Note from Bob: My friends,
there are lots of battles raging in this world. In the west secularism
has been attacking fundamentalism and liberal churches have been
capitulating to the forces of political correctness. I do not apologize
for the doctrines of Christianity that other religions and secularists
find offensive. For example: I believe that there is only one way to
God, one way to heaven and that is through faith in the Son of God,
Jesus Christ and His shed blood, His death, burial and His
resurrection. All who reject this great gift of salvation through faith
in Jesus Christ WILL GO TO HELL FOREVER. NO APOLOGIES. THIS IS THE
TRUTH. THIS IS TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL TEACHING. I am not going
to change it and I am not going to apologize for it.
Now, why did I write that introduction above? Because in the article
below I believe it could be argued that the very same forces of
liberalism and secularism are trying to force change upon Talmudic
Judaism. Now as much as I may detest Talmudic Judaism, I hate even more
the forces of secularism and atheism and liberalism. I should add here
that I am a Protestant and as such I have had many vitriolic debates
with Catholics about Catholic doctrine that I believe is in error and
the history of the Catholic persecution of Protestants such as the St.
Bartholomew's Massacre in France of the French Protestants. (See
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13333b.htm)
With all of that said, I want it to be known that Orthodox Catholics
and Orthodox Jews on my email list are some of my best allies in the
culture wars to save America from the forces of socialism, secularism,
homosexualism, abortion, pornography and general liberalism. Thus, I
look at Israel and I see an evil Zionist state that is controlled
primarily by wicked leftwing secular Jews. I have to wonder if all Jews
or a high percentage of Jews in America were pro-Life, anti-gay,
anti-porn and anti-socialist Conservatives and if all the Jews in
Israel or a large percentage of them were Orthodox conservatives. how
would I feel about Israel then? I might be inclined to support them as
my allies against socialism, secularism and the New World Order called
Globalism that is trying to secularize the planet. I am certain I have
made many of you angry by even entertaining these ideas. Oh well, what
else is new? Later, Bob.
It Is Time to Confront the
Exclusionary Ethnocentrism in Jewish Sacred Literature
by Allan C. Brownfeld
For many years, Jewish organizations have been in the forefront of
urging Christian churches to remove from their sacred literature those
elements which have helped to produce religious intolerance, in
particular anti-Semitism.
The Christian world has, in large measure, responded to these calls and
major revisions have been undertaken, and apologies have been made for
the narrow teachings of the past which led to widespread persecutions.
It is now time for Jewish religious bodies to carefully review the
narrow and exclusionary ethnocentrism to be found in Jewish sacred
literature and remove those elements which encourage contempt for and
exclusion of those who are not Jewish.
In the case of the churches, the rejection of the objectionable
teachings of the past has been dramatic.
Confronting the Past
In his book Faith or Fear, Elliott Abrams, president of the Ethics and
Public Policy Center, writes that, "Christians are confronting
Christianity's past-a reexamination of Christian teaching about Jews
that, in the words of Leonard Dinerstein, is `one of the most
far-reaching breakthroughs, and one with potential for enormous change
in Christian beliefs and behavior.' Since the Second Vatican Council
began to reevaluate Christian teachings about Jews and Judaism in 1965,
the changes have been revolutionary."
Rabbi James Rudin, director of interreligious affairs at the American
Jewish Committee, summed up the changes: "Theologically, we've resolved
everything with the Catholics."
The 1965 declaration Nostra Aetate stressed the church's origins in and
close relationship to Judaism. It stated that "the Jews remain very
dear to God," abandoning the Church Fathers' ancient view that they had
been rejected by Him. Indeed, Nostra Aetate stated that Jews continue
to have their own special relationship to God. It also clearly rejected
the charge of of deicide, and as clearly condemned anti-Semitism.
