Great essay. I have long thought that God uses the Jews to keep showing and reminding humanity the difference between good and evil, and the endless struggle between the two forces. Well, that has been the best way I could describe my thoughts and feelings on the matter. This essay did a much much better job of describing them.
This piece is wonderful and so inspiring. It is a fact that Hitler was obsessed with the Jews and their history. You have survived for thousands of years. You will continue to survive. Never doubt that!
What an incredible article and fascinating way to understanding Jew hatred. My thoughts about this has brought me to the point of pure jealousy, the notion of to “covet”. Perhaps it does align with your vision.
I also believe that a lot has to do with the fact that we refuse to accept that Jesus was the Messiah. Another way of not being one of the herd. Yet so many Jews are falling for this message lately. I never knew that the translation of Halvri was ‘ the one on the other side.’ Thank you for that information.
I appreciate your sentiment, but there's much that isn't true in your article.
First, Hitler hated the Jews because he believed they were the founders of Marxism, communism etc. For example, the Nazis often equated the Bolsheviks with the Jews.
Mein Kampf has many phrases to the effect of "behind the leering face of Marxism hides the Jews."
The Nazis didn't hate the because the Jews founded morality; that's totally false. If anything, as crazy as it sounds, Hitler believed only the Germans had morality.
Second, the Jews were not so much of a minority in the Roman Empire. Up to 10% of the Roman Empire was Jewish. Hellenistic Judaism was a major branch of Judaism during the times of the Greek empire dominating the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. The Romaniotes, who were mostly killed during WW2, were a last remnant of that once mighty branch of the Jewish people.
Third, the Romans didn't kill one million Jews and exile the rest during the war of 66-70. You're combining the casualty numbers of the Bar Kochba revolt and the war of 66-70.
The exile is a myth. There's synagogues all over the Land of Israel up to the Muslim invasion, and the Jews were a major force that sided with the Sassanid invasion of Palestine in the 7th century.
HITLER HATED THE JEWS, PERIOD. NOTHING TO DO WITH COMMUNISM OR ANY OTHER ISM ALTHOUGH HE DID DEFINE THEM BY RACE, CLOSE TO THE TRIBAL DEFINITION I THINK IS MORE ACCURATE TODAY.
Antisemitism in Europe certainly began long before the communist revolutions and the Nazis. That being said, Hitler's brand of antisemitism was founded upon equating the Jews with the communists; although it evolved into other things and was colored by racial chauvanism and superiority.
The Nazi brand of antisemitism started with the post WW1 communist revolutions in Germany and Russia. The Jews were considered the creators of Marxism.
I APOLOGIZE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU. I AM KNOWLEDGEABLE OF WHAT PEOPLE SAID WHO LIVED IN EUROPE. JEW HATRED MAY HAVE CLAUSES THAT HELP IT BE ACCEPTED BY OTHERS IN THE GOVERNMENT WHO MIGHT HAVE A DOUBT, COMMUNISM IS A GOOD OPTION FOR GERMANS TO HAVE USED. IT IS JEW HATRED. JUST AS IN THE TORAH, THE BIBLE OF THE JEWS. BUT WE CAN AGREE TO DISAGREE.
Hi, it's not even 8 am here and I'm leaving for work. But I'll tell you what I can think of now.
First, history is written by the victors, so the information is fragmentary, but I remember Gibbon in the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire provides some details on the Jewish component of the Sassand invasion of Palestine.
Some early Christian historians up to the time of the Byzantine occupation mention Jewish communities there, as well as, whom they considered, heretical Christians because they were Jews who followed Jewish law and in some cases denied the divinity of Jesus to the conditions set by the Europeans. For example, one writer mentioned a community of Jews who believed Jesus was chosen at the time of his baptism and had a natural birth.
The Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in Palestine up to around 500 ce. So there's some sources there. You have to do the research yourself often, because the narrative isn't part of the official narratives that are disseminated by the powers that be, so to speak.
AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SEOND TEMPLE, THE JEWS THAT WERE LEFT COMPLETED THE TRANSITION PROCESS WHEREBY THE JEWISH CALENDAR WAS CALCULATED AND THE TEMPLE SERVICE WAS TRANSFERRED TO PRAYER THAT WOULD THEN BE SAID AT SYNAGOGUES THAT BECAME THE INDIVIDUAL TEMPLES OF THE CITIES AND TOWNS IN WHICH JEWS LIVED. THE CITY OF BEITAR THAT HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO STAND PER ROMAN AGREEMENT BECAME THE SAFETY OF THE JEWISH NATION WHERE BAR KOCHBA OVERTOOK THE TEMPLE AND RESTARTED ALTARS. HOWEVER, IT WAS EVENTUALLY TAKEN. PERSIAN EMPIRE TOOK OVER AND DARIUS OF PERSIA ALLOWED THE TEMPLE TO BE UNCOVERED FROM MASSES OF GARBAGE. THEN THE BYZANTINE PERIOD OCCURRED. JERUSALEM WAS THEN TAKEN OVER BY THE MUSLIM CONQUEST OF THE LEVANT. IT LED TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE THAT WAS IN POWER UNTIL THE BRITISH EMPIRE TAKEOVER OSTENSIBLY TO GIVE THE LAND OVER TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS A MANDATE PER LORD BALFOUR OF BRITAIN, BUT DURING THIS PERIOD, OF THE BRITISH MANDATE, THE BRIISH SHOWED EXTREME ANTISEMITISM AND GAVE ARMS TO THE ARABS LOCATED TO TRADING POSTS DURING OTTOMAN TIME PERIOD SO THEY COULD WAR WITH ISRAEL. THIS LED TO THE 1948 WAR OF INDEOENDENCE OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, MANDATED BY THE UN TO EXIST AS A PLACE OF REFUGE FROM THE HOLOCAUST AND ALL AREAS OF JEWISH PERSECUTION. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO READ. I SUGGEST LISTEINING TO THE AUDIBLE BOOK CALLED THE POMEGRANATE PENDANT WHICH INTERWEAVES A NOVEL WITH REALITIES OF THE STATUS OF MUSLIM VS BRITISH RULE, AND MIGRATION FROM YEMEN AS ONE OPTION. THE OTHER OPTION IS TO READ MY NAME IS ALICE ON AMAZON OR ON KINDLE, WHICH DISCUSSES THE HOLOCAUST FROM A CHILDS VIEWPOINT AND MATCHES IT TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD AROUND HER, AND HOW THIS LEADS TO A MASSIVE EXODUS TO ISRAEL EVEN THO UNFORTUNATELY THE WRITER DOESNT SETTLE THERE, SOME OF HER FAMILY DOES. THIS WLL GIVE YOU BOTH SIDES. I HOPE THIS ANSWER HELPS A BIT.
Thanks for your suggestions but those don’t sound like what I’m looking for (the period of time I’m interested in). I’m well read in most of Jewish history; only in the post-Roman pre-Ottoman period am I unfamiliar.
As child Holocaust survivor Alice Muller said to her mother when she was ten (in My Name is Alice on Amazon): I was born a Jew and I will die a Jew. I stand with Alice.
I dont agree that what you describe was Hitler's motive for hating and trying to destroy Jewry. His entire ideology was racial and he classified Jews as the lowest. I don't think he knew or understood enough about Judaism to come to the conclusions you draw. Of course what you say about the Jews is true and inspiring. I just dont believe that was Hitler's motive.
Yes, I think your basic premise is correct. While it ignores the contributions of the Far East, it is certainly foundational to the West. Though I would say the Greek-Roman traditions are at least as responsible for “classic western liberalism.”
Islam is such a weird outlier. It adopts all the triumphalism of the Nazis and yet will use everything you mentioned about the victim, the oppressed, the downtrodden, etc., as part of its propaganda machine against the West.
