Trudy Gold
The History of Jew Hatred, Part 2

Trudy Gold - The History of Jew Hatred, Part 2

- I am talking to you from a very old creaky computer because my technology has blown up on me, but I’m hoping it’s going to work for the whole session. But of course now we come to the very, very dark subject of the longest hatred and I’m looking at theological hatred. And if you recall, last time I talked about how before Christianity there was a certain amount of hostility towards the Jews because of their religious practises, the fact that they were seen as a separate people, and also there was a certain amount of trading competition in cities like Alexandria, but also on a basic level because both the Greeks and the Romans were polytheists. And what they expected of the Jews was to add their God to the pantheon and then they were going to be fine with the Jewish God, but of course that couldn’t work. But all historians agree that it’s actually with the advent of Christianity that you begin to see the real problem for the Jews. And of course it becomes a serious problem when in 325 and then in 379, Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire. And from then on, the Jews are, if you like, excluded for many walks of life, many trades, many professions, and they really do become the money lenders of Europe and the merchants, but many of them, of course, are very, very poor. Now, ironically, there’d been reasonable coexistence between Jews and Gentiles up until about the 11th century and despite the hostility of the Church.

And what was the problem, what did the Church accuse the Jews of? the Church accused the Jews at a base level of the killing of God, the deicide. And I read to you, of course, from St. Matthew’s Gospel where the crowds say, “His blood be upon our hands "and upon our children, "upon on our heads and upon our children,” which Haim Maccoby says is actually the warrant for genocide. Now let’s be very careful here. I’m not suggesting that there’s a direct path from the teachings of Christianity to the Shoah but what I’m saying is, this 2000 year old problem of the Jews is going to make, if you like, the Christian world. There is this tradition in the Christian world that the Jews somehow mess everything up. And of course to kill a God you are a devil. The diabolization of the Jew as well. Now the picture you have in front of you is of Geoffrey Chaucer because what I explained last time was that by the 10th, 11th centuries things change in Europe. In 1095, the Pope caused the Christian rulers to crusade. Why? Because the next great emerging religion, Islam, had taken Jerusalem. Here you have the real clash of religions, both proselytising religions. And ironically, the Jews were the people who crossed over because as I’ve already explained, both Jews or all these empires need to trade even if they’re hostile to each other. It’s not complete period of war, but the First Crusade marked a downturn in the fortune of Jews and there are going to be eight Crusades.

And it’s in the First Crusade that Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land, as they called it, murder outright the Jewish community in the Rhine, in France, and in the Rhineland before they arrive in Jerusalem where of course they sack the city and there is a terrible passage where a chronicler says “They’re up to their knees, "the Crusaders are up to their knees "in blood of the infidel.” So I’m going to read to you also, this is a letter of 1244 from Pope Innocent IV, because what happens the, not only do we have the Crusading movement, gradually Jews outlive their financial usefulness. It’s the rise of the Italian banking houses, the Fuggers, and gradually beginning in 1290 in England, gradually the Jews are expelled from country to country to country. Many of them make their way to Poland, where ironically a secular ruler needs them. You see, this is one of the stories of the Jews. If the secular ruler was strong, he needed them to engender trade and took a percentage of their debts. When the Church was strong, the Jews were in trouble. And of course, to a large extent, Mediaeval society is the tension between church and state. Now this is a letter from Pope Innocent IV, the 9th of May, 1244, to the King of France, Louis IX, Louis the Pious.

“The wicked perfidy of the Jews "from whose hearts our Redeemer has not removed "the veil of blindness "because of the enormity of their crime, "but are so far permitted to remain in blindness such as "in measure course Israel does not heed as it should "the fact that Christian piety received them "and patiently allows them to live amongst them "through pity only. "Instead, they commit such enormities "as are stupefying to those who hear them "and horrible to those who tell them. "For ungrateful to the Lord Jesus Christ, "who in abundance of his kindness patiently "expects their conversion.” This is the key. What the Christian world wants from the Jews is conversion. They should live downgraded lives, witness the true faith of Christianity. “They displaying no shame for their guilt nor reverence "for the honour of the Christian faith threw away "and despised the law of Moses and the prophets, "and father sons traditions of their elders.” Why is he saying this? Because Christianity has actually taken on the Hebrew Bible. The Christians have superseded Judaism. They are the successors to the covenant. There is no covenant with Israel now. The covenant is with the Christians, and according to Paul, what matters is belief in Jesus and you will inherit God’s kingdom. You no longer have to be an observer of the commands. And remember, this is a Pope writing to a king. “On account of these transactions, "the Lord reprieves them in the Gospel saying, "wherefore do you transgress the law of God "and render it void because of your tradition "and teaching and doctrines and commands of men.” That’s actually a paraphrase of Matthew 15:3. “In tradition of this sort, "they rear and nurture their children, "which traditions are called Talmud.

