It is very simple. Belaboring an untenable thesis, to wit, that Judaism is racially based, shows a particular animus. First, the concept of race has no place in the primitive tribalism of the early Bible. Abraham, for example, is from Ur of the Chaldeans, and the various wives that marry Isaac and Jacob are drawn from outside his entourage or any collateral tribes. The kind of ethnicity denoted by being the Children of Israel is not hardened into a notion of race. Second, in various instances, the early Israelites embraced those not of their lineage, as in the Book of Ruth. Third, Job is about a pious Gentile, who is commended for his faith, and the Rabbis praise the Noahides, and consider them worthy of heaven, thus showing that one need not even conform to the cult, much less be of the blood, to be deemed righteous. Fourth, Prophetic Judaism puts forth an image of all nations being at peace, worshipping the One God. Fifth, Judaism speaks highly of proselytes, and there were many conversions during the Hellenistic and early Roman period, including the "half- converts" known as the God- fearers. Sixth, looking at historical Jewish communities, one sees that intermarriage was common, such that Jews in Ethiopia became black, Jews in India (originally Portugese) took on the physical characteristics of the South Asians, and Jews from China (again, originally Portugese) ended up looking Chinese. Again, if Judaism were racially based, none of this would happen.
To my mind, no one can grind such an axe against Judaism unless he has a particular contempt for Jews. |
