Jews: A History of Persecution

Jews in Antiquity Judaism as a religion began in the areas of modern day Palestine and Jerusalem more than a thousand years before the coming of Christianity As documented in the Old Testament (Christian Bible) and/or Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Judaism was marked by the fact that its followers rejected the many gods of Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Roman cultures, and preached Monotheism. The first texts of the Old Testament were finalized by around 400 B.C.

Early Persecution Because of their rejection of Polytheism and their strict adherence to religious law, Jews were ridiculed and persecuted by nearly every dominant culture in the area. In spite of this ridicule, The Kingdoms of Israel and Judea during the pre-Christian era in what is now modern day Palestine established the Jewish people as a strong and proud ethno-religious group.

The Diaspora The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. begins the Diaspora (dispersion) of Jews throughout the Middle East and Europe. 136 A.D. the Romans conquer Judea Instead of assimilating completely and converting to the dominant religions, Jews maintained their religion and observance of laws as a “Pariah” people amongst host communities. Jews also practiced voluntary segregation, as well as being subject to compulsory segregation.

Jewish Deicide: “Christ-Killers” Even though Jesus himself was a Jew, he preached a new covenant (promise) between God and his people. Those who accepted this new covenant became “Christians” and thus rejected Judaism as being “out of touch” Jesus was crucified by the Romans at the request of Jewish community leaders. This led to the stereo-type of Jews as a group being responsible for the death of God. The Gospel of John in the New Testament is decidedly anti-Jewish, portraying them as enemies of Jesus.

Jews in Early Christendom and The Middle Ages In the 4th century A.D., Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of the Roman Empire reduces the rights of Jews. Thousands of Jews are killed or forced to convert to Christianity during the time of the Crusades (1096-1193). The purpose of the Crusades was to reclaim the Holy Land from Islamic Kingdoms in the Middle East, and Jews, being non-Christian, become associated with the enemies of Christian Crusaders.

Middles Ages Cont. Jews blamed for numerous ills of society during this period and accused of not only the purposeful spread of the Bubonic Plague across Europe, but for the ritual murder of Christian children.

“Such hatred is often to be found in the imagery and paintings of Christian churches and Cathedrals, with the Jew depicted as the Symbol of evil and the synagogue as a decrepit old woman wearing a lop-sided crown, her eyes blindfolded, her scepter cracked, bearing broken tables of Law, sitting astride a pig, and portrayed with other equally denigrating features” (The Jews and Europe)

The Moneylenders In 1179 A.D. Christians are forbidden to lend money and charge interest. Since Jews were often forbidden so many other professions, this begins a tradition of Jews as moneylenders and bankers. This is the beginning of the portrayal of Jews as “Shylocks” or greedy loan-sharks. (Shylock is the name of the title character in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice; a complicated portrayal, Shylock is characterized by Shakespeare as both greedy and as a victim in the context of the play).

Shakespeare Humanistic Portrayal “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.” --Shylock, from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare

Pogroms in Russia, 19-20th century Between 1881-1884, over 20 Anti-Jewish events occurred in the Russian Empire

From The New York Times, Easter 1903 “There was a well laid-out plan for the general massacre of Jews on the day following the Orthodox Easter. The mob was led by priests, and the general cry, ‘Kill the Jews,’ was taken up all over the city. The Jews were taken wholly unaware and were slaughtered like sheep.” Approx 50 Jews killed that day. 1905 Pogrom in Odessa (Ukraine) left 2,500 Jews dead.

The Holocaust Under the rule of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, over 6 million Jews are slaughtered throughout Europe. Jews are blamed for Germany’s failing economy after WWI, and become the main scapegoat for all of Germany’s social and economic problems.

Why so much hate? In general, Jews are the victims of xenophobia, the undue and irrational contempt for and fear of strangers

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