...HOMEJewish Holidays Tisha B'Av Anti-Semitism & Suffering Why the Jews – Part 1 Understanding the root of the world's longest hatred. by Raphael Shore Prejudice, it seems, is a standard fare of life. In his folksong entitled "National Brotherhood Week," Tom Lehrer sings: Oh the Protestants hate the Catholics, and the Catholics hate the Protestants, and the Hindus hate the Muslims and everybody hates the Jews. In this song, Lehrer expresses the truism that hatred for the Jew is uniquely commonplace. The Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, blood libels, pogroms, countless expulsions and the systematic murder of 6 million. The question is: Why? What lies behind these millennium of hatred? Why has the undercurrent of anti-Semitism bubbled and boiled and exploded against Jews everywhere, time and again throughout history? In this 8-part seminar, we will examine the root reason for the world's longest hatred. Causes versus Excuses – How Can We Tell the Difference? When we study any theory, it is important to distinguish between a "cause" and an "excuse." The difference is not difficult to recognize: When one thing causes another, if we remove the cause, the effect should vanish. If, on the other hand, one thing is an excuse for another, then even after taking away the excuse, the effect will remain. A child who is chronically late to school may say in his defense, "But I don’t have a watch. How do you expect me to get to school in time if I don’t have a...
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...“Loyalty of the Ancient Jews” 17 February 2010 It is interesting how many of the values of the Jews can be seen from the earliest of their documents, and through these writings we can see how they attempted to remain steadfast to their morals and beliefs. As I read the excerpts of ancient writings in our Encounters in World History book, what seemed to stand out most to me about the Jewish values, was the concept of unwavering commitment to the ways of Yahweh. I’m not saying that the Jewish people were always successful in this endeavor, but it appears that the endeavor itself never changed. There was always a deep sense in their historical writings that committing to the ways of their creator was not only the correct, but the most absolute valuable thing they could do with their existence. We can trace this theme of commitment from Yahweh back to the creation story of the Jews which is found in the book of Genesis. After Yahweh created man he commanded to Adam that “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (49). This appears to be the first instruction that man ever received from the Creator. As the story goes, Adam and Eve both ate from the tree exposing them to the knowledge of good and evil. Yahweh went on to say “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it...
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...We’re not Jews Made by Tobias Jensen Racism is of of the biggest problems in the world today. People all over the world are being persecuted because of their skin, their religion, their beliefs etc. This problem is often when immigrants comes to a new country. All the sudden the residents have different beliefs and values and they have to live side by side. So that often results in discrimination and suppression of the minority, which in most cases are the immigrants. This type of scenario is portrayed in the short story “we’re not Jews”. which takes place in England during the late 50’s. In this story, we meet the main character Azhar, his family and his surroundings in the 1950’s England. World war 2 has ended not long ago, and England is recovering from their losses, commonwealth is on the brink of being resolved, and like Azhar's father, many people from the former English colonies have immigrated. The englishmen still have mentality of “white superiority”, and therefore finding word and leading a live of success becomes very hard for immigrants like Azhar and his family Aszar is a very hard working student and the one of the best in his class. He feel a lot of pressure coming from his mother. there is no time for fun and play. She is pressuring him because she wants that he can have good opportunities in life, and to break the social heritage. Azhar is expected to be a grown up, he isn’t allowed to to behave and act like a child. Azhar is being bullied in school...
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...This essay attempts to answer the question “To what extent does the Nazi persecution of Roma and the Nazi persecution of Jews mirror each other 1933-1945?” focusing on the time period between Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 to the Holocaust’s end in 1945 . This essay makes a wide range of use of primary and secondary sources such as essays, books, websites, and encyclopedias. Some primary sources included are testimonies of former Holocaust Roma and Jew victims telling their story; also, there are some parts of speeches made by Nazi leaders about Jews and Roma. The essay begins by outlining the Nazi persecution of Roma and stating its importance. Afterwards, there is an analysis about the perspective of the Roma and the Jews in the Nazi party...
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...Diaspora December 16,2014 Fate of Jews in Minsk Minsk is a very special city in the history of Jewish people of the 20’s century because of it’s historical location at the heart of the Pale of Settlement, region of Imperial Russia, beyond which Jews were allowed permanent residency. Minsk became a historic Jewish center centuries before the establishment of the Soviet Union. Comprising of almost half of the city’s population by the beginning of the 20’s century, Jews played an important role in the political, economical and social life of Minsk. Unlike everywhere else in Europe during the Second World War, Jews in Minsk actively collaborated with local Byelorussian Partisan Movement in resistance against Nazis, hence an incredible number of people were able to escape the fate in ghettos. Jewish population dropped from 90.000 in 1941 to 38.000 right after the War. The first and the only memorial of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union was erected in Minsk immediately after World War II. Nevertheless, the Soviet regime remained hostile to Jewry, unofficially promoting overt anti-Semitism and creating discriminatory conditions. When the gates were open, most Jews immigrated to Israel and the United States. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, around 10,000 Jews remained in Minsk according to census information. Contemporary Jewish organizations in Belarus estimate the Jewish population of Minsk to be around 20,000 people due to the fact that a lot of Jews felt comfortable to reveal...
