Appels à contributionsBibliographies/LiensCommunautés AfricainesCoopération Israel-AfriqueDossiers accessible à tousFiches biographiques

Anti-Semitism: View of African Judaism

After the torrents of dramatic events of the past years, from the anti-Semitic diatribes, to the violence of which the Jews were victims in the world, in particular the Jewish community of France and the United States, it is advisable to approach a constructive reflection.
First, asking whether there have been similar situations in the past, and the approaches that these have generated. Things are not exactly alike, but we can learn from the past, reflecting on the similarities and differences of the contexts experienced.
After the Second World War, the Jewish community, which was barely recovering from being targeted by the racist and institutional violence of this sad era, saw its intellectuals such as Levinas, Manitou, Elie Wiesel, among so many others, stand up to explain to the world the nuances and depth of Jewish culture.
This attitude took into account the reality of the other, the one who did not have the opportunity to be exposed to knowledge about the Jewish people, and who can become a victim of racist discourse, allowing themselves to be fascinated by the reductive propaganda of the human being which is the basis of this discourse.
These post-war Jewish intellectuals understood that to truly protect the victims, to ensure their survival in the future, it was not enough to stay on the defensive. It was not enough to protest the generational stupidity of anti-Semitic racism, but that it was necessary to reveal, to bring out the teaching and the humanitarian wisdom of Judaism so as not to remain in a waiting position in relation to anti-Semitic discourse.
Judaism means a human ideal, a way of looking at the real value in human potential, which makes the dream of happiness for all a practice that turns that dream into reality. The real weapons of resistance and victory over cruelty and injustice, the tools that make universal love a real possibility are already present in Shabbat, in Jewish holidays, in narratives and interpretations of the Law.
These post-war Jewish intellectuals understood this. Wiesel could have based all his work on the horror of the Shoah which he lived personally and which marked him in the depths of his individual experience. But apart from a few works, including “La Nuit”, which is a landmark work to have a look at this period fraught with consequences, Wiesel’s writing has above all enabled the general public to better understand the ancestral message of the Jewish community, especially that of Europe, thanks to works like “Hassidic Celebration”.
This message, and the look on the whole human being that it makes us hear, is the ultimate response to the medieval attacks of anti-Semitic insults. When the wisdom of Judaism becomes visible, palpable, the humanism it contains is immediately revealed. Everyone can see themselves in this universal wisdom. To read Wiesel’s “Talmudic Celebration” is not simply to glean information on the history of the masters of the Oral Torah, it is also and above all to be immunized from caricature attacks on the Talmud which are the delight of anti-Semites of all stripes.
Today, unfortunately, it seems that controversy is in the spotlight and that there is only anti-Semitism that can spark a conversation about Judaism.
This is a problem that can have important ramifications, because one does not build a community on a defensive discourse around its culture. It’s not the enemy that makes me who I am. It is not just by defending myself that I come out of the excesses of aggression. We are not saying that it is a question of denying that the aggression exists.
On the contrary, this questioning brings to the surface the underlying problematic of the representation of oneself to the other, and especially to oneself. The main question is whether defensive Judaism is really attractive to today’s Jewish youth. Can this youth accept this role of being a target of hatred without many other options than that of saying that it is not fair, or that it is necessary to react to insults by other insults, to violence by violence.
We hear this question everywhere.
African Judaism is an open door to the dream, to the future, to the beauty of the tradition of Jewish Wisdom seeing an almost miraculous renaissance on the African continent. This continent has also suffered racism and genocide, and it is still the scene of many humanitarian trials. But in the midst of all this, the flower of Judaism, his compassionate gaze on the human being, is in full bloom.
Anti-Semitism also exists in Africa, but it is not at the heart of the conversation on the subject of being Jewish. We believe that the presence of this African Judaism has the power to inspire, to renew the primordial conversation, which is that of the universal message of which the Jewish people are the bearer.
We teach in our schools in Africa that more than the literal biblical text, it is Pirkei-Avot who truly conveys the teaching of the Hebrew Wisdom which is expressed in the Bible. One of the teachings of Pirkei-Avot tells us: “Be disciples of Aaron the Priest: love all creatures, and bring them close to the Torah. “
It is in essence the supreme antidote to intolerance and its unfortunate consequences, and this was understood by the brilliant Jewish intellectuals of the post-war period. We say, re-read all of Benamozegh and his superb “Israel and humanity”. Soak up Buber and his “The I and the You” and his “Gog and Magog”. Let us reread Levinas, let us reread the translations of André Chouraqui’s “Duties of Hearts”, Wiesel’s “Celebrations” and other works of universal scope written by these thinkers, who had barely emerged from a bath of inexpressible violence, knew express the deepest truth of the victim, that which has nothing to do with his experience as a victim.
It is a truth which has such a healing force that it not only heals the victim but also the context in which it is possible to become the aggressor. To see less than that is a danger that these intellectual lights have been able to recognize.
As the wise King Solomon, the supreme Hebrew symbol of reflection, says in his Proverbs: “Birtsot Hashem Darkey Ish, Gam Oyevav Yashlim Ito”: When the Lord agrees with the ways of man, He will pacify him, even with his enemies “. Our generation is the one who must understand that spreading the light of Judaism is the most effective way to spread good understanding, Peace and the divine art of living together harmoniously.

No Comments Yet

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.