Thank you very much for replying, Joshua. So, can “semitic” then also be used to describe people who have been speaking the remaining semitic languages for generations? IF “semitic” was ever a clear-cut descriptor for “a people”, considering that “a people” is never composed of individuals with ancestors of just ONE biological or geographical or cultural or religious origin, then I think that surely, in the meantime, it’s hard to define a person/people as purely “semitic” today for sure since many individuals today have ancestors of varying origins, biological, geographical, cultural, religious, and “semitic” as an old term for the people originating from Sem (Did he really live or is this a myth of origin?). I‘m sure there are only few individuals whose genealogical research would uncover ancestors of very similar origins for the last several centuries. I think about the contrast of a seemingly uniform group of people (people of any kind with at least ONE thing in common) and the separateness of each individual of that group at the same time. Every individual is part of so many different groups. Yet, a person is often judged (to their benefit or not) as belonging to a specific group that the one judging doesn‘t see himself belonging to! Even though there is the coupling effect that you wrote about a while back and although each one of us belongs to many groups of people, I always remind myself that groups, in the end, are composed of unique individuals who are just that: unique. Your writing teaches me a lot. Learning about the coupling that happens with individuals following the example of others (like not waiting in a queue in Israel but abroad when they see everyone is doing it there) was one of the first things I learnt from you. This coupling thing is something major in human nature as an individual will more likely follow the lead of the culture they have grown up in that the lead of a culture that is different in thinking, customs, behaviour, faith, etc to what they‘ve grown up with. Antisemitism or Jew Hatred is a culture and so are other ways of relating to Jews or things or affairs relating to Jews, whether it‘s being in favour of Jews in various ways (culturally, religiously, politically, philosophically, spiritually) or neutral to Jews, and coupling, of course, plays a role in perpetuating either one of these cultures! I think that hatred can‘t be eradicated in some people but that work to strengthen positive relationships between individuals from all sorts of backgrounds is useful in order for people to get to know individuals from different groups than them. Getting to know individuals from a group you don’t identify yourself with can help you get over any general assumptions or prejudices you may have had. However, this even is not guaranteed and does not need to happen. The world will never be prejudiced-free, never hate-free, never perfect. We are responsible for our own actions and for our own development and may sometimes be able to contribute to someone else’s life in a positive way!
Yay to Jewish Pride! I have a question: Considering the wide variety of people being “semitic“, what does that word actually mean? It can‘t be racial since there are white jews, Middle-Eastern jews, black jews and anything in between. Is it then just a cultural term for anyone who sees themselves as semitic? Heck, I have a neighbour from Ghana who isn‘t jewish but sees most of the African people as part of Hebrew culture. How do Hebrew culture and semitic culture relate?
You make great points Birgit! Semitic relates to or denotes a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian.
Antisemitism (hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people) became a term in the 1800s.
More recently it’s been called “Jew hate” to ensure people fully understand what it means and to which people it hurts.
Thank you very much for replying, Joshua. So, can “semitic” then also be used to describe people who have been speaking the remaining semitic languages for generations? IF “semitic” was ever a clear-cut descriptor for “a people”, considering that “a people” is never composed of individuals with ancestors of just ONE biological or geographical or cultural or religious origin, then I think that surely, in the meantime, it’s hard to define a person/people as purely “semitic” today for sure since many individuals today have ancestors of varying origins, biological, geographical, cultural, religious, and “semitic” as an old term for the people originating from Sem (Did he really live or is this a myth of origin?). I‘m sure there are only few individuals whose genealogical research would uncover ancestors of very similar origins for the last several centuries. I think about the contrast of a seemingly uniform group of people (people of any kind with at least ONE thing in common) and the separateness of each individual of that group at the same time. Every individual is part of so many different groups. Yet, a person is often judged (to their benefit or not) as belonging to a specific group that the one judging doesn‘t see himself belonging to! Even though there is the coupling effect that you wrote about a while back and although each one of us belongs to many groups of people, I always remind myself that groups, in the end, are composed of unique individuals who are just that: unique. Your writing teaches me a lot. Learning about the coupling that happens with individuals following the example of others (like not waiting in a queue in Israel but abroad when they see everyone is doing it there) was one of the first things I learnt from you. This coupling thing is something major in human nature as an individual will more likely follow the lead of the culture they have grown up in that the lead of a culture that is different in thinking, customs, behaviour, faith, etc to what they‘ve grown up with. Antisemitism or Jew Hatred is a culture and so are other ways of relating to Jews or things or affairs relating to Jews, whether it‘s being in favour of Jews in various ways (culturally, religiously, politically, philosophically, spiritually) or neutral to Jews, and coupling, of course, plays a role in perpetuating either one of these cultures! I think that hatred can‘t be eradicated in some people but that work to strengthen positive relationships between individuals from all sorts of backgrounds is useful in order for people to get to know individuals from different groups than them. Getting to know individuals from a group you don’t identify yourself with can help you get over any general assumptions or prejudices you may have had. However, this even is not guaranteed and does not need to happen. The world will never be prejudiced-free, never hate-free, never perfect. We are responsible for our own actions and for our own development and may sometimes be able to contribute to someone else’s life in a positive way!
And, yeah, Arabs are semitic, too, aren‘t they?
Yay to Jewish Pride! I have a question: Considering the wide variety of people being “semitic“, what does that word actually mean? It can‘t be racial since there are white jews, Middle-Eastern jews, black jews and anything in between. Is it then just a cultural term for anyone who sees themselves as semitic? Heck, I have a neighbour from Ghana who isn‘t jewish but sees most of the African people as part of Hebrew culture. How do Hebrew culture and semitic culture relate?
You make great points Birgit! Semitic relates to or denotes a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian.
Antisemitism (hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people) became a term in the 1800s.
More recently it’s been called “Jew hate” to ensure people fully understand what it means and to which people it hurts.