Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 exptools; site ihuxi.UUCP Path: utzoo!lsuc!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ihuxi!megann From: megann@ihuxi.UUCP (Mcroberts) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: Historical Persecution of Jews Message-ID: <1339@ihuxi.UUCP> Date: Mon, 24-Mar-86 19:24:57 EST Article-I.D.: ihuxi.1339 Posted: Mon Mar 24 19:24:57 1986 Date-Received: Sat, 29-Mar-86 09:22:25 EST References: <852@leadsv.UUCP> <532@mhuxm.UUCP>, <1117@unc.unc.UUCP> <719@hounx.UUCP> <186@erc3ba.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 101 Avi Feldman's article (full text at end) shows insight into the historical development of modern anti-semitism. i would like to add some notes. Even after the Roman Empire was officially Christian, there were several centuries when many Christians also observed some Jewish rites and practices. throughtout the early middle ages, it was quite common for a Christian to celebrate Shabbat on saturday, and "Lord's Day" on Sunday. I think this practice was widespread until the IX or X century. (Hence the fact that Sunday was the big market day in medieval europe.) i suppose it is understandable that christianity felt the need to separate themselves from judaism, and some of the rhetoric got hostile. up until the time of the crusades, i think the official rhetoric wasn't terribly dangerous. in fact, the jewish community in most locations had very close ties to the christian clergy -- during the persecutions accompanying the first crusade, in most locations it was the local bishop who tried to shelter the jewish community, sometimes in very heroic ways, with varying degrees of success. the killers were mobs of non-sanction fanatics. from this time on, things gradually worsened in europe. in the mid-XII century (1157?) we see the case of william of warwich, the first blood-libel case. but in general the jewish community of england tended to get on rather well for another century. henry iii rather milked the jews, and by 1257 we have clear indications that the jewish community of england was quite bankrupt. in 1290 they were expelled, although at least they were given six months notice and were guaranteed safe passage out of england by the king for them and their possessions. the xiv century got progressively worse -- especially in the middle of the centuries and all the trouble with the Black Death (which was blamed on the jews, rather than the fleas who were the real culprits). i guess it is an unfortuneate fact of human nature that, when faced with great tragedy, we seek a scapegoat. it is useful to distinguish between "Judenhass" (Jew-hatred) and anti- Semitism. the difference is that with Judenhass, one can always save ones skin by being baptized. and i think that was the prevailing sort of prejudice throughout the middle ages -- it wasn't until the renaissance that some thinkers started wondering whether there wasn't something inherently evil with a jew that even a conversion wouldn't help. that notion really grew when combined with XIX century concepts of race and nation, and we know where that has led. ********************************************************************** > > I think that we can distinguish between early Greek and Roman > "anti-semitism" and Christian "anti-semitism". The first was not > religious based, or at least not in the same sense as the second. Greek > and Roman dislike of the Jews was based on a combination of factors, > some of which have been brought up in this discussion. They include the > fact that the Jews kept themselves as a seperate social group and did > not accept Greek or Roman practices (including religion) as readily as > other national groups that the Greeks or Romans conquered. In addition > the Jewish insistance that G-d could not be seen, and that all the gods > of the Romans or Greeks were meaningless (other groups said we have our > gods, you have yours, but they are all powerfull beings) did not make > the Jews well loved by the other nations. However, there was no intense > hatred of the Jews as Jews per se. The Jews did not in any way threaten > the very existance or claim to validity of these other nations. The > study of the relationship between the Jews and the other nations can be > linked with the more general issues of "dislikes" between distinct > groups. > > The nature of Christian "antisemitism" is fundamentally > different. To understand it, one must look at the period of the early > Christian church, before the Roman Empire embraced christianity. During > this period, both the Jews and Christians were active proslytising > elements in the Roman Empire, but both were viewed by the Roman Empire > as Jewish - just two different sects. Depending on the views of the > particular ruler, one group was left relatively alone and the second was > persecuted, with identity of the two groups changing. This laid a > political underpinning for hatred between the two groups. We now add to > this the fact that they were viewed by their prospective converts as > being a jewish sect, and the Jews also looking for converts. A > consequence was that many of these people went both to the jewish shul > and the christian church. To combat this, the church tried to seperate > itself as much as possible from mainstream Judaism. In addition, it > would be difficult to gain Roman converts to a religion whose founder > was killed by the Romans for subversive political activities (there is a > lot of evidence to support that statement). The end result was the birth > of the idea of the Jews as the deicide people - the god killers. Reading > church sermons from that period, which the church has preserved, one > finds such virulent hatred publically proclaimed to rivel anything else > in history. > > The people of what we call "Western Civilization" over the next > more than one thousand years were educated by the Church. And what they > were taught, untill it became part of the social and political fabric, > was the the Jews were god killers and therefor despised by god and > should be despised by all people. When we now look at specific examples > of modern anti-semitism, although the language and immediate causes may > not be religious in nature, it is only this long historical basis that > allows it to flourish. > > Avi Feldblum > uucp: {ihnp4, allegra}!pruxc!ayf or > !erc3ba!ayf *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***