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An Introduction to Antisemitism & the Jewish Experience
by JoAnn G. Magnuson
Writer, Researcher and Lecturer

Christian Zionists are trying to bridge a gap – the tragic chasm that has long divided Jews
and Christians. Following in the footsteps of many of our founders, including Dr. G.
Douglas Young, founder of Jerusalem University College, we are working in a variety of
ways to bring Christians closer to the people who gave us our Bible and much of our
world view. We do not expect to eliminate all the issues on which Jews and Christians
disagree. However, we believe that Christian appreciation of the Jewishness of Jesus and
the early church as well as the historical experience of the Jewish people will further the
process of healing the wounds that have been inflicted on Jews by Christians down
through the centuries.
We have found that many of our fellow Christians are but vaguely familiar with the
history of Jewish suffering in the post-biblical period. While many Bible-believing
Christians want to express love and support to the Jewish people, they are often unaware
of the pain Jews have experienced at the hands of Christians. A wise rabbi once said, “Do
not tell me that you love me if you do not know what causes me pain.” With prayer for
the gift of empathy we offer the following outline of Jewish pain in order that Christians
may understand, identify and rise to the challenge that Jesus presents in Matthew 25:40,
“I tell you the truth, whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you
did to me.”

Background
While Christian antisemitism occupies an unfortunately large place in the history of
Jewish persecution, it is important to realize that hatred of the Jews predates Christianity.
For more information on the roots of this strange hatred we recommend,Why The Jews?
The Reason for Antisemitism, by Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin. These authors
present a biblical case focusing on the covenant relationship between God and the
descendants of Abraham as the basic reason for the on-going resentment directed at the
Jews. A few scriptures will help to illustrate this reasoning.
Gen. 12:1-3 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your
father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless
those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be
blessed through you.”
Exodus. 1:8-11 Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.
Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and,
if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” So they
put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and
Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
Numbers 23:8-9 How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce
those whom the Lord has not denounced? From the rocky peaks I see them, from the
heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of
the nations.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God
has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his
treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because
you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But
it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he
brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the
power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Esther 3:8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed and
scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are
different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in
the king’s best interest to tolerate them.”
Isaiah 49:5-6 And now the Lord says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to
restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you
a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
These scriptures are representative of many others that express God’s choice and special
relationship with the children of Abraham – and the resentment and perhaps jealousy,
they seem to draw from their neighbors. In a perfect world, one would expect a general
sense of gratitude toward those who represent the Creator. However, in a fallen world, it
should not surprise us that rebellious creatures resent and oppose those who represent
divine authority. From early historical periods assorted pagan nations marched across the
“fertile crescent” en route to conquer other nations. On the way they encountered a small,
insignificant nation of monotheists who daily proclaimed in the face of powerful empires,
“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one.”
The main themes of Judaism are God, Torah and Israel – one God, His law and His
chosen nation. Note that neither the Bible nor generations of Jewish interpreters see
“chosenness” as a matter for pride or superiority. In Deuteronomy 7 God clearly states
that His choice was not based on size or importance but, by inference, that His glory
would show forth through a small and very ordinary people.
Christian antisemitism builds on old prejudices and adds the unbiblical idea that all Jews
should suffer in all generations because some Jewish leaders in the Second Temple
period instigated a process that led to the Roman crucifixion of Jesus. However the
Gospels make it very clear that Jesus came into the world specifically to be the Lamb of
God, the willing sacrifice for sin. He came to die. He said to Pilate that “no man takes my
life from me but I lay it down of myself.” From the cross he cried, “Father, forgive them,
they know not what they do.” There is nothing in the Gospels calling Christians to avenge
the death of Jesus. True Christianity focuses on Jesus’ sacrificial death and the victory of
his resurrection. Paul warns against arrogance over against the “natural branches.” Yet
arrogance, vengefulness, pride and cruelty have characterized Christian behavior toward
the Jewish people since the early Christian period and, with increasing intensity, since the
4th century A.D.
As we begin this painful journey remember that persecution and animosity toward the
Jews began early in their national history. Pharaoh, Haman and Antiochus Epiphanes are
only a few examples of rulers who tried to destroy God’s chosen people. The Genesis
account credits Satan, the adversary, with this plot to undermine God’s gracious rule. The
presence of the Jews in the world reminds humankind of the God of the Bible who keeps
covenant and shows mercy. Therefore the forces of evil seem to have an innate desire to
destroy this people. The biblical argument is simply this: if the Jews disappear from the
stage of world history, God is proved to be a liar.
While the Jews have had many enemies, we who are Christians should be concerned
about the part our community has played in this disturbing drama. Our claim to a chosen
relationship with God is also based on the original covenant with Abraham. That
persecution of the Jews has arisen from within our ranks is a tragedy and a shame with
which our community must deal. We must know the facts, painful as they are, and take
positive action in our time to make a difference.

Time Line
BCE/BC(BCE stands for “before the common era” and is used in most academic circles. BC
stands for “before Christ.” Both refer to the same period of time).
c. 2000 – Abraham was called by God to leave Ur of the Chaldees and journey to the
Promised Land. The relationship between God and the people of Israel is based on the
covenant made with Abraham and his descendants.
c. 14th century – Persecution under Egyptian Pharaoh.

The Exodus under the leadership of Moses.
The wilderness wandering: Opposition from enemies such as Amalakites (Ex. 17:8);
Edomites (Num. 20:18); and Moabites (Num. 22:2-6).
c. 12th century –The settlement of the tribes under Joshua and Judges.
Israel’s position as a small nation surrounded by powerful and aggressive neighbors
produces early elements of resentment toward the Jews as outsiders practicing a different
religion.
1000-961 – King David established Jerusalem as capital of the United Kingdom of Israel.
961-922 – King Solomon built the First Temple.
922 – United Kingdom split into Israel (North) and Judah (South).
722 – Shalmaneser V destroyed the Kingdom of Israel in the north, the beginning of the
Assyrian captivity under Sennacherib.
715-687 – King Hezekiah of Judah, threatened with siege by the Assyrians, built a tunnel
from Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam and strengthened city walls. The attackers
taunted Jews for their faith in God, but their prayers were answered and the Assyrians
defeated.
587 – King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and
exiled Jews to Babylon. Also the beginning of a large community of Jewish scholars who
lived and wrote in Babylon for 2500 years. Famous academies developed at Sura and
Pumbedita along the Euphrates River.