Vatican Commission
In 1985, the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews
produced Notes on the Correct Way to Present Jews and Judaism in
Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church. Here the church
took up the anti-Judaic language in some of the Gospels. Matthew 27:25,
for example, has the Jews saying, "His blood be on us and our
children." The Notes stated that the Gospels were "the outcome of long
and complicated editorial work.. Hence it cannot be ruled out that some
references hostile or less than favorable to the Jews have their
historical context in conflicts between the nascent church and the
Jewish community. Certain controversies reflect Jewish-Christian
relations long after the time of Christ." Thus, the hostility to Jews
was demoted from "Gospel truth" and put in its historical context.
The Notes reflected the views of Pope John Paul II on the subject of
Judaism and he has been a key source and motivator of the Catholic
rethinking. The covenant between God and the Jews, he said in the
Mainz, Germany synagogue in 1980 "has never been revoked." The new
catechism of the Catholic Church reflects this understanding when it
states: "The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is
already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant."
In the Rome Synagogue in 1986, the Pope declared: "With Judaism...we
have a relationship we do not have with any other religion. You are our
dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that
you are our elder brothers. It is not lawful to say that the Jews are
repudiated or cursed for the Jews are beloved of God, who called them
with an irrevocable calling."
Implementing Views
In the U.S., the National Conference of Catholic Bishops have
implemented these view. One example is a recent comparison of the 1970
and 1986 versions of title headings for the study of Romans 9-11 in the
New American Bible, the version which is widely used in Catholic
schools. The 1970 version had a section called "Israel's Present
Rejection," but the new heading for that section is "Jews and Gentiles
in God's Plan." "Grief for the Jews" is replaced by "Paul's Love For
Israel." "Israel`s Unbelief" has become "Righteousness Based On Faith"
and "Parial Rejection of Israel" is now "The Remnant of Israel."
Similar changes have taken place in most Protestant denominations.
In 1950, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany called on all
Christian churches to resist anti-Semitism and declared that, "God's
promise is valid for his Chosen People, even after the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ." This was a rejection of the older Christian view of
Judaism as a "dead" religion and an affirmation of its continuing
relationship with God.
In the U.S., the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in
1972 issued a "Statement on Inter-Religious Dialogue: Jews and
Christians," and asserted that Jews were still a "covenanted people."
It went on to say that, "The heritage and hopes of a religious Israel
in the context of which Jesus labored have continued to live in the
Jewish faith and people...The persecution by Christians of Jews
throughout centuries calls for clear repentance and resolve to
repudiate past injustice and to seek its elimination in the present."
Luther's Writings
The General Convention of the American Lutheran Church in 1974 dealt
specifically with the anti-Jewish writings of Martin Luther: "American
Lutherans are the heirs of a long history of prejudicial discrimination
against Jews..."
Lutherans bear a special responsibility for this tragic history of
persecution, because the Nazi movement found a climate of hatred
already in existence...That the Nazi period fostered a revival of
Luther's own medieval hostility toward Jews...is a special cause of
regret. Those who study and admire Luther should acknowledge
unequivocally that his anti-Jewish writings are beyond any defense."
Dr. Franklin Sherman, director of the Institute for Jewish-Christian
Understanding at the Lutheran Church-related Muhlenberg College, said:
"Lutherans understand the depth of this matter-that the `teaching of
contempt' is not just one mistake among others, but in the whole
history of Christianity is the darkest stain upon the Christian faith
and the Christian community."
The United Church of Christ, in 1987 and 1990, issued statements about
Jews and about Christian anti-Semitism. In 1987, the 16th General Synod
adopted a resolution on "The Relationship Between United Church of
Christ and the Jewish Community," which said, in part, "...Faced with
this history from which we as Christians cannot, and must not,
dissociate ourselves, we ask God's forgiveness through out Lord Jesus
Christ. We pray for divine grace that will enable us, more firmly than
ever before, to turn from this path of rejection and persecution to
affirm that Judaism has not been superseded by Christianity; that
Christianity is not to be understood as the successor religion to
Judaism; God's covenant with the Jewish people has not been abrogated.
