Robert. F. Melson: Chapter 3
- Like the Armenians, Jews had to overcome social, economic, political, cultural spheres- they did not suffer a massacre but anti-Semitic reaction to undo their emancipation and social mobilization- anti-Semitism took form in a political party and failed before WW1- 1912 on the eve of WW1, they seemed to have been a passing phase- What was the connection between Jewish status, social mobilization, and anti Semitism in Europe and Imperial Germany?- Why did the anti-Semitic movement fail in its political goals in Imperial Germany?- What are the lessons learned of its failure for the later success of the Nazis and implementation of the Holocaust?- Anti-Judaism refers to the religious antagonism, Aversus Judaeos, back from the earliest test of the Christian Church's attempt to supplement Judaism as a popular religion and to appropriate its holy texts including Hebrew Scriptures. - Denouncing Judaism as a spent religion that had been superceded by Christianity and Jews as the wicked killers of Jesus.- Christian always said that the Jews could be saved by converting- By the middle ages, the Jews were demonized and given a Pariah status in Europe
Augustine, to determine the Jews fate- St. 5 Jews in world 100,000 in Germany- 1930 16 million Jews and most living in Eastern Europe, half a million in Germany Most living in the world larger cities and moved form Eastern Europe to west and other lands- both in terms of rate and concentration, the process of urbanization that had affected the world's Jewry were also transforming German JewsEducation- literacy was more common among Jews than non-Jews- Jewish children were taught both in Jewish and non- Jewish schools- Three types of Jewish schools: chayders and yeshivot though mostly Yiddish and some Hebrew and elementary and secondary schools- The more educated and assimilated the Jews became the more threatening they became to German and European sectors, still seeing them as Pariah- Anti-Semitism as an ideology and the anti-Semitic political movement were produced by the factors other than communal competition alone. By itself it was nit sufficient to create an ideology and a political movement that claimed that the modern world was controlled by a nefarious conspiracy of the Jews whose emancipation should be revokedOccupation- no Jews in Germany were working in agriculture the majority of the Jewish people were working in commerce, industry and the professions- Jews were most likely to be a part of the commercial - industrial - capitalist sector than non Jews because during and after the middle ages discrimination barred them from being artisans and farmers- Jews were more closely tied in the capitalist sector, they were not at all middle class- Jewish occupational structure presaged changes that would later characterize the rest of modern industrial occupational structure, it was the non-Jew that eventually caught up with Jews in leaving agriculture pursuits and crafts for modern commerce and industry- Marx, Freud, Mahler, Einstein, Kafka, Wittgenstein, and Buber and thousands of other German and Austrian Jews who made striking contributions to the world and Jewish culture- Envy, resentment and fear were stirred up by the Jewish renaissance- Tragedy for many assimilated European Jews was that at the same time as they saw themselves having left the ghetto and moved beyond Judaism, they were perceived by Jew-haters and anti-Semites as Jewish Pariahs in modern dressJew Hatred and Anti-Semitism- in part the anti-Semitic movement was in conflict with the Jewish progress- even those groups and classes like the peasantry that were not directly n conflict with the Jewish competitors tended to blame Jews doe the dislocations of the capitalist system and modern state- the advance, social progress, and assimilation of a despised pariah group role the Jews is still highly hierarchical and traditional society like Germany created moral outrage and traditional order had been violated and the fear that assimilation would lead to the pollution and domination if the majority but the scorned minority. This doctrine came close to the destruction of the Jew but the theory of witness people saved them- After the crusades and black death, they became fearsome, disgusting and contagiousUnder Roman Law- Following Constantine the statutes of the Roman Law became Christian- Theodossian code was not all anti-Jewish- From these statutes it was followed that the Jews were not to be molested- Their Sabbaths were nit to be disturbed and their synagogues were not to be violated- They were not allowed to reconvert their own apostates- Forbidden to proselytize, and conversations to Judaism were declare invalid- They were not allowed to circumcise slaves or to own Christian slaves- not to beautify old synagogues of construct new synagogues without permission- Other legislation known as privegia odiosa further diminished Jewish status, barred Jews from the army and from imperial administration and under penalty of death prohibited intermarriage between Jews and Christians- In this period centres of Judaism in the Diaspora that had existed for years were destroyed and the Jew massacred or expelled. Alexandria 414 and Antioch in 610- In 534 Jews still not seen as Pariahs, they were farmers, artisans and traders. Burden was the Pariah status in Christendom- Weber= communal group whose social economic, and political autonomy is strictly limited, while enduring social, economic, and political discrimination in a larger society- Prohibited from commensality