Jewish History, Jewish Religion

Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight Of Three Thousand Years

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In Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight Of Three Thousand Years Israel Shahak proposes that most nations' histories are initially ethnocentric. However they then evolve through a period of critical self-analysis to incorporate other perspectives. This, he argues, largely hasn't happened with Jewish history.

Shahak also analyses the period from the beginning of the last millennium (CE) to the advent of the modern state when most Jews lived under rabbinical law in segregated communities. These communities were under the patronage of non-Jewish nobles who typically used them to enforce their authority on a non-Jewish peasant class. Rebellions by such peasants in which all feudal agents were attacked, Shahak argues, have wrongly been perceived as anti-Jewish persecutions. Consequently he calls for significant parts of Jewish history to be re-evaluated from a universal perspective.

Shahak also proposes that Talmudic Judaism is a totalitarian religion were rabbinical law governs every aspect of Jewish behaviour. He also claims that these laws result in religious chauvinism and thereby govern Jewish thought. This, according to Shahak, has two important consequences. Firstly, attempts by Western analysts to explain contemporary Israeli politics in purely secular terms are inherently flawed. Secondly, and more controversially, that Jewish chauvinism can be a causal factor in anti-Semitism and both must be fought together.

Popularity

Jewish History, Jewish Religion is frequently quoted on Islamic Fundamentalist websites, and can be found verbatim (and in violation of Shahak's copyright) on anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi websites such as "Radio Islam" and "Bible Believers". These websites typically preface the book as an 'exposition of Judaism' while ignoring its attacks on racism and anti-Semitism.

Criticisms

Critics of Jewish History, Jewish Religion have accused Shahak of fabricating incidents, "blaming the victim", distorting the normative meaning of Jewish texts, and misrepresenting Jewish belief and law. [1] [2] The Anti-Defamation League has listed Shahak as one of four authors of polemics in its paper The Talmud in Anti-Semitic Polemics. [3]

References

• Shahak, Israel. Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, Pluto Press, 1994 (ISBN 0745308198)

External links

• The Interpretational Errors of Israel Shahak criticism of Jewish History, Jewish Religion by Andrew Mathis
• The Jews are Bad! criticism of Jewish History, Jewish Religion by Werner Cohn