"In it are found blasphemies against God and Christ, "entangled fables against the blessed virgin, "and abusive errors and unheard of follies, "but of the law and doctrines of the prophets, "they make their sons altogether ignorant.” So what they’re saying is the Jews do not look at the prophets. They only look at the Talmud. “They fear that if the forbidden truth which is found "in the law and the prophets be understood "and the testimony concerning the only begotten son of God "that he appeared in the flesh be furnished, "these children will be converted to the faith "and humbly return to their Redeemer.” So basically what he is saying, what the Pope is saying to the Christians, and don’t forget this is, this is a king who had cartloads of Talmuds burnt, millions and millions of pages of the Talmud was burnt in the reign of Louis the Pious. And that is the letter from the Pope, which is talking about it. So important to remember that this is the kind of attitude, the Jew is the outsider. Now ironically, Jews survive when the secular ruler is strong, but gradually they are pushed out from country to country to country. Now Geoffrey Chaucer is living in an England, which is Jew free. The Jews are expelled in 1290. And yet the second nun’s tale, and this is what I looked at with you last week, the second nun’s tale is the story of the blood libel. It is the story of the murder of Saint Hugh of Lincoln by the evil Jews. And I also mentioned that ironically the plaque in Lincoln Cathedral was only altered in 1959. It took the Church a long time to come to terms with the anti-Judaism in the Gospels. And it’s been really the efforts of post-Holocaust theologians that have led to this change.

There is now dialogue between Jews and Christians, what you believe in, and depending on your own opinions, we will see whether it can ever really be successful. Because one of the things I find interesting, and I’ve repeated to this you many, many times. In the whole history of Jew hatred, I don’t think anyone said it better than the late great rabbi Jonathan Sacks, when he said first they hated our religion. And what I’m going to be doing later on in the course, because the word Antisemitism was actually created by a German journalist, Wilhelm Marr as we teach Germany, I’m going to teach racial Antisemitism. It then becomes racial. You see any Jew who converted could become an honoured citizen. Now it’s going to change into racial hatred in the 19th century. And there is no, you can never get out of race hatred. And ironically, hundreds of thousands of Jews who didn’t consider themselves Jews, including converts, were murdered in Auschwitz. So now according to Jonathan Sacks, the hate is transferred to the Jewish nation. And I think we’d all agree regardless of our political affiliations, that Israel gets more opprobrium than any other nation. And it’s a fascinating conundrum. But on the other hand, why is it that the longest hatred goes on? Ironically, you find none of this in China. You don’t find it in Hindu, India. You find anti Judaism, Antisemitism in the Muslim world. But that is actually a later addition and it’s of a different sort. It’s in the world of old monotheism because you could, if you like, make the case that Judaism is a parent religion to both Christianity and Islam.

So in Chaucer’s time, they’re expelled from England and gradually more and more of them are expelled. And yet the image of the perfidious Jew goes on. And I’m going to show you some examples of just how appalling that image of the Jew was. And there are so many I could have chosen from, and these are actually quite horrific. This, can we see the next one please? That is the Judensau. That is outside, that is actually, that is quite a common image in Germany. And that’s actually, every Jew who went into ghetto Frankfurt, including Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who I’m going to lecture on later on in the course, he would’ve seen that. There are Jews actually suckling at the teats of a pig. Just think art, just think the image of the Jew in art. Think also of the passion plays. Think of the cultural pursuits of the people, think Easter. And of course Easter ties up so much with pagan festivals. But think of the image of the Jew, the gentle Jesus being murdered by the Jews because, of course, look, we can talk philosophy until we are blue in the face. Obviously if he lived in Roman Palestine, he would’ve been executed by the Romans and that. But when Christianity came into this world, if the Gospels are written under the Romans, remember that. And then of course they’re written at a time when Judea falls, the Christians become triumphant. Rome takes on Christianity as its religion, the demonization of the Jew. Now how many people who created that or saw that knew any Jews? Can we go on please? And I haven’t had to obscure, I haven’t had to look at obscure textbooks to see these images, by the way. Here you see, this is Satan.

This is from France. This is Satan attended by Jews. Satan, Satan, the duality of Christianity is far more of a dual religion, than is Judaism. That comes far more from Mithras, which was the religion of Tarsus, the city Paul came from. The division of the world into good and evil. And here you see Satan and who is surrounding himself, he’s surrounded by Jews. And don’t forget the fourth Lateran Council, which we looked at last time of 1215. The first country to adopt it was England, was the wearing of the Jew badge or the Jew hat, whatever. So here you see the Jew attending Satan. The Jews are Satan’s people. Can we go on please? Now this is another woodcut. And here you see a Jewish woman gives birth to pigs. This is a woodcut. Just dwell on this, just dwell on the, if you like, the making of the Jew into the monster, in art, in literature, there’s no positive images. How many people have dealt with Jews? Tiny percentage of the world. Yes, Jews are coming back into Germany. The first ghetto was actually established in Venice, wasn’t it? That’s where the word comes from. , iron foundry in Venice. Gradually when Jews return, and why do they return? For trade, peddling, they have to earn a living. It’s such a precarious life, always living on their wits. And they are in the main, ghettoised Remember at this stage, Germany’s divided up into 356 city-states each with its own currency, each with its own toll gates, et cetera. Can we go on please? That’s the entrance to Notre Dame. Here you see the synagogue blindfolded, you can also see the Church, a beautiful woman looking up. That’s quite a common image in great cathedrals.

