Make Wine Information Blog

7:45 PM

August 14, 2008 - Tasting Notes

A Tasting Notes Artilce for Your Viewing

Why The Jews?Martin Winer




This question has been asked throughout the ages without any definitive answer. Thus, it behooves us to first take a look at some previous attempts and understand where they fail. Previous attempts take a look at any number of possible causes individually; one at a time. There are six primary commonly proffered causes which are: economic, 'the chosen people', scapegoating, deicide, being outsiders, and racial inferiority. Authors will typically try and focus on one cause at a time and find some time in history when it was absent and anti-Semitism persisted and thus disprove it as a cause. The flaw in any such analysis is the result of perceiving anti-Semitism as a single-cause effect.

Like so many things in the world, anti-Semitism is a multi-causal effect. That is, you can't remove any one cause and remove the effect of anti-Semitism. Human height is determined similarly, as a multi-causal (polygenic) trait. There are many genes (units of inheritance) that determine human height, all of which interact with one another. Thus simply turning off one gene for human height has complicated effects on the overall resulting height of any given person. This multi-causal type analysis must be applied to anti-Semitism in order to yield any meaningful results.

Anti-Semitism should be conceived as a tree of causes and effects. At the root of that tree is a societal need for an underdog. What started the tree growing was one of the proffered causes: 'the Chosen People'. I'm reminded of the story my father tells from his youth. He went around the neighbourhood proudly announcing that he was Superman. One of the older boys decided to challenge his claim and threw him straight over a fence saying: "If you're Superman, let's see you fly!" My father landed face first in the dirt laying his claim to rest.

Like the older boy was to my father, the Roman Empire was the challenger to the Jewish empire's claims of being the chosen people of God. The Roman Empire conquered many peoples throughout its existence, but none with the 'pomp and circumstance' embodied in the 'Judea Capta' coin, coined to celebrate the victory of the Roman Empire over the 'Chosen People'.
(http://www.bible-history.com/sketches/ancient/judea-capta-medal.html)

The defeat of the Jews at the hands of the Romans set off a host of effects which themselves, historically, also became causes of anti-Semitism. As a dispersed people we were outsiders in the many countries of the Diaspora. Persecution of outsiders and using such people as scapegoats is a side effect of the predatory instinct. The 'proud' lion of the animal kingdom doesn't attack the leader of the pack wildebeest but instead attacks the weakest of the herd. Likewise in human relations, we tend to pick on the people with the least chances of mounting an effective reprisal. Thus we see that the chosen people quickly became the people of choice when it came to choosing a scapegoat.

Recall in grade school, that there was always that one kid that the rest of the kids chose to pick on. Once the group had decided that s/he was the 'one', there was very little that the bullied kid could do about it. So too is the story of the disenfranchised Jews. This brings us to the next proffered cause of anti-Semitism that is deicide, that is, killing Jesus. Tom Harpur in his book, "The Pagan Christ" discusses the advent of Christian dogma. The authors of the gospels were left with a choice as to whom to pin the blame for the death of Jesus on. Given that they were living in a Roman dominated world, and were wary of further ruffling the feathers of the Roman eagle, they chose to pin the blame on the Jews who were incapable of offering a defense. This incipient pattern of scapegoating the Jews for any number of problems would be repeated time and again throughout history.

Jealousy of Jewish successes and wealth is another commonly offered explanation of anti-Semitism. As a scattered and shattered people, our choices of employment were few in the Diaspora. Throughout the middle ages, excluded from the feudal and manorial systems, they were relegated to be artisans, traders and moneylenders. In a forced separation of the Jews and the secular world, the Jews developed high intellectualism in the study of the Holy Torah, the sole survivor of our former glory. This penchant for developing intellectualism in isolation is, at once, our strongest and weakest characteristic. Nonetheless, the Jews developed economically valued skills by virtue of our intellectualism and our forced experiences as moneylenders. This accounts for our disproportionate contributions and participation in lucrative economic realms.

Finally, we deal with the anti-Semitic accusations that the Jews are of a 'lesser' race. This is best exemplified by Hitler's use of Hegel's precepts of euthanasia. Hegel mutated Darwin's work to allow for the application of 'natural selection' to human populations. This pseudo-scientific theory allowed the Jews to be viewed as 'less fit' than other races, and the horrors of the Second World War that followed. To any rational being, any such race based attacks fail immediately, since the Jews are a people encompassing many races. However, the purpose of anti-Semitism is to allow for a scapegoat people. In order to do that, humans must circumvent their natural empathy for fellow humans, by reducing them in status. Thus it is necessary to see the Jews as a lesser race in order to make way for blaming them for any conceivable need. Thus when it comes to categorizing a people, it is necessity, rather than logic, that is the mother of invention.