BCE 537-332 The Persian Period
537 – King Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon and allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem.
Isa. 45:1 describes Cyrus as, “God’s anointed.”
c. 460 – Story of Esther and Xerxes: Haman’s plot to murder all the Jews is a prototype
of a long line of powerful anti-Jewish opponents.
c. 440 – Nehemiah returned from Babylon. As governor of Judea he rebuilt the walls of
Jerusalem. He was taunted and undermined by local enemies.
c. 435 – Ezra the Scribe came from Babylon, conducted religious reforms and gave
spiritual leadership to the rebuilders of Jerusalem.

332-167 The Hellenistic Period
332 – Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalem – Greek Rule was established.
312-198 – Rule of the Ptolemies (Egypt).
198-167 – Rule of the Seleucids (Syria).
169 – Seleucid King Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple and forbade the
practice of Judaism. He called himself “god manifest” and tried to force Greek paganism
on the Jews. The prophet Zechariah predicted a battle between the sons of Zion and the
sons of Greece (Zech. 9:13). The battle between paganism and monotheism has continued
long beyond the days of the Seleucids.
167-64 BCE The Hasmonean Period (Maccabees)
167-141 – Maccabean War of Liberation. Began when Antiochus tried to force the Jews
to accept Hellenism. When the Syrian Greeks tried to force sacrifice to pagan gods the
priestly family of Mattathias and his five sons rose in revolt beginning at Modi’in, a town
17 miles northwest of Jerusalem.
165 – Purification and rededication of the Temple, a story retold annually in the Jewish
festival of Hanukkah. The Hasmonean dynasty lasted about 80 years. Christians have
good reason to honor the Maccabees, for without their zeal to protect monotheism and the
Jewish way of life there would have been no Jewish community to nurture the religious
life of a baby boy born into the Jewish family of Miriam and Yosef in Bethlehem some
160 years later.
63 – Two descendants of the Hasmonean family, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II fought a
civil war which allowed the Roman takeover of Jerusalem.

63 BCE-313 CE THE ROMAN PERIOD
Roman rule varied in its effect on Jewish life. Some Caesars allowed a measure of
religious freedom and did not require official pagan sacrifices for the Jews. But the
Romans never understood the Jewish passion for monotheism and their loyalty to their
own rites and traditions. In 59 BCE the Roman orator, Cicero, described Judaism as a
“barbaric superstition, ... at variance with the glory of our empire, the dignity of our
name, the customs of our ancestors.” Early seeds of Adolf Hitler’s chilling rhetoric.
63 – The Roman General Pompey conquered Jerusalem and reduced Judea to a puppet
state.
37 BC-4 CE
Reign of Herod the Great, the ruthless Idumaean ruler who rebuilt the Temple in
Jerusalem. He ingratiated himself with the Romans and with their aid became ruler of
Judea. He was only partly Jewish and was hated by the people even though he
embellished the Temple and made it into one of the world’s most beautiful buildings. He
is remembered for his colossal feats of engineering and his insane cruelty.
CE (AD) The Common Era – The Christian Period
c. 4-6 BCE – Birth of Jesus
26-36 – Pontius Pilate named Roman Procurator of Jerusalem.
c. 30 – Crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

Some key points
•Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them.
•Jesus and nearly all the early Christians were Jewish. They kept the Sabbath and the
feasts. No non-Jewish names appear in leadership of the Jerusalem church until after 135
AD. The conflict of church and synagogue was between brothers.
•There were many sects and movements among the Jewish people at that time. The
majority of Jews lived outside of the land of Israel.
•Two main schools of thought flourished, Hillel and Shammai. Hillel’s was the more
merciful and gentle approach and much of Jesus’ teaching reflects the spirit of Hillel. It is
a serious misunderstanding for Christians to stigmatize the Pharisees as opponents of
Jesus. He generally agreed with them. They were the conservative, biblically-oriented
leadership in Jesus’ time. Jesus attacked hypocrisy of some Pharisees, not the belief and
practice of all Pharisees. We suspect he would find it necessary to speak similar words in
some conservative Christian circles today.
•Jewish scholars often cite passages such as John 8:43-47 as examples of antisemitism in
the New Testament. After years of Christian persecution we can understand why these
statements appear antisemitic to Jewish observers today. Remember, though, that these
discussions and accusations took place within a Jewish community.
•Early Christians were persecuted by some Jewish officials. However Christian teaching
offers no scriptural basis for retaliation. (Luke 6:27-31)
•Christians were clearly told not to be arrogant over the natural branches – the Jews.
(Romans 11:20)
•Many early Christians came from the ranks of the “God-fearers,” Gentiles who were
influenced by Judaism but did not make a full conversion. The rapid acceptance of
Christianity among the Gentiles led to increased tension.
c. 49 – The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) allowed Gentiles into the church apart from the
ceremonial law, while forbidding pagan practices and non-kosher meat.
66-70 – The First Jewish revolt against Roman rule.
67 – Zealots take Jerusalem.
70 – The destruction of the Second Temple by Titus and the fall of Jerusalem. This event
occurred on Tisha B’Av, the 9th of the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar.
Traditionally this was also the date of the destruction of Solomon’s Temple.
70 – Establishment of the Jewish Sanhedrin at Yavneh and later at Tiberias. Although the
Temple worship and sacrificial system ceased, institutional and communal life continued.
During the final siege of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakkai was smuggled out of the
city. He requested permission from Vespasian to form an academy of Jewish learning at
Yavneh, south of modern Tel Aviv. During the period between the first and second
Jewish Revolts the gap between the Jewish Christians and the traditional Jews became wider.
73 – The Roman siege of Masada. One thousand Zealot defenders under Elezar ben Yair
are said to have committed suicide rather than surrender to the Romans. This marked the
end of Jewish national autonomy until modern times. There has always been a Jewish
presence in the land of Israel, however.
c. 90 – The Birkat ha-Minim – “the Heretic Benediction,” was composed at this time. It is
credited to Rabbi Samuel the Small and some think it was developed to keep Jewish
Christians on the outside of the Jewish community. David Flusser, Jewish expert on the
New Testament period, argues that this was a pre-Christian text designed to keep all
heretics and dissidents outside the accepted Jewish community.
115 –We are uncertain as to when the change of worship days from Saturday to Sunday
occurred. Ignatius of Antioch instructed the Magnesians to “no longer live for the
Sabbath but for the Lord’s Day.” The Didache, written about 120, also called Christians
to worship on the Lord’s Day. That early Christians developed their own style of worship
is not necessarily wrong. However this increasing disconnection from the original Jewish
root system has produced a Christianity far different from that experienced by Jesus and
the first disciples. During this period Jewish worship was also in a state of change.
Judaism moved from worship centered in the Temple and the sacrificial system,
controlled by the priestly class, to a faith based on ritual purity, prayer and piety. The
local synagogue became the center of spirituality and education led by rabbis who were
not of priestly class.
132-135 – The Second Jewish revolt against Roman rule, Bar-Kokhba’s War of
Liberation. Rabbi Akiva, the leader of the academy at Yavneh, believed Bar-Kokhba to
be the Messiah. This drove a further wedge between the Jewish establishment and the
Jewish Christians.
135 – Emperor Hadrian destroyed Jerusalem and rebuilt a new Roman city called Aelia
Capitolina. Jews were banned from the city except for a permitted visit on Tisha b’Av,
the day the destruction of the Temple is mourned.
In this period Christian leadership moved to Alexandria, Rome and Antioch.
Replacement theology – the notion that the church triumphant has replaced vanquished
Judaism – developed
c.138 CE – Marcion, early Christian gnostic attempted to de-Judaize the Church. He
rejected the Old Testament/Hebrew scriptures and much of the New Testament/Christian
scriptures.
185-25 – Origen of Alexandria promoted allegorical interpretation of scriptures which
de-emphasized Israel’s covenant.
230 – The concept of Deicide, the false and unbiblical charge that the Jews deliberately
killed God, was articulated by Hippolytus of Rome and many other Church Father.
70 – 500 CE – Development of the Talmud
After the Great Revolt of 70 BCE and the Bar-Kokhba rebellion there was a serious
decline in the number of Jewish scholars. Rabbi Judah the Prince decided to record the
Oral Law in written form. The Mishna, meaning “repetition,” is the name given to the
oldest post-biblical codification of Jewish Oral Law. Together with the Gemara (later
commentaries on the Mishna), it forms the Talmud, a vast compendium of Jewish law
and lore. The sages quoted in the Mishna are called the “Tanna’im” (teachers). Those
quoted in the Gemara are known as “Amora’im” (interpreters). During the later medieval
period, Christians, most of whom had never read the Talmud, launched violent attacks
upon it. Cartloads of Talmud manuscripts were burned in Paris in 1242. Modern New
Testament scholars have found the Talmud a very useful source in understanding the
times and the culture that produced Christianity.