The Church looking triumphant to the sky, the beautiful woman. The synagogue is a woman downcast, because remember many of the population are illiterate. Can we go on please? Ah, now William is going to give you a complete lecture on Martin Luther. And of course Martin Luther is absolutely critical because it’s Martin Luther who signals the break and the Protestant Reformation protesting. Look what happens is, and William’s going to do this in a lot of detail. Various things happen. The Renaissance, the rebirth of the knowledge of Greece and Rome, the invention of the printing press, and also the corruption of the Catholic church. 1492, who is on the papal throne? Borgia. Alexander Borgia, whose son Cesare, of course, is the pure Renaissance prince. And as more and more of the clergy and ordinary folk began to read, because think about books pre-printing press. If you see, have you ever seen the pre-print books where there’s a wonderful collection at the Bodleian, those of you who live in England. At the Bodleian in Oxford, now pre-print, it took about two years to actually create a beautifully illustrated book and you could spend your whole time in the universities. And of course the first people who went to the universities were clergy. But it’s the invention of the printing press. Martin Luther, he nails “95 Theses” to a church door in Wittenberg in which he proclaims the indulgences of the Church. The Church had become very, very corrupt. You know the selling of indulgence is, I mean for example, Alexander Borgia made his six year old nephew, the bishop, a Spanish bishop, the giving away and the court of the Borgias is meant to be an absolute haven of licentiousness. And Martin Luther, very pious, very complicated, strange man, he of course nails his protest to a church door in Wittenberg to receptive ears, because why?

Who was in charge of the German lands and most of the middle of Europe? The Habsburgs. And the Habsburgs were usually Holy Roman Emperors. And in his time, when Martin Luther comes to manhood, it is Charles the Fifth, known as . He inherits the wealth of the new world, much of Europe. They said they caught him because the son never set on his empire. Many of those Protestant princes and many of the countries under the control of the Habsburgs want to break away. Many of them also looked at Rome and looked at the power of the Church and the Inquisition and the brutality of the Church and they wanted to break away anyway. And Luther was a huge charismatic. Now at first Luther believed, well of course the Jews hadn’t converted, because the Church got it completely wrong, and he thought the pope was the anti-Christ. Once they realised what I know and my revelation, they would convert, but they don’t. So could you go on please? And this is one of his statements, “If I had to baptise a Jew, "I would take him to the bridge of the Elbe, "hang a stone around his neck "and push him over with the words "I baptised thee in the name of Abraham.” But it gets much worse than this. And I have chosen to show, can we come to the next document? I think it’s important you see this. Now, okay, this is an extract from. He was a prodigious writer and one of the problems with Luther, he was a great reformer of the Church, but as far as the Jews are concerned, there is a problem. Emily, can I ask a huge favour to save my voice? Could you start reading this?

• [Emily] Sure. “Concerning the Jews and their Lies, 1543, Martin Luther. "What then shall we Christians do "with this damned rejected race of Jews? "Since they live among us and we know about their lying "and blasphemy and cursing, we cannot tolerate them, "if we do not wish to share in their lies, "curses and blasphemy. "In this way, "we cannot quench the inextinguishable fire "of divine rage as the prophets say, nor convert the Jews. "We must prayerfully "and reverentially practise merciful severity. "Perhaps we may save a few from the fire and the flames. "We must not seek vengeance. "They are surely being punished a thousand times more "than we might wish them. "Let me give you my honest advice. "First, their synagogues or churches should be set on fire "and whatever does not burn up should be covered "or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able "to see a cinder of stone of it. "And this ought to be done for the honour of God "and of Christianity in order that God may see "that we are Christians "and that we have not wittingly tolerated "or approved of such public lying, cursing, "and blaspheming of His Son and His Christians. "Secondly, their homes should be likewise broken down "and destroyed for they perpetuate the same things there "that they do in their synagogues. "For this reason, "they ought to be put under one roof "or in a stable like gipsies in order that they may realise "that they are not masters in our land as they boast "but miserable captives as they complain of us incessantly "before God with bitter wailing. "Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer books "and Talmuds in which such idolatry, "lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught. "Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden "under threat of death to teach anymore. "Fifthly, passport and travelling privileges "should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews "for they have no business in the rural districts "since they are not nobles nor officials "nor merchants nor the like. "Let them stay home. "Sixthly, they ought to be stopped from usury.

"All their cash, "and valuables of silver and gold ought "to be taken from them and put aside for their safekeeping. "For this reason, as said before, "everything that they possess, "they stole and robbed from us through their usury. "For they have no other means of support. "This money should be used in the case and no other "where a Jew has honestly become a Christian "so that he may get for the time being one or two "or 300 Florins, "as the person may require this in order "that he may start a business to support his poor wife "and children and the old and feeble. "Such evilly acquired money is cursed unless "with God’s blessing, it is put "to some good and necessary use. "Seventhly, let the young and strong Jews "and Jewesses be given the flail, "the axe, the hoe, the spade, "the distaff and spindle "and let the them earn their bread by the sweat "of their noses "as is enjoined upon Adam’s children, "for it is not proper that they should want us cursed Goyim "to work in the sweat of our brow "and that they pious crew idle away their days "at the fireside in laziness, feasting, and display. "And in addition to this, "they boast impiously that they have become masters "of the Christians at our expense. "We ought to drive the rascally lazy bones out "of our system.”

• Thank you very much for reading. So can we go onto the next slide please?

• [Emily] “If, however we are afraid "that they might harm us personally "or our wives, children, servants, cattle, et cetera, "when they serve us or work for us, "since it is surely to be presumed "that such noble lords of the world "and poisonous, bitter worms are not accustomed "to any work and would very unwillingly humble themselves "to such a degree among the cursed Goyim, "then let us apply the same cleverness as the other nations "such as France, Spain, Bohemia, et cetera, "and settle with them for that "which they have extorted usuriously from us.

