Refusing to Internalize the Blame: A Phenomenology of Antisemitism and Jewish Fortitude

I've been thinking a lot about anti-Semitism this week. Initially, more about its impact. The ways in which it has (and hasn't) shaped who we are, and subsequently, from a more phenomenological perspective. Along the way I have begun to "bond," with the victims of the Holocaust, though I will rush to add that there is no way I can, or will claim, any real understanding of the level of suffering they were subjected to. I will be permanently incapable of grasping the extent of its excruciating unfathomability.

I was thinking more about micro insights, such as the quickness in which some segments of the society around us have come to tolerate and tacitly normalize this open and explicitly brazen spike in antisemitism, though they themselves might find these views to be utterly abhorrent. But the parallels that really hit home is how swiftly we have adjusted to that normalization.

I say adjusted, to point out that we haven't accepted it as OK—but is that inevitable? What is the psychological breaking point at which there is a mental capitulation to the endless projection of misplaced blame, and the subsequent internalization of guilt, that clearly belongs to the vicious thugs who actually bear responsibility.

The real danger and damage lies in the potential to subsequently internalize the shame ( as some already have)

This mirrors the classic methodology of high conflict individuals—where the abusers shift the blame of their abuse onto the victims themselves. The ultimate double whammy. We see the alarming prevalence of that in our society today, in which children, innocent children, are being incriminated and found guilty of the crimes of their ancestors. And we can see the breaking point of that unfolding right in front of our eyes.

Fortunately, notwithstanding the immense pressure—it's still our choice and it's up to us to respond with the appropriate mental toughness.

I look to our history. Yes, we have been here before. How helpful can that be? And is that not scant comfort? It's not an easy question. I don't want to identify myself, (and reject the stereotype) as a continuation of a long chain of meek scapegoated "schleppers" — the helpless "nebach" of history. To the contrary. The young Jews I know today, are not afraid to protect themselves. And they will. That too is a tectonic shift.

Yet—history doesn't offer multiple choices. We are who we are. And what happened to us happened to us. We can't choose a different past, only a different present and future, and even that, only to the extent that we can. But we can reframe our past.

Firstly, and most importantly— and highly relevant today as well— is recognizing the fact that we were victimized, and that it isn't a reflection of us. Nor does it define us. Instead it is an insightful window into the troubled psyche of those civilizations. Particularly those of late antiquity and the middle ages. But even later throughout the renaissance and through the industrial revolution, setting the stage for Hitler and his hordes.

I say troubled psyche, referring to a latent and residual savagery, and the collective memory of the hedonistic freedoms it offered, prior to it being stuffed prematurely into the "restrictive" norms of civilization. Those damn Jews and their moral codes "were so triggering," always the perfect disposal for the periodic release of all the pent-up savagery. Yet doing so cloaked in the respectability of civility. It was this same mindset that gave us the blood libels, and ultimately the calls for a society that was Juden Rhein - free of Jews— but really free of G-d.

The accusation of being christ killers was in retrospect the ultimate historical gaslighting and cover up. "We are killing the Jews and hopefully their g-d and the very annoying notion of conscience it conveys—and covering it up by accusing them of that very crime."How nicely does that work out"?

Today's surge in anti-Semitism follows that exact pattern. Why not level the illogical and utterly preposterous, accusations of genocide, toward the very people whose extermination gave us its definition? Like all its pathetic antecedents through history, the twisted heartlesness of the modern antisemite, is likewise adrift in the sorrow of insecurity and mediocrity, and finds relief in the delegitimization of others. They drink the intoxicating brew of unearned entitlement, blame shifting, and perpetual victimhood —from the same damn goblet.

Whew. That's heavy. But as Ricky Gervais says "I don't care." If you are spouting hatred, you are

fair game. If you aren't, then bravo. You have achieved balance, success, and self esteem the good old fashioned way, eliminating the need to demonize others along the way to do so.

Haters will be haters. But as Jewish people—we have every reason to hold our heads high. We are still the ones who have been chosen to carry the mantle of goodness and light in the world. And we will continue to do so.

Much Love,

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yossi