The essentialist/substantial viewpoint holds that what eventually comes to be regarded as “antisemitism” is caused by Judaism’s distinctive theological, cultural, and social aspects. Using phrases like “the essence of Judaism” and “the antagonism between Judaism and Hellenism,” this approach believes that antisemitism is a “‘natural’ occurrence within every community.” Antisemitic writers are not the only ones who have this viewpoint; some Christians and Jews do as well. It has various offshoots, all of which essentially assume that something about Jews or what they do is what makes Gentiles react negatively (Schäfer, 1997). Antisemitism has affected Jews for ages. Antisemitism has a complicated history. Antisemitism’s roots and causes will be examined in this article. Religion, politics, and social hierarchies shaped antisemitism. We will also examine how antisemitism has influenced the Jewish community’s economic and cultural status and the Church and State’s policies toward the Jews in medieval Western Europe. Lastly, we will discuss contemporary antisemitism and its ongoing issues.
Causes of “Judeophobia”
Anti-Jewish feeling, or judeophobia, has been around for a long time and has roots in the ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures. Jews were often seen in these countries as outsiders who refused to blend in with the majority culture. These are some potential root causes of antisemitism in different societies: Religious divergences: Polytheistic beliefs of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome battled with the distinctive monotheistic faith of the Jews (Katz, 1997). They became distinctive and were seen as a danger to the established Religion. Jews often worked as merchants and moneylenders, which sparked accusations of greed and exploitation. Political disputes: When Jews rejected efforts at integration or conversion, they were sometimes seen as political dangers. Jews in ancient Egypt were denied access to several portions of the city because they were “polluted.” Jews were looked at suspiciously in ancient Greece because they did not participate in paganism and did not worship Greek deities (Schäfer, 1997). Jews were often considered a problematic minority in ancient Rome and were subject to persecution under many emperors.
Antisemitism in Ancient Egypt
In the ancient world, there were numerous reasons for “Judeophobia,” such as cultural, economic, and religious factors. Strong racial prejudices, partially stoked by conflicts between the various populations’ distinct religions, formed the basis of Egypt’s anti-Jewish attitude. Antisemitism has its roots in Egypt’s per-Hellenistic history, and judeophobia solidly confirms Hellenistic Egypt as its wellspring (Schäfer, 1997). As Schafer examines an enlightening range of remarks on Jews and their faith in Greek and Roman sources, a pattern of rooted animosity against an alien civilization becomes apparent. The demolition of a Jewish temple in Elephantine in 410 B.C.E. and the riots in Alexandria in 38 C.E. are two pivotal events he investigates further. As the author looks into what motivated these attacks on Jewish communities, they find long-standing ethnic animosities. Hatred of Jews, founded on claims of impropriety, xenophobia, and hostility, originated in Egypt and was transmitted to Palestine, then to Rome, where it took on a new facet: a fear of this small but distinct population. Soon after, elements of Christian doctrine were added to the anger and terror, creating a concoction that was all too common in Western history.
Antisemitism in Ancient Roman
Due to their faith and cultural practices, Jews in Rome were likewise marginalized and subjected to prejudice. The Romans frequently punished Jews for refusing to participate in their traditions and rituals because they were accused of being seditious and rebellious. First Jewish Revolt, a Jewish uprising against Roman control in Judaea (A.D. 66–70) (Schäfer, 1997). A protracted sequence of conflicts in which intermittent resistance by small Jewish groups against the Romans was met with harsh retaliation by the latter led to the First Jewish Revolt Jewish rebels commanded by Gallus, the imperial legate in Syria, routed a Roman retaliatory army at the pass of Beth-Horon in the fall of A.D. 66, driving the Romans from Jerusalem.
Then, a revolutionary government was established, expanding its power nationwide. The Roman emperor Nero sent Vespasian to put down the uprising. Along with Titus, the Roman soldiers reached Galilee, where the historian Josephus led the Jewish forces. Vespasian’s army faced Josephus’, which then fled. The Roman armies swept the nation once the citadel of Jatapata fell, and Josephus surrendered. Jerusalem was destroyed, the Temple was destroyed, and the Jewish state was destroyed on August 29th, 70 A.D. However, the Roman general Flavius Silva captured Masada in April of the following year. The Temple was viewed as retaliation for Jewish resistance to Roman rule.
