Jewish Discrimination In The Ancient World

By the year 1000 B.C.E the Jews had founded Israel as their national state (“Jews”). They actively practiced a very distinctive religion, Judaism. Israel was conquered several times and eventually came under the rule of the Roman Empire (“Jews”). During this time, Jews were legal citizens of the Empire. However, the Jews and Christians diverged quickly; the Jews were marginalized for being different and strange. They rejected the belief that Jesus is the Messiah and other christian laws. Eventually the Jewish revolt in 135 C.E. drove the Jews out of Jerusalem (“Jews”). They then lived throughout the Roman Empire and the materializing medieval states. They lived in their own communities called ghettos because they were not allowed to own land

The history of Jews in host cities often depict a story of success or of failure when it comes to relations between the Jews and the Christians in Europe. Historian Jonathan Elukin, author of Living Together, Living Apart, presents the integration as a success process with rare, and special cases, of failure. On the other side of the spectrum is historian Raymond P. Scheindlin. Scheindlin’s novel, A Short History of the Jewish People, presents many cases of integration between the Christians and Jews that led to massacres and brutal endings for the Jewish community. There are many monumental events that take place during the long span of time that oversees European Jewish history, and both historians study and evaluate the events, however, they do so through different lenses.

Jews’ interactions with Greek and Roman empires shaped and defined Jewish culture and practice. These empires affected Jewish culture through cultural adaptation whose lasting impacts can still be seen today. One of the first power struggles in Jewish history was during the Hellenistic period. At that time, the Jewish practice of circumcision became a negative identifier that alienated the Jewish people from Greek culture. Because a huge part of Greek culture involved social activities in the gymnasium done in the nude, Jewish males were immediately recognized and singled out.

Every religious group has suffered a time when their religion was not considered to be popular or right. Out of all of these religious groups that have suffered, no one group has suffered so much as that of the Jewish religion. They have been exiled from almost every country that they have ever inhabited, beginning with Israel, and leading all the was up to Germany, France, Spain, England, and Russia. Not only have they been exiled but also they have suffered through torture, punishment, and murder. Thus, because of the history of the religion, the Jewish people have become a very resilient people. They have survived thousands of years carrying their religion with them from one country to

Jews were discriminated during this time. They were treated unfairly. An example of how they were treated is from the book, “every jew had to wear a yellow star.” ( Wiesel, 11) They wore this because the Nazis wanted to single them out because of who they were. When they were in concentration camps, the prisoners had to shave their head bald and dress in rags. “ He ultimate affront to their identity was replacing of every prisoner’s name with a number.” ( The Guardian) Their own identities were taken away. “Hitler’s racial notions were implemented by measures that increasingly excluded jews from German society.” ( Holocaust Denial) Adolf HItler and the Nazi party were anti-semitic toward jews. That means

Before the beginning of World War II the Nazi party took over in Germany. At its head was a man named Adolf Hitler. For some reason Hitler hated the Jews, we see this in World War II with the Holocaust. The Holocaust started in 1933 when Hitler rose to power; he made a plan in 1941 which was to eradicate the whole Jewish population. Hitler called this plan the “Final Solution” (An Introductory History of The Holocaust). Why did Hitler and the Nazis single out the Jews for genocide? And in what ways did the Nazis single them out?

Discrimination has many meaning and many different ways people can discriminate against others. Discriminations can be as simple as a person making a judgment against someone else by the way they dress or the way they speak or it can be the people are discriminated (out casted/left out) because they choose to be different or have a disability or different colour of skin or even religion. Discrimination is unfair treatment of a person action based on prejudice.

Through the course of history, the Jewish people have been mistreated, condemned, robbed, even put to death because of their religion. In the Middle Ages, they were forced to wear symbols on their clothing, identifying them as Jews. The dates 1933 to 1945 marked the period of the deadly Holocaust in which many atrocities were committed against the Jewish people and minority groups not of Aryan descent. Six million innocent Jews were exterminated because of Hitler’s “Final Solution.” This paper will exhibit how Adolf Hitler used the three anti-Jewish policies written in history, conversion, expulsion, and annihilation to his advantage.

Annelisse Frank, also and more commonly referred to as Anne, is widely known for her victimization in the holocaust. She was born in 1929 and three years later, Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. The definition of chancellor states that a chancellor is a senior state or level official (Dictionary.com, 2016). Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Germany experienced a great amount of economic despair and as a result, Hitler used his power to full advantage (Why Did The Holocaust Happen, 2016). The first anti-Jew laws were established during this time. The first phase of legislation focused mostly on limiting the participation of Jewish people in Germany. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2016)

Throughout the history of the world, the Jewish people have been persecuted and oppressed because of their religious beliefs and faith. Many groups of people have made Jews their scapegoat. Jews have suffered from years of intolerance because people have not understood what the religion really means. They do not understand where and why the religion began, nor the customs of it's people. For one to understand the great hardships, triumphs, and history of the Jewish people one must open-mindedly peruse a greater knowledge of the Jewish people and faith.

Marcionite Heresy: (Marcionism-anti-Semitic-140 A.D.-Rome), Marcion, was a radical second-century Christian teacher, that believed and taught that God of the Old Testament was “petty” and “vindictive,” but accepted the Christian God as “loving” and “good” (Hillerbrand, 2008, p. 30).

The Jewish religion has been mistreated there for a very long time because of their beliefs. The largest example of prejudice against the Jew in the 20th century is the Holocaust. “Yet, nearly 6 decades after the Holocaust concluded, Anti-Semitism still exists as the scourge of the world.” - Eliot Engel. This quote tells that even though the worst case of prejudice it still exists even though most people are educated to know that is it bad.

The document is a source book, a conglomeration of books as well as articles that discuss and provide information regarding the Jews of Spain as well as the Visigothic Code. The writer of the sourcebook was Jacob Marcus, a scholar that specializes in the history of Jews and more importantly, a reform Rabbi. The author of the document had vast knowledge and experience regarding Jews and changes that have been registered in the culture and ways of life of the Jews in various parts of the globe. The author also has written vastly covering Jewish reforms over the decades. The document was written to the Jews to probably explain the reasons why Jews in Spain were relatively different from those of others in

Many people throughout history and even today get discriminated against because of their beliefs. People who have different beliefs are prosecuted because other feel their beliefs are not right. For example Jewish people have been treated unjustly in history. A major event that proves this is the holocaust, which was a huge genocide targeted towards Jewish people. In both plays The Merchant of Venice and Inherit The Wind the characters Shylock and Bertram Cates were ridiculed because of their beliefs.

Studying the religion of the Ancient Israelite People must be done in a careful manner. The ways in which biblical scholars frame significant ideas can have a major effect on how their point is received. Today’s ideas about the religious lives of Canaanites have been drawn on primarily from The Hebrew Bible and archaeological evidence. In their respective works, biblical scholars Benjamin Sommer and Carol Meyers choose to interpret these pieces of religious evidence is varying ways; Meyers takes a more cultural approach while Sommer’s has a theological leaning. Recognizing these different perspectives, I prefer the approach that Meyers takes because of its focus in anthropology.