Judeophile. What follows is some major generalizations, oversimplifications and some honest observations thrown in:
My friends have been disproportionately Jewish. I married Jewish. We met in Georgia, where I grew up. Half of my friends are Jewish. That’s hard to do when they are such a small population.
What attracts me to Jewish people and probably them to me is the willingness to discuss politics and morality. What do we owe society? Is a thought that was taught in Jewish homes. Should have been taught in all homes, but often was not.
I’ve ceased to be Catholic, barely believe in God, but was always overwhelmed by the Sermon on the Mount. Very blunt and very Jewish in its tone. Social Justice is a centuries old Jewish tradition.
I’ve had discussions with friends who are Jewish and atheist who mock the Hebrew Bible as useless mythology. I like to champion the Jewish Bible as follows: What poverty stricken, isolated people, contemplating why God has punished them so much arrive at the decision that it’s because they have mistreated widows and orphans? I mean they could have gone into major group think, built bigger temples, sacrificed more animals, kissed up to God through bribery, but they decided that GOD REQUIRES JUSTICE, NOT SACRIFICES. This was Jewish thought that has contributed to all of western civilization. Yes, others were there, too, but credit to Jews for putting their morality on paper and for writing and teaching it for generations.
To be around Jewish people, there is always a challenge to check one’s social standing, to think of the less fortunate, to test the powers that be. And a lot of blunt speech. See Freud.
Some people are not comfortable with that tradition and can be very offended by the questioning of authority.
The Jewish tradition to trust science is also threatening. Witness the anti-vaxxers. Imagine how much worse the hatred was during the plague because Jews washed their hands and didn’t die.
People are right to give Jewish people credit for socialism and civil rights - they pulled above their weight for centuries in Europe and America to bring about social equality. Their devotion to Justice doesn’t make them many friends.
I’m not trying to simplify this but since Jews in Europe were segregated, limited to certain trades, dressed differently and practiced their own religion, this was a set up for discrimination. Catholics and Protestants butchered each other over the meaning of the Eucharist. Jews and Muslims were never safe.
The fear that Jews were smarter (and worse!) chosen by God - can instill hatred and jealousy. I believe the Romans pushed that whole crucifixion thing onto Jews to counter the clear statement by God that Jews were the chosen people. (Just try telling a Catholic that crucify is a Latin word - crucifixare - and had no Hebrew or Aramaic word before Rome took over. ) For centuries, Europe had Passion plays during Easter week, acting out the killing of Jesus. And in the Fox News tradition of its time, the immigrant Jews were portrayed the ones who killed Jesus. (Never mind that Jesus was a socialist killed by the powerful people because he was too good at preaching social Justice).
Anti-Semitism is real. There are those of us westerners who lionize Jewish contributions (maybe the Chosen People thing got to us psychologically), but the contributions by Jews absolutely cannot be ignored. They introduced their Bible and with it, their conscience, to Western Civilization. Success, unfortunately, has made them targets of jealous hatred and violence.
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