Post on 06-Jan-2016
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Jewish in North America Today
Dr. Laurence Boxer- for REL 306, March, 2002
Aspects and Issues
Religion Charities AntiJudaism, antisemitism Holocaust Israel, Zionism SATO - Social Action / Tikun Olam
(healing the world) An Issue of Controversy
Religion Until 18th century, Jewish practice was
largely what, today, we call Orthodox Today, Jewish practice is split:
Orthodox (most traditional) ~ 10%-20% of synagogue membersConservative ~ 35% - 45% of synagogue membersReform (least traditional) ~ 35% - 45% of synagogue membersSmall movements: Reconstructionist, Jewish HumanistUnaffiliated – a considerable fraction
Charities Synagogues Israel – general welfare, medical, universities,
ecology, land development, refugee absorption, etc.
Religious/cultural education Hospitals, nursing homes, medical research Social welfare - civil rights, politics, etc. Secular culture: universities, arts
Tzedakah: charity = righteousness
Anti - 1
Term “antisemitism” first used by German writer Wilhelm Marr, 1879, to give a scientific sound to racial “Jew-hatred” – see
http://www.oup-usa.org/isbn/0195040058.html
There was no significant Arab presence in 19th Century Germany – antisemitism was, and is, directed at Jews, not at Semites.
Anti – 2 (pre-Christian) Biblical: Pharoah (Genesis); Amalek (Genesis,
Deuteronomy); Book of Esther – Haman, viceroy of Persia, attempts genocide; fails -> Purim
160’s BCE: Syrians attempt to force Greek paganism on Israel; fail -> Chanukah
Romans (1st Cent. BCE – 3rd Cent. CE): several attempts to ban Judaism, slaughter Jews. Renamed Israel “Palestine” after biblical Philistines to deny Jewish homeland. Rome becomes symbol of cruelty in Jewish literature (Esau <-> Edom)
Anti 3 – Christian roots Matthew 8:24: … there arose a
great tempest in the sea … the ship was covered with waves; but he was asleep.
Compare Jonah 1:4-5: “But the Lord hurled a great wind into the sea … the ship was like to be broken. And the mariners were afraid … but Jonah … was fast asleep”
Example 1 fr. Christian Bible
Christ in the Sea of Galilee – painting by Delacroix (also Rembrandt, Tintoretto, etc.)
Anti 4 – early Christian
Judas’ betrayal appears based on sale of Joseph – Genesis 37:28: “And there passed by Midianites … they … lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph for 20 shekels of silver.”
Name Judas – Judah – Hebrew for “Jew” Early Christians were “selling” Christianity to Romans,
so couldn’t stress Roman guilt for death of Jesus.Church inherited name “Edom” from Romans as symbol of cruelty in Jewish literature
Example 2 fr. Christian Bible – Matthew 26, 14-15: “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they
covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.”
Anti 5 - Christian Ignorant or demagogues continued to blame Jews, not Romans, for
murder of Jesus. Christian doctrine of inherited guilt – e.g., “Original Sin.” Jews as scapegoats
Crusades – more killing of European Jewish civilians than Muslim warriors in Holy Land
Expulsions from most European countries Plagues in which Jews fared better due to sanitary practices; provoked
murderous slanders (“poisoned wells”), slaughter Inquisitions – convert, be expelled, or die; origin of Nazi racial laws Ghettos – walled to segregate & degrade – cattle tax to enter/exit;
dumping ground; easy target for violence (arson) Blood libel (popular adoption of today’s Arab antisemites) Limited tolerance often based on Jews’ accepting scapegoat roles (tax
collector, money lender) or being “less Jewish” Nazi – rebels against Christianity, seen as insufficiently antisemitic
Anti 6 - in America Have been violent incidents – Klan; lynching
of Leo Frank; synagogue bombings & defacements
Job & residential discrimination; college quotas
Today, much better; equal rights in law; ill will greatly diminished
Anti 7 – Arab Religious roots – parallel early Christian desire
to dominate world, frustration at resistance to conversion
Modern secular root – Middle Eastern conflict Modern bigotry mimics older European
antisemitism: Arab press promotes Protocols, blood libel, Holocaust denial & Nazi praise
Anti 8 - elsewhere
Antisemitism “without Jews” Poland, German neo-Nazis Japan
•FSU – Orthodox Church, rightist anti-communists, left
•Latin America – Nazi havens
Holocaust A defining event for modern
Jewish life – memories of powerlessness while world pretended not to know
Some feared “making waves” Link to visceral support for
Israel – “Never again”
“Never forget” – Memorial museums, Yom HaShoah, Holocaust studiesOutreach – Jews more engaged with non-Jews; teach tolerance, history
US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC
Israel, Zionism - 1 Zionism: national(ist) movement of
Jewish people – Jews have right to live on own land, Israel, as promised biblically
Contrary to hostile propaganda, Zionism respects rights of all
Love of land of Israel traces to Bible & liturgy: Isaiah, Micah: “For out of Zion shall come law/teaching, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”; many prayers for peace for people & land of Israel
Israel, Zionism - 2 Israel: haven for persecuted
Jews – refugees from Nazis, Arab countries, FSU, antisemitism anywhere
Israel: magnet for Jews attracted from religious yearnings, Zionist pride, economic opportunity, desire to live in democracy
Religious & cultural center; most diaspora Jews have family, friends in Israel
Regard Israel as “ours” as much as US or Canada
Social Action / Tikun Olam (Healing the World) Vatican II, Pope John Paul teach respect for
Jews & Judaism; not to be proselytized - mirrors ancient Jewish practice of not seeking converts – must make world good, not necessarily Jewish
Active in interfaith dialogues & promotion of mutual respect
Promotion of civil rights; charity; education; medicine for poor here & abroad; ecology – “The earth is the Lord’s” (Psalm 24)
An Issue of Controversy - Abortion
ha-adam b’adam 1: a man, by a man ha-adam b’adam 2: lit., “the person
in a person” – a fetus Symmetric wording of Hebrew:
Shofeich dam ha-adam b’adam damo y’shafeich – don’t take seriously as legislation; rather, as ironic social comment
Biblical source: In covenant with Noah & descendants, Genesis 9:6: “Whoso sheds the blood of ha-adam b’adam his blood shall be shed….”
Abortion - 2
Fetus doesn’t have legal status of born child, hence not of mother
If pregnancy threatens health of mother, may (sometimes, must) abort – Deuteronomy 30:19: “… choose life….”
Biblical source: Exodus 21:22: “And if men strive together and hurt a woman with child, so that her child depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined ….”
Abortion - 3
Primary interpretation: tents of learning, homes of peace
Secondary interpretation: tents circled; entrances faced outward; nobody had direct view into neighbor’s home; praises respect for privacy
Biblical source: Numbers 24:5: “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob; thy dwellings, O Israel!”
Abortion 4 – Jewish values
Abort for economic or social convenience – no
Abort to protect mother’s health (including mental) – yes
Consult rabbi with physician
Personal Society
Respect privacy, even though it may be abused
(Many disagree w. following:) Discourage abortions by education, not legal coercion (Exodus 12:15: “… that soul shall be cut off….” – some justice is divine)
2-way respect for religious differences