פרשת בהעלותך

פרשת בהעלותך

ויהי בנסך הערנו ויאמר משה קומה ה׳ ויפוצו איבך וינסו משנאיך מפניך

When the Holy Ark would travel, משה would say, "Arise ה׳ and let Your foes be scattered. Let those who hate You flee from before You."

In this פסוק, Moshe Rabbeinu states, anyone who hates the Jews hates ה׳.

Rashi is bothered by this comparison, and asks, why is משה calling the enemies of Jews enemies of God? Can't it be that they really just are enemies of the Jewish people? רשי answers that anyone who hates ישראל hates ה׳. It seems that רשי is saying that the root of anti-Semitism is hatred of God.

This whole concept seems a little hard to grasp. Take a look through history. It seems that there are many nations who have hated the Jews but did not hate God. We see even today that there are nations who may believe in the "same God" but want to see all Jews destroyed.

One commonly used reason for anti-Semitism is... Jealousy. "The Jews have all the money", "The Jews own all the banks", "The Jews run Hollywood"... Sound familiar? Throughout history the Jews have been very "well off" in their financial situations, regardless of what country they were in. It was always  the Jews who became close advisers to the kings, always the Jews who were making the biggest strides in science, media, etc... The Jewish people have had an extraordinary influence on human progress. Interestingly, from 1901-1990 over 22% of Nobel Prize winners WORLDWIDE have been Jewish, and Jews don't even make up a quarter of the world's population.

This by itself would seem to be a logical reason for anti-Semitism. However there are even more!

Another cause is called the "Scapegoat Theory". In the past, in order to gain power or to distract people from their own suffering, a monarch would look to place the blame somewhere. Who better than the eternally despised Jews! By arousing the masses into Jew-hatred a person would easily be able to gain the power he needed.

Another theory for anti-Semitism is, "we killed their their God". This is a great reason to hate someone, I mean, that doesn't sound to friendly to me.

Finally there is the "chosen nation theory". This theory is one that is quoted the most often. We make no secret of the fact that we are ה׳'s chosen people. As clearly written in the תורה, the Jewish people have the most unique role amongst all the other nations. Our "job" is to serve as a light and a guide to the other nations. 

The truth is, there really is NO ANSWER FOR WHY PEOPLE HATE THE JEWS. This is what רשי is teaching us. Anti-Semitism can't be explained because it makes no sense!

The pattern that emerges is that there really IS NO logical reason for anti-Semitism until you focus on the real cause- the Jew represents  ה׳. WE ARE ה׳'S PEOPLE. When a Gentile looks at a Jew, he sees ה׳! And he may not always like what he sees!

This concept carries a huge lesson for us. We may forget our own holiness and the destiny that comes with being a Jew. The Gentiles however will always be there to remind us that we ARE different, and our role is unique. As is quoted from Rav Chaim Volozhin, "if the Jew doesn't make קידוש, the goy will make הבדלה".

If we recognize our greatness and live up to our title of the chosen people, we are then exalted, revered, and respected. When we fail to recognize our unique destiny and absorb the cultures of the times, then we are sent reminder after reminder of our role amongst the nations- ה׳'s chosen people.

Yoni Spigelman

Adapted From: The Shmuz on the Parsha- Rav Ben Tzion Shafier