Antisemitism in Ancient Greek
In Greece, the main accusations against Jews were their refusal to participate in pagan worship and adherence to their religious practices. Jews in the Diaspora (dispersion) had to decide their way of life in the Greek world. Like others in the area, many Jews harbored deep animosity toward the Greeks. They were the most alien group they had ever encountered. The gods of the Greeks and Greek customs seemed wildly offensive in a state established on upholding the purity of the Hebrew Religion (Katz, 1997). However, the Greeks introduced a novel idea of citizenship that would let outsiders integrate into society. All that was required was the ability to speak Greek, acceptance in a community, and participation in Greek civic rites.
Even though many Jews lived in Greek cities and spoke Greek, they could not maintain their traditional Jewish practices and participate in Greek civic rituals. In the end, many Jews adopted the Greek way of life. They made sacrifices in front of the public, participated in activities, and went to the gym. The Jewish elite abandoned the common people in large numbers. Jews who did not fit in (even though many of them spoke Greek) were now viewed as a threat to the continued existence of the Greek world and its vision of a pervasive Hellenistic culture (Schäfer, 1997). Jewish identity had reached a crisis point.
Medieval European antisemitism
The economy, culture, and politics in medieval Europe reflected Religion. Throughout the Middle Ages, Jews were prohibited from working in most of Europe’s institutions of power, including the military, guilds, and professions. It is accurate to say that certain European kings and societies, particularly in the early Middle Ages, tolerated and embraced Jews; thus, it is incorrect to believe that Jews endured perpetual anti-Jewish persecution throughout this period (Ekelund & Tollison, 2011). The First Crusade knights massacred Jews at Worms, Trier (now Germany), and Metz in 1096. (now in France).
In the twelfth century, false charges of ritual murder, host blasphemy, and blood libel first appeared. Throughout the 1930s, Nazi propaganda used blood libel (Katz, 1997). The Nazis also returned the yellow logo from the 12th century that identified Jews. Jewish people were confined into ghettos across much of Europe from the Middle Ages until the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Economic Factors and Competition between Jews and Christians
Jews significantly impacted commerce, banking, and moneylending in the late Middle Ages, and the general populace envied them for their success in these areas. Jews were expelled from England, France, Germany, Portugal, Provence, and the Papal States due to economic resentment and religious prejudices. With rising persecution, Spain evicted its considerable and long-established Jewish community in 1492 (Katz, 1997). Jews who did not become Christians were persecuted during the Spanish Inquisition. During these massive expulsions, Jewish life was relocated from Germany and western Europe to Turkey, Poland, and Russia.
When necessary, Jews were tolerated. Jews were crucial to trade and business even though they were marginalized. As interest-bearing loans and Jewish ownership of property were prohibited by premodern Religion, Jews played a significant role as moneylenders and businesspeople. Jewish philosophers, physicians, poets, and novelists had a rich intellectual life alongside Muslims and Christians in Spain before expulsion in 1492. (Ekelund & Tollison, 2011). They collaborated with Arab scholars and philosophers intolerant of Muslim Spain to assist medieval Christianity in acquiring Classical philosophy.
Christian Reformed Movement Judaism was horrible. Initially, Martin Luther was friendly with Jews and relied on Jewish scholars to interpret the Hebrew Scriptures into German. However, as time went on, he got angry with the Jews for rejecting Jesus. We ought to have murdered them, he wrote. They were rejected by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in 1983 and 1994, respectively (Ekelund & Tollison, 2011).
