I recently visited the SchPIRA Museum in Speyer, Germany where I learned the fascinating story of the Jewish community there. Almost a thousand years ago, they were invited to settle in Speyer by the Bishop who believed a strong Jewish community in Speyer would help his town to grow. In a “Jews Charter,” he granted unusual privileges to them, and did indeed usher in a golden age for the city and for the Jews who lived there. The scholarship within the Jewish community was respected across Europe, and their businesses thrived.
But this story is a tragic one. Over the centuries, the Jews of Speyer were repeatedly attacked, murdered, and their buildings and synagogues destroyed.
What triggered these attacks? When deadly plagues swept repeatedly through the city and hundreds died, the Jews were blamed and attacked. Another trigger were the Crusades in the Middle Ages, those wars to conquer the “Holy Land.” Before and after fighting in the Holy Land, hatred of the Jews erupted in pogroms.
In more recent centuries, riots often centered on Jews supposedly being “guilty” of some unsolved crime. Laws increasingly echoed these prejudices, and restrictions and expulsions were used against Speyer’s Jews. By Hitler’s time, there were only 50 Jewish persons in Speyer to be taken to concentration camps.
These are accounts of prejudice and scapegoating that are indeed tragic. The Jews of Speyer and in many other communities were scapegoats, persecuted and blamed repeatedly for the painful events of their times.
But I’m also writing about the Jews of Speyer because my local newspaper carried a story last week about someone arrested for putting anti-Semitic hate signs near a local synagogue. One troubled individual does not equal a mob, but acts of prejudice and the threat of violence are still around us.
So how do we humans grow our prejudices? We’re not born with prejudices; we learn them. It’s easier to blame another person or group for painful events or hard times than it is to feel helpless. It’s the fault of — them! With scapegoating, prejudice can easily grow into acts of violence.
In my country, I believe our prejudices have erupted most frequently into violent acts against African-Americans. In my friend Tom Gates’ book Turning Toward the Victim, he reports that over six thousand African-Americans have been lynched since the Civil War. Though lynchings are rare today, acts of discrimination and prejudice are not. And acts of violence against those who seem. . different. . . still happen.
I feel helpless at the magnitude of this issue. Sometimes it can help if I ask myself this simple question: What is mine to do? And particularly What is mine to do in everyday life? I invite you to consider these questions, too.
So far, I have found two clear steps for me. First, I want to examine myself for ways I may pre-judge a person. If I make conclusions about someone because of their name, the way they speak, their skin color or their general appearance, before I know the person at all, I am prejudiced. I need to notice my prejudices before I can banish them.
Secondly, I want to speak up when I observe a prejudicial comment or act. Perhaps I will raise a question (“How do you know that?”) or simply state my understanding (“That’s not been my experience.” or “I don’t agree with that.”). Perhaps I will speak up through my actions, especially joining and helping someone who is being victimized.
My prayer is that I will follow these Biblical injunctions:
When a foreigner [or stranger or someone different] resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself. Leviticus 19:33-34a
The second [commandment] is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:31