312-638 The Early Byzantine Period Formation of the Institutional Church
312 – Conversion of Constantine.
313 – Edict of Milan permitted religious toleration for Christians. Edicts against the Jews
followed quickly forbidding proselytism, withdrawing ancient Jewish privileges and
excluding Jews from high offices or military careers.
325 – Council of Nicaea changed the calendar. This effectively disconnected Easter from
Passover.
330 – Constantine’s mother, Queen Helena, visited Israel and began the tradition of
building churches over holy sites.
As the church left its position as persecuted minority and came to political power, it took
an increasingly unbiblical stance in regard to the Jews. It also lost much of its early
spiritual purity. Before Christians look judgmentally at the Jewish leaders of the New
Testament period, we need to look carefully at the history of Christian leaders when
presented with the temptations that accompany political power. Human nature is usually
predictable.
•The church moved from a Hebrew to a Greek world-view. The church began to
influence the pagan world, but pagan thought also influenced the church.
•Rise of the concept of supersessionism. Main points:
a. Claims God is finished with the Jewish people.
b. Claims the Church is the new Israel, superseding Judaism.
This is the view espoused by Eusebius 264-340, often called “the Father of Church
History.”
As Roman and Greek pagans converted to Christianity the Hebrew biblical foundations
had less influence on Christian thought. Instead of viewing the God’s law as an
expression of His loving relationship to humankind, the law is seen as a negative thing,
fulfilled by Christ, and applicable to the rejected Jews, lost in an outmoded legalism.
•Quotes from Church Fathers: (examples of growing antagonism toward the Jews &
alienation from the Jewish roots of biblical Christianity)
a. Justin Martyr (c. 160) in speaking to a Jew said, “The scriptures are not yours but
ours.”
b. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon (c. 177): “Jews are disinherited from the grace of God.”
c. Tertullian of Carthage (160-230), wrote a treatise, “Against the Jews,” which argued
for the inferiority of the Jews, and in typical supersessionist rhetoric, announced that God
has rejected the Jews in favor of the Christians.
c. Hilary of Poitiers (291-371): “Jew are a perverse people accursed by God forever.”
d. Gregory of Nyssa (died 394) bishop of Cappadocia: “the Jews are a brood of vipers,
haters of goodness...”
e. St. Jerome (347-419) describes the Jews as “. . .serpents, bearing the image of Judas,
their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys.”
f. St. John Chrysostom (347-407): “Jews are inveterate murderers, possessed by the devil,
their debauchery and drunkenness gives them the manners of the pig. They kill and maim
one another.” “Jews are abandoned by God and for the crime of deicide there is no
expiation possible.” “God has always hated the Jews.”
g. St. Augustine (354-430): “Let us preach in spirit of love, not for us to boast over
broken branches.” His attitude was somewhat condescending but less condemning.
However Augustine’s theology continued the trend of allegorizing the Hebrew scriptures
which tended to disconnect the scripture promises from physical Israel and the Jewish
people. Augustine also introduced the idea of the Jews as a “witness people.” This meant
that the continued existence of the Jews was a witness to the truth of Christianity and
gave Christians a right to force the Jews into humbling circumstances. Later the Holy
Roman Emperors regarded Jews as servi camerae, servants of the chamber, and used
them as court librarians. Jews were also used as money-lenders since usury was
considered spiritually dangerous for Christians.
As the Byzantine leaders adopted Christianity and used it for political purposes, many
laws were passed by the state against the Jews. They were called “a feral sect, guilty of
outrageous crimes and sacrilegious gatherings.”
415 – Patriarch Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria expelled the Jews and gave their property to
a Christian mob.
476 – Fall of Western Roman Empire.
546 – Justinian forbade Jews to celebrate Passover if it fell before the Christian Easter.
Guards were posted in synagogues to prevent Jews from saying the Shema (“Hear, O
Israel, the Lord our God is one.”) since it was thought to be anti-trinitarian. Justinian’s
code of law influenced the legal systems of the western world. Much of it was valuable
but the anti-Jewish bias came with it.
590 – Under Pope Gregory I the papacy became supreme authority of western
Christianity. He established policies designed to encourage Jews to convert. Official
papal policy protected Jews from violence but kept them from attaining equal status.
Christians were forbidden from eating with Jews or observing the Sabbath.
614 – The Persian conquest of Jerusalem, the Jews understandably welcomed the end of
Christian rule.
629 – Byzantium recaptured Jerusalem.
632 – Beginning of forced baptisms
692 – Christians forbidden to use Jewish doctors. Intermarriage punishable by death. No
new synagogues to be built.
897 – Jews stripped of property rights.
10th century – Custom began of hitting a Jew in the face on Good Friday and stoning
Jewish homes on Palm Sunday.
200-1038 – Babylonian Jewish Scholars
3rd & 4th century
Opposition and oppression by the Church and economic hardship weakened Jewish life
and scholarship in the land of Israel. Babylonian students of Judah the Prince from
Tiberias returned to Babylon with the Mishna and established new centers of learning at
Sura and Nehardea. The leadership of world Jewry came from the Babylonian schools
during this period. The Babylonian Talmud became the standard legal work for Jews
everywhere. The Jews in Babylon experienced general peace and prosperity under the
Parthian and Sassanian rulers. In addition to the heads of the academies, the Jews were
led by secular rulers, the exilarchs, who claimed descent from King David.
6th century – Beginning of the period of the “Gaonim,” the heads of the academies. They
provided leadership and defined rabbinic Judaism.
770 – Rise of the Karaites, biblical literalists who rejected the Talmud. This group has a
few adherents to this day.
600-1000 The Khazar Empire
The Khazars were a tribe of west Turks who were pushed into Caucasia by Chinese
armies around 550 and formed the first state to emerge in Eastern Europe. The Khazar
rulers converted to Judaism in 740 and claimed to be descended from the tribe of Simeon.
They were defeated by the Russians 200 years later. No one knows what happened to
their descendants. There is a totally unsubstantiated theory that the Khazars are the direct
ancestors of all the Ashkenazi (European) Jews. This theory enjoys popularity among
antisemites generally, and currently among Arab leaders, because it diminishes
contemporary Jewish claims to a historical connection with the land of Israel.
638-1099 The Moslem Period
Generally the Jews found greater toleration under Moslem rule than under Christian.
However Jews in the Moslem and Arab world faced the continual danger of anti-Jewish
discrimination, violence, persecution, confinement to ghettos, punitive taxation, enforced
wearing of special clothes and other humiliations. Both Jews and Christians were
classified as “dhimmis” (second class residents) under Islam and were permitted to
practice their religions only if they acknowledged their subservience to Muslims. They
were forbidden to make converts or to oppose conversion to Islam within their own
ranks. Both groups were periodically subjected to humiliating laws.
638 – Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem. Arab-Moslem rule was established.
688-691 – Dome of the Rock built on Temple Mount.
694 – Judaism outlawed in Visigoth Spain.
711 –Moorish invasion of Spain, beginning of tolerant Moslem rule.
996-1020 – Church of the Holy Sepulcher destroyed.
1054 – Schism between Eastern & Western Church.
10-12th century – The Golden Age of Spanish Jewry.
12th century – The Almohades, a fanatical Muslim group, imposed “convert or die” rules
in parts of Spain and in Morocco. Thousands of Jews fled, including Moses Maimonides,
the Rambam. He later wrote the Mishneh Torah, a systematic code of Jewish law.
The Sephardim & Ashkenazim
1038 – The last influential Gaon died and eastern Judaism was in decline. The centers of
Jewish life were developing in North Africa and Muslim Spain. The Hebrew word for
Spain is “Sepharad.” The Jews of Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle Eastern
countries are known as Sephardim. Their rituals, customs, and pronunciation of Hebrew
is somewhat different from the Ashkenazim, the Jews of other European countries and
their descendants. The Sephardim were part of the Arab cultural renaissance. They wrote
in Arabic on science, philosophy, grammar and they produced many biblical
commentaries, and Hebrew poetry. Their scholars included Ibn Gabriol, Judah Ha-Levi
and the great Maimonides. The Ashkenazim had lived in Italy, Germany, France and the
Netherlands since Roman times and in England since the Norman Conquest. Until the
time of the Crusades, they lived in relative security in Europe. They had ties with Jews in
distant lands and played a considerable role in international trade. They were not exposed
to as broad a secular culture as the Jews in Spain. Their religion was of a more simple
and pious nature than the Sephardim.
1096-1300 The Crusader Period
1096 – First Crusade. An undisciplined mob of 200,000 peasants and artisans marched
off to free the Holy Land from the infidel. On the way through the Rhineland they
slaughtered more than 5,000 Jews.
1099 – Upon arrival in Jerusalem, they besieged the city, killed the Moslems and herded
the Jews into a synagogue where they were burned to death as the Crusaders sang,
“Christ, we adore Thee.”
1146 – Second Crusade. The entire Jewish community of Bloise, France was burned at
stake in a “blood libel” accusation. Blood libel is one of three major accusations leveled
against Jews in the medieval period. It says that Jews kidnapped and killed Christian
children and used their blood to make matzah. Debts owed to Jews were cancelled for
Crusaders.
1189 – Third Crusade. Most violent in England. In York, 150 Jews under siege in a castle
committed suicide rather than be burned at the stake.
1200 – Jews in many areas were forced to wear distinctive dress and live in restricted
areas. Star of David as badge of shame required in Poland.
1215 – Fourth Lateran Council, convened by Pope Innocent III, decreed that Jews living
in Christian lands were to wear a yellow badge on their clothing. This became the model
for the yellow star of the Nazis. It also enabled enemies of the Jews to mark, identify and
isolate them. This Council also formulated the doctrine of “transubstantiation” as official
Catholic dogma. This meant that the wine and bread used in Catholic Mass miraculously
became the actual body and blood of Christ. This lead to the strange charge of
“desecration of the host.” This is the belief that Jews stole communion wafers (thought to
actually become the body of Christ) and tormented them to “crucify Christ again.” Many
Jews were murdered as a result of this ridiculous charge.
1240 – Burning of the Talmud and other Jewish writings.
1263 – The first of the forced disputations between Jews and Christians, involved Moses
Nachmanides and Pablo Christiani in Barcelona. Other forced disputations were held
during this period.
1291 – The end of the Crusader period. The nine Crusades left the non-Christian world
with a picture of Christians as militaristic and cruel. Jews and Moslems who survived the
Crusader efforts to Christianize the Holy Land were understandably resistant to the
Christian message.
14th century: The Plague & Jewish Expulsions
1320 – As the bubonic plague moved across Europe, Jews were accused of causing the
plague by poisoning water wells. Along with blood libel & host-desecration, this marks
beginning of Jewish world-conspiracy theories.
1347-50 – Black Death. Jews were blamed again. Hundreds of Jewish communities were
destroyed.
1387 – Chaucer, in England, wrote “The Prioress’s Tale,” a story based on an early blood
libel report. It told the story of a young boy named Hugh of Lincoln who was kidnapped
and murdered. Of course the Christians believed he had been murdered by Jews.
1290 – England, under King Edward I, began the practice of totally expelling the Jewish
population. The motive seems to have been a mixture of blood libel, religious hatred and
economic concerns. Since Jews, unable to own land, often became tradesmen and moneylenders,
many noblemen wished to be rid of their creditors. The Jews were not allowed to
return until Cromwell’s rule in 1656.
1306 & 94 – France
1349-60 – Hungary
1421 – Austria
1445 – Lithuania
1492 – Spain
1497 – Portugal (at some periods the Inquisition here was worse than in Spain. Jews were
forced to convert or die with no possibility of escape.)
1744 – Bohemia and Moravia
1500-1772 – Jews were not permitted in Russia, later they were confined to the “Pale of
Settlement.”

