The “New” Antisemitism is the the Original Antisemitism

By Michael Derfler

People think that there is a “new antisemitism,” which attempts to disguise its hatred for Jews as hatred for the state of Israel. Actually this is not new; it is the original, or essential, antisemitism. People think it is new because they do not understand the root of antisemitism.

Some think antisemitism is crude bigotry. Others think anti-Semitism is an opposition to Judaism because Judaism contains expectations of moral behavior.^[1] These explanations are unsatisfactory. People who are sophisticated and moral are biased against Israel and some go so far as to oppose the existence of the state of Israel as a Jewish state. If ultimately it is not crudeness or a drive toward immorality, what really motivates antisemitism?

There is a simple explanation of the root of antisemitism, accounting for antisemitism from the political right and left and from Christianity and Islam. This explanation was given by Rav Kook and can be found in other rabbinic sources.

Rav Kook wrote that hatred for Israel is hatred for what Israel represents specifically as a nation, as a collective political entity. What we normally think of as antisemitism, hatred for Jews as people, is a derivative of this original hatred, hatred for the Jewish nation. “In its psychological origin, hatred for Israel flows from the negation of the aspiration for Israelite life in the national and collective sense, which is an opposition that becomes felt and takes effect in practice even without understanding and knowledge – ‘even though he does not see, his mazal (constellation/guardian angel/unconscious) sees.’”^[2]

The antisemite likely does not truly understand his antisemitism consciously; it is part of his unconscious mind. He may give a reason that is not antisemitic as to why he singles out Israel versus other nations, but that is not the reason that really drives him. What does Israel represent as a nation that is distinct from all other nations that would arouse hatred?

The root of antisemitism is found in ancient history. The Talmud^[3] states that “hatred descended to the nations” at the time of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. There are two explanations as to what this means. One is that the (other) nations began to hate Israel because of the giving of the Torah.^[4] The other is that the nations began to be “hated” by Sinai, meaning by the One who gave the Torah at Sinai, i.e. God, because they did not accept the Torah.^[5] Both of these hatreds need clarification.

Why should the nations hate Israel for receiving the Torah? In the most basic sense, the Torah represents a collective responsibility to be moral – Israel received a moral and legal code specifically as a nation and not as individuals. Israel’s deepest motivation is righteousness.^[6]

This is what the nations hate: the idea that nations as collective entities, should be required to behave morally. That is, a nation accepts as a collective political entity to do good and not evil. The nations do not hate the idea that individuals should be required to behave morally as private individuals – all nations expect, according to one standard or another, moral behavior from their citizens. However, the idea that nations should uphold moral standards as collective political entities is a relatively recent phenomenon.

The norm for nations is self-interest, without regard for morality. It is the nature of nations to go to war with one another. Other nations represent threats, or opportunities for enrichment through conquest. Nations are like animals that fight for survival, as in the Book of Daniel chapter 7.^[7] Isaiah’s vision that nation will not lift sword against nation is a major departure from the norm.

The expectation of moral, rather than completely self-interest driven behavior on the part of nations is naturally rejected – it seems like an unreasonable expectation. Israel is the messenger of that expectation of a higher standard of behavior and so Israel is rejected. Israel reminds the nations of their refusal to accept a higher standard of behavior.

Perhaps this seems insufficient to generate hatred. Perhaps only rejection or contempt would be expected, but why hatred? The second explanation of the Talmudic passage (Shabbat 89a) can be used to explain. Hatred is the result of the nations themselves being hated. The nations are responding to the hatred they sense toward themselves. But why should they be hated for not accepting the Torah? Isn’t the Torah specifically for Israel?

It must be that non-acceptance of the Torah can be understood in a different sense: non-acceptance of the premise of the Torah, that a nation is capable of moral responsibility. If they were not capable of accepting this, it would be wrong for any “hatred” to exist toward them.^[8] Even in ancient times, nations were capable of accepting upon themselves the yoke of collective moral responsibility yet would not accept it. According to our sages, Israel was also on a low moral level prior to accepting the Torah – the “49th level of impurity,” immersed in idolatry, a practice motivated by self-interest without regard for morality – so we cannot say the Torah is only for especially developed people. The other nations could have accepted it; they are “hated” because they did not.

Seemingly, this creates a sub-conscious sense of self-loathing. The nations’ unconscious says, we could collectively be moral, we could be above animals, but we choose not to be – that makes us worse than animals.

And this is the very charge they level against the nation of Israel: you are immoral. The Talmud says one who condemns another condemns him for the very flaw he finds in himself.^[9] The nations of the world hate themselves for their own collective immorality, so they accuse Israel of collective immorality.

This accusation has two goals. The first goal is to say that we are no better than them. The second goal is to say that our standard – that nations should behave morally – is not serious: they say, look, even the one charged with upholding the standard can’t keep it.

Understanding that the core of anti-Semitism is the rejection of collective moral responsibility, we can see how anti-Semitism fits into the outlooks of the political right and left and other religions. The right is in favor of the continued existence of separate nations despite the tendency of nations to behave badly toward one another. Those who are anti-Israel oppose Israel because of the Israelite idea that nations should act ethically toward other nations.

The left wants to solve the problem of failed collective responsibility by ending the existence of separate nations. Leftists favor the creation of some universal governing body that would be above all nations and would override national autonomy. Those on the left who are anti-Israel oppose Israel because Israel insists on its existence as a separate nation. Israel represents the idea that nations can remain distinct and still act morally toward one another.

Christianity believes that nations cannot be expected to behave morally, or at least that nothing of enduring value exists in the life of nations. Only the individual soul has real value and is worth “saving.” We see this in verses in the Christian Bible like, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and “Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.”

Seemingly, Islam favors a centralized, universal theocracy that would enforce uniformity of belief and practice. The fundamentalist would like to see uniformity enforced; lack of uniformity is perceived either as promoting unethical behavior or as unethical in itself. This is obviously not in keeping with the Israelite idea that different peoples should maintain their unique character and political independence.

These outlooks on the existence of independent nations all follow from the rejection of the Torah, that is, the rejection of national moral responsibility. This responsibility was rejected by the nations’ angels, or, in other words, by their collective unconsciouses. Deep down they know they are wrong to reject that responsibility. How do they deal with that knowledge, that guilt? They create ideologies, or in other words, rationalizations, that say the expectation cannot be upheld. Different groups are attracted to different ideologies/rationalizations. These ideologies work on the conscious level to protect them from their deeper feeling of guilt. The idea of Israel says that these cherished defensive mechanisms are false: nations need not behave as animals. The reality of the state of Israel is the real life refutation of these ideologies. Israel exposes the world to its failures, both practical and theoretical, and the reaction is hatred. This is the real anti-Semitism.

The anti-Semitism that we were accustomed to before the modern state of Israel is just a shard of the real thing. When in practical terms the collective political entity Israel did not exist the real object of the nations’ hatred was hidden. Or better, it was broken into pieces and the hatred  was directed at the pieces of Israel – Jewish communities and individuals. Now that the pieces of Israel have been put back together, the pieces of the original hatred for Israel have also been put back together.

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