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...First Crusade against the Muslim Moors. It was the religious zeal of not only the Church and the Queen but also of the masses that really caused the expulsion of the Jewish people from Spain. Of course, the official justification for exiling the Jews was because they were counterproductive to the Church’s ultimate goal – they attempted to prevent the Marranos from severing their ties with Judaism. Anti-Semitism began soon after the beginning of Christianity with the inherent hatred toward Jews simply because they have differing theological and religious practices are not Christian, not because they are specifically Jewish. Anti-Judaism began with the crucifixion of Christ – it became commonly believed that the Jewish people were responsible for the crucifixion which caused initial discriminatory writings against the Jews as a people, as well as societal misunderstanding and distrust. The Jewish people were exposed to severe persecution under Visigoth control in the Mediterranean and more Christian control in Spain. It is therefore not surprising that the Jewish people helped the Muslims invade and conquer the Iberian Peninsula in 711 C.E. from the Christians, ushering in the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry. Not long after the conquest, the Jews integrated themselves into Muslim society. Massive migration waves – of both Jewish and Muslim – toward Spain created a political, cultural, and powerful region, running from Barcelona in the...
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...Jose Cruz Ms.Tran English-10 March 5, 2015 The Suffering of Jews The horrifying smell of burned flesh in the air is what the smell throughout the day during the harsh time at the concentration camp. Living like an animal in a human body, the Jews became nothing. Day by day the lives of the Jews became more and more distant from the life they used to know; the outlook of the Jews become grim, darker than night. Everything started to become empty. Throughout the time of the Holocaust, the Jews faced starvation, loss of freedom, and even got their identity of being a human snatched from them. Death everywhere in sight and food no where to be found, many Jews had to face starvation; children, men, and women dropping dead everywhere. Elie...
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...They refused to believe that the worst would happen to them and that they would be fine. The attitude of the Sighet Jews in Night can be best described by these words: “The Germans won’t get as far as this. They’ll stay in Budapest.” (Wiesel 7). As a result of their optimism, the Sighet Jews continued to go about their lives, oblivious to the fact that the Nazis were planning to exterminate them. This brings up another point in this paragraph: Because the victims refused to believe that the situation, they didn’t bother trying to flee or hide. When asked to emigrate to Palestine, Wiesel’s father said that he was “too old to start from scratch again in a country so far away…” (Wiesel 6) Chlomo (who is Elie’s father) literally doomed his family to the death camps, where half of the family members died. These deaths would not have happened if he just moved his family to Palestine. All in all, it really pays for people to prepare for events like...
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...By the end of the Holocaust a million of Jews died. Germany and a lot of other countries involved in the Holocaust. Hitler did hate Jews and target them because of many reasons. In Germany, they had things that we couldn't get and we had things that they didn't. Hitler created concentration camps to get rid of Jews. In Europe, Hitler targeted Jews, changed Europe and created many death camps. Hitler seemed to hate or target Jews,why is that? Hitler target Jews because he thought that they were the reason for WW1. He thought that Jews did not belong. Hitler thought that the perfect race was the Aryan to be Aryan you would have to have blond hair, blue eyes and believe in a certain religion, the Jews did not fit into that category. He saw how people would hire the Jews more than the Aryan race because they Jews would work for lower pay for longer hours. Hitler created these camps called concentration camps or death camps where he would send Jews or Jewish sympathizers. Hitler originally had them in ghettos but he wanted them gone completely so he created the death camps. In total Hitler created about 40,000 death camps to kill Jews....
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...exterminated millions of Gypsies, homosexuals, Russians, Jehovah's Witnesses, physically and mentally handicapped, Poles, resistance fighters, and many more. (Overlooked millions) If people were captured, and not immediately exterminated, they were usually sent to a concentration camp or labor camp. These prisoners were then given patches on their clothing for identification. Political prisoners wore red, prostitutes and other of that nature wore black, criminals were given green, and Jews were given yellow. (Overlooked millions)...