and intermarriage and is legally and forcefully segregated in its own residential area or ghetto- Believed not to be a Pariah but that they were chosen for a special task- Jews degraded during and after the crusades and the black death- Although large of Jews desired to live separate lives, seldom had rights of residence and they lived out their lives at the sufferance of their Christian neighbors and rulersAdversus Judaeos- By fifth century, Christianity had two sides, Christology, the contemplation and glorification of Christ as the Messiah and the son of god and Adversus Judaeos, the theological denunciation and condemnation of Judaism and the Jews. Endured until the 19th century and renewed by the Nazis- Other than in Poland. The first anti-Semitic party in Imperial Germany- the fear cannot be separated from them as a people being viewed a pariahPariah and Racists- Gone were the estates ands corporate groups of the middle ages that had kept Christians and Jews apart - Did Jews have a place in the new community involving class structure?- Its only by keeping the stigmatized or pariah status of the Jews in mind that one can begin to understand the appeals of racism- They were not in fear of the old Jew, but the new mobile, modern and assimilated Jew Conclusion- Pariah status due to the Christian teachings of contempt for Judaism and a by- product of Christian persecutions- Christian anti- Judaism has a long an bloody history- Modern anti-Semitism formed in a new light that of modern day racism- Distancing oneself and blaming the victims for their own murders- As long as the church held sway over the state and the masses, Jews were preserved as a moral lesson, a living relic, a tableau testifying to the crucifixion of Christ and to the misery meted out to those who rejected him- When the church lost political power they lost the power to protect the Jews. - Synoptic conception as well as the writings of Paul are anti Jewish, accusations of Jews of deicide and of murdering their own prophets- Christian anti- Judaism does not stem from the accusation of the deicide, but the accusation of deicide is a product of Christian anti-Judaism- The church fathers had strong opinions about the Jews and would teach hate so their followers wouldn't stray back into a synagogue- They were relatively innocent because as long a the Christians had limited political and juridical power and could not translate their antipathy toward Jews into law and practice- That change came with Emperor Constantine (228-337) the Adversus Judaeos polemic infused Roman law- People used to tolerate the Jews that they know but in Church they were taught to abhor the "Jews" of scriptureThe Witness People- The church came up with a brilliant synthesis based on the teachings of St. They were still able to defend themselves physically and were and to travel and live in most places of the empireThe Crusades and Middles Ages- 11th and 13th centuries hundred of Jewish communities were destroyed and massacred by crusaders on their way to Jerusalem- Church undermined the Augustinian tolerance and the emergence of the popular Jew hatred- Church became increasingly more militant and eager to establish her claim to political power- Far less tolerant to Jews because they had implicitly departed from the Augustinian compact and apparently were not playing their assigned role in the Great Chain of Being- Following the crusades the Jews were further segregated and further degraded. Augustine (354-430) he accepted the writings of the Pauline doctrine that continues to view the Jews as the people of the first covenant and also he accuses them of the crucifixion- He created his own doctrine, that had the same tolerance of the Pauline doctrine but kept the Jews as a deicide and demonstrate that the Jewish suffer in exile was a providential in terms of a Christian eschatology- Jews were to made Witness People, existence in exile was to testify both the evil of the crucification and to the truth of the church. Measures were passed that required the Jews to wear distinctive clothes. The practice spread and throughout Europe they lived in ghettos. They were duplicated as devilish creaturesJewish Emancipation and Mobilization- Following the Enlightment and the French Revolution, Jewish civil and legal status changed in Western Europe, Jews became emancipated in France in 1791 and legally equal- In 1848, it seemed that the "Jewish problem was on its way to being solved- In 1871 they were emancipated in Germany and all its states- Rapid increases in the mobilization from east to west Stereotypes not gone by the Enlightment- New image as a outsider trying to take advantage of political and economical resources- Jewish emancipation and social mobilization, with the previous established pariah status were necessary conditions for the rise of modern anti-SemitismMigration and Urbanization- 19th century 2. Jews used to live in their own compact neighborhoods both for religious and ethnic solidarity.
Common topics in this essay:
Jerusalem Church,
Conclusion Pariah,
Jews Germany,
Modern World,
Christian Theodossian,
Jews Synoptic,
Hatred Anti-Semitism,
Imperial Germany,
St Augustine,
Armenians Jews,
pariah status,
imperial germany,
social mobilization,
middle ages,
modern world,
emancipation social mobilization,
jewish emancipation,
emancipation social,
roman law,
witness people,
adversus judaeos,
social economic political,
jewish emancipation social,
crusades black death,
jews live own,
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Acceptance Essays