God has not rejected the Jewish people; God is faithful in keeping
covenant."
Admitting Wrongdoing
The Presbyterian Church issued a document called "A Theological
Understanding of the Relationship Between Christians and Jews,"
approved by its 199th General Assembly in 1987. It stated: "We must be
willing to admit our church's complicity in wrongdoing in the past,
even as we try to establish a new basis of trust and communication with
Jews. We pledge, God helping us, never again to participate in, or to
contribute to, or to allow the persecution or denigration of Jews or
the belittling of Judaism...The long and dolorous history of Christian
imperialism, in which the church has often justified anti-Jewish acts
and attitudes in the name of Jesus, finds its theological basis in this
teaching (supersessionism). We believe and testify that this teaching
of super-sessionism is harmful and in need of reconsideration...For us,
the teaching that the church has been engrafted by God's grace into the
people of God finds as much support in Scripture as super-sessionism,
and is much more consistent with our Reformed understanding of the work
of God in Jesus Christ... God`s covenants are not broken...The church
has not `replaced' the Jewish people."
Elliot Abrams writes that, "The immense changes in Christian attitudes
toward Jews and Judaism have been amazingly underreported and
under-appreciated in the American Jewish community. In most Christian
denominations, a two-thousand-year-old war against Judaism has been
called off and its direct connection to anti-Semitic violence admitted.
Contemptuous and hostile attitudes toward Judaism that date back to the
years immediately after Jesus' death have been questioned, criticized,
rejected. The historic role of Judaism has been appreciated and
reaffirmed, and in many cases its ongoing covenant with God has been
acknowledged. Efforts to convert Jews to Christianity have been
questioned in some churches and brought under strict control in others.
This is revolutionary...These changes should give rise to new Jewish
attitudes toward Christians and toward Christian religiosity."
No similar Effort
Yet, while Christian churches have sought to excise from its tradition
those teachings of the past which led to intolerance, there has not
been a similar effort to cleanse Jewish sacred literature of its own
hostility to those of other traditions and backgrounds.
In fact, in recent years, there has been dramatic growth of Jewish
fundamentalism in Israel which has manifested itself in vigorous
opposition to the peace process and has played a key role in the
assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the murder of 29
Moslems at prayer by the American-born fundamentalist, Baruch Goldstein.
In an important new book, Jewish Fundamentalism In Israel (Pluto
Press), Israel Shahak and Norton Mezvinsy provide a thorough assessment
of this phenomenon. Israel Shahak, an Israeli and Holocaust survivor,
is a retired professor at the Hebrew University and a leading human
rights activist. Norton Mezvinsky is Professor of History at Central
Connecticut State University and has written and lectured extensively
on the Middle East.
Jewish Fundamentalism
The authors point out that, "...the adherents of Jewish fundamentalism
in Israel oppose equality for all citizens, especially non-Jews."
The respected Israeli sociologist Baruch Kimmerling, citing evidence
from a study conducted by other scholars, declared: "The values of the
(Jewish) religion, at least in its Orthodox and nationalistic form that
prevails in Israel, cannot be squared with democratic values. No other
variable-neither nationality, nor attitudes about security, nor social
or economic values,nor ethnic descent and education-so influences the
attitudes of (Israeli) Jews against democratic values as does
religiosity."
What particularly concerns the authors is the total contempt which
Jewish fundamentalists show toward non-Jews, and the religious sources
they cite in promoting such ideas.
Rabbi Kook the Elder, the revered father of the messianic tendency in
Jewish fundamentalism, said, "The difference between a Jewish soul and
the souls of non-Jews-all of them in all different levels-is greater
and deeper than the difference between a human soul and the souls of
cattle."
Rabbi Kook's entire teaching, which is followed devoutly by, among
others, those who have led the settler movement in the occupied West
Bank, is based upon the Lurianic Cabbala, the school of Jewish
mysticism that dominated Judaism from the late 16th to the early 19th
century.
