Q. Why do people often hate Jews for no reason and is there no hope for a solution? Josh A. Yes Josh, it’s hard to believe that even in the modern world, there is still baseless anti-Semitism! Anyone with even a minimal knowledge of Judaism knows that the custom is to throw away an egg which has even a drop of chicken’s blood, so how can one be so ignorant as to suggest that we “use their blood for matzoh”?!! This just shows that you can’t look for logic when it comes to anti-Semitism, and that’s one direction: “It’s known (like a) halacha that Esav hates Ya’akov” (Sifre Bamidbar 69). Even in a modern world, at least one nation in every generation, calls to eradicate Am Yisrael. Just when we thought that mankind had “grown-up”, and that there never could be another Pharoh, Haman, Antiochus or Hitler, ימח שמם, Iran comes and threatens to “nuke” us, or suddenly Hamas barbarically does unspeakable atrocities and part of the modern world, including some profs in Ivy League universities, even applaud. BH, we know that they won’t succeed, but nevertheless, it would be nice to know the cause of age-old anti-Semitism and the eventual solution. Sociologists claim that it’s simply: the dislike of the unlike! On the other hand, my father-in-law, a Holocaust survivor, answered me that the gentiles in Europe were jealous of the Jews’ success. Rav Kook suggests that the cause of hatred for Am Yisrael, is in the double meaning of “מלמד חובות”. First of all, we taught obligations and brought morality and conscience to the world, commanding primitive man not to steal or kill- something that the nations of the world did not want to hear. That’s why the French philosopher Blaise Pasquale called the Jewish people the “conscience” of mankind, and most people don’t like their conscience (even when they eventually listen to it!). Secondly, we showed the world that morality is do-able, something which showed them in a negative light (the opposite of ללמד זכות): that not only should (!) we be moral, but that we could (!) be so. This is the deeper understanding of what our sages teach us that Sinai was named that way because it brought hate (Sina) of Israel to the nations (Shabbat 69a)
Does that mean there’s no hope this will ever change? We can manage without the love of the hypocritical world, but at least let them stop threatening to kill us! Rav Kook (Orot Yisrael 5, 15) explains that people not only enjoy gifts but even harbor a positive association with the “giver” of that pleasure. Many people go so far as to value the autograph of entertainers for that reason, that they bring us pleasure. The more the world will understand the benefits of morality and monotheism, the more they will eventually appreciate the nation who brought those ideals to the world.
Just as a child often hates going to his dentist, despite the fact that everything done there is for the child’s own good, yet only when he matures will he eventually recognize and thank his dentist. Although the morality of the Torah which we brought to the world, often make the nations feel guilty, as the world gradually matures, they will eventually thank us for these truths and values, the greatest treasures of modern society, When mankind matures, inevitably they will harbor a positive association with Am Yisrael (see Zecharia 8, 23), the nation that civilized and brought more bracha and true pleasure to mankind than any entertainer or nation.
Until that time, we can’t be naïve, and must continue, in addition to fulfilling our role of being that moral and shining Or LaGoyim, also continue defending ourselves, deterring our enemies, and davening and thanking Hashem for persistently saving us.
“אלא שבכל דור ודור עומדים עלינו לכלותינו, והקב”ה מצילנו מידם!”
Shabbat Shalom and Chanukah Same’ach! Rav Ari Shvat