There is an underlying distaste of the Biblical definition of the Israelites as the Chosen People. This has been taken by the non-Jewish world to mean that the Jews find themselves to be better than everyone else. It never occurs to them that what being the Chosen People was that the Israelites were, or at least Abraham, Isaack and Jacob were the first people who followed Hashem and were to live by the laws Hashem would impart to Moses at Mount Sinai during the Exodus. The Jews are not to believe they are any better than anyone else, they are to hold themselves to a higher standard through the six-hundred-thirteen commandments in Torah and the other laws and admonitions which would be imparted through the Oral Law. Jews were expected to try harder to be the best society they could possibly accomplish. The truth be told, the Jews were actually set up for continued failure as the standard set for them was to become beyond their societal ability to reach and maintain. Sustaining the egalitarian love of all and acceptance of equality of humankind all while living a structured life which kept to the strict thin line guided by Torah and the Oral Law was difficult. The rules Hashem had given at Mount Sinai were an addition to the former code which Hashem gave Noah as the basis for civilized society known as the Noahic Code which contained seven rules (see image below). These were the initial laws which predated the Ten Commandments which were in addition to the Noahic Code and even restated some of the Noahic Code. The Ten Commandments were just the initial installment at Mount Sinai and were followed by Torah which is a combination of history book and code for life and the means for governance when the Israelites entered the Promised Land. The one thing which becomes obvious to one reading Torah is that the Israelites, the modern Jews, were expected to live exemplary lives which would allow them to be granted the grace of Hashem which would also lead to their not suffering from want. The successes they would receive for following the laws set forth in the Torah and explained and fleshed out by the Oral Law would make others desire to live similar lives and also be thusly rewarded. The success was not supposed to make the Jews appear better than anyone else, they were supposed to be an example which others would desire to live a similar life and also be rewarded. Unfortunately, this was not how things were interpreted by much of the outside world.
Noahic Codes
What occurred instead was that some decided that they would simply conquer the Israelite lands and take their wealth. Most of the civilizations who attempted this met with destruction while the Israelites were observant of the Commandments given them by Hashem. But eventually the Israelites turned from the narrow path and this led to their being conquered by foreign powers. The first time this happened was when the Babylonians under Nebakanezzer conquered the Israelites. This still left two tribes from the Twelve Tribes unconquered, the Tribes of Judah and the far smaller tribe of Benjamin. These former Israelites were referred to as Judeans and they would also fall to the Babylonians some years later. The first ten tribes of the Israelites had assimilated by the time the Judeans fell and were considered lost and dispersed becoming the Ten Lost Tribes. When Judah finally fell, the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the First Temple. The Judeans went into captivity and this was referred to as the first exile which was described to Abraham by Hashem. The Prophet Ezekiel prophesized the Jews were to be punished for 430 years because they had turned away from Hashem. The Persians under Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonians and freed their Jewish captives about 70 years after Judah lost independence to Babylon. This left 360 years which the Jews would require a second exile to fulfill as one must pay Hashem when one strays. We will have more about this when it becomes pertinent. Meanwhile, the Jews, some of them, not all as Hashem had commanded, returned and began rebuilding the Temple. Cyrus the Great was aware of the history of the Israelites and did not desire enslaving them as doing so could bring the wrath of Hashem onto the Persians, something which did eventually happen when the Persians attempted to kill the Jews within their kingdom many years later (the story of Queen Esther and the story around Purim in the Megillah of Esther). The real problem was that the Jews who remained residing in the Persian Empire rather than returning to the Promised Land and live as Hashem commands became assimilated and began worshiping the Persian idols and gods. This and the eventual straying by the Jews eventually spread also to the Judeans who had returned to the Promised Land who were again conquered this time by the Hellenist Greeks. This was followed by the Romans, which was when the name Judean proved too burdensome for the lazy Romans who simplified it shortening the name simply to Jew.
Do you remember the 360 years which the Jews still would be required to serve in exile we talked of earlier? Well, now we will explain their importance along with some very unbelievable truths from history. In Leviticus 26:18, Leviticus 26:21, Leviticus 26:24 and Leviticus 26:28 the Torah spells things out quite clearly, should the Jews not fully repent their sins they would be punished increased by a factor of seven. As we have already established, the Israelites, by then having become Judeans and who would soon become Jews, strayed leading to their being conquered and sent again into exile. Their required time left to serve was 360 years but was prophesized in Leviticus to be increased seven fold, meant that their exile would last 2,520 years. Yes, this was going to be a very long and unprecedented exile and if the Judean, Jews, were to actually survive and ever return to the Promised Land, it would be an undeniable miracle. On the original lunar Jewish calendar, this actually translates to 2,484 years. The exile, according to historical records, began in 536 BCE. If one takes 536 BCE and moves forward 2,484 years it required taking the 2,484 years of exile and subtract the 536 years before the start of the modern calendar and you get a result of 1948 AD, the exact year of the founding of the modern Jewish State of Israel. Another prophesy comes from Isaiah 66:7-8 where it states, “Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children.” Israel did come into being in a single day declared a nation holding her Biblical borders from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, some parts of which were lost in her initial war against six invading Arab armies on the day she was founded on May 15, 1948, yet she has survived every attempt to dislodge the Jewish People to this day. The modern state of Israel has been a miracle in every sense of the word and the founding exactly as numerous prophecies had predicted to her survival despite all the efforts to destroy her. The continued survival of the Jews through all the challenges of history is another source of anti-Semitism. There are those who believe that the Jews were an ancient people whose existence today has to be an aberration against nature and as such, they believe the Jews are an affront before all they worship and believe.
