our souls come from the same supernal place. On that absolute and essential level, none stands apart from the community. Thus, how we treat each other reveals the level at which we grasp our intrinsic interconnectedness - and, through that, our connection with God, the wellspring of all Being.
For me, this is a profound lesson to be drawn from an antisemite's unconditional hate. It doesn't matter what role you play, what ideology you follow, what clothes you wear. All they see is a Jew. Tragically, our enemies understand the essential unity of the Jewish people in a way we often don't. We forget history's lessons and ignore the signs of our time. Perhaps one impetus we can take from all this horror is a return to our essential shared identity. Despite everything, we are still Jews. Let us live proudly as such.