• Usuriously, yeah.

• [Emily] Usuriously. Sorry. "from us, and after having divided it up fairly, "let us drive them out of the country for all time. "For as has been said, God’s rage is so great against them "that they only have become worse and worse "through mild mercy "and not much better through severe mercy. "Therefore away with them. "To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews "in your domains, "if this advance of mine does not suit you, "then find a better one so that you, "and we may be free of this insufferable, "devilish burden, the Jews.”

• So from a Jewish point of view, Luther, his kind of Christianity, and of course Protestantism has also got that terrible vein of anti-Judaism in it. And don’t forget that Germany is going to become, it’s going to divide up. In the south, it’s going to be Catholic. In the north, in the main, it’s going to be Luther and Protestant. Ironically, most other Protestant countries such as England later become much more tolerant of the Jews, but this is not true of Lutheranism. We have this problematic, to put it mildly, this problematic passage which many, many Christian scholars who love Luther and why not, because there’s much he has given the Christian world. Having said that, from the Jews in, you know, this is when Judaism, when this is when Jewish history becomes so inside out. We’re looking at it completely from a different perspective. He’s seen as a great figure in the history of the West, but to the Jews it’s very complex. And I think after reading that you probably find it very, very troublesome. Can we go on please? Yes. And of course the image of the Jew in literature and Christopher Marlowe, who is writing around the same time as Shakespeare, of course he writes “The Jew of Malta” and I’m going to read you from “The Jew of Malta” because it’s very seldom performed today. In it, the Jewish character Barabbas is probably based on the Duke of Naxos. So I mentioned to you before, The Duke of Naxos is extraordinary. He was working with the Sultan of Turkey, of the Ottoman Empire. He was one of the richest men in the world. His aunt was Donna Gracia. There’s brilliant books on them by by Roth, Cecil Roth.

And he was an ambassador. He was a very sophisticated European gentleman, but he was also a Jew. And the legend of the Jew of Malta and the legend of the Duke of Naxos is probably on which Marlowe bases “The Jew of Malta” because he was an incredibly powerful figure and the Sultan gave him land in Caesarea actually, and gave him his own island, Naxos. So this is Barabbas and I want you to, I hope my reading is okay and you can see what he’s doing here. This is the Jew speaking. “As for myself, I walk abroad at night "and kill sick people, groaning under walls. "Sometimes they go about and poison wells. "And now and then, to cherish Christian thieves, "I am content to lose some of my crowns "that I may, walking in my gallery, "see him go pinioned along by my door. "Being young, I studied physic medicine, "began to practise first upon the Italian.” You know, Italian poisoners. Think Catherine de'Medici stereotypes. “Then I enriched the priest with burials "and always kept the sexton’s arms in ure "with digging graves and ringing dead men’s knells. "And after that I was an engineer "and in the wars between France and Germany, "under pretext of helping Charles the Fifth "slew friend and enemy with my stratagems "Then after that I was a usurer. "And with extorting, cozening, forfeiting, "and tricks belonging to brokery, "I filled the jails with bankrupts in a year "and with young orphans planted hospitals "and every moon made some or other mad. "And now and then one hang himself for grief, "pinning upon his breast a long great scroll. "How I with interest tormented him. "But mark how I am blessed for plaguing them. "I have as much coin as will buy the town. "But now tell me how have thy spent thy town?”

And he goes on to say, “It is no sin to deceive a Christian.” Yes. So of course that, I think you will find the Jew has been diabolized. Today, people try and see it as a satire, but I very much doubt that is what Christopher Marlowe intended. And I also mentioned, even with the “Merchant of Venice,” never forget the genius of Shakespeare, the layers of the onion, because of course some of those speeches are pure speeches of the enlightened, you know, “hath not a Jew eyes.” But, we know who played Shylock. It was Burbage and he would’ve come on the stage wearing the red beard, which was the sign of the Jew, and the audience would’ve booed. He was the pantomime villain. So the negative image goes on. Can we see the next slide please? Again, this is Satanic figures, so it’s negative, negative, negative Satanic figures. Next one please. The legend of the wandering Jew. You know, this actually began in the 1200s, this notion, the Jew, the accursed Jew is destined to wander the world. And there’s a certain tie up with the whole story of “The Flying Dutchman,” by the way, which we won’t go into now. I’m sure that’s something Patrick will want to talk to you about. But it is this fascination from wandering to wandering to wandering because of God’s curse. Can we go on please? Now we’re going to look at something very, very complicated. This is the work of the great Raul Hillberg and what Raul Hillberg has pulled together. He’s actually, because Raul Hillberg wrote this.