Another cause for anti-Semitism, not commonly discussed, is historical disadvantage. As far as labels go, they tend to stick. If "all the world is a stage" as the Bard suggests, then the Jews are typecast as the underdog. This suggests that were we able to remove all the multi-causal causes of anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism would persist due to a deep-seated societal need for underdogs, with Jews as the long favoured choice. It will always be possible to find reasons to hate the underdog as long as the need for the underdog exists.

Thus, the only solution to anti-Semitism is to eliminate the societal need for an underdog. How does one eliminate the need for an underdog? I leave you to the privacy of your own thoughts where the answer resides.

This question has been asked throughout the ages without any definitive answer. Thus, it behooves us to first take a look at some previous attempts and understand where they fail. Previous attempts take a look at any number of possible causes individually; one at a time. There are six primary commonly proffered causes which are: economic, 'the chosen people', scapegoating, deicide, being outsiders, and racial inferiority. Authors will typically try and focus on one cause at a time and find some time in history when it was absent and anti-Semitism persisted and thus disprove it as a cause. The flaw in any such analysis is the result of perceiving anti-Semitism as a single-cause effect.

Like so many things in the world, anti-Semitism is a multi-causal effect. That is, you can't remove any one cause and remove the effect of anti-Semitism. Human height is determined similarly, as a multi-causal (polygenic) trait. There are many genes (units of inheritance) that determine human height, all of which interact with one another. Thus simply turning off one gene for human height has complicated effects on the overall resulting height of any given person. This multi-causal type analysis must be applied to anti-Semitism in order to yield any meaningful results.

Anti-Semitism should be conceived as a tree of causes and effects. At the root of that tree is a societal need for an underdog. What started the tree growing was one of the proffered causes: 'the Chosen People'. I'm reminded of the story my father tells from his youth. He went around the neighbourhood proudly announcing that he was Superman. One of the older boys decided to challenge his claim and threw him straight over a fence saying: "If you're Superman, let's see you fly!" My father landed face first in the dirt laying his claim to rest.

Like the older boy was to my father, the Roman Empire was the challenger to the Jewish empire's claims of being the chosen people of God. The Roman Empire conquered many peoples throughout its existence, but none with the 'pomp and circumstance' embodied in the 'Judea Capta' coin, coined to celebrate the victory of the Roman Empire over the 'Chosen People'.
(http://www.bible-history.com/sketches/ancient/judea-capta-medal.html)

The defeat of the Jews at the hands of the Romans set off a host of effects which themselves, historically, also became causes of anti-Semitism. As a dispersed people we were outsiders in the many countries of the Diaspora. Persecution of outsiders and using such people as scapegoats is a side effect of the predatory instinct. The 'proud' lion of the animal kingdom doesn't attack the leader of the pack wildebeest but instead attacks the weakest of the herd. Likewise in human relations, we tend to pick on the people with the least chances of mounting an effective reprisal. Thus we see that the chosen people quickly became the people of choice when it came to choosing a scapegoat.

Recall in grade school, that there was always that one kid that the rest of the kids chose to pick on. Once the group had decided that s/he was the 'one', there was very little that the bullied kid could do about it. So too is the story of the disenfranchised Jews. This brings us to the next proffered cause of anti-Semitism that is deicide, that is, killing Jesus. Tom Harpur in his book, "The Pagan Christ" discusses the advent of Christian dogma. The authors of the gospels were left with a choice as to whom to pin the blame for the death of Jesus on. Given that they were living in a Roman dominated world, and were wary of further ruffling the feathers of the Roman eagle, they chose to pin the blame on the Jews who were incapable of offering a defense. This incipient pattern of scapegoating the Jews for any number of problems would be repeated time and again throughout history.

Jealousy of Jewish successes and wealth is another commonly offered explanation of anti-Semitism. As a scattered and shattered people, our choices of employment were few in the Diaspora. Throughout the middle ages, excluded from the feudal and manorial systems, they were relegated to be artisans, traders and moneylenders. In a forced separation of the Jews and the secular world, the Jews developed high intellectualism in the study of the Holy Torah, the sole survivor of our former glory. This penchant for developing intellectualism in isolation is, at once, our strongest and weakest characteristic. Nonetheless, the Jews developed economically valued skills by virtue of our intellectualism and our forced experiences as moneylenders. This accounts for our disproportionate contributions and participation in lucrative economic realms.

