Anti-Semitism

Whenever I mention that I was born in Poland, the question arises, 

"What about the rampant anti-Semitism?"

Over the past years I have given this question a great deal of thought and devoted myself to some serious studies.  Although I have attempted to explain in detail what I experienced and felt,  nothing seemingly satisfies the listener.

Before 1939, Poland had 3.5 million Jews.  They were, in fact, despised, hated, and abused.  Yes, Poland was the most anti-Jewish country in Europe.

At the present time there are only about 5,000 (five thousand) Jews living in this territory.  My shtetel alone had about the same number of Jews.  Anti-Semitism is still raging in Poland.

Of course I can’t talk about all of Poland, but my shtetel, and the surrounding hamlets are very much beloved in my heart.  

The little Jewish towns had many things in common.  There must have been thousands of them from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Byelorussia, (Belarus), Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, and Austria.  Somehow they existed for hundreds of years.

Their languages (Yiddish, for everyday existence and commerce, and Hebrew, for their religious observances), their strange Middle Age black clothing (actually that was imposed on them by the authorities), their praying three times a day – facing East to Jerusalem – praying for the Messiah to come and take them back to their land in Zion – all were shared by the Jews in this sprinkling of villages.  They never assimilated, they never blended into the main stream of the local population.

They were actually strangers in strange lands for about 1900 years!  No wonder they were misunderstood.  But there is more to this.  The various ruling authorities used the strangeness for their own dark purposes.  The Jews became the scapegoats for all ills, economical or political.

Everything was blamed on the Jews.  The Hebrews were forbidden to own land for farming, nor were they permitted to do many other types of work, therefore the Jews became merchants, middlemen, and (especially despised) tax collectors.

The peasantry saw the Jews as villains.  The farmers produced food, brought it to the Jews, who haggled over the price they would receive. The peasants in so doing earned a little money and they generally spent it in the Jewish stores.  The Jews, with their networks and distribution systems, resold the farm products to other Jews, and they, in turn, to others – each adding  just a little profit.

When the peasant compared what he received for his bushels of wheat or rye to the retail prices of the marketplace, he began to resent the black hatted, black kopote wearing men who hardly spoke the nation's native language, yet who seemingly made so much money from the farmer's efforts.  To top it all, the people who came to their farms to collect tax money for the government were Jews.

A great deal of blame must be put on the churches.  They never truly explained religion.  They actually kept the people from reading the Bible themselves.  They gave them dogmas to accept, but did not teach them to love.  

Although my shtetel, Shebreshim, had few serious overt anti-Semitic activities (they were always covered up), twice a year we had our own private times of great fear. These occurred during the Christmas holidays, and especially during Easter.

On the night of Easter Sunday, the Jewish homes were kept dark, and the doors were locked.

All the Gentiles were in Church.  We heard their songs and lamentations.  At midnight the Church doors opened and the whole gathering emerged into the town square.  Bottles of vodka were passed from mouth to mouth.  People embraced, and always a loud universal cry was heard,

"He has risen."

In spite of the belief that the Jews crucified their God, He did not die; he was raised from the dead.

After getting drunk, some rowdy boys or young men usually did a little damage to exposed (Jewish) property – but it was soon over.

The First World War (the Great War) brought about major changes to Poland and the shtetels.  Troops from other countries serving in occupational armies brought, along with all their negative consequences, some benefits through the introduction of new "modern" cultures.  Newspapers appeared, along with many books, and movies (travelogues) were shown.  The world as we knew it was opening up to new ideas, yet growing smaller.

The young Jews began to discard their black clothes.  European hats, and tailor made suits (copied from French magazines) became the style of the young Jews.  Even some Poles began to copy these new styles.  The young Jewish population began to study and master the Polish language.

When Poland became free, and declared itself a democracy, open elections were held.  All the mature Jews registered and went to the polls.  The Gentiles stayed away, and as a result all the city functionaries that were elected, with the exception of the mayor, were now Jews!  A cry went up, 

"Foul!  The Jews betrayed us." 

The mayor cancelled the election and appointed his own Poles to the various boards, but under pressure he let a few Jews remain in the city government.

The Jews became political.  Two distinct movements emerged.  One was the Bund; a labor socialist party.  Their aim was to unionize all the workers, give them a voice, and improve their economic condition. 

"We are Poles," they proclaimed, "We are the citizens of this land.  Whether religious or not, this is a private matter."

The other great movement was the Zionist movement. This was a very strong trend. 

"We are Jews, trying to rebuild our own ancient homeland in Palestine.  Not all Jews will, or should, live in Israel.  Jews should be able to come and go.  We will prove that from Zion will come the new knowledge – a just democratic life, an example for the whole world."

Young Jews began to prepare themselves for the new life – to be pioneers, to be farmers, to "work with the sweat of our brows."

I joined this movement at a very young age, too young to be normally accepted.  So I lied, and added five years to my age  – even falsified papers.

Jewish youngsters were sent to the New Polish schools.  I made many friends with the children of my Polish neighbors.  A little inter-religious dating started.  Of course it was all at night, away from the eyes of the elders who shook their heads and predicted the wrath of God.

The Jewish girls liked the Gentile boys, and they liked them in return.  Nothing led to marriage.  In high school, I had a group of Polish male friends that came into our home after school where we helped each other with our schoolwork.  I was particularly good in geography.  My mother always served something good to eat. They always complimented me on how clean our home was, and how everything smelled so good.  No one in this group called me a "dirty Jew."