16th Century The Ghetto Period
1516 – The Jewish quarter of Venice was called “the Ghetto” and this local name became
a general term for these segregated areas. Historically Jews had lived in neighborhoods of
their own for security purposes and access to a synagogue. But in the 16th century they
were systematically forced to live in walled areas which were locked at night and on
Christian holidays. They were forced to wear a distinguishing badge when they ventured
outside the walls. Jews had little contact with non-Jews and few, except for those in Italy,
knew anything of the cultural revival of the Renaissance or the scientific advances of the
16th and 17th centuries. The Ashkenazi spoke Yiddish, a German dialect mixed with
many Hebrew and some Slavic words, written in Hebrew characters. The Sephardim
spoke Ladino, again Hebrew characters with Spanish words.
For centuries European pilgrims had been following in the footsteps of Queen Helena and
visiting the Christian holy sites. The rise of Islam did little to interrupt this traffic.
However, during the 11th century the fanatical Seljuk Turks seized Jerusalem and made
pilgrimage more difficult. The defeat of the Eastern Christians at the Battle of Manzikert
(1071) left Emperor Alexius I vulnerable. He called for help and in 1095 Pope Urban II
proclaimed the 1st Crusade at the Council of Clermont. The crowd cried, “God wills it!”
and embarked on a very dark period of Christian history.
1481-1808 Inquisition
Ferdinand and Isabella united the domains of Aragon and Castile when they married in
1469. The Catholic church was concerned about the so-called Marranos or Conversos,
Jews who had converted to Christianity under duress but still maintained ties with the
Jewish community and its practices. As faithful Catholics, Ferdinand and Isabella
decided that Jews who had not converted should be exiled. The Inquisition was set up as
a permanent court of the Church established to stamp out heresy. In Spain the
Dominicans applied torture to deal with the Marrano problem. Some Marranos escaped to
more tolerant countries like Holland. Others assimilated while keeping aspects of Jewish
ritual. Many settled in Muslim countries of North Africa or Mediterranean territories held
by the Ottoman Turks.
1483 – Thomas Torquemade, Inquisitor General, directed the torture of thousands of
Jews. Many were burned at the stake.
1492 – At the same time Columbus set sail for the New World, over 100,000 Jews forced
to leave Spain.