He wrote his great work, “The Destruction of European Jewry” in 1961. It was the first books, one of the first books on the Shoah. And he’s obviously incredibly angry. And what he did was to take canonical law and compare it with Nazi measures. Now be very, very careful with this, but what he’s trying to show that certainly up until 1939, there is nothing new in in what the Nazis did. So let’s look at the Canonical Law, the prohibition of intermarriage and sexual intercourse between Christians and Jews. Synod of Elvira 306. Law for the protection of German blood and honour. September the 15th, 1935. That is of course also the Nuremberg Laws, when not only were Jews deprived of citizenship, but intermarriage is made a crime and sexual relations between Jew and Aryan becomes criminal. It’s about blood. You know, it’s interesting, the Church never said destroy the Jews. I’m not suggesting that Nazism for a minute was Christian. On the contrary, it wasn’t. And, in fact, one of Hitler’s most extraordinary comments is, I can never forgive the Jews for inventing moral conscience, which of course they didn’t. But he believed that, because Christianity, look, Christianity has the moral law. But what the Nazis did, they wanted to create a brave new world of blood and race. What Hitler wanted was the physically fit Aryan specimen, housing the totally obedient mind, and anyone who didn’t fit into it. The Jew is the anti-race. You know the pyramid of the races that the Nazis created, the top is the Aryan, underneath the Roman peoples, then the Slavs to be the slaves, and then the black, as he called the black community, he called the Negroes.

The Jew is the anti-race, the only race capable of destroying the Aryan. On one level, the imagery is cockroach and vermin. On the other level, it’s fascinating. Hitler actually set up a bureau to find the headquarters of the Elders of Zion. So that is the difference. Look the Church said you could convert, but what Hillberg has done, in much of his anger, it has to be said, he’s looking at Church law and comparing it. Now Jews not allowed to hold public office. Synod of Clermont. Law for the reestablishment of the professional civil service. That’s April, 1933. No Jews in the civil service, also the teaching profession. The Jews are thrown out of the teaching profession very, very early on, ‘33. That’s when I, that’s by the way, when Albert Einstein would’ve lost his job. Luckily he was already abroad at the time and they put a price on his head, they even burn burnt his little boat. Jews are not allowed to employ Christian servants or possess Christian slaves. Synod of Orleans. Law for the protection of German blood and honour. Jews not permitted to show themselves in the street during Passion Week. Of course, Easter. Synod of Orleans. Decrees authorising local authorities to ban Jews from the streets on certain days, Nazi holidays. Burning of the Talmud and other books. The first was of course the 12th Synod of Toledo in 681. Book burnings in Nazi Germany. Think about that, 18,000 books. May the 10th, 1933, 18,000 books thrown into the flames, led by university students.

The first books of course were the works of Sigmund Freud. Christians not permitted to patronise Jewish doctors. Decree of July the 15th, 1938. Same. Christians not permitted to live in Jewish homes. Synod of Narbonne. Directive by Goring providing for concentration of Jews in houses December the 28th, 1938. Jews obliged to pay taxes to the support of the Church to the same extent as Christians, which provided the Jews pay a special income tax in lieu of donations for party purposes imposed on Nazis. Prohibition of Sunday work, Synagogue of Seabolos It’s 1092. Jews not permitted to be plaintiffs or witnesses against Christians in the court. Third Lateran Council, Canon 26. Proposal by the Party Chancellery the Jews not be permitted to institute civil suits. December 9th, 1942. Ministry of Justice, remember that was law. Can we see the next page please? Yes, thank you. Jews not permitted to behold inheritance from descendants who had accepted Christianity. Lateran Council. There was always a great push to get Jews to convert because a Jewish soul was incredibly prized. Decree imploring the Justice Ministry to void wills offending the second judgement of the people. The marking of Jewish clothes with a badge. Fourth Lateran Council, 1215 Canon 68. Copied from the legislation of Caliph Omar II, who that Christians wear blue belts and Jews, yellow belts.

That’s another story. We’ll talk about that in another course. Decree of September the 1st, 1941, the wearing of the yellow star. Construction of new synagogues prohibited, Council of Oxford. Destruction of synagogues. That of course is November the 10th, 1938. Christians not permitted to attend Jewish ceremonies. Synod of Vienna, which shows you on an ordinary level, Jews and Christians did socialise. This is the Church saying you mustn’t. Friendly relations with Jews, prohibited. Jews not permitted to dispute with simple Christian people about the terms of Catholic religion, Synod of Vienna, 1267. There was a fascinating disputation in Spain when Nachmanides in 1250, in Aragon, he very much beat the Christian side under Pablo Christiani, who was a Jewish convert to Christianity. He completely won the argument. And the king, King James of Aragon, he believed in a fair fight. But because the Dominicans said that the Jews had lost, as a result, he wrote down his findings. Nachmanides wrote down his findings. So he had to flee Spain and he went to Jerusalem. Christians not permitted to sell or rent real estate to Jews, Synod of Ofen. Decrees providing for compulsory sale of Jewish real estate. That’s of course 1938. That’s the Aryanization of Jewish property, which costs the Jews millions and millions and millions and not all has been paid back. Adoption by a Christian of the Jewish religion or return of a baptised Jew to the Jewish religion, defined as a heresy. Synod of Mainz, which meant you were subject to the Inquisition. Adoption by a Christian of the Jewish religion places is in jeopardy of being treated as a Jew. And that is June the 26th, 1942.