"One of the basic tenets of the Lurianic Cabbala, the authors write,
"is the absolute superiority of the Jewish soul and body over the
non-Jewish soul and body. According to the Lurianic Cabbala, the world
was created solely for the sake of Jews: the existence of non-Jews was
subsidiary.
If an influential Christian bishop or Islamic scholar argued that the
difference between the superior souls of non-Jews and the inferior
souls of Jews was greater than the difference between the human soul
and the souls of cattle, he would incur the wrath of all and be viewed
as an anti-Semite by most Jewish scholars regardless of whatever less
meaningful, positive statements he included."
Omitted References
The scholarly authors of books about Jewish mysticism and the Lurianic
Cabbala, such as Gershon Scholem, have, the authors charge, "willfully
omitted references to such ideas. These authors are supreme hypocrites.
They are analogous to many authors of books on Stalin and Stalinism.
Until recently, people who read only the books written by Stalinists
could not know about Stalin's crimes and would have false notions of
the Stalinist regimes and their real ideologies."
According to the ideologies which underlie Gush Emunum, the militant
West Bank settlers group, and Hasidism, non-Jews have "satanic souls."
"The role of Satan," the authors note, "whose earthly embodiment
according to the Cabbala is every non-Jew, has been minimized or not
mentioned by authors who have not written about the Cabbala in Hebrew.
Such authors, therefore, have not conveyed to readers accurate accounts
of general NRP (National Religious Party) or its hard-core Gush Emunum
politics."
Common to both the Talmud and the Halacha, Orthodox religious law, is a
differentiation between Jews and non-Jews. The highly revered Rabbi
Menachem Mandel Schneerson, who headed the Chabad movement and wielded
great influence in Israel as well as in the U.S., explained that, "The
difference between a Jewish and a non- Jewish person stems from the
common expression: `Let us differentiate.' Thus, we do not have a case
of profound change in which a person is merely on a superior level.
Rather we have a case of `let us differentiate" between totally
different species. This is what needs to be said about the body: the
body of a Jewish person is of a totally different quality from the body
of (members) of all nations of the world...A non-Jew's entire reality
is only vanity. It is written, `And the strangers shall guard and feed
your flocks' (Isaiah 61:5). The entire creation (of a non-Jew) exists
only for the sake of the Jews..."
Superiority of Jews
Among the religious settlers in the Occupied Territories, the Chabad
Hassids constitute one of the most extreme groups. Baruch Goldstein,
the mass murderer of Palestinians, was one of them. Rabbi Yitzhak
Ginsburgh, who wrote a chapter of a book in praise of Goldstein and
what he did, is another member of this group. An immigrant to Israel
from the U.S., Rabbi Ginsburgh speaks freely of Jews' genetic-based,
spiritual superiority over non-Jews. "If you saw two people drowning, a
Jew and a non-Jew, the Torah says you save the Jewish life first,"
Ginsburgh states. "If every simple cell in a Jewish body entails
divinity, is a part of God, then every strand of DNA is part of God.
Therefore, something is special about Jewish DNA...If a Jew needs a
liver, can you take the liver of an innocent non-Jew passing by to save
him? The Torah would probably permit that, Jewish life has an infinite
value."
Shahak and Mezvinsky point out that, "Changing the words `Jewish' to
`German' or `Aryan' and `non-Jewish' to `Jewish' turns the Ginsburgh
position into the doctrine that made Auschwitz possible in the past. To
a considerable extent the German Nazi success depended upon that
ideology and upon its implications of being widely known early.
Disregarding even on a limited scale the potential effects of
messianic, Lubavitch and other ideologies could prove to be
calamitous...The similarities between the Jewish political messianic
trend and German Nazism are glaring. The Gentiles are for the
messianists what the Jews were for the Nazis. The hatred of Western
culture with its rational and democratic elements is common to both
movements...The ideology...is both eschatological and messianic. It
resembles in this respect prior Jewish religious doctrines as well as
similar trends in Christianity and Islam.