Medieval Western Europe’s Church-State Balance on Jews
The connection between the Church and the State and Jews was complicated. After the Middle Ages, the Catholic Reformation brought back ghettoization and anti-Jewish legislation. Midway through the 17th century, the number of people killed in a battle between Roman Catholic Poles and Eastern Orthodox Ukrainians eclipsed the worst Jewish genocides of the Middle Ages. In the late 18th century, the Enlightenment ended the intermittent persecution of Jews in western Europe. Antisemitism did not become any worse. The leading thinkers of the Enlightenment rationally refuted Christian ideas, yet Jews were not recognized. Philosophers of the Enlightenment blamed Jews, not the Crucifixion, for Christianity and the injustices and bloodshed of monotheistic religions (Chazan, 1980). Jews were disparaged as primitive, superstitious people by Denis Diderot and Voltaire.
Jews were at risk before the French Revolution of 1789 across Europe. Outsiders had few civil rights. They were all subject to taxation. Their religious identity and local groups, which served as a judge and quasi-government, were strengthened by their exclusion from society. Jews received citizenship during the French Revolution, which proclaimed liberty, equality, and brotherhood (Katz, 1997). Jews had to relinquish their traditional customs and sense of group identification to gain respect and benefits. Nothing meant this “to the Jews as individuals, to the Jews as a nation.”
The Church considered Jews an integral part of Christian history, held them accountable for Jesus’ Crucifixion, and labeled them “Christ murderers” (Chazan, 1980). The Second Vatican Council and Pope John XXIII led the Roman Catholic Church to acknowledge that Establishing universal accountability for Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion would exonerate Jews from guilt in the prophet’s death. Nostra Aetate, perhaps the most significant book on Christian-Jewish relations of the 20th century, also revised the Good Friday ritual and the Roman Catholic catechism to make them less offensive to Jews. While most Jews found the Good Friday ceremony and prayer objectionable, Pope Benedict XVI permitted the ancient Latin mass to be used more often in 2007. Some individuals claimed the prayer was still racist despite changes made in 2008 to satisfy Jewish concerns.
Pope John Paul II made the struggle against antisemitism and his empathy for Jews a pillar of his pontificate. He saw the Holocaust personally while growing up in Poland as a young guy. Under the guidance of the Pope, who had paid an important visit to a synagogue in Rome in 1986, the Vatican established diplomatic ties with the State of Israel in 1993, not long after the Oslo peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization was finished. Israel hosted the Pope in March 2000. At Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, he stated that antisemitism is fundamentally anti-Christian and expressed regret for incidents in which Christians have shown antisemitic behavior (Chazan, 1980). He hid a prayer letter of repentance for past Christian sins in the Western Wall stone, regarded as the holiest place in Judaism.
Therefore, antisemitism and economic considerations made the Church and State’s policies toward Jews in Western Europe throughout the Middle Ages more discriminatory and restricted. Jewish communities in England, France, and Spain were decimated due to the expulsion of Jews. Due to economic competitiveness, political difficulties, and theological strife, the Middle Ages saw a decline in Jewish tolerance and persecution. Christian ideology, such as the notion that Jews killed Jesus, also encouraged persecution. The Spanish Inquisition persecuted Jews and conversos, forcing conversions or death. These tensions and disputes led monarchs to expel Jews from Western Europe to solidify power and gather support.
In conclusion, antisemitism, which may be traced back to ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome, has a lengthy and convoluted history and origins in these countries. During the Middle Ages in Europe, the marginalization and persecution of Jews persisted, with Jews being excluded from many elements of society and experiencing violent assaults, expulsions, and forced conversions. In addition, Jews were barred from many aspects of society. Throughout medieval Western Europe, antisemitism had a profound influence not only on the economic and cultural status of the Jewish community but also on the policies of the Church and State regarding Jews. Antisemitism is still a problem in today’s society, as shown by the fact that hate crimes and prejudice against Jews continue to be committed in many different regions of the globe. It is essential to research the historical and modern factors contributing to antisemitism to understand the problem and how it might be addressed and avoided.
Reference
Chazan, R. (1980). Church, state, and jew in the Middle Ages. Behrman House.
Ekelund Jr, R. B., & Tollison, R. D. (2011). Economic origins of roman Christianity. University of Chicago Press.
Katz, J. (1997). From prejudice to destruction: Antisemitism, 1700-1933. Harvard University Press.
Schäfer Peter. (1997). Judeophobia. Harvard University Press.
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