Finally, we deal with the anti-Semitic accusations that the Jews are of a 'lesser' race. This is best exemplified by Hitler's use of Hegel's precepts of euthanasia. Hegel mutated Darwin's work to allow for the application of 'natural selection' to human populations. This pseudo-scientific theory allowed the Jews to be viewed as 'less fit' than other races, and the horrors of the Second World War that followed. To any rational being, any such race based attacks fail immediately, since the Jews are a people encompassing many races. However, the purpose of anti-Semitism is to allow for a scapegoat people. In order to do that, humans must circumvent their natural empathy for fellow humans, by reducing them in status. Thus it is necessary to see the Jews as a lesser race in order to make way for blaming them for any conceivable need. Thus when it comes to categorizing a people, it is necessity, rather than logic, that is the mother of invention.

Another cause for anti-Semitism, not commonly discussed, is historical disadvantage. As far as labels go, they tend to stick. If "all the world is a stage" as the Bard suggests, then the Jews are typecast as the underdog. This suggests that were we able to remove all the multi-causal causes of anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism would persist due to a deep-seated societal need for underdogs, with Jews as the long favoured choice. It will always be possible to find reasons to hate the underdog as long as the need for the underdog exists.

Thus, the only solution to anti-Semitism is to eliminate the societal need for an underdog. How does one eliminate the need for an underdog? I leave you to the privacy of your own thoughts where the answer resides.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Martin Winer is a Jewish author interested in social issues.
By day, he's a Computer Scientist, developing http://www.rankyouragent.com/



A synopsis on Tasting Notes.

Why The Jews?Martin Winer


This question has been asked throughout the ages without any definitive answer. Thus, it behooves us to first take a look at some previous attempts an...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Recommended Tasting Notes Items

The FTD® Thoughtful Expressions™ Arrangement - Deluxe


Nothing warms the heart better than a simple bouquet of roses in a glass bowl vase. This understated but elegant arrangement will express your thoughts with style. #C15-3112 C15-3112D


Price: 74.99 USD



Current Tasting Notes News

Super Food: The Acai Palm Berry

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:56:29 PDT
Super Food: The Acai Palm Berry 08 13th, 2008 The Acai (pronounced ah-SAH-ee) berry is the latest super antioxidant food sweeping the world. This small round fruit is produced by the Acai Palm which is native to Central and South America floodplains and swamps. The fruit is rich in anthocyanin / anthocyanidin phytonutrients which are members of the flavonoid class of antioxidants. The dark purple berry, which tastes something like a blend of berries and chocolate, supposedly contains 10 t

30 WA grocery stores to hold beer and wine tastings (KING5 Seattle)

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:04:15 PDT
The Washington State Liquor Control Board has released a list of 30 randomly selected grocery stores taking part in a wine and beer tasting pilot program, which kicks off this fall.

FGI Finance to participate in Dallas ACG Wine Tasting Event (Centre Daily Times)

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:03:05 PDT
FGI Finance (www.fgifinance.com) will be sponsoring a wine table at the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Dallas chapter's 3rd Annual Wines from Down Under tasting event. The event will take place on Tuesday, August 26th at the Ritz Carlton, Dallas from 6:00pm-8:30pm. ACG will be providing wines rated 90 or higher from Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa.

Wine, cheese and a week of fun in Palmyra (Courier Gazette)

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:35:39 PDT
The best in fine western New York wines and cheeses, plus locally grown produce is yours to sample, at Wayne County Fair's Wine and Cheese Tasting on Thursday, August 14, starting at 6 p.m.

The Art of Marketing Wine

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:19:11 PDT
Noted evangelist, venture capitalist, and general smart person Guy Kawasaki points to an interview entitled This Is Your Brain On Wine, which points out that perception (who we drink with, the 100-point scale, and the cost of a wine) influences what we think about a wine. Call it "neuromarketing":As with most decisions we make, buying decisions are a mix of emotions and rationality. This will vary greatly by product category. Some commodities, like salt or batteries, involve little emotion f


Wine Ingredients
Cellar Master

Labels:

BlinkBitsBlinkList Add To BlogmarksCiteULike
diigo furl Google  LinkaGoGo
HOLM ma.gnolianetvouzrawsugar
reddit Mojo this page at Rojo Scuttle Smarking
spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Tailrank
TechnoratiAddThis Social Bookmark Button
&type=page">Add to any serviceSocial Bookmark
onlywire Socializersocialize it