This ideology assumes the imminent coming of the Messiah and asserts
that the Jews, aided by God, will thereafter triumph over the non-Jews
and rule over them forever."
Not Stealing But Sanctification
Members of Gush Emunum argue that "what appears to be confiscation of
Arab-owned land for subsequent settlement by Jews is in reality not an
act of stealing but one of sanctification. From their perspective the
land is redeemed by being transferred from the satanic to the divine
sphere...the Gush Emunum rabbis assert that this one messianic sect has
to handle and lead the ass-like Jews, who have been corrupted by
satanic Western culture, with its rationality and democracy and who
refuse to renounce their beastly habits and embrace the true faith. To
further the process, the use of force is permitted wherever necessary."
The fundamentalists believe that God gave all of the Land of Israel
(including present Lebanon and other areas) to the Jews and that Arabs
living in Israel are viewed as thieves. Rabbi Israel Ariel, a
fundamentalist leader, published an atlas that designated all lands
that were Jewish and needed to be liberated. This included all areas
west and south of the Euphrates River extending through present-day
Kuwait. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, another spokesman, said, "We must live in
this land even at the price of war. Moreover, even if there is no
peace, we must instigate wars of liberation in order to conquer it (the
land)."
Mordechai Nisan, a lecturer at the Hebrew University, expressed this
view in an official publication of the World Zionist Organization.
Relying upon Maimonides, he said that a non-Jew permitted to reside in
the land of Israel "must accept paying a tax and suffering the
humiliation of servitude." He said that non-Jews must not be appointed
to any office or position of power over Jews.
View of the Non-Jews
When it comes to Maimonides, his view of non-Jews is less than
positive, and his view of some racial and ethnic groups is clearly
hostile. His Guide To The Perplexed (Book III, Chapter 51) discusses
how various sections of humanity can attain the supreme religious
value, the true worship of God.
Among those who are incapable of even approaching this are: "Some of
the Turks (i. e., the Mongol race) and the nomads of the North and the
Blacks and nomads in the South, and those who resemble them in our
climates. And their nature is like the nature of mute animals, and
according to my opinion, they are not on the level of human beings, and
their level among existing things is below that of a man and above that
of a monkey, because they have the image and the resemblance of a man
more than the monkey does."
In an earlier book, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Professor Shahak
asked, "Now, what does one do with such a passage in a most important
and necessary work of Judaism? Face the truth and its consequences? God
forbid: Admit, as so many Christian scholars, for example, have done in
similar circumstances, that a very important Jewish authority also held
rabid anti-Black views, and by this admission make an attempt at
self-education in real humanity? Perish the thought...A happy
`solution' was found: in the popular American translation of the
Guide...first published as far back as 1925 and since reprinted in many
editions, including several in paperback, the Hebrew word Kushim, which
means Blacks, was simply transliterated and appears as `Kushites,' a
word which means nothing to those who have no knowledge of Hebrew, or
to whom an obliging rabbi will not give an oral explanation. During all
these years, not a word has been said to point out the original
deception or the social facts underlying its continuation-and this
throughout the excitement of Martin Luther King's campaigns, which were
supported by so many rabbis, not to mention other Jewish figures, some
of whom must have been unaware of the anti-Black racist attitude which
forms part of their Jewish heritage."
Murder of Palestinians
When it comes to Goldstein's murder of 29 Palestinians at prayer,
fundamentalists refuse to acknowledge that such an act constitutes
"murder" because, according to the Halacha, the killing by a Jew of a
non-Jew under any circumstances is not regarded as murder. It may be
prohibited for other reasons, especially when it causes danger for
Jews.