In that way, and with a religious fanaticism far beyond anything the Nazis could muster, I think it is more insidious than anything the Jews/the West has faced.
I commend the writer of this essay for explaining Judiasm well, and attempting to explain the reasons why some hate Jews. But it falls into the same trap of logic exemplified by the three individuals in the Book of Job who try to explain to Job the reason for his troubles and misfortune. It is a human failing to look for explanations that seem reasonable and logical, and not look beyond.
The only rational explanation for evil in this world, so far as I see it, is there must be a devil, a force that instills evil inclinations in men and has the ability to cause evil as well, though of course less powerful than Hashem. The most notable appearance of the devil, seen as an evil inclination, an evil force, appears in Genesis in the Garden of Eden in form of the serpent that tempts Eve to sample the apple from the tree of life, and then persuade Adam to do the same. Even more notable in the Old Testament, the devil appears in the Book of Job, and illustrates how the devil ruins Job's life with the only restriction placed on the devil by G-d is not to destroy Job. The story of Job in the bible is the story of the Jew. While well meaning individuals attempt to explain to Job the reasons for his calamities and tragedies in life, we know the cause of Job's troubles is the devil. The bible tells us as much. Why does the devil torture Job? Because Job continues to worship and believe in Hashem, despite the devil's best efforts to cause Job to no longer believe. This also explains why folk are so wrong when they try to assign reason for why there is hatred or animosity towards Jews. There is no reason, it is all the doings of the devil. Why does the devil despise and torment Job? For the same reason the devil despises and torments the Jew, who befuddles the devil by continuing to believe in G-d in the same way as Job. Despite the horrors and calamities faced by Jews through the ages, and even today, the Jew continues to believe. In the end, Hashem restores Job and thwarts the devil. Reach your own conclusion.
"In Steiner’s fictional trial, Hitler’s “defense” confirms the real reason for his war against the Jews: He believed they had imposed morality on the world — and he saw that as a form of slavery."
If you haven’t read Jorge Luis Borges’ Deutsches Requiem, I’d urge you to. It’s told from the perspective of a Nazi war criminal awaiting execution, and it may be the most chilling short story he ever wrote. Through the voice of Otto Dietrich zur Linde, Borges doesn’t defend fascism. He strips it bare. What remains is a theology of violence, a rejection of pity, a kind of prayer to the will itself:
“The world was dying of Judaism, and of that sickness of Judaism which is the faith of Jesus; we taught it the faith of the sword. Violence and pride are not merely means: they are virtues, good in and of themselves. The others fought for an end; we fought for the exercise of the will. They dreamed of an ordered universe; we dreamed of a chaotic one. They gave the world a religion of love; we gave it a religion of violence. The verdict does not concern me: what matters is the honour of having fulfilled my duty.”
Because we live in a culture with zero attention span and people absorb only headlines, provocative titles for articles like this are more dangerous than you realize.
Great essay. I have long thought that God uses the Jews to keep showing and reminding humanity the difference between good and evil, and the endless struggle between the two forces. Well, that has been the best way I could describe my thoughts and feelings on the matter. This essay did a much much better job of describing them.
This piece is wonderful and so inspiring. It is a fact that Hitler was obsessed with the Jews and their history. You have survived for thousands of years. You will continue to survive. Never doubt that!
A tremendous thoughtful essay! Well done, Raphael Shore!
What an incredible article and fascinating way to understanding Jew hatred. My thoughts about this has brought me to the point of pure jealousy, the notion of to “covet”. Perhaps it does align with your vision.
I also believe that a lot has to do with the fact that we refuse to accept that Jesus was the Messiah. Another way of not being one of the herd. Yet so many Jews are falling for this message lately. I never knew that the translation of Halvri was ‘ the one on the other side.’ Thank you for that information.
Leslie, my sentiments as well!
One doesn't have to be jealous. G-d will make all righteous love when His redemption takes place regardless of religion.
