Page 7 - TORCH Magazine #17 - Autumn 2020

Anti-Semitism, the world’s oldest hatred and why it should matter to us all
Rabbi Sacks was a critical thinker and a problem solver. A family joke was that you did not want to catch Rabbi Sacks in the kitchen while he was making a cup of tea or you might be asked to try and solve the world’s problems while the kettle boiled.
chooses.
If it asks, “what did we
all care about this? After all, if we’re not Jewish what has it got to do with us? The answer is that anti-Semitism is about the inability of the group to make space for difference. And because we are all different, the hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews.
It was not Jews alone who suffered under Hitler. It was not Jews alone who suffered under Stalin. It is not Jews alone who suffer under the radical Islamists and others who deny Israel’s right to exist. Anti-Semitism is the world’s most reliable
early warning sign of a major threat to freedom, humanity, and the dignity
Answering the question of why anti- Semitism has returned
Classically this has been the Jews because for a thousand years they were the most conspicuous non-Christian minority
in Europe. And today because Israel is the most conspicuous non-Muslim country in the Middle East.
“once again, Rabbi Sacks said the following:
One root cause of anti-Semitism is the cognitive failure called ‘scapegoating’.
The argument is always the same, we are innocent therefore they (the Jews) are guilty. Therefore, if we are to be free, they (the Jews or the state of Israel) must be destroyed. That is how the great evils begin.
When bad things happen to a group, its members can ask one
of two questions, “What did we do wrong?” or “Who did this to us?” The entire fate of the group will depend on which it
of difference. It matter” all of us, which is why we must fight it together.
do wrong?” it has begun the process of healing the harm. But if instead it asks, “Who did this to us?” it has defined itself as a victim. It will then seek a scapegoat to blame for all its problems.
Why then should we
s to
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