Some anti-Semitism has religious basis in that they believe that the Jews and Judaism have been replaced by their faith. This is the basis of replacement theology which was prevalent throughout Catholicism, all of Christianity and throughout Islam. There have been some attempts at moderating the resultant hatreds spawned by replacement theology and the belief that because these religions which have presumed to have replaced the Jews as the chosen of Hashem, the Jews became under the control of the devil and now worship and do the bidding of the devil. The Jews have thus been relegated to hell and because of their being an aberration of Hashem and damned by Hashem are thus less than human and as such to be spurned. Further, as they have become damned, they are the first to be suspected of being responsible for any calamity which befalls a community. This has led to many historic pogroms where the Jews were blamed for crop failures, diseases, financial failings and untold other calamities and even simple restlessness leading to violence such as resulting from uncommon heatwaves or prolonged frigid times or any uncommon or distressed natural event. These are easily explained events just as when during the Crusades when the leaders of the forces would know that waiting until battle in the Middle East to have their men take life for the first time would lead to many hesitating resulting in their death at the hands of their enemies. Instead, often the commanders would find a Jewish town and have their men turn on the Jews killing many in the town until the rest fled into the surrounding forests becoming too dispersed and thus would take too long to hunt down. Some commanders would repeat these drills in successive Jewish towns which eventually led to the Jews in the path of Crusaders to flee their villages until they had long passed. These types of anti-Semitism have mostly ended in modern life but anti-Semitism continues leading some to ask why and seek explanations.
Modern anti-Semitism has a number of reasons, some remaining from ancient periods such as the remaining remnants existing from replacement theology. Some anti-Semitism comes from preexisting anti-Semitism where parents share their feelings so frequently within the home and between friends who share their bigotries among which include anti-Semitism. But there exists one heinous source for modern anti-Semitism which is all but impossible to stamp out because the sources itself are some Jews. There are those who watch the Jews in their lives closely seeking to find them failing to act honorably and being irreligious. They revel in finding Jews who fall short morally and that leads them to believe that all Jews are failed people. This eventually leads to suspicions that Jews are operating nefariously while using false religious observance to hide behind. They begin to claim that all Jews fake their faith and are really using their faith as a cover allowing them to gain wealth or power or success at the cost of others. Those who hold these feelings will blame their failures on these cheating Jews and this drives their anti-Semitism. They then spread their belief that the Jews are cheating everybody in order to gain their wealth, power and take over the society, steal and bankrupt their nations or other acts of bad faith spread to cover all Jews. They find one bad apple and damn the entire barrel. This form of anti-Semitism has proven to be very contagious, easily spreading throughout a civilization like a wildfire. The reality is that all it takes is one bad actor who was born a Jew to start the suspicions. Soon such suspicion begins to become the object to blame any Jew who has more success, more fame, more anything and the claim will fall back to that Jew they know gained through illicit acts and his guilt is passed on to every Jew who has success which a jealous person cannot explain. They will ignore the Jew working longer hours or having a better education or whatever might be a more accurate explanation and instead simply go to the more comforting idea that their gains were ill gotten. It is easier to explain away one’s lack of success and another’s faster rise to their cheating rather than their hard work. Thus, any Jew who succeeds gives cause for feelings of anti-Semitism. All because one Jew fell short in honesty or righteousness or whatever shortcoming they were caught committing. This should be sufficient for every Jew to exercise greater care in their actions and the way they live their lives.
The sources of anti-Semitism are numerous, some ancient, some contemporary. Many are impossible for the Jews to prevent. Some are religious in their origins. Some are pure jealousy. The reasons are impossible to quantify and all too many have so many various origins that they defy definition. The main means of fighting anti-Semitism would be for all Jews to live a Torah observant life and be an exemplary individual in their community and in all areas where they meet others. Jews need be above reproach in all acts and treat every person fairly and with great love of all humanity. But even if every Jew were to live up to the expectations of Torah, follow even all of the Oral Law and treat everyone as they desire to be treated, there would still be those who would find some reason to blame the Jews with cheating everyone to get ahead. Anti-Semitism will never be stamped out until the coming of the Messiah and the Messianic Age. Until then the Jews will be singled out for special hatreds and suffer for unmet expectations. So, we await the Messiah and must assist every Jew to live a more proper Torah observant life and incorporating the teachings of the Oral Law within their lives treating all people with respect and fairness. It will not end anti-Semitism, but it might lessen the number of people suffering this societal disgrace.
Beyond the Cusp
Beyond the Cusp 