Sale or transfer of church articles to Jews prohibited. Synod of Lavour. Jews not permitted to act as agents in conclusion of contracts between Christians, especially marriage contracts. Decree of July the 6th, 1938, providing for the liquidation of Jewish real estate, et cetera, et cetera. Jews not permitted to obtain academic degrees. Council of Basel. Law against overcrowding of Jewish schools and universities. April the 23rd, 1933. It’s quite interesting, you know. The Nazis had a real problem with lawyers and doctors. Something like 50% of the lawyers and doctors of Berlin were Jewish. So what they said in 1933 is no more can go to medical school or to the law. And it wasn’t until '37, they’re actually thrown out. Can we see the next slide, if you don’t mind? Okay, so what I’ve done, have we lost it? Yeah, what I’ve done is I’ve pulled it all together. The Jews are culpable for killing, crucifying Jesus. Such they are guilty of deicide. The tribulations of the Jewish people throughout history constitutes God’s punishment of them for killing Jesus. Jesus originally came to preach only to the Jews, but when they rejected him, he abandoned them for gentiles instead. The children of Israel were God’s original chosen people by virtue and ancient covenant, but by rejecting Jesus they forfeited their chosenness. And now, by virtue and new covenant or testament, Christians replace the Jews as God’s chosen people, the Church having become the people of God. The Jewish Bible, the so-called Old Testament, repeatedly portrays the opaqueness and stubbornness of the Jewish people and that its loyalty to God.

You know, it is fascinating because the Hebrew Bible is the story of a people and their backsliding, warts and all. The Jewish Bible contains many predictions of the coming of Jesus as Messiah or Christ, yet the Jews are blind to the meaning of their own Bible. By the time of Jesus’s ministry, Judaism had ceased to be a living faith. Judaism’s essence is a restrictive and burdensome legalism. Christianity emphasises excessive love, while Judaism maintains a balance of justice, God, of wrath, and love of peace. Judaism’s oppressiveness reflects the disposition of Jesus’ opponents called Pharisees, predecessors of rabbis who in their teachings and behaviour were hypocrites. So it’s very, very harsh, the pulling together. Now, let’s be very, very careful here. What I’m suggesting to you is that within Christianity is a strong tradition of anti-Judaism. Now don’t forget, beginning, really beginning in the middle of the 17th century, there is a new movement in the Christian world, the beginnings of the Enlightenment. You know, between 1618 and 1648, Europe is engulfed in the wars of religion. It’s also about power and economics. And you’ll get a whole session on it from William. It’s not just about Catholicism and Protestantism. It’s about, I mean, for example, the Dutch break away from Spain. They are Calvinists, They want to be part of, they want to create their own seagoing empire. Princes don’t want to be ruled by the Church. They don’t want to be ruled by the Habsburgs. But the point is, there is this new movement in between 1618 and 1648, something like 1/3 of the population of the German lands died as a result of war, plague, and famine. Europe was ravaged, particularly the German lands. And some historians believed that that scar was, something like 1/3 of the population are murdered by war, famine. Even cannibalism was practised.

It was humanity at its lowest level. But it did lead to certain thinkers in Germany, in France, in Britain to rethink, and don’t forget also as society becomes slightly more modern, the discovery of the New World, ideas, people, it becomes slightly more secular. And out of that comes all sorts of interesting ideas. Ideas, and people begin to question the whole notion of what it means to be a human being. Just think about it, Catholic priest Catholic armies. Protestants Protestant armies and carnage. And it led to individuals thinking that perhaps there was a different way of being. And of course this is the European Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. Now, if it was going to mean anything, isn’t it going to have to apply to all peoples in Europe? And I suppose the first political arm is America. Think the American Revolution of 1776 and don’t let’s go down the blind alley of what about women? What about non-whites? Because all I’m saying is in its time, it was revolutionary. The French Revolution was only about white men over 25, but it’s revolutionary. And out of it came this whole debate, which we covered when we looked at France. Well maybe the Jews should be part of that world. So for the first time the Jews are going to become more part of European society. They’re going to look with, I suppose, with extraordinary eyes on this world that now seems to be opening up to them. And that is when you know for the first time, as the ghetto wars begin to crumble. You know, back in the ghetto, when I’m going to look in detail at the life of Mayer Amschel Rothschild from the ghetto of Frankfurt, his wife never left the ghetto by the way. Guttle never left the ghetto.

She stayed there till she was 91. He would, I want you to think about in that ghetto, he went to synagogue every day. What did Jews study? They were literate. But all of a sudden, these minds, these elastic minds honed by Talmud or even if they’re not educated, they have the dream of learning and all of a sudden they have Europe. And I often think what it must have been like for a Jew from the ghetto to go to Berlin or a Jew after from Alsace and Arlen to go into Paris. Or what was it like when they came to London? They, and they saw the cities, they marvelled at the art, the music, the literature. And because they were outsiders, as the modern world developed, they’re going to plunge into it and they’re going to push the modern world. And they believe that that new modern world will be theirs. What they don’t spot. And it’s the words of Isaiah Berlin. He said if they were benign, they were exotic strangers. If not they were enemy aliens. So what I’ve tried to establish in this session is that within, in theology, in Christian theology, you have this incredible negative stereotype of the Jew. For a while it seemed that the Enlightenment, and let’s be careful, there were voices who spoke against it, the great Abelard, he found it absolutely nonsensical. And there were some Christian theologians who thought it nonsensical. But in the main, Christianity has this negative stereotype of the Jew. Then you have the Enlightenment. But tragically you are also going to see in the 19th century the rise of racial Antisemitism, of where does that come from. That’s got nothing to do with what you believe. It’s got to do with blood. And we will later on in the course, we’ll be spending a couple of sessions on this. I hope this is clarified. I know a lot of you know a lot of this and I hope I’ve kept a balance. So shall we look at the questions now, Emily, I’m going to see if I can get them.