When asked if he was sorry about the murdered Arabs, militant Rabbi
Moshe Levenger declared: "I am sorry not only about dead Arabs but
about dead flies."
For the fundamentalists, Goldstein became a hero. Military guards
transported his coffin to Kiryat Arba through Palestinian villages.
Rabbi Dov Lior in a eulogy stated that, "Goldstein was full of love for
fellow human beings. He dedicated himself to helping others."
The problem, Shahak and Mezvinsky point out is that, "The terms `human
beings' and `others' in the Halacha refer solely to Jews."
When Orthodox Jews read the Bible, they are reading a very different
book with a different meaning from the Bible as read by non-Jews or
non-Orthodox Jews. Halacha, the legal system of classical Judaism, is
based primarily on the Babylonian Talmud. Over time, the complexity of
the legal disputations recorded in the Talmud were made manageable by
successive generations of rabbinical scholars. Some of these have
acquired great authority and are in general use.
Orthodox View
According to the Orthodox view, the murder of a Jew is a capital
offense while the murder of a non-Jew is viewed in different terms.
In "Laws on Murders" (Maimonides, Mishnet Tora, 2, 11), a Jew who kills
a Gentile is guilty only of a sin against "laws of Heaven," not
punishable by a court. To cause the death of a Gentile indirectly is no
sin at all.
The Book of Education, a popular Orthodox religious manual which is
reprinted in many inexpensive editions subsidized by the Israeli
government, was written by an anonymous rabbi in early 14th century
Spain. It explains the 613 religious obligations (mitzvot) of Judaism
in the order in which they are supposed to be found in the Pentateuch
according to Talmudic interpretation.
A central aim of this book is to emphasize the "correct" meaning of the
Bible with respect to such terms as "fellow," "friend," or "man." Thus
#219, devoted to the religious obligation arising from the verse "thou
shalt love thy fellow as thyself" is entitled, "A religious obligation
to love Jews," and explains: "To love every Jew strongly means that we
should care for a Jew and his money as one cares for oneself and one's
money, for it is written, `thou shalt love thy fellow as thyself'..."
In #322, dealing with the duty to keep a Gentile slave enslaved forever
(whereas a Jewish slave must be set free after seven years), the
following explanation is given. "And at the root of this religious
obligation (is the fact that) the Jewish people are the best of the
human species, created to know their Creator and worship Him, and
worthy of having slaves to serve them. And if they will not have slaves
of other peoples, they would have to enslave their brothers, who would
thus be unable to serve the Lord, blessed be He. Therefore we are
commanded to possess those for our service, after they are prepared for
this and after idolatry is removed from their speech, so that there
should not be danger in our houses, and this is the intention of the
verse `but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule
one over another with rigour,' so that you will not have to enslave
your brothers, who are ready to worship God."
Distinctions
Similar distinctions are made in numerous other passages. In explaining
the ban against delaying a worker`s wage (#238) the author is careful
to point out that the sin is less serious if the worker is Gentile.
The prohibition against cursing (#239) is entitled "Not to curse any
Jew, whether man or woman."
Similarly, the prohibition against giving misleading advice, hating
other people, shaming them or taking revenge on them (#244, 245, 246,
247) apply only to fellow Jews.
Perhaps the most extreme expression of this differentiation between
moral obligations to Jews and non-Jews can be found in the section of
the Talmud devoted to saving life. The question is posed: What is a
pious Jew to do when he sees a human being drowning in the sea or
having fallen into a well? The Talmud response, still accepted by the
ultra-Orthodox, is that the answer is dependent upon the category to
which the human being belongs. If the person is either a non-Jew or a
Jew who is a "shepherd of sheep and goats," a category that lapsed
after Talmudic times, he should neither be saved nor pushed into the
sea or well. If, however, the person is a Jewish heretic, he should
either be pushed down the well or into the sea or, if the person is
already in the well or sea, he should not be rescued. This legal
stipulation appears in Tractate Avoda Zara (pp. 26a-b).