But one day this ideal situation came to a screeching halt.  After our schoolwork, and some of mother’s goodies, one of the students turned to me, and without any introductory remarks, asked me, 

"Philip, how come you don’t believe in Jesus?"

As much as I was momentarily surprised about such a loaded question, I was prepared to answer it.  As a matter of fact, I had long expected to have that question asked of me one day.

"Who told you that I don’t believe in Jesus? I do believe in the existence of this Jew," I answered, looking into his eyes.

"Please listen to me. In a little town of Nazareth, in Israel, to a simple Jewish family (the father was called Joseph and the mother, Miriam) a son was born. When the boy was seven days old, as is customary by Jewish law, the boy was circumcised and names Joshua." 

My listeners cringed, but I continued, 

"He grew up normally and at the age of 13 he became Bar Mitzvah – a Jewish member of the community. We don’t know anything about him at this age.  The Greeks, Romans and Syrians occupied Israel.  The rich Jews lived in high luxury.  The 2^nd Temple was still standing, but the rich imitated the conquerors.  They had ‘graven images’ of naked women, and Gods for all occasions carved in marble and stone, and displayed in their homes; all-contrary to Jewish law.  A radical movement by young Jews led by the young Joshua started to revolt against the foreign rituals.  They advocated the return to the simple life, to their invisible God. They started to disrupt the peace."

"A fanatical rebel, John the Baptist, advocated  immersing themselves in the river Jordan to cleanse themselves of the sins, put on simple linen clothes and live for the purity of their belief only. This didn’t sit well with the authorities, and they wanted to stop the movement as quickly as possible."

"Joshua and his followers were in hiding, but when they came together on Passover night to celebrate the ancient holiday with Matzo and wine, he was betrayed, arrested, and quickly sentenced to death by the Roman governor."

"The execution was accomplished on the next day, in the style of the Romans – to die on a cross. (Jews never held judgment days [court] on a holiday.)  He was taken off the cross and buried quietly, returning to the land.  History never recorded this as any special event."

My listeners stood up, and it was obvious that they wanted to run out, but they still listened as I went on.

"Soon the 2^nd Temple was destroyed.  There was no real Jewish leadership. Joshua’s followers were in hiding and well dispersed.  Some Jews, in order to escape paganism, retired to a Fortress in the desert near the Dead Sea.  They too eventually perished.  'Masada’, as it was called, is still standing."

"There was a need for hope, and soon rumors started to circulate that maybe, just maybe, Joshua was the Messiah.  People started to tell stories, imagined unbelievable deeds, and "Gospel" story telling of good tidings began to be heard. There are many of them.  We know of the popular four."

"Not all Jews wanted to believe that the Messiah had come already, and they rejected the stories.  More and more supernatural deeds were added, such as angels predicting his birth (an old mythological tale told in many other older cultures), the raising the dead, his healing the afflicted, creating miracles with fish and wine, and walking on the water."

"Nonsense, if he was really sent for redemption, he did not have to perform miracles, and the story about my father who has palaces in heaven with many rooms is for the ignorant."

"As the vast majority of the Jews didn’t believe that Joshua was the true Messiah, the advocates turned to the Gentiles, Greeks, and Romans, combining their beliefs and days of celebration to harmonize with the new religion that was emerging called Christianity.  Joshua was translated to Jesus.  Sunday became the Sabbath."

"Lies! Lies!" screamed my Polish friends. "You are making this all up."

"Go study religion." I argued, and went on, 

"I have heard that in the Vatican there are huge paintings of the Bris, the circumcision, and Bar Mitzvah of our Jesus."

The young men had enough.  They didn’t want to listen any more.  One cried, another threatened to beat me up.  They bolted from our house. 

They never came back to my house, but eventually we made up on the condition that we were never to talk about religion again.

A few days later, as I left the school building, the older priest, Father Ignacius, was waiting for me.  He asked me to follow him to the private sanctuary.

Frankly, I was scared.

"I don’t want you to teach religion, especially to my young men. This is my profession."

"I wasn’t teaching,  just explaining my belief."  I stammered.

"And where did you read all this false drivel? And where did you get all those books?"

"Wherever I could find them, Father.  It is too bad that I couldn’t find the Old or the New Testament in Polish.  Don’t you want your people to study by themselves?  I got most of it in a German Bible.  I had to struggle with the help of a dictionary."

"Oh German," the priest sighed, "Protestant for sure."

He was angry and agitated,

"Don’t you tell me what is good for my flock.  I tell them what to believe, what gives them religion, belief and security.  I take my instructions from higher authorities and send them down to be accepted and trusted."

He looked at me, "Are you religious?   You don’t look like a religious Jew."

"I am religious," I blushed.  "But my God is the creator of the whole Universe.  He is busy creating and rebuilding this expansive universe.  He is too busy to consider each personal transgression."

I continued to speak,

"I have no intention of 'corrupting' anybody with my views.  I will soon leave for Israel, by way of America."

"And will you visit all the holy places dear to me?" he asked.

"Surely," I answered. "Every inch of the holy land is also dear to me."

"And will you do me a personal favor?"  

Father Ignacius stood up, and to my great surprise he embraced me. 

"When you come to the holy places like Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem please remember me.  Think of my name.  I will not be able to be there, and when you come to the Stations of the Cross, say a simple prayer for my soul."

As we parted, he was visibly sad. "Please believe a little in Jesus."

"I believe intellectually, as do all progressive Jews, that Joshua was part of my tribe."

"You are a believer," were his parting words.

He died a year later.  Later, much later, I fulfilled his wishes in my wanderings in Israel.