1500-1600 Reformation
Martin Luther (1483-1546) had sympathy for Jews in early years of his work.In 1523 he
wrote a very positive pamphlet entitled, That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew. He became
angry when the Jews did not quickly convert to his renewed Christianity. Luther is a
complex character in Christian history. Christians owe him a debt of gratitude for his
clear stand for individual relationship with God and the right to read and interpret the
Bible. However his anger, arrogance and unwillingness to listen to ideas other than his
own has, unfortunately, characterized too many Christians in subsequent years. His
remarks were quoted by Hitler to justify his anti-Jewish policies.
1543 – Published Of The Jews And Their Lies. (Main points listed here)
a. Synagogues to be burned, homes destroyed.
b. Jews should be deprived of prayer books and Talmuds
c. Rabbis forbidden to teach.
d. Forbid passports and traveling privileges.
e. Stopped from money-lending & usury, forced to do manual labor.
f. “Act so we may be free of this insufferable, devilish burden – the Jews.”
The Reformation brought renewed interest in Hebrew studies and the role of the Hebrew
scriptures. But few of the reformers showed true concern for Jews – other than those they
met in the Bible.
1524 – Anabaptist leaders led riots against the Jews. Menno Simons, founder of the
Mennonites, saw the God of the Old Testament as harsh and cruel and the New
Testament God as kind and good.
1555 – John Calvin held a higher view of the Abrahamic covenant than Luther did and
some of Calvin’s enemies called him a Judaizer. However Jews were expelled from
Calvinist cities as well.