Q&A and Comments:

I have repeatedly heard talks on the Holocaust with the speaker refusing to tattle the modern Antisemitism and analogies between Israeli and the Nazis, which is on a par with Holocaust denial. I have heard that analogy described several times as unhelpful and the speaker would not be sidetracked. The analogy is not unhelpful, it is untrue. Anti insults the memory of Nazi victims, Jewish and non-Jewish. It’s not a sideshow. I very much agree with you. Now, now is not the time to lecture on it, ‘cause it’s huge. It is something that Robert Wistrich made a huge study on. And I was very lucky that he was my tutor and my mentor. Ironically, that really comes out of Russia, the equation of the Jewish state with Nazism. And then you get the terrible that the Nazis act, that the Zionists worked with the Nazis. They cite the Lazarov case. Heimer Lazarov, when Heimer Lazarov went to Germany in 1933 at the behest of the Reichsbank, at the time when Germany wanted a Reich, the Jews of Palestine wanted Jews.

So consequently he did a deal which enabled the Germans to get something out of it. They wanted the Jews who left to buy their their stuff in German. The Germans needed currency. The Russians. You see what happened with Russia, I will sidestep a little. In 1948, the Russians backed the establishment of the state of Israel for all sorts of strange reasons. They believed at the very best, they had an ally with a socialist state, at the very worst, a neutral power or a neutral country. Don’t forget the socialism of the Jews of Palestine at the time. And think of the Arab countries. They were feudal monarchies. It’s only when Golda goes to visit Moscow in 1949 as the first ambassador, 50,000 young Jews come out to greet her. Russia still has a Jewish problem. After the revolution, the revolution’s over. Judaism should be dead along with Christianity. And that’s where it begins. Then you have the Slansky trials and Zionism begins to be equated with Nazism. I hope that sort of satisfies you, Yehuda.

Let me recommend Robert Wistrich’s book. It’s called “From Ambivalence to Betrayal, "The Left and the Jews,” and basically it shows how. There are many writers who deal with it. It’s just, I think he is the best. It deals with how it comes out of Russia and that’s of course how it entered the Left. And tragically also the liberal Left. And that’s why you hear this kind of rubbish today. And of course it is more than insulting. It is obscene. That’s my view. Hope that answers that.

I’ve got to Saul now. It was a plagiarist using the camera and free stories. You know, Shakespeare was too.

Yes, Ed, the 19th, 18th, and 19th century, growth of racial Antisemitism was part of and included in nationalism and then also in socialism. Yes, of course, yes. And we will spend a lot of time on that, I promise. This is James.

This is from Peter, James Carol, a one-time Catholic gives an extensive account of Christian anti-Judaism in the book “Constantine Sword.” Yes, this is very good, Peter. There are many, many, there are many, many Christian theologians. And also don’t forget in the war, there were many Christians who saved. So let’s be careful. Don’t do what has happened to us. Don’t damn them. Oh, Daniel’s reminding me, the disputation of Barcelona was 1263. You know, that’s what I love about lockdown. If I get it wrong, there’s all someone who knows. Thank you for that.

This is Rod. From the unique insight you’ve given me, it’s clear that the Jew hater Frankenstein was created by leaders of the Christian Church, nursed and fed by this church over millennia and who walks today unhindered, spreading cruel and unsubstantial lies against the Jews who are still believed today by generations of so-called believers. Yes. And don’t forget the other, when you’re dealing with modern racial Antisemitism, because so many Jews were involved in left-wing movements and in the communist movement, whereas you have a small percentage of Jews who were seen as the visible symbol of capitalism and Jews seen as the visible symbol of communism. Plus this notion of Jewish power, which goes back to the deicide, 'cause to kill a God, that gives you power. What it all comes round to in the end is the protocols of the Elders of Zion. And unfortunately, whenever there is social, political, and economic instability, people look for a scapegoat. And of course there are many scapegoats today. But the Jews make a very neat one because we are international. And also one of the things I find very disconcerting, many of the other victim groups do not see us as victims. They see us as perpetrators.

Q: Why should the Crusaders sack Jerusalem? Was it really necessary?

A: Well, think of the fervour. No, think of the fervour of it. Why did people go on Crusade? It was about blood. Can you imagine the mob on the rampage? It’s about blood. Of course, of course it wasn’t necessary. It may be proselytised.

Don says it may well be proselytising, but also a form of imperialism, surely. You know, it’s very interesting. When I worked in China, I spoke to quite a few Chinese academics and diplomats. And I remember they had a real problem with Christianity because of the missionaries. And they said, you know, I remember one academic saying to me, it’s so rude. You do not convert other people. And in fact, Moses Mendelssohn who I’ll be dealing with later on in a couple of weeks, I think, Moses Mendelssohn who becomes a philosopher in Germany, he’s actually asked, why on earth don’t you convert? And he says, if I meet him a Solon or a Confucian, would I convert him? There are many paths to the truth. Mine happens to be Judaism, Christianity’s another path to the truth.

