In the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, certain individual Jews were granted special status above that of their fellow Jews. These “court Jews” served as bankers and financiers to the nobility in Germany, Austria, and other lands. They were granted privileges, allowed to live outside of Jewish ghettos, and exempt from wearing badges marking them as Jews. In 18th-century Prussia, they were referred to as “protected” or “useful” Jews.
Many of these court Jews were good and righteous men working to benefit the Jewish community. But relations between them and the general Jewish community were often strained. Court Jews were wealthier than their brethren, could come and go as they pleased, and frequently served as tax collectors.
While ostensibly representing the interests of the Jewish community to the ruling class, all too often these court Jews did the reverse, enforcing anti-Jewish policies against their own people.
While the term “court Jew” is associated with early modern Europe, court Jews have been a feature of Jewish life in exile for millennia. The most famous court Jew, of course, is Mordechai, the hero of the Book of Esther.
Early in the story, Mordechai displays loyalty to the king, exposing a plot to have him assassinated. This loyalty paid off for the entire Jewish community, playing a pivotal role in the eventual downfall of Haman and his genocidal plans. Among the many lessons of the Book of Esther is that when the Jewish people are in exile, beholden to the whims of host governments that may not always have our best interests in mind, well-placed Jews can be essential for our survival as a people.
Mordechai is the paradigm of the heroic court Jew who uses his proximity to power to benefit the Jewish people. But throughout Jewish history, and notably since the 20th century, there is a darker, more sinister type of court Jew who, rather than working for the benefit of the Jewish community, serves as the agent of the regime, aiding and abetting in the oppression of their own people.
The Judenrat of Nazi Germany, Jewish councils used by the Nazis to implement their policies of persecution, are a notable example. Similarly, in Soviet Russia there were the karmaniye Ivrei’i, the “pocket Jews,” who worked for the Soviet regime, most notably serving on the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public, where they were tasked with demonizing Zionists and anyone seeking to emigrate to Israel.
I thought about the history of court Jews as I listened to the now infamous speech by Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer. Schumer attacked Prime Minister Netanyahu, referring to him as an obstacle to peace, demanding he expel members of his cabinet, and calling for his removal as prime minister. Schumer’s primary rationale for replacing Netanyahu, repeated multiple times in the speech, is the PM’s opposition to a two-state solution after the war is over.
There are certainly many Israelis, both Right and Left, who are unhappy with Netanyahu for a variety of reasons. But based on all the recent polling on the issue, his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state is not one of them.
Following months of the Biden Administration’s demonizing and marginalizing Netanyahu, Schumer’s insistence at the outset of his speech that he speaks only for himself is laughable. Moreover, after Biden praised the speech, he went on to add that his staff was notified in advance of the contents. Considering the theatrics of the recent visit by Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz to DC, which included a handshake and photo-op with Schumer, it’s impossible not to see what’s actually going on.
Schumer is the "court Jew" of the Biden administration
Schumer is the Biden administration’s useful court Jew, serving the administration by kashering their increasingly hostile pressure on Israel. Schumer opened his speech by declaring his Jewish bonafides, referencing his family’s losses in the Holocaust and declaring himself a “shomer Yisrael, a guardian of Israel.”
He then proceeded to berate the duly elected leader and electorate of the State of Israel. He called for Israelis to embrace a two-state solution, which polling shows the overwhelming majority of Israelis now oppose. He smeared Israel as guilty of excessive killing of civilians in Gaza and accused Israeli leadership of not showing enough concern for civilians in the plans for the upcoming invasion of Rafah.
Like a good “useful Jew,” Schumer shamefully allowed the anti-Israel talking points of the day to come forth from Jewish lips.
And just so we have no doubts about what Schumer really thinks of the independent State of Israel, he included a threat that should Israel choose not to go to new elections or embrace policies in line with US positions prior to the end of the war, “then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.” That’s right. A direct threat to undermine the will of the Israeli electorate, should it not bend to the will of the current US administration.
This Purim, as we honor the heroic leadership of Mordechai and Esther, let’s be grateful that the exile is coming to an end. Israel will win. To paraphrase Mordechai’s words to Esther at the moment when she chose which kind of court Jew she would be, “relief and deliverance will come to Israel from elsewhere,” and Chuck Schumer and all the other “useful” court Jews will be lost in the dustbin of history.
The writer, a rabbi, co-hosts the Shoulder to Shoulder podcast and serves as the director of Israel365action.com.