Faith Works 10-20-23

Faith Works 10-20-23
Jeff Gill

The enduring incoherence of anti-Semitism
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In 1982 at Purdue University, I took a class from Robert Melson. Hardly a week has gone by since when I don't think about one of the readings, discussions, or insights gained in that lecture room.

The course was officially titled "The History of the State of Israel." Honestly, my interest began because it fit my schedule, but I'd had an Iranian Jewish roommate not long before, and my curiosity was provoked by some of the stories he told. So I signed up for it, three days a week, and a daunting syllabus.

As I recall, we started with about 20 students, but quickly rattled down to 12 and it may have been only 8 who finished. One issue was the volume of readings; there were six books required, a few more recommended, and Bob had a habit of announcing he'd run across a book or article that he'd put on reserve for us at the library which he thought would be illuminating. This was catnip for me, but some of the pre-law students looking for an easier three credits bolted early.

The other reason a number left was by the time of the final drop opportunity, we weren't even up to 1948 yet. As one student said in class, "I didn't sign up for 'The History of Anti-Semitism,' I was expecting to learn more about Israel." Bob was gently apologetic, saying "But you can't understand the history of Israel without understanding the history of anti-Semitism."

We didn't learn, or at least most of us didn't know, until half way through the semester that as a child, Dr. Melson and his family had escaped the Holocaust from Poland, but they saw it begin to burn across the landscape as they made their escape with false papers.

In the class we learned about Ottoman rule & British Mandate control, Czarist pogroms & Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews. A number of us went to a Conservative Jewish synagogue for a Sabbath eve service. And we did finally get to 1947 & 1948, where Bob made sure we learned about Deir Yassin as well as the SS Exodus, the bombing of the King David Hotel by the Irgun as well as about Herzl and Haifa.

The history of Jews and Palestinians in the eastern Mediterranean is complicated. To come to grips with it, you might need to read a few books, even ones not on the syllabus; it may require consideration of events decades and centuries in the past but live issues today.

I ended up with the assignment for a final paper on Menahem Begin. When I turned it in, I said to Bob the process of fitting all the pieces of his life together made me feel a little sympathetic towards him. He looked concerned, and replied "that keeps happening, but that's not my intention." We walked from University Hall to the Union talking about terrorists and Israel and peace . . . and I've been thinking about those conversations for over forty years now.

The lunacy of anti-Semitism from the medieval purges of northern Europe, to the Russian murderous hostilities of the Eighteenth & Nineteenth Century, then to a peak of madness under Nazism, is a toxin that still rattles around our neck of the woods. I've encountered it coming from family & fellow worshipers right here in the Midwest. We could step back from Israel, but we'd still have our own hyper-xenophobic impulses to contend with.

There's no solution here, just these thoughts about how deep and wide the questions are, not just about one place on the map, and forces on the move. And thank you, Robert Melson, for trying to teach the complexity to us, those of us who stuck around for the whole semester.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's still thinking about how to find justice in his own life, as well as advancing peace in the world. Tell him how you think we can get there at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.