The Uniqueness Of The Jews

The Uniqueness of the Jews: A People Not Reckoned Among the Nations By: Curtis A. Kelley, Ph.D

Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein show that, contrary to previous explanations, this transformation was driven not by anti-Jewish persecution and legal restrictions, but rather by changes within Judaism itself after 70 CE--most importantly, the rise of a new norm that required every Jewish male to read and study the Torah and to send his sons to school. Over the next six centuries, those Jews who found the norms of Judaism too costly to obey converted to other religions, making world Jewry shrink. Later, when urbanization and commercial expansion in the newly established Muslim Caliphates increased the demand for occupations in which literacy was an advantage, the Jews found themselves literate in a world of almost universal illiteracy. From then forward, almost all Jews entered crafts and trade, and many of them began moving in search of business opportunities, creating a worldwide Diaspora in the process.

Woven into the fabric of Jewish existence there is an undeniable uniqueness. Israel’s terrain, her history and chief city, all owe their uniqueness to the fact that God’s appointed Saviour for the world was born a Jew. His destiny and theirs are forever intertwined. There is bitter controversy over the subject of Israel, but time itself will establish the truth about this nation’s place in God’s plan. For Lance Lambert, the Lord Jesus is the key that unlocks Jewish history He is the key not only to their fall, but also to their restoration. For in spite of the fact that they rejected Him, He has not rejected them.

How have the Jews survived? For millennia, they have defied odds by overcoming the travails of exile, persecution, and recurring plans for their annihilation. Many have attempted to explain this singular success as a result of divine intervention. In this engaging book, David N. Myers charts the long journey of the Jews through history. At the same time, it points to two unlikely-and decidedly this-worldly--factors to explain the survival of the Jews: antisemitism and assimilation. Usually regarded as grave dangers, these two factors have continually interacted with one other to enable the persistence of the Jews. At every turn in their history, not just in the modern age, Jews have adapted to new environments, cultures, languages, and social norms. These bountiful encounters with host societies have exercised the cultural muscle of the Jews, preventing the atrophy that would have occurred if they had not interacted so extensively with the non-Jewish world. It is through these encounters--indeed, through a process of assimilation--that Jews came to develop distinct local customs, speak many different languages, and cultivate diverse musical, culinary, and intellectual traditions. Left unchecked, the Jews' well-honed ability to absorb from surrounding cultures might have led to their disappearance. And yet, the route toward full and unbridled assimilation was checked by the nearly constant presence of hatred toward the Jew. Anti-Jewish expression and actions have regularly accompanied Jews throughout history. Part of the ironic success of antisemitism is its malleability, its talent in assuming new forms and portraying the Jew in diverse and often contradictory images--for example, at once the arch-capitalist and revolutionary Communist. Antisemitism not only served to blunt further assimilation, but, in a paradoxical twist, affirmed the Jew's sense of difference from the host society. And thus together assimilation and antisemitism (at least up to a certain limit) contribute to the survival of the Jews as a highly adaptable and yet distinct group.

The concept of the uniqueness of Christianity often blocks attempts at dialogue with other religions. Traditionally, the argument goes: if Christianity is unique, then to dialogue with others somehow diminishes the weight of the claim that Jesus and the Gospel are unique. But what if uniqueness, properly defined, actually constitutes the key for understanding both Jewish and Christian traditions? Author Gabriel Moran frames his analysis of uniqueness by discussing the implications of that question. In this fluent and conversational work, Moran examines the paradox surrounding the concept of uniqueness in Christian and Jewish religious traditions. He uncovers the layers of meaning that accrue in a word that is in some sense both illogical and yet indispensable for human religious conversation. Tracing a logic of uniqueness embodied in revelation, faith, chosenness, covenant, and mediator, Moran opens a conversation between Jews and Christians that will lead readers to greater wisdom and religious depth.

Reflects on contemporary antisemitism worldwide. States that the issues between Jews and Gentiles have little or nothing to do with the age-old quarrel between Jews and Christians. At the center of almost all the quarrels in which Jews are involved today stands the existence of the State of Israel. Points to five major foci of conflict between Jews and non-Jews conducive to antisemitism today: the Arab-Israeli conflict, that with the USSR over the right of Jews to emigrate, that with the New Left, the conflict around Zionism, and a rather new conflict between Blacks and Jews in the USA. Since the period of Emancipation (19th century), the main efforts of Jews have been directed to a "normalization" of relations with non-Jews, which involves the Jews becoming "just like everybody else". This strategy has failed to halt the rejection of Jews; the view of Jewish peculiarity has persisted. Argues against the viewpoint that the source of Jewish uniqueness lies in antisemitism. All facets of Jewish peculiarity, including their relationship with Israel and their particular economic profile, are inner Jewish developments, not caused by outside factors. To conclude, doubts that antisemitism will end soon.