I appreciate your sentiment, but there's much that isn't true in your article.
First, Hitler hated the Jews because he believed they were the founders of Marxism, communism etc. For example, the Nazis often equated the Bolsheviks with the Jews.
Mein Kampf has many phrases to the effect of "behind the leering face of Marxism hides the Jews."
The Nazis didn't hate the because the Jews founded morality; that's totally false. If anything, as crazy as it sounds, Hitler believed only the Germans had morality.
Second, the Jews were not so much of a minority in the Roman Empire. Up to 10% of the Roman Empire was Jewish. Hellenistic Judaism was a major branch of Judaism during the times of the Greek empire dominating the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. The Romaniotes, who were mostly killed during WW2, were a last remnant of that once mighty branch of the Jewish people.
Third, the Romans didn't kill one million Jews and exile the rest during the war of 66-70. You're combining the casualty numbers of the Bar Kochba revolt and the war of 66-70.
The exile is a myth. There's synagogues all over the Land of Israel up to the Muslim invasion, and the Jews were a major force that sided with the Sassanid invasion of Palestine in the 7th century.
I suggest you read my whole book, which addresses most of your questions. This is just an excerpt.
HITLER HATED THE JEWS, PERIOD. NOTHING TO DO WITH COMMUNISM OR ANY OTHER ISM ALTHOUGH HE DID DEFINE THEM BY RACE, CLOSE TO THE TRIBAL DEFINITION I THINK IS MORE ACCURATE TODAY.
Antisemitism in Europe certainly began long before the communist revolutions and the Nazis. That being said, Hitler's brand of antisemitism was founded upon equating the Jews with the communists; although it evolved into other things and was colored by racial chauvanism and superiority.
THE CODE WORD COMMUNIST WAS USED AS A DISGUISE BY THE EINSATSGRUPPEN IN THE FIELD TO REFER TO JEWS. IT WAS A DISGUISE AND WAS PALATABLE TO MANY.
The Nazi brand of antisemitism started with the post WW1 communist revolutions in Germany and Russia. The Jews were considered the creators of Marxism.
I APOLOGIZE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU. I AM KNOWLEDGEABLE OF WHAT PEOPLE SAID WHO LIVED IN EUROPE. JEW HATRED MAY HAVE CLAUSES THAT HELP IT BE ACCEPTED BY OTHERS IN THE GOVERNMENT WHO MIGHT HAVE A DOUBT, COMMUNISM IS A GOOD OPTION FOR GERMANS TO HAVE USED. IT IS JEW HATRED. JUST AS IN THE TORAH, THE BIBLE OF THE JEWS. BUT WE CAN AGREE TO DISAGREE.
I agree with your overall point, but it doesn't detract from my point.
My point was about that specific point in history. The post WW1 to WW2 context.
Do you know of any good books, articles, or podcasts that have information about the Jews in Israel after the Romans and through the Muslim invasion?
Hi, it's not even 8 am here and I'm leaving for work. But I'll tell you what I can think of now.
First, history is written by the victors, so the information is fragmentary, but I remember Gibbon in the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire provides some details on the Jewish component of the Sassand invasion of Palestine.
Some early Christian historians up to the time of the Byzantine occupation mention Jewish communities there, as well as, whom they considered, heretical Christians because they were Jews who followed Jewish law and in some cases denied the divinity of Jesus to the conditions set by the Europeans. For example, one writer mentioned a community of Jews who believed Jesus was chosen at the time of his baptism and had a natural birth.
The Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in Palestine up to around 500 ce. So there's some sources there. You have to do the research yourself often, because the narrative isn't part of the official narratives that are disseminated by the powers that be, so to speak.
AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SEOND TEMPLE, THE JEWS THAT WERE LEFT COMPLETED THE TRANSITION PROCESS WHEREBY THE JEWISH CALENDAR WAS CALCULATED AND THE TEMPLE SERVICE WAS TRANSFERRED TO PRAYER THAT WOULD THEN BE SAID AT SYNAGOGUES THAT BECAME THE INDIVIDUAL TEMPLES OF THE CITIES AND TOWNS IN WHICH JEWS LIVED. THE CITY OF BEITAR THAT HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO STAND PER ROMAN AGREEMENT BECAME THE SAFETY OF THE JEWISH NATION WHERE BAR KOCHBA OVERTOOK THE TEMPLE AND RESTARTED ALTARS. HOWEVER, IT WAS EVENTUALLY TAKEN. PERSIAN EMPIRE TOOK OVER AND DARIUS OF PERSIA ALLOWED THE TEMPLE TO BE UNCOVERED FROM MASSES OF GARBAGE. THEN THE BYZANTINE PERIOD OCCURRED. JERUSALEM WAS THEN TAKEN OVER BY THE MUSLIM CONQUEST OF THE LEVANT. IT LED TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE THAT WAS IN POWER UNTIL THE BRITISH EMPIRE TAKEOVER OSTENSIBLY TO GIVE THE LAND OVER TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS A MANDATE PER LORD BALFOUR OF BRITAIN, BUT DURING THIS PERIOD, OF THE BRITISH MANDATE, THE BRIISH SHOWED EXTREME ANTISEMITISM AND GAVE ARMS TO THE ARABS LOCATED TO TRADING POSTS DURING OTTOMAN TIME PERIOD SO THEY COULD WAR WITH ISRAEL. THIS LED TO THE 1948 WAR OF INDEOENDENCE OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, MANDATED BY THE UN TO EXIST AS A PLACE OF REFUGE FROM THE HOLOCAUST AND ALL AREAS OF JEWISH PERSECUTION. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO READ. I SUGGEST LISTEINING TO THE AUDIBLE BOOK CALLED THE POMEGRANATE PENDANT WHICH INTERWEAVES A NOVEL WITH REALITIES OF THE STATUS OF MUSLIM VS BRITISH RULE, AND MIGRATION FROM YEMEN AS ONE OPTION. THE OTHER OPTION IS TO READ MY NAME IS ALICE ON AMAZON OR ON KINDLE, WHICH DISCUSSES THE HOLOCAUST FROM A CHILDS VIEWPOINT AND MATCHES IT TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD AROUND HER, AND HOW THIS LEADS TO A MASSIVE EXODUS TO ISRAEL EVEN THO UNFORTUNATELY THE WRITER DOESNT SETTLE THERE, SOME OF HER FAMILY DOES. THIS WLL GIVE YOU BOTH SIDES. I HOPE THIS ANSWER HELPS A BIT.
Thanks for your suggestions but those don’t sound like what I’m looking for (the period of time I’m interested in). I’m well read in most of Jewish history; only in the post-Roman pre-Ottoman period am I unfamiliar.
As child Holocaust survivor Alice Muller said to her mother when she was ten (in My Name is Alice on Amazon): I was born a Jew and I will die a Jew. I stand with Alice.
I dont agree that what you describe was Hitler's motive for hating and trying to destroy Jewry. His entire ideology was racial and he classified Jews as the lowest. I don't think he knew or understood enough about Judaism to come to the conclusions you draw. Of course what you say about the Jews is true and inspiring. I just dont believe that was Hitler's motive.
I am just quoting Hitler...and there is much more of that in the full book. It is not my theory of what he says, it is what he says.
Yes, I think your basic premise is correct. While it ignores the contributions of the Far East, it is certainly foundational to the West. Though I would say the Greek-Roman traditions are at least as responsible for “classic western liberalism.”
Islam is such a weird outlier. It adopts all the triumphalism of the Nazis and yet will use everything you mentioned about the victim, the oppressed, the downtrodden, etc., as part of its propaganda machine against the West.
In that way, and with a religious fanaticism far beyond anything the Nazis could muster, I think it is more insidious than anything the Jews/the West has faced.
