Richard Rowland

Now, I expect the usual bunch to rear their heads with their calls of h**er and other comments, however, it'll be interesting to see how they dis Solzhenitsyn's work. This is a long read, I expect most will forgo it, after a few paragraphs, however, it will be enlightening for those with the fortitude to continue.

http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/solzhenitsyns-damning-history-jews-russia-review/219793

saltwind 78 Loc: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Richard, Solzhenitsyn was from Russia where anti- Semitism was the state religion. When the c****es took over, anti- Semitism was outlawed.
There were other writers that were anti- Semitic as well. Some right here in America. Anti- Semitism is a European problem. No western country or eastern European country has been immune to it. It started out as an attempt of the early church to unite Europe under one religion. Jews were often invited into countries as a merchant class during the middle ages, only to have the money owed to them wiped out by kings. During the Napolionic times, Jews were granted citizenship by the countries under Napoleon. In the middle 1800s, it was no longer cool to h**e people because of their religion, so anti- Semitism, a hatred based on race replaced anti- Jewishness in France, of all places. It has existed in European countries ever since. Theodore Herzl, a non religious Jew preached that Jews could never find exceptance in Europe, so he founded modern z*****m. Now the hatred against Jews is still partly anti Jewish and partly r****t, depending on the country, but is becoming increasingly anti z*****t. It's all pretty much the same thing as far as we Jews are concerned. I would be happy to recommend some books on the subject if you like.

Richard Rowland

Did you read this piece, saltwind? I didn't get the impression from this piece that anti-semitism was all that prevalent in Russian during the time Solzhenitsyn is writing about. However, I confess, having read the piece that e provided, it seems to contradicts Solzhenitsyn's writing. So what does one believe?

MalG

A further historical note: the Christianizlng of the middle ages created laws forbidding usury by non-Jews and forbidding Jews from owning property . So if you were a merchant and needed to borrow money you found a Jewlsh money lender, a guy named Shylock for example. Which was the basls for Shakespeare's play "Merchant of Venice." Back then you also might have carried a sword in case you met Romeo and his friends.

saltwind 78 Loc: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Richard, I have to admit that I didn't read it.

saltwind 78 Loc: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Richard, I do not call people anti- Semitic for criticizing a Jewish person or Israel. I do so myself at times. When a person blames an entire people for an alleged crime or some kind of evil, I get suspicious. When somebody posts two such messages in a row, it's a pretty good bet that he or she has a problem with Jews. The Jews as a people have never committed a crime. Perhaps a Jew has done so, or Israel has committed an act that many people disagree with, but never have the entire Jewish people done so. The Jews are a very diverse people. They come in all colors, nationalities, and have very different ideas. The old saying that if you have five Jews together in a room, there are at least twenty different opinions on any subject is true. Even in Israel, opinions on how to deal with Muslim countries differ as do religious practices, politics and everything else.
In this country, the large majority of Jews have been Democrats and liberal. Now I find myself arguing politics with conservative Republicans in my synagogue. That was difficult to do less than a generation ago.
There are several beliefs most Jews agree with, the Jewish faith calls for the strict belief in one God. That is the main difference between Jews and Christians. In Judaism, there can be no such thing as a trinity. The vast majority of Jews are firmly on the side of those being persecuted. Not to hard to understand since the holocaust happened within the lifetime of many Jews living today. Support of Jews for Israel is still strong, but many points of disagreement are popping up between American Jews and those in Israel, both religious and social- political.
As for Russia, the land of my fathers birth, I can tell you that the Jews h**ed the Czar. He supported government sponsored r**ts against Jews called pogroms, in which Jews were murdered, raped and burglarized. Even the modest rights given to Russian peasants were denied to Russian Jews. When an ideology promising e******y came to Russia, naturally Jews were attracted to it.

Richard Rowland

You're a good guy, saltwind. It would be a please having a personal friendship with you. That's, of course, if the feeling is mutual.