More on Poland Seminar 1: Why ani-semitism exists.

After an intense peula about mystification in the holocaust, it was time for one more peula to get thoughts flowing. In the second peula we had with Miriam during the first Poland seminar, we read a text titled "modernity, racism, extermination" by Zygmond Bauman. In short, the article examined the reasons why racism exists, how it originates, and the role that it has played out in the lives of the Jewish people. It seems that no matter what article or text I read, or how many discussions I have, the answer to the question of how anti-semitism originated, and why it exists is simply because for years, the Jews had been homeless. Ok, so maybe its not really that simple. Because Jews had no safe haven, or country to call their own, the Jewish people had always become a part of a host population, but had always remained a smaller group that had to separate itself because of its unique traditions and cultures. (Kashrut, a bunch of fun laws, and other things too!) If the Jewish people were to not separate themselves and retain their identity, then they would become assimilated, and this unique culture would be gone. In the Diaspora, it was, and still is the communities within communities which keep the Jewish people together. An entire group of people living within a host population, but yet separating themselves from certain aspects of society would result in funny situations. Jews specialized in certain professions and each family had their own unique identity. However, the fact they had to seclude certain aspects of their life resulted in the host population to have growing frustrations with them. Money flow became strange, and because of certain Jews professions, more money flowed to the Jewish communities. Issues like this are the origination of anti-semitism. Because the Jews had their communities within communities, they became the scape goat for all of Eastern Europe. As time went on and times changed, or in other words, once the Enlightenment began, the Jewish people needed to act. There were a number of options, however something which must have been taken into consideration was the THREE NO'S! 1) Don't rush the arrival of the Messiah. 2) don't return to Israel. 3) Don't, under any condition, revolt against host populations. These three no's gave the Jewish people a few options. The choices were the following: A) The Jews could build up the wall of their communities with communities twice as high, as they clearly would want to maintain their current situation until the Messiah comes. B) They could assimilate, and lose their identity. or C) Move to Israel, and create a Zionist revolution. Heres how the situation played out: First, was the orthodox/Mizrachi response. When they found out what was going on around them, they realized they cant break the No's! So, they chose option A, and remained, and still do, a close knit community where they go about only living out the ideals of their religious practices. (Crown Heights, New York, Golder's Green, London, etc...) The next option is assimilation, which is fair to say that many Jews have, and still are doing, as Diaspora Jewry is slightly losing speed. In this situation, Jews had a few options. They could join communism, and quickly lose their Jewish identity, as well as continue on with their capitalist ways, as either presented quick and easy ways out of the previous communities, which were the source of much frustrations and blames. And finally is Zionism. Baruch Hshem for that one! All three of these choices were followed through on in different ways. All of this was a result of modernism, starting at the time of the enlightenment. WIth all this said however, in my opinion the Jewish population is currently in decent shape, however it is important to remember that today, there is a Jewish state. By no means is it a place for the Jewish people to run away to and forget all of their problems, but it is there for the Jews to live happy lives where they have an immense amount of opportunities and structural choices to live out the values of Judaism in whatever way they see fit. More on zionism later!