I commend the writer of this essay for explaining Judiasm well, and attempting to explain the reasons why some hate Jews. But it falls into the same trap of logic exemplified by the three individuals in the Book of Job who try to explain to Job the reason for his troubles and misfortune. It is a human failing to look for explanations that seem reasonable and logical, and not look beyond.
The only rational explanation for evil in this world, so far as I see it, is there must be a devil, a force that instills evil inclinations in men and has the ability to cause evil as well, though of course less powerful than Hashem. The most notable appearance of the devil, seen as an evil inclination, an evil force, appears in Genesis in the Garden of Eden in form of the serpent that tempts Eve to sample the apple from the tree of life, and then persuade Adam to do the same. Even more notable in the Old Testament, the devil appears in the Book of Job, and illustrates how the devil ruins Job's life with the only restriction placed on the devil by G-d is not to destroy Job. The story of Job in the bible is the story of the Jew. While well meaning individuals attempt to explain to Job the reasons for his calamities and tragedies in life, we know the cause of Job's troubles is the devil. The bible tells us as much. Why does the devil torture Job? Because Job continues to worship and believe in Hashem, despite the devil's best efforts to cause Job to no longer believe. This also explains why folk are so wrong when they try to assign reason for why there is hatred or animosity towards Jews. There is no reason, it is all the doings of the devil. Why does the devil despise and torment Job? For the same reason the devil despises and torments the Jew, who befuddles the devil by continuing to believe in G-d in the same way as Job. Despite the horrors and calamities faced by Jews through the ages, and even today, the Jew continues to believe. In the end, Hashem restores Job and thwarts the devil. Reach your own conclusion.
"In Steiner’s fictional trial, Hitler’s “defense” confirms the real reason for his war against the Jews: He believed they had imposed morality on the world — and he saw that as a form of slavery."
If you haven’t read Jorge Luis Borges’ Deutsches Requiem, I’d urge you to. It’s told from the perspective of a Nazi war criminal awaiting execution, and it may be the most chilling short story he ever wrote. Through the voice of Otto Dietrich zur Linde, Borges doesn’t defend fascism. He strips it bare. What remains is a theology of violence, a rejection of pity, a kind of prayer to the will itself:
“The world was dying of Judaism, and of that sickness of Judaism which is the faith of Jesus; we taught it the faith of the sword. Violence and pride are not merely means: they are virtues, good in and of themselves. The others fought for an end; we fought for the exercise of the will. They dreamed of an ordered universe; we dreamed of a chaotic one. They gave the world a religion of love; we gave it a religion of violence. The verdict does not concern me: what matters is the honour of having fulfilled my duty.”
Yes, I quote Steiner's brilliant work in my book. He understood Hitler and this matter.
Sorry, I used your Steiner quote to introduce Borges. Apologies for any confusion
One day all of Israel shall be saved not until the fullness of the Gentiles are come in (The Rapture).
I shared this article to X.
Then I received this email:
"Your post was reported and has had its visibility limited for violating the X rules.
Specifically:
We have determined your post violated our rules against Violent Speech.
You may not share abusive content, harass someone, or encourage other people to do so."
WTF? On X?!!!
The Hamasturbators mass report you or the algorithm misidentifies the intent of your text and then that happens. FYI
“Hamasturbators” 😂😂🤣
Can i use that?
Of course, with my compliments.
I think somebody did that to you. The fact that Somebody reported it says a lot.
Wow
Because we live in a culture with zero attention span and people absorb only headlines, provocative titles for articles like this are more dangerous than you realize.
Powerful piece. Lest we forget. All roads lead back to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thelotusrebel/p/when-i-look-at-israel?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=5m00ro
When a harlot quotes scriptures, she picks blueberries, leaving the most important thing unsaid. I've never liked scripture rapists. Context.
By Porto I mean the world's bloodiest religion, at whose hands millions and millions have died.