Jewish Heretics
Maimonides also explains this stipulation. In Laws of Murder And
Preservation of Jewish Life (Chapter 4, rules 10-11), he wrote: "The
(Jewish) heretics are those who commit sins on purpose; even one who
eats meat not ritually slaughtered or who dresses in a sha'atnez
clothes (made of linen and wool woven together) on purpose is called a
heretic (as are) those (Jews) who deny the Torah and prophecy. They
should be killed. If he (a Jew) has the power to kill them by the
sword, he should do so. But if he has not, he should behave so
deceitfully to them that death would ensue. How? If he (a Jew) sees one
of them who has fallen into a well and there is a ladder into the well,
he (should) take it away and say: `I need it to take my son down from
the roof,' or similar things.
Deaths of non-Jews with whom we are not at war and Jewish shepherds of
sheep and goats and similar people should not be caused, although it is
forbidden to save them if they are at the point of death. If, for
example, one of them is seen falling into the sea, he should not be
rescued. As it is written, `Neither shall you stand against the blood
of your fellow' (Leviticus 19,16) but he (the non-Jew) is not your
fellow."
The verse, "Thou shalt love thy fellow as thyself" (Leviticus 19:13) is
understood by classical and present day Orthodox Judaism as an
indication to love one's fellow Jew, not any fellow human being. The
generous injunction to leave the gleanings of one's field and vineyard
`for the poor and the stranger' (Leviticus 9:10) is interpreted as
referring exclusively to the Jewish poor and to converts to Judaism.
Racist Views
An important thinker in ultra-Orthodox circles is Judah Halevi, a
Jewish poet and philosopher of the 12th century who wrote of history's
selection process in his famous work The Kuzari. "The best known things
in it are racist," declared Elhanan Hach, a professor of Talmud at
Hebrew University and the Jerusalem branch of the Jewish Theological
Seminary. "He says Abraham was the best of men but he contained in
himself some bad elements, and these bad elements came out in the form
of Ishmael." Since Ishmael is today considered a forefather of the Arab
nation and the link through which the Arabs trace their origins to
Abraham, his manner of treatment in religious sources has contemporary
relevance.
To Professor Naeh, Judah Halevi's 12th century writings reinforce
Jewish ethnocentrism. "It's very dangerous," said Naeh of the Halevi
thesis of the inferiority of Ishmael. "I'm not sure that in his time
this theory had a very big influence with Jews, but it has in the last
centuries, especially in Eastern Europe...The Gush Emunum people see
Halevi as their big prophet. They study each word and they live with
his ideas, the chosen people."
The Kuzari is written as a dialogue between the King of the Khazars,
who is searching for a religion, and a rabbi who defends Judaism
against the attacks of other faiths. Halevi's rabbi also denigrates
Christianity and Islam, issuing the following denunciations: "...any
Gentile who joins us unconditionally shares our good fortune, without,
however, being equal to us. If the Law were binding on us only because
God created us, the white and the black man would be equal, since He
created them all. But the Law was given to us because He led us out of
Egypt, and remained attached to us, because we are the pick of mankind."
Arab as Amalek
In his book Arab and Jew, David K. Shipler, who served as the New York
Times correspondent in Israel, writes: "As the 11 and 12-year-old boys
in Kiryat Arba explained, they are learning in their yeshivas that the
Arab is Amalek, the enemy tribe that God instructed the Jews to fight
eternally and destroy: `Amalek was the first of the nations; but his
latter end shall be that he perish forever.' (Numbers 24:20).
