Why are Jews so hated?

(courtesy)

I didn’t make up this question. One of my readers asked. She wrote:

“I am a Black American, [sexual identity] great-grandmother and activist with a Jewish son-in-law that I love very much. I have a Ph.D. in Higher Education, am an [artist], and am a Unitarian Universalist. I am pro-Jewish, but anti-Zionist because of the way that Israel is treating the Palestinians. I want to know why Jews are hated so much. Is it because the Bible says that they asked that the thief Barabus (evidently the computer can’t spell this word either) be spared and Jesus killed?

And this is what I answered her:

Dear [—],

Thank you for your impressive and brief message. You know how to write well!

You want to know why Jews are hated so much. Let me try to begin to answer you on this large subject.

First of all, ask people! They will probably tell you that it’s because of the baseless slander that they heard and believe to be true about Jews in the news, the church or the mosque. As you’ve noticed in your son-in-law, most Jews are lovely people – or at least imperfect people like everyone else – but not the monsters that they are made out to be. You knew that. That’s why this hatred so disturbs you, no?

Why are Jews hated also falls in the same category as why are Blacks, women and gays oppressed. Look no further than what is in the hearts and minds of the haters. The hated are just by-and-large great people.

Often, oppressed people and their spokespeople forget to combat their hatred against the Jews. That means that for their survival, Jews need to rely on oppressors of others. The latter then prominently display the Jews as the true oppressors and when the real oppressors are cornered, they start a slander campaign against the Jews and drop their protection of Jews, so that the oppressed can cool their anger on the Jews and not on the oppressors. Jews are often blamed for their wrong loyalties while in fact, they are held hostage because the other oppressed groups have abandoned them. Instead of blaming the victims, all oppressed groups would profit from doing justice and embracing and protecting the Jews.

You can also mean: Why does G^d let this happen? Well, the Bible says in many places that blessing the Jews will make you blessed and cursing the Jews will make you cursed. Apparently, G^d put up this challenge to people and that must mean that it will take them an effort to be plain decent towards Jews. Compliance will get rewarded.

No less a good answer, which is more on a sociological than a theological level, is that the vast majority of the billions of people now around adhere to a monotheistic faith. Even democracy, physics, humanism, socialism, communism, capitalism, and agnosticism are rooted in Judaism, I believe. As difficult as it seems to be for many people to acknowledge and honor one’s parents properly, freely, and lovingly, so difficult it seems to honor the world’s carriers of the most predominant parent worldview. It’s easier to rebel and hate them than to be grateful and protective. And that’s what we see happening.

Many Jews work extra hard because our history with being persecuted teaches us that we may save our lives and those of others doing so. And we learn how precious life is and saving one person. Much more effort translates into being more successful, which may easily lead to jealousy. Especially if one doesn’t see that the success is deserved because of greater effort. The idea that Jews are chosen is not that we are more privileged – G^d is just and doesn’t do favoritism. It means that we are extra obligated. If we abide by the Higher expectations, we are on the same moral level as people who have normal obligations and abide by them. (Anyone who wants to live by obligations put on Jews may become Jewish. But Jews cannot go down because that would imply denying and degrading our greater abilities – that only do us credit when we live up to them.)

Jews are like one organism, the rabbis teach us. When one Jew hurts, all Jews feel the pain. Jew haters often feel that even stronger. As soon as they hate one Jew, they hate them all. They also have a hard time seeing Jews as individuals. They tend to talk about “them.” Jews easily feel the hatred behind this four-letter word.

Last but not least, Jews are the only nation founded on a universal mission. That’s why we are an exception to all other peoples (we need to stay around and complete our assignment for all people – not just ourselves) and that may give irritation. We upset the rules of history (nations always come to power and then disappear) and are accuse of being disloyal to host nations, of being a fifth column (an accusation going back to Exodus 1:10!) We need to bring G^d’s Teachings to all of humankind. (That’s no doubt why you’ll find so many Jews among Unitarian Universalists.) We need to be humble but proud teachers. When we do that well, we will learn more from our students than our students will learn from us – as all good teachers do but we will be the teachers and need to be respected as such. Gentiles may help by making sure that Jews are safe so that we will have more access to our pride and to time to help others.

Does this begin to answer your question? Thank you for asking.

As one activist to another, I wish you all the best.

PS: Re your remark that Israel treats Palestinians badly, watch this.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1