Wikipedia

Philosemitism

This article is about deals with love and respect for theJewandJewish people.For Countering Antisemitism and prevents it, seeAnti-antisemitism.

Philosemitism,also calledJudeophilia,is "defense, love, or admiration of Jews and Judaism".[1]Such attitudes can be found in Western cultures across the centuries.[2]The term originated in the nineteenth century by self-described Germanantisemitesto describe their non-Jewish opponents.[3][1]American-Jewish historianDaniel Cohenof theVienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studieshas asserted that philosemitism "can indeed easily recycle antisemitic themes, recreateJewish otherness,or strategically compensate forHolocaust guilt."[4]

Celebration ofHanukkahat theSejmin the city ofWarsaw,2015

Etymology

edit

The controversial term "philosemitism" arose as a pejorative inGermanyto describe the positive prejudice towards Jews; in other words, a philosemite is a "Jew-lover" or "Jew-friend".[5]

Concept

edit

The concept of philosemitism is not new, and it was arguably avowed by such thinkers as the 19th-century philosopherFriedrich Nietzsche,who described himself as an "anti-anti-Semite."[6]

Philosemitism is an expression of the larger phenomenon ofallophilia,admiration for foreign cultures as embodied in the more widely knownAnglophiliaandFrancophilia.The rise of philosemitism has also prompted some[who?]to reconsider Jewish history, and they[who?]argue that while antisemitism must be acknowledged, it is wrong to reduce the history of the Jewish people to one merely of suffering (as has been fostered by well-meaning gentile philosemites).[citation needed]

Religious philosemitism

edit

Christian philosemitism which has been associated withDispensational theologyandPuritanismpromotes a positive view of the Jewish people for religious reasons (in contrast toChristian antisemitism). Christian philosemitism generally arises from apremillennialand an Israel-centered understanding of biblical prophecy, causing the belief that God still sees the Jews as hischosen people.[7][8]

Prevalence

edit

In Europe

edit

Germany

edit

Iris Dekel writes that in twenty-first-century Germany, philosemitism "is performed in three interconnected social domains: institutional, where state institutions declare their commitment to protecting Jews as a religious minority; group, where the contingent relations between love for the Jews and exclusionary statements about them appears, mostly in casting Jews as both strange and unknown and embraced; and individual, where individuals exhibit positive sentiments toward Jews as an ideal collective".[9]

Poland

edit
Depiction of Polish kingCasimir III the Greatvisiting his Jewish mistress Esther, by Polish painterWładysław Łuszczkiewicz(1870)

While Jews had lived in Poland since before his reign, kingCasimir III the Greatallowed them to settle in Poland in great numbers and protected them aspeople of the king.About 70 percent of the world's European Jews, or Ashkenazi, can trace their ancestry toPolanddue to Casimir's reforms.[10]Casimir's legendary Jewish mistressEsterkaremains unconfirmed by direct historical evidence, but belief in her and her legacy is widespread and prolific.[11]South of the Old Town ofKrakówking Casimir established the independent royal city ofKazimierz,which for many centuries was a place where ethnic Polish and Jewish cultures coexisted and intermingled.

Czechoslovakia

edit

The case of the myths created around the supposed special relationship betweenTomáš Garrigue Masaryk,the founding father ofCzechoslovakia,and influential Jews from the U.S. or elsewhere, myths created by Masaryk and adopted in amended forms by Czechoslovak Jews, letcultural historianMartin Wein quoteZygmunt Bauman's andArtur Sandauer's concept of an "allosemitic"worldview, in which, in Wein's words," antisemitism and philosemitism overlap and sharestereotypes,producing exaggerated disregardoradmiration for Jews or Judaism. "[12]In this sense, Wein quotes Masaryk's statements about a decisive Jewish influence over the press, and him mentioning Jews andfreemasonsin the same breath, when it came to lobbies he allegedly managed to win over.[12]

In the Americas

edit

United States

edit

Mark Twain's essayConcerning the Jewshas been described as philosemitic. Israeli scholarBennet Kravitzstates that one could just as easily hate Jews for the reasons Twain gives for admiring them. In fact, Twain's essay was cited by Nazi sympathizers in the 1930s. Kravitz concludes, "The flawed logic of 'Concerning the Jews' and all philo-Semitism leads to the anti-Semitic beliefs that the latter seeks to deflate".[13]Philosemitic ideas have also been promoted by some AmericanEvangelicalsdue to the influence ofDispensationalism.[8]

Brazil

edit

A current of Jewish studies inBrazilhas dedicated itself to studying the extent to which far-right politicianJair Bolsonaro's professed philo-Semitism reproduces traces of anti-Semitism.[14]This perspective, based on a study of the speeches of Bolsonaro and his mentor, the writerOlavo de Carvalho,suggests that the proclaimed sympathy of far-right sectors for the State of Israel and the Jews, often presented without distinction, reverberates anti-Semitic tropes in two ways. Firstly, by portraying Jews as a wealthy and powerful group. In this context, Jews are often depicted as pillars of capitalism, and therefore inherently hostile to the left.[15]The second and most significant expression of antisemitism in the far right's sympathy for Judaism would be inspired by authors such as RabbiMarvin Stuart Antelman,and reaffirms conspiracy theories presenting left-wing Jews as a group seeking world domination, but which would ultimately undermine the Jewish nation itself.[16]In this context, researchers demonstrate how the philo-Semitism of the Brazilian extreme right has been employed to divide the Jewish community. The designation of true Jews is thus reserved for those who espouse conservative or reactionary policies, while left-wing Jews are regarded as apostates or traitors.[17]

