Self-hating Jew

Self-hating Jew is a person of Jewish origin who exhibits a strong shame or hatred of her or his Jewish identity, of other Jews, or of the Jewish religion.[1]

The usage

In the USA and UK this term is used to describe Jews who either hide, are ashamed of their religion or understate their ethnicity. Also used on Jews who are seen by those who label them as working against the interests of the Jewish people. The epithet has been used to criticise secular, reformist, anti-Zionist Jews.[2]

Jewish self-hatred may result from feelings of inferiority brought upon by anti-Semitism they have suffered in the past. This can lead to attempts to distance themselves from their Jewish identity by avoiding activities and styles of dress and appearance currently or traditionally associated with Jewish people. They may also attempt to adopt the behavior patterns and characteristics more predominantly associated with Gentiles. In some cases a Jew will not only distance themselves from other Jews but actually engage in discrimination against others Jews. A famous instance of this happening was the case of Daniel Burros who repudiated his Jewish background and joined the Ku Klux Klan, eventually rising to Grand Dragon status, until he committed suicide after the New York Times reported that he was, in fact, Jewish. The film "The Believer" was loosely based on his life. This phenomenon may also contribute to what has been dubbed the Silent Holocaust of modern assimilated Jews in free societies. Based on his widely publicized anti-Semitic statements, Bobby Fischer could be considered another example.

Professor Sander L. Gilman of the University of Illinois-Chicago defines Jewish Self-Hatred as:

"...the internalization of the negative stereotypes about who you are--the identification with the reference group's image of you as "the other" in society. The person who is labeled as different wants to find out why he or she fits the stereotype, or to prove that he/she does not. But the more one attempts to identify with societal definitions in order to fit in, the more one accepts the attitudes of the determining group, the farther away from true acceptability one seems to be."

According to the professor, the term self-hating Jew comes from a disagreement over the validity of the Jewish reform movement between neo-Orthodox Jews of the Breslau seminary in Germany and Reform Jews in the 19th century. Some neo-Orthodox Jews viewed reform Jews as inauthentic Jews under the perceived notion that the Reformers identified with German Protestantism and German nationalism. In response, some Reform Jews labeled the neo-Orthodox Jews "self-haters" in return. Today there is still a serious schism between Orthodox and Reform Judaism, but the rhetoric has changed; most Orthodox and Reform Jews do not refer to each other as self-hating Jews.

One of the problems with defining Jewish self-hatred is defining what it means to be a Jew and thus what it means for a Jew to hate himself. Some Zionists define Jews who support most forms of anti-Zionism as self-hating.

The term self-hatred has been applied by a large segment of the Jewish community against a number of Jewish authors who have written material that the Jewish community considers anti-Semitic. The Anti-Defamation League's report on The Talmud and Anti-Semitism states:

In distorting the normative meaning of rabbinic texts, anti-Talmud writers frequently remove passages from their textual and historical context....Those who attack the Talmud frequently cite ancient rabbinic sources without noting subsequent developments in Jewish thought....Are the polemicists Anti-Semites? This is a charged term that should not be used lightly, but the answer, by and large, is yes. Now and then a polemicist of this type may have been born Jewish, but their systematic distortion of the ancient texts, always in the direction of portraying Judaism negatively, their lack of interest in good-faith efforts to understand contemporary Judaism from contemporary Jews, and their dimissal of any voices opposing their own, suggests that their goal in reading ancient rabbinic literature is to produce the Frankenstein version of Judaism that they invariable claim to have uncovered." (See report linked below)

Controversy over the definition and use of the label self-hatred

The proper definition of self-hatred, especially from a racial perspective, has been controversial. The biggest controversy centers on definition and appropriate use, if any, of the label "self hating Jew". Leftist Jews such as Michael Lerner and Noam Chomsky have charged that some pro-Israel advocates define and apply the label in a manner designed to silence or discredit any Jew who disagrees with their politics regarding Israel.

One example cited by some as an abuse of the “self-hating” label is its use by the creators of the website masada2000.org, who have labeled the liberal Rabbi Michael Lerner a "pitiful self-hating weasel" in what he and his supporters charge is an attempt to discredit him for not maintaining unqualified support of Israel. On being described as "self-hating", Israel Shahak replied "That is a Nazi expression. The Nazis called Germans who defended Jewish rights self-hating Germans."

Professor Sander L. Gilman of the University of Illinois-Chicago rejects the notion that all or most Jewish critics of Israel are self-hating. In his view, if a Jew actively opposes the Jewish state under the belief that Jews, as a group, are incapable of national self-determination then it would likely be applicable. On the other hand, if a Jew only opposes specific policies and not the existence of Israel as a whole, then that would not necessarily be self-hatred so long as their position changes along with any changes that occur in Israeli and Palestinian policy and direction. If his or her point of view continues to remain fixated, it might very well be reasonable to apply the label "self-hating."

Reference

Henry Bean The Believer: Confronting Jewish Self-Hatred, Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002 (Deals with Daniel Burros and the movie The Believer)
The stars & stripes of David David Biale, The Nation, 5/4/1998
Sander L. Gilman Jewish Self-Hatred: Anti-Semitism and the Hidden Language of the Jews, Johns Hopkins University Press; Reprint edition 1990

External links

The usage

Controversy over the definition and use of the label self-hatred

Reference

See also

External links