We cannot mitigate the force of antisemitism if we wrongly define its roots

By VLADIMIR MINKOV
Recently I have addressed this subject in a post “The rabbi is wrong on the roots of anti-Semitism”. However, the newly revealed acts of antisemitism in Europe moved me to address this subject again.
From the news media:
Writing in The Telegraph on 3rd May, the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis addresses the problem of antisemitism on the hard left of British politics. The Rabbi says: ‘To those who so eagerly reach for a vicious Holocaust reference in order to exact the maximum amount of pain and offence upon “Zionists”, I say: You are spreading that ancient and insidious virus of anti-Semitism. Look around you’.
From the news media:
In his May 4, 2016 article “This cannot be, it must not be our Europe!” the first vice-president of European Commission Frans Timmermans says:
Anyone who knows anything about our history knows that anti-Semitism is Europe’s most pernicious disease. It is the red line that we must never, ever cross.
A well-respected European religious leader, the UK Chief Rabbi, and a well-respected European political leader, the Vice-President of European Commission, described the antisemitism as a sort of recognized social illness. If it is so, the antisemitism has to be dealt with as we do with all recognized illnesses – by medications, in this case by social medications such as anti-hate-crime laws.
However, if we incarcerate the anti-Semites, in the jail they would not become the “pro-Semites” – contrary to this, many more potential anti-Semites will take their place under the banner of freedom of speech and of resistance to some mystical Jewish cabal around the world and in Israel. Below are just a few examples of that.
A UK prominent anti-Semitic politician Ken Livingstone: Creation of Israel was ‘a great catastrophe”.
London is electing first Muslim mayor – over a Jewish contender!
Finally, the time has come to realize we have wrongly diagnosed the roots of anti-Semitism and therefore our treatment is counterproductive. The antisemitism is not an illness and therefore cannot be treated as an illness by social medicines.
The antisemitism is a sincere spiritual believe among many gentiles that the Jews are moving the gentile world into wrong, destructive direction.
The antisemitism has to be dealt with by creating a sort of “Semitic”, Judeo-Christian spiritual movement led mostly by Christian leaders of various Christian religious streams with the goal of proving to the gentile communities that the Jewish ideas are moving the gentile world into right, God-guided direction. This spiritual Judeo-Christian movement has to be created by Rabbis working together with Priests.
Some prominent rabbis are already working with the Christians on strengthening the mutual “belief-foundation” of Judaism and Christianity where the Jews are respected and honored as the elder spiritual brothers.
The time has come to make the next step – to create the mutual Judeo-Christian, Bible-based foundation for the structure of a better world for everybody in our contemporary times for all crucial components of this structure such as rich vs. poor, individual freedoms vs. welfare, government vs. people, Supreme Power above us vs. supreme powers among us, etc.
This foundation has to demonstrate that the Judeo-Christian, Bible-based structure of the better world is superior over the Islamic, Communist/Socialist and many other structures at least in our “Western hemisphere”, and that the Jews should be recognized as the elder brothers in developing and promoting such structure.
This work would deliver to all potential anti-Semites the much-needed message: the Jews are moving the world in the right direction beneficial to you – they are not moving the world into the wrong direction contrary to your interests. This message has to be supported by demonstrating the Jewish achievements in creating the basics of contemporary Western Judeo-Christian civilization – in economics, science, social institutions and elsewhere.
The most difficult part of this effort is to overcome the prevailing politically correct dogma that all religions and religion-like political/social movements are spiritually equal and our Judeo-Christian morality is not superior over the other moralities – of course, in our Western civilization.
In the contemporary world, the restoration of public Judeo-Christian morality/spirituality is the prerequisite for beginning the mitigation of the anti-Semitism. I believe Jewish leaders who are willing to begin this process exist.


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