Jonathan Sacks: Anti-semitism is the Hatred of Difference (video)

[richard]

In this short video, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains the essence of anti-semitism.

Following is an outline of what he said.

Perhaps the original anti-semite is Haman, found in the book of Esther.

“Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.” (Esther 3:8 NIV)

Anti-semitism is the dislike of the unlike.

The Jews are the only people who have insisted on the right to be different. The only nation in history who have refused to assimilate to the dominant culture.

Anti-semitism is the paradigm case of hatred in world history— the hatred of difference. Anti-semitism begins with Jews, but it never ends with Jews because anti-Semitism is the hatred of difference.

Difference is what makes us human. Each of us is unique, therefore irreplaceable therefore sacred. A nation that has no room for Jews has no room for humanity.

That is why we must stand together in the fight against anti-semitism— not just Jews, but everyone who cares for the sanctity of human life, the non-negotiable principles of freedom and dignity.

[richard]

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former chief rabbi of Britain, writes in Newsweek about anti-semitism and how it is increasing and mutating into a new form. Read more at the following link.

Anti-zionism is the new anti-Semitism, says Britain's ex-chief rabbi

Here are a few lines from the article.

Across Europe, Jews are leaving. A survey in 2013 by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights showed that almost a third of Europe’s Jews have considered emigrating because of anti-Semitism, with numbers as high as 46 percent in France and 48 percent in Hungary.

Nor is this a problem in Europe alone. A 2015 survey of North American Jewish college students by Brandeis University found that three-quarters of respondents had been exposed to anti-Semitic rhetoric.

The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews. In a world awash with hate across religious divides, people of all faiths and none must stand together, not just to defeat anti-Semitism but to ensure the rights of religious minorities are defended everywhere.