1500-1600 Court Jews
In many European states wealthy Jewish men became court favorites and often controlled
the financial affairs of the rulers. They were known as court agents or “hofjuden” and
sometimes provoked jealousies which led to general persecution of the whole Jewish
community. However some used their influence to win privileges for their fellow Jews. If
we accept the view that God intended to Jews to survive and prosper, we should be
thankful for all the unique ways in which he sustained them.
1590 – Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” popularizes the stereotype of the “greedy,
heartless, money-grubbing Jew.”
Poland & Russia
Jews may have wandered north as early as the Assyrian and Babylonian era and were
certainly there by Hellenistic times. In the 8th century the kingdom of Khazaria converted
to Judaism. As previously mentioned, the details of their conversion and the impact of the
Khazars on European Jewry is an issue that has sparked controversy and debate.
Whatever the details, it should be noted that the antisemitic rumors implying that all
European Jews are descendants of the Khazars and therefore not ethnically Jewish is
ridiculous.
Russia developed as a nation in the 10th century when the Duke of Kiev defeated the
Vikings and and took Moscow.
1333-70 – Casimir the Great issued a series of charters protecting Jews. Jews allowed
autonomy in communal affairs throughout Galicia.
1530-84 – Ivan the Terrible ordered Jews who refused to convert to Christianity to be
drowned. Jews were excluded from Russian territory until the partition of Poland in 18th
century.
1648-56 Chmielnicki Massacres
Cossack leader, Bogdan Chmielnicki, led a revolt against the Polish gentry. After
defeating the Polish army his followers joined with Polish peasants in attacking the Jews.
Spasmodic violence continued for 8 years. Over 100,000 Jews were killed, many more
were tortured. Others fled to Holland, Germany, Bohemia and the Balkans.
1795-1917 Pale of Settlement
The term “pale” (from the Latin palus, “stake”) is used to designate a district set off by
distinct boundaries from the surrounding territory. In imperial Russia the Jewish
population was confined to a Pale of Settlement, established in 1792, that consisted of
Russian Poland, Lithuania, Belorussia, the Crimea, Bessarabia, and much of the Ukraine.
As Russia expanded westward more than 1,2000,000 Polish and Lithuanian Jews came
under Russian rule.
1827 – Nicholas I of Russian introduced a 25-year military service requirement for Jews.
Young boys were recruited at age 12, forced to eat pork, treated cruelly and forcibly
converted. This law was in effect until 1874.
1881-1920 Russian Pogroms
Three waves of violent antisemitic attacks supported by the Russian government. When
the pogroms began, over half of world Jewry lived under Russian rule. Most who could
manage it fled to the United States. Others began the upsurge of immigration to Palestine.
In later times Jews have been criticized for supporting Communism in Russia. Of course,
the Communists also persecuted the Jews. But we can easily understand why people who
had suffered so terribly under Russian czars would support any opposition to such a cruel
regime.

1517-1917 The Ottoman Turkish Period
By 1660 over a million Jews lived under Ottoman rule.
1490 – Jewish refugees from Spain & Portugal were allowed to settle in Turkish lands.
Small minorities of Jews and Christians allowed to live in Holy Land.
1517 Ottoman conquest of Jerusalem.
1536-1542 – Sultan Suleiman rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. (the same walls which
surround the Old City today)
After the Golden Age of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Turks weakened and entered a
lengthy period of decline. The European powers kept the Ottoman Empire alive in order
to resist Russian expansion of influence in Mediterranean.
1700 – Rabbi Yehuda ha-Hassid began building the “Hurva” Synagogue in Jerusalem.
1860 – First Jewish settlement built outside the city walls.
18th century The Enlightenment
1729-86 – Moses Mendelssohn, grandfather of the composer, Felix Mendelssohn, was a
major force in bringing modernism into the Jewish world. He worked to get Jews out of
the ghetto but wanted to make this move cautiously lest Judaism be lost in the move
toward the future. The movement developed by his disciples is called Haskala, the
Hebrew word for enlightenment. Mendelssohn translated the Hebrew scriptures into
German and encouraged Jews to learn German and participate in secular life. Reform
Judaism grew out of this movement.
1743 – Birth of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, father of the famous banking house. In two
generations the Rothschilds went from minor money-changers in the Frankfort ghetto to
become a major banking dynasty in Europe. Remember that Jews were forced into
money-lending early in European history. The fact that a few succeeded has given rise to
the myth that all Jews are incredibly wealthy.
1791 – French National Assembly granted citizenship to Jews. Napoleon extended these
rights to Jews in conquered nations. These rights were revoked when Napoleon was
defeated but Jews continued to struggle for emancipation.
1795 – Over the next 150 years many Jewish self-help groups were formed. They set up
schools, hospitals and refugee programs.
1807 – Napoleon convened the Grand Synagogue made up of rabbis and lay Jews. They
declared that Jews are a religion, not a nationality.
1800s – In Britain and Holland liberated Jews began to participate in public life. During
the 19th century most European nations except Russia granted civil equality to Jews
1810 – First Reform synagogue opened in Seesen, Germany by philanthropist, Israel
Jacobson. Abraham Geiger (1810-74) was the leading Reform rabbi.
1840 – Rabbi Zacharias Frankel, in Bohemia, influenced a 3rd Jewish movement which
later became known as Conservative Judaism.
1837 – Benjamin Disraeli, a baptized Jew, became Prime Minister of England.
1858 – Removal of anti-Jewish legislation allowed the first Jewish Member of Parliament
to serve in without swearing a Christian oath.
The Jewish Enlightenment began in central and eastern Europe. Ironically much of its
inspiration came from the most antisemitic areas such as Russia and Poland. The
emergence of a Jewish middle class was a key factor the move toward spiritual and
economic freedom. During this period Jews came to the forefront of philosophy, science,
invention and the arts.