And John, Islam went on to construct one of the greatest empires the world has ever experienced. Yes, it’s an extraordinary story, John. They sweep out of the Hijaz and within 100 years, they create the largest land empire the world has ever known. And I’m making a sweeping statement here. This is not my subject. I leave that to other experts. But my understanding is that in the main, the world of Islam, when it felt itself strong and and safe, the Jews were far better off than they were under Christianity. Accusation of genocide by the Zion is arguably today’s analogue of deicide. Yes, very much so. And don’t forget the words of Howard Jacobson. They can never forgive us The Holocaust. The guilt. It’s a very complicated story. Wasn’t there a 15th century queen in England supposed to have given birth to rabbits? I don’t know about that Jacqueline. I know that Queen Mary had phantom pregnancies.

This is from Myrna. It seems that the a ugly truth is that their side is written into the liturgy of Christianity and Islam. It’s not in Islam by the way, because Jesus isn’t God. And unless those two books are rewritten, it’s to be constantly read and . Look, you cannot ask. It’s like asking. New Testament is a sacred text. The Koran is a sacred text, but there is no deicide in Islam because the Mohamed is a man. He’s a prophet, but he’s not divine. You see, there is no way, it’s like asking the Jews to rewrite the Talmud, religious Jews to rewrite the Talmud or the Hebrew Bible. It will never happen. The question is, if we have serious, honest conversations, can we go forward and you will all make your own mind. Early on in lockdown, the sheriff of gave a talk. Not only a woman but Jewish. She said that her inauguration at some event, the local church, the blood life was recited as still fat. Yes. Bank also originates from Venice. So Jews congregated on the benches. Thanks Nicholas. The bancos. Recently in Paris, our Jewish tour guide pointed out the door on the right of Notre Dame behind the scaffolding, portrayal of the marriage of Mary’s parents, Ann and Joachim with accompanying Jews with those special hats. First time I’ve ever noticed this.

This is from Arlene. So much of Mithras became attributed to Jesus like the birthday of December the 25th, walking on water, born from a God, feeding the many with fish. Yes, yes. This is one of the problems. Christianity borrowed from. That’s why it was such a successful religion. In Cornwall, most of the Churches are built on pagan sites. But then Judaism has borrowed too. Be careful. Will Jews ever stop being defiled? Don’t think the artist like Luther, his eye is shifting. In the 16th century, the Church of Rome was short of funds to rebuild the new St. Peter. I have read this was a major reason for selling indulgences. Yes, of course. And don’t forget also the 15th and 16th century popes were really renaissance princes, the Medicis, the Borgias.

And Jacqueline is saying, Luther’s writings don’t sound dissimilar to Nazi propaganda.

And Rita says, painfully informative. Yeah.

Geoffrey ben Nathan. Nazi leaders on trial use this Lutheran text as authorization almost found this attitude towards Jews. But what really needs investigating, is rarely done, is the why of Jew hatred. Most parent programmes are long litanies of the details, hardly ever about the why. And there is a question whether it’s the answer to another question. Yeah, I think I’ve explained. It’s about deicide, Geoffrey. You see if the Jews are guilty of the kind of killing God, it makes them into devils. Now be careful. I really don’t believe non-Jews, gentiles, Christians see the Jews as devil, but he enters the culture and think about the folklore. It’s deep. That is the question. Now what you do with it, I really don’t know. It seems that Luther was the first to advocate ghetto as well. They’re already, it’s more or less at the time.

No, but it’s around the time of the first ghetto. As long as there is oxygen to sustain human life, life on earth, there will always be Antisemitism Just let’s live with it as best we can. We’re clever enough to do so. I love that Monty.

Rita. As long as non-Jews live with the fact that we’re always be on earth. I think, you know, there is something in that, Rita. I mean, if you think about it, I think there is something spiritual in Jewish destiny. I really do. We survive against the odds and we survive. And look at the modern state of Israel without talking politics. It’s a technological miracle, isn’t it? That tiny little country and you know it, that’s, and they’re still the Jews of the diaspora. What a, you know, what a story, the story of the Jews. And so I’d rather like that answer, Monty.

Is this continuing via evangelicals waiting for the rapture. Ironically, the evangelical church is very pro-Israel because they believe that there is this other belief that if the Jews return, then that will hasten the coming of the Messiah and Armageddon, which is complicated. Hmm. Perhaps if we have not been so chosen, chosen for what.

This is from Tibor. We survived because we have no choice. I am, yeah, that’s from John. The statue shows blindfold seems to have a blindfold, but a serpent. That’s interesting. Okay, I think that’s everything Emily. And thank you very much for helping me on my very old computer. I hope it’s worked.

• [Emily] It’s been great.

• No, I mean it’s been clear and the voice is clear.

• [Emily] Yes

• You should all know that I’m a total idiot technologically and my iPad, which I usually work from, my grandson, stole the cloud. So as a result, I couldn’t update Zoom. So I went into panic and I found this computer, an old computer that hasn’t been used since 2015. And a miracle, you know. I don’t know if I’m a technophobe or I just can’t help it. And on that note, I wish you all, look, I know it’s been a tough session, but I do believe that knowledge is strength. And I know our group, particularly is a very knowledgeable group. The question is, are we transmitting this knowledge, not just the horror, but also the greatness. Are we transmitting this to our children and our grandchildren? That’s one of the problems at the moment that Jewish kids don’t know their own history. So if you want a mission, that’s our mission. Or my mission, I hope it’s yours too. Your children and your grandchildren, they need to know. Bye-bye.