In Asia

edit

Very few Jews live inEast Asiancountries, but Jews are viewed in an especially positive light in some of them, partly owing to their shared wartime experiences during theSecond World War.Examples includeSouth Korea,[18]Japan, andChina.[19]In general, Jews are stereotyped with characteristics that in South Korean culture are considered positive: intelligence, business-savviness and commitment to family values and responsibility, while in theWestern world,the first of the two aforementioned stereotypes more often have the negatively interpreted equivalents of guile and greed. The South Korean ambassador to Israel, Ma Young-sam said that, in South Korean primary schools, theTalmudshould be mandatory reading.[18]According to Mary J. Ainslie, philosemitism in China is "part of a civilizationist narrative designed to position China as globally central and superior".[20]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^abSamuels, Maurice (2021)."Philosemitism".Key Concepts in the Study of Antisemitism.Springer International Publishing. pp. 201–214.doi:10.1007/978-3-030-51658-1_16.ISBN978-3-030-51658-1.
  2. ^Burnett, Stephen G. (2013)."Philosemitism in History edited by Jonathan Karp and Adam Sutcliffe (review)".Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies.31(4): 132–134.doi:10.1353/sho.2013.0098.ISSN1534-5165.
  3. ^Sutcliffe, A. (2011). The Unfinished History of Philosemitism. Jewish Quarterly, 58(1), 64–68.https://doi.org/10.1080/0449010X.2011.10707112
  4. ^Cohen, Daniel (2020)."Good Jews".S: I.M.O.N. Shoah: Intervention. Methods. Documentation.7(1): 118–127.doi:10.23777/SN.0120/ESS_DCOH01.ISSN2408-9192.
  5. ^With Friends Like TheseReview ofPhilosemitism in Historyin the New Republic by Adam Karp
  6. ^The Encyclopedia of Christianity,Volume 4 by Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley
  7. ^"Christian Philosemitism in England from Cromwell to the Jew Bill, 1656-1753. A Study in Jewish and Christian Identity".University of Bristol.Retrieved2024-03-12.
  8. ^abFrey, Jörg (2022-04-04),"Anti-Judaism, Philosemitism, and Protestant New Testament Studies: Perspectives and Questions",Protestant Bible Scholarship: Antisemitism, Philosemitism and Anti-Judaism,Brill, pp. 149–181,ISBN978-90-04-50515-5,retrieved2024-02-13
  9. ^Dekel, Irit (May 2022). "Philosemitism in contemporary German media".Media, Culture & Society.44(4): 746–763.doi:10.1177/01634437211060193.
  10. ^"In Poland, a Jewish Revival Thrives—Minus Jews".The New York Times.12 July 2007.
  11. ^"Esterka: między legendą a prawdą historyczną".Retrieved28 March2020.
  12. ^abWein, Martin (2015)."Masaeyk and the Jews".A History of Czechs and Jews: A Slavic Jerusalem.Routledge. pp. 44–50.ISBN978-1138811652.Retrieved2 July2015– via Google Books.
  13. ^Kravitz, Bennett (2002)."Philo-Semitism as Anti-Semitism in Mark Twain's" Concerning the Jews "".Studies in Popular Culture.25(2): 1–12.ISSN0888-5753.JSTOR41970387.
  14. ^Gherman, Michel (2022).O não-judeu judeu: A tentativa de colonização do judaísmo pelo bolsonarismo.São Paulo: Fósforo. p. 9.ISBN9786584568471.
  15. ^Gherman,p. 132
  16. ^Gherman,pp. 142, 145
  17. ^Gherman,p. 149
  18. ^abAlper, Tim. "Why South Koreans are in love with Judaism".The Jewish Chronicle.May 12, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  19. ^Nagler-Cohen, Liron. "Chinese: 'Jews make money'".Ynetnews.April 23, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  20. ^Ainslie, Mary J. (2021)."Chinese Philosemitism and Historical Statecraft: Incorporating Jews and Israel into Contemporary Chinese Civilizationism".The China Quarterly.245:208–226.doi:10.1017/S0305741020000302.ISSN0305-7410.S2CID218827042.

Sources

edit

Further reading

edit
  • Samuels, Maurice (2021). "Philosemitism".Key Concepts in the Study of Antisemitism,eds. Sol Goldberg, Scott Ury, Kalman Weiser.Palgrave Macmillan-Springer International Publishing. pp. 201–214.ISBN978-3-030-51658-1.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philosemitism&oldid=1257898669"