1860-1939: Growth of Zionism & Antisemitism
Many Jews during the Enlightenment period thought that assimilation would free them
from antisemitism. Secularism influenced both Jews and Christians and many in both
groups felt that religion was an outmoded element in the modern world. Some Jews were
baptized as a ticket into Gentile society. However antisemitism did not go away.
1819 – Beginning of the “Hep! Hep!” riots. (Hep stands for Hierosolyma Est Perdita –
Latin for Jerusalem is lost.) This was a war cry of the rioters who were inspired by
antisemitic literature and prejudice growing throughout the German-speaking states.
1854 – Joseph de Gobineau, a French diplomat, wrote, “Essay on the Inequality of the
Human Races,” an early presentation of racist theory which had great influence on
German antisemites.
1858 – A Jewish child, Edgar Mortara, was kidnapped in Bologna because the Catholic
family maid had baptized him and the Church regarded him as a Catholic. He was never
allowed to return to his family and became a Catholic priest and an antisemite as an adult.
It is important for modern Christians to realize that Jewish converts to Christianity have
been among the most virulent antisemites historically. This is one reason why the Jewish
community is very resistant to “Messianic Jews” today.
1860 – The Damascus Blood Libel. Though Jews were regarded as second class citizens
in Arab lands, antisemitism was not common in the Ottoman Arab world. This changed
when a friar named Fr. Thomas disappeared in Damascus. He had been seen in the
Jewish quarter of the city and his fellow friars accused the Jews of kidnapping him for
ritual murder. The French consul and the local governor imprisoned members of the most
prominent Jewish families. When they refused to confess, 63 Jewish children, ages 3-10,
were seized and denied food. Under torture, some of the Jews “confessed.” Jewish
leaders eventually got them released, but many were permanently crippled from the
torture. Greater Jewish solidarity grew out of this tragic event.
1879 – Wilhelm Marr (1818-1904) a German antisemitic agitator, coined the term
“antisemite.” He wanted to form a political movement based on antisemitism.
1881 – Richard Wagner, Germany’s leading composer, was a virulent antisemite. His
philosophy and his music greatly influenced Hitler and the Nazis. Wagner’s son-in-law,
Houston Stewart Chamberlain wrote The Foundations of the 19th Century, which claims
the Jews have tainted the Aryan races with Semitic blood.
1886 – Edouard Drumont (1844-1917) wrote The French Jew, a widely-read book
accusing the Jews of controlling France.
1894 – Dreyfus trial. Alfred Dreyfus, a French army captain, was an assimilated Jew.
When a treasonable act was committed in his army unit, everyone blamed him although
there was no serious evidence against him. His trial was covered by Theodore Herzl, a
Jewish journalist from Vienna who came to the trial believing Jews could avoid
persecution by assimilating and left convinced that nothing except a Jewish state would
protect them.
1896 – Herzl published The Jewish State, calling for a national homeland for the Jews in
Palestine.
1897 – Herzl called the First Zionist Congress in Basel to organize the movement back to
the land of the Bible. He was aided and encouraged by a Christian pastor named William
Hechler. Many Bible-believing Christians held Zionist sentiments at this time.
Unfortunately, most of the organized Church still saw the Jews as “Christ-killers.”
1903 – Publication in a Russian newspaper of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of
Zion. This is a forgery claiming to reveal a Jewish plot for world domination. It is based
on a French novel about Napoleon III and has been discredited in courts of law but it still
is promoted by antisemites throughout the world. Henry Ford believed the story and
published it in the USA. He later learned it was a forgery but much damage was done by
his support. In recent times it has been published in Arabic and is widely believed in the
Arab world.
1917 – After World War I and the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire the British were
given a mandate to rule Palestine and the Balfour Declaration supported a national home
for the Jewish people in their ancient homeland.
1654 – The New World
1492 – Some historians believe that Columbus was of Jewish origin, possibly a Marrano.
This is uncertain. Five members of his crew and his interpreter were Jews.
1654-58 – Jews started congregations in New Amsterdam, Newport, Rhode Island and
Charleston, South Carolina.
1728 – First synagogue in America built in New Amsterdam.
1790 – George Washington said to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport: “May the
children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the
good will of the other inhabitants, in which everyone shall sit in safety under his own
vine and fig tree, and there shall be no one to make him afraid.”
1801 – Georgia was the first State to have a Jewish Governor.
1800s – Waves of immigrants from Europe made the journey to the USA. Most of them,
Jews and non-Jews acclimated to the less rigid society in the New World. However the
antisemitic myths were still believed by many.
1850 – Detroit newspaper referred to Jews as “mysterious, cursed wanderers” and a New
York paper published a blood libel report.
1862 – Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant issued General Order #11 which expelled all
Jews from his military district in Tennessee. In the South Judah P. Benjamin served as
Secretary of State in the Confederate government but he was often a target of attack as
the war went against the South.
Jews were often refused admission to schools, universities and professional
organizations. Jewish hospitals were built because Jewish doctors were not allowed on
staff at other hospitals.
1881-1924 – Two and a half million Jews came to the US from Eastern Europe, mainly
via Ellis Island.