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...The Nazi forced the Jews to reside in marked-off sections of the towns and cities the Naziś called “Jewish” residential quarters.The Germans created at least 1,000 ghettos in occupied territories and millions of Jews lived in eastern Europe. After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the Germans took control of over two million Jews and when Germany invaded the soviet union in 1941, the Nazi took over several million more Jews. Many ghettos were set up in cities where Jews were already exterminated. Jews as well as some Gypsies were also brought to ghettos from western europe. The Germans usually marked off the oldest sections of the cities for the ghettos. During curfew hours at night the residents were forced to stay inside their...
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...To understand more fully the conflict between the Jews and Samaritans in the time of Maccabees, it is beneficial to see the broader picture of the national dynamics in the Middle and Far East. In the second half of the fourth century the domination of the Alexander the Great reached its summit. His premature death in 323 BC left a humongous empire without a leader. Eventually Alexander’s generals divided his empire among themselves. The area of the former Israelite kingdoms came under the control of Ptolemy, who ruled from Egypt. His approach toward the Jewish religion was lenient – he permitted the Jews to practice their religion without much interference. If the influence of the Hellenistic culture was visible, it was in the areas of cultural,...
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...Civilization and the Jews Professor Geller 4/17/14 David Foley Professor Geller Heritage: Civilization and the Jews I. Intro: Have you ever found yourself wondering how, or why the Jewish people ended up in the US? A. Topic: Jewish Migration in 19th and 20th Centuries to the US Title: The Jewish States of America Thesis: Even though the Jews tried to escape harsh conditions in Europe through emigration, they were met with the same level of opposition in the US. Summary: II. Body A. Reasons in Europe for Immigration 1. Where in Europe did majority come from B. New opportunities in the US C. Difficulties faced in the US D. How those issues were dealt with E. How things are better today for the Jewish people III. Conclusion A. Proved that when the Jewish people emigrated to the US, that the problems they ran away from were replaced by an equally confrontational frontier. David Foley Professor Geller Heritage: Civilization and the Jews 4/17/14 The Jewish States of America Have you ever found yourself wondering how, or why the Jewish people ended up in the US? When the topic of the Jewish religion comes about we think about one place normally. Israel is said to be the original holder of the world’s Jewish population in biblical times. Now times have changed and the worlds Jew’s have found themselves spread to every corner of our planet with amassing numbers and counting. This growth and emigration of the Jews has been caused...
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...is not a unified movement with a single governing body, but many different movements adhering to common principles. All of the Orthodox movements are very similar in their observance and beliefs, differing only in the details that are emphasized. They also differ in their attitudes toward modern culture and the state of Israel. They all share one key feature: a dedication to Torah, both Written and Oral. Personally, this religion seems to be the biggest outcast of them all and knowing neighbors around my block are Orthodox Jews really grabs my attention. I hear stories about the family and how some of their beliefs are shocking to us who are not Orthodox Jews. I never really knew much about them but now this is my great opportunity to do so. Background: The largest population of orthodox Jews are in Israel, then followed by USA, and finally in some Eastern European countries. Their population reaches close to One Million and growing. Many orthodox Jews live in together in large communities. For example in the city of Jerusalem, Israel or Brooklyn, NY, there are tens of Thousands of orthodox Jewish families living in a closed tight knit community. Approximately 10 percent of the Jewish population in the US is orthodox. All men will be wearing long black garbs, black hats and long beards. Both men and boys will also have curls by their side.The women will be dressed according to their Jewish Tradition. A custom called Tzniyus (modest). No part of their body will be exposed...
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...the book of Song of Solomon, Prophetic Books: the book Isaiah to the book of Daniel and the last twelve books are the Minor Prophets: the book of Hosea to the book of Malachi. The Old Testament books are pivotal to the birth of the New Testament because if God did not keep his promises to the Old Testament patriarchs Christianity would have not been born. In this research I will focus on early Christianity and how it began. Next I will speak upon how the gospel went from Judaism to a world religion. I will then talk about the persecution of the Jewish people by Christians. Lastly I will discuss the conflict between the two. Early Christianity In the first century there were four main religious sects made up of the Palestinian Jews: the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and the Zealots. The Sadducees were religious conservative priest and wanted to maintain the authenticity of the Hebrew teachings, they also did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or an afterlife. The Pharisees unlike the Sadducees took a more liberal mindset towards the Mosaic Law, they allowed multiple interpretations of the Torah, they accepted oral tradition of the Torah (the passing down of the Mosaic Law by word of mouth from generation to generation), and they believed in the afterlife. The Essenes formed the semimonastic community by the Dead Sea and it is said that the Essenes were the first generation of God’s people and that they were the ones who wrote the Dead Sea scrolls. The Dead...
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