Hagai Segal, a settler from Ofra, was quoted in the settlers' paper
Nekuda as declaring, `The Torah of Israel has nothing to do with modern
humanistic atheism. The Torah yearns for revenge. Such a Torah is not
humanistic.' Expressions of bellicose intolerance are given religious
sanction and rationalization, which then filter into some segments of
the lay population. Some rabbis, such as Eliezer Waldenberg, winner of
the 1976 Israel Prize, declared that Halakha, Jewish law, required a
strict separation of Jews from Arabs, preferably an apatheid system,or,
better yet, the expulsion of the `goyim,' all non-Jews, from
Jerusalem....Another rabbi writing in the student newspaper at Bar-Ilan
University argued that the Torah prescribed genocide against the modern
Amalek."
Although they constitute a relatively small portion of the Israeli
population, the political influence of the messianic fundamentalists
has been growing. If they have contempt for non-Jews, their hatred for
Jews who oppose their views is even greater. This can be seen in the
murder of Yitzhak Rabin.
Rabin's Assassin
Yigal Amir, Rabin's assassin, cited the "law of the pursuer" (din
rodef) and the "Law of the informer" (din moser). The first law
commands every Jew to kill or wound severely any Jew who is perceived
as intending to kill another Jew. According to the halachic
commentaries, it is not necessary to see such a person pursuing a
Jewish victim. It is enough if rabbinic authorities, or even competent
scholars, announce that the law of the pursuer applies. The second law
commands every Jew to kill or wound severely any Jew who, without a
decision of a competent rabbinic authority, has informed non-Jews about
Jewish affairs or has given them information about Jewish property or
who has delivered Jewish persons or property to their rule or authority.
The Land of Israel has been and still is considered by the
ultra-Orthodox as being the exclusive property of the Jews. Granting
Palestinians authority over any part of this land could, thus, be
interpreted as "informing." Some rabbis interpreted the relations that
developed between Rabin and the Palestinian Authority as causing harm
to the Jewish settlers. In this sense, Rabin had "informed" and was
deserving of death.
Horrors in Name of Religion
All through history, we have seen great horrors inflicted upon mankind
in the name of one or another narrow view of religion and of God's
will. We have witnessed intolerance and accompanying violence from the
Crusades to the inquisition to the religious divisions which at the
present time divide people in, among other places, Northern Ireland,
Kashmir, the Balkans and Indonesia-it is a long list indeed. In many
contemporary societies there are those who advocate a rigid theocracy,
as in Iran and Afghanistan, and who persecute those who remain outside
of their religious consensus. Religious writings have helped to stir
the passions of hatred, as in the Holocaust. Those who embark upon such
assaults in the name of God are often the most violent because they
view themselves as engaging in a religiously-mandated process of
purification.
Jews have, all too often, been the victims of such religious-mandated
intolerance. It is a hopeful sign that the major Christian churches
have rejected the anti-Semitism which some of them have preached in the
past. But it is wrong to think that Jews are simply innocent victims of
the bigotry of others. There is, as we have seen, a significant amount
of ethnocentric contempt for those who are not Jewish to be found in
Jewish sacred literature. It is now time that Judaism be purged of its
own intolerant teachings which lead to contempt for and indifference to
those of other faiths and backgrounds.
Lord of All Creation
The God of the Prophets was not a God for Jews alone, but the Lord of
all creation. Second Isaiah proclaims God as the God of all
people. "Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." In
Chapter 56 of the Book of Isaiah we find the famous passage epitomizing
universalism: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all
peoples."
The idea of one God for a particular people was not the unique
contribution of the Jews. There had been other peoples who had that
idea before. It is the idea of one god for all peoples representing a
single standard of morality with one set of moral values applying to
all peoples-this was the revolution in religious thinking which the
Prophets brought about.
The time has come for Judaism to excise those teachings and
declarations which preach contempt for the "other"-that portion of
God's creation who are not Jewish.
Winter 2000 - Allan C. Brownfeld
Allan C. Brownfeld is a nationally syndicated columnist and serves as
Associate Editor of The Lincoln Review and Editor of Issues. The author
of five books, he has served on the staff of the U.S. Senate, House of
Representatives and the Office of the Vice President. He is Executive
Director of the American Council of Judaism.