1917-1948 THE BRITISH OCCUPATION AND THE MANDATE PERIOD
1917 – November 2 – Balfour Declaration expressed British support for a Jewish
National Home in Palestine. During the 1800s many British Christians developed an
interest in Zionism from a biblical perspective. Their influence set the stage for the
Balfour Declaration and the Mandate.
December 11 – British forces under General Allenby defeated the Turks and entered
Jerusalem.
1920 – San Remo Conference granted Britain a mandate over Palestine with intent to
encourage Jewish immigration.
1921 – British made contradictory promises to Arabs and Jews. They created the
kingdom of Transjordan for Abdullah and appointed Haj Amin al-Husseini as Mufti of
Jerusalem.
1929 – Arabs demanded an end to Jewish immigration, massacred Jews in Hebron and
Safed.
1930 – British White Paper limited Jewish immigration.
1936-39 – Continuing campaign of Arab violence. British backed down on their promises
to the Jews just as the Nazis rise to power.
1920-1945 – Rise of Nazism & the Holocaust
1922 – Hitler stated that if he won power, “the annihilation of the Jews will be my first
and foremost task...They cannot protect themselves and no one will stand forth as their
protectors.”
1923 – First issue of the antisemitic newspaper Der Sturmer, edited by Julius Streicher.
The banner slogan: “The Jews are our Misfortune.”
1924 – Pres. Coolidge signed the Immigration Act which effectively ended open
immigration to the USA.
1933 – Nazis come to power in Germany. Approximately 503,000 Jews lived in the Third
Reich, less than 1% of the total population. Berlin had about 160,500 Jews. In March, the
first concentration camp was established at Dachau.
1935 – Nuremberg Laws officially disenfranchised Jews and made them noncitizens.
Jews were no longer allowed to hold government jobs, serve in the army or marry non-
Jews.
1936 – Jews forbidden to vote in elections.
Olympic Games opened in Berlin. The “Jews not welcome” signs were removed from
most public places to present a favorable and misleading picture to foreign visitors.
1937 – Very few Jews were allowed to obtain passports for travel abroad.
1938German troops marched into Austria.
•Jews were identified in various ways. Required to have Jewish first names, such as Israel
or Sarah. Passports marked with a “J.”
•15,000 Jews resettled in Poland.
•Kristallnacht Night of Broken Glass – a pogrom which attacked Jewish businesses and
synagogues.
•Jews removed from schools and universities. Forced to hand in drivers licenses and car
registration – then real estate, securities and jewelry.
July – Evian Conference, attended by delegates from 32 countries, discussed the problem
of the rising number of Jewish refugees. None but the Dominican Republic offered to
accept any refugees. Most delegates spent their time enjoying water sports on the lake.
September – Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler and announced he had achieved “peace
in our time.” The Munich conference betrayed Czechoslovakia and set the stage for
World War II. Chamberlain’s appeasement policy was supported by many Americans,
including Charles Lindbergh and Joseph Kennedy.
1939 May – 937 Jews from Germany set sail on the S.S. St. Louis for Cuba. They were
refused entrance in Cuba and the USA. They were forced to return to Europe and most
died in the death camps.
September – Germany declared war on Poland.
Sept 3 World War II began
Austrian Jews were deported to Poland. All Jews forced to wear a yellow star.
1940 – German Jews began to be taken into “protective custody” deported to
concentration camps.
1941 – The Nazis invaded Russia in June. Special forces, known as “Einsatzgruppen,”
accompanied the German troops. They were assigned to round up and murder every
Russian Jew they could find. The most infamous massacre was carried out in the
Ukrainian city of Babi Yar, near Kiev. 33,000 Jews were forced to the edge of huge pits
and shot to death. Later during Communist times, memorials were held but no one
mentioned that the victims were Jews.
The Mufti of Jerusalem relocated to Berlin. Announced his intention to create a “fascist
Arab state.” He favored Hitler’s planned destruction of world Jewry.
June 1941 – Germany invades the Soviet Union.
•Jews throughout Europe were “being resettled in the east.”
•Six major death camps were prepared in Poland: Belzec, Auschwitz/Birkenau, Chelmno,
Maidanek, Sobibor, Treblinka.
•Jews were transported to ghettos in preparation for transport to the death camps.
1942 – Nazi leaders met in Berlin suburb of Wannsee to plan the “Final Solution.” They
had a detailed plan to liquidate 11 million human beings.
1943 – April/May, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Led by Mordecai Anielewicz and other
young Jews, it was the first uprising against the Nazis of an urban population.
1945 – War ended, survivors of the camps were liberated, approximately six million Jews
were dead, one-third of world Jewry.
1947 – UN voted to partition Palestine. British gave up Mandate & prepare to leave by
May 1948.
1948 – May 15, State of Israel declared.
1945: present – PostWar Antisemitism
•Before World War II antisemitism was socially acceptable in the USA as well as in
Europe. After the Nazi horrors became known, many non-Jews became more
sympathetic, or at least less outspoken in their views. The UN voted to recognize the
State of Israel. Many haters of Jews began to identify themselves as “anti-Zionists”
instead of antisemites.
•Prior to the war America had many anti-Jewish isolationists such as: Fr. Charles
Coughlin, Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford and others whose names are less well known.
•Holocaust denial began soon after the war.
Denial and Historical Revisionism
1947 – France led the way, Maurice Bardeche and Paul Rassinier were among those who
questioned the evidence of the Holocaust. They defended the Germans but did not deny
the atrocities.
1950s – Willis Carto developed a network of antisemitic publishing houses and political
pressure groups. His empire includes the Liberty Lobby, The Spotlight newspaper,
Noontide Press and The Institute for Historical Review, a magazine with a scholarly
facade, targeting the academic community. These publications are filled with hatred,
various misinformation and a collection of total lies.
1960s – Austin App and Harry Barnes, US college professors, began publishing material
that questioned and later denied that the Holocaust had really occurred.
1977 – Arthur R. Butz, Professor of Engineering at Northwestern University, wrote “The
Hoax of the 20th Century,” a booklet filled with the typical nonsense characteristic of all
Holocaust deniers.
1984 – “The Gas Chamber Controversy.” Fred Leuchter, a bogus engineer and self-styled
gas chamber expert, went to Auschwitz and claimed to have preformed experiments
proving large numbers of people could not have been gassed there. His lies have been
discredited.
1990s – Bradley Smith, a young denier, began a campus program called “Committee for
Open Debate on the Holocaust.” He tries to force debate on details of the Holocaust in an
effort to discredit the overwhelming evidence for this well-documented historical
tragedy.
The perceived decline of moral values in our culture has left some conservative
Christians wondering how things got so bad so fast. Unfortunately the Holocaust deniers
play upon these concerns and quickly blame Jewish bankers, artists and filmmakers for
all that is wrong in society. Christians who are unfamiliar with the history of antisemitism
are often vulnerable to conspiracy theories and other messages of the deniers. The recent
rise of the Patriot Movement has strong elements of antisemitism in it. There is a long
historical rut into which each generation easily falls. The truth will set us free to be our
brothers keepers.
At this writing, in 2006, the rise of left-wing antisemitism from groups like the Sabeel
Center for Liberation Theology in Palestine are on the rise. And, of course, translation of
the “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,” is enjoying popularity in the Arab world.
All Christians can learn from Pope John XXIII. Shortly before his death he composed
this prayer:
“We realize now that we no longer see the beauty of Thy Chosen People and no longer
recognize in their faces the features of our firstborn brother. We realize that our brows are
branded with the mark of Cain. Centuries long has Abel lain in blood and tears, because
we had forgotten Thy love. Forgive us the curse which we unjustly laid on the name of
the Jews. Forgive us that, with our curse, we crucified Thee a second time.”
As we become aware of the tragic trail of contempt that has for too long characterized
Christian behavior toward our Jewish brothers and sisters, most of us will feel a
responsibility to take action. If you are looking for appropriate avenues to begin the
process of healing these wounds and correcting the untruths too often told about the
Jewish people, please contact the author at jgmagnuson@mac.com. I would be glad to
work with you to build positive relationships with the people who gave us the Bible, the
people who are still God’s Chosen.

©JoAnn Magnuson. All rights reserved.