You do not have to look hard to find antisemitism in the news daily. Lately, it has been out of the mouth of several American celebrities (Kanye West, Kyrie Irving and Dave Chappelle). I could make the observation that all three celebrities who lashed out at Jews are African Americans, but that would defeat the purpose of this article as I would try to turn a mere assumption into a fact.
Kanye West lashed out the worst, using multiple antisemitic tropes, which cost him and his career dearly. Kyrie Irving decided to promote an antisemitic movie claiming that black people are the real Jews and Dave Chappelle used 15 minutes of an SNL opening monologue to come to the rescue of the two others.
Antisemitism can be spewed in so many forms. It can be the obvious death threats such as “Jews to the camps” or “Hitler didn’t kill enough,” but it can also be in the form of a trope against the Jews and presented as fact, such as “the Jews are greedy and they control the banks,” “the Jews control Hollywood” or “the Jews want to control the world.”
The fact that some antisemitic words are not calling for physical harm on Jewish people doesn’t guarantee that the Jewish people will be safe because the words of one can quickly become the deeds of another (see the correlation between Martin Luther and Adolf Hitler. Outside of the 2,000-year-old accusation of deicide as in “the Jews killed Christ,” the most enduring lie against the Jews is that of world control through the banking system, politics and even Hollywood.
One of the most printed and distributed pamphlets to that effect is the 1904 hoax known as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, compiled by Russian Sergei Nilus, who stole the idea from two French playwrights. The protocols were supposed to be the minutes from meetings of a group of Jewish influential leaders plotting to take over the world. The pamphlet has long been debunked as a hoax, but that doesn’t stop people from still using it and even selling it on Amazon. With or without the pamphlet, the trope endures. Is there any truth in that accusation?
First, Let’s bring some perspective to the notion that the Jews want to control the world before we see if there is any truth to that statement. If one were to say, “the French want to control the pastry world, I hate the French,” or “the Italians want to control the fashion industry, they should be decimated.” Would anybody believe take those statements make any sense? Of course not, because in reality, the French are really, really good, if not the best at pastry, and the Italians have an incredible sense of fashion. Those are facts, and nobody cares to argue against them because they are not jealous but instead, they desire to buy or learn how to make French pastry or acquire fine Italian garments.
So, what is the big deal with the Jews wanting to control the world? First, we absolutely don’t want to control the world, Hollywood or the banks; but if people could be led to believe it, that would easily justify all the hatred and violence against us. The truth is Jews are disproportionally represented in Hollywood, the Banking community, the medical field and the legal community. We cannot deny that there are a lot of Jewish doctors and lawyers in the world, but why should that be a problem or a threat? If they are competent, that should be all that matters.
Jewish people are usually very shrewd businesspeople, not stingy, not money hungry, simply good with handling money, but even then, such a statement is not an absolute truth, so a blanket statement should never be made either way. Jewish people have always enjoyed learning, so acquiring knowledge, be it biblical, legal, medical, financial or other, is always a welcome challenge to the Jewish community. Yet, that too isn’t 100% true of all Jewish people, so let’s not be dogmatic about it either.
Another area where you find a lot of Jewish people, is the Nobel prize category. In the last 120 years, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to more than 900 individuals or organizations, and over 210 of them have been Jewish. That is over 23% of the entire Nobel prize pool of people and organizations Yes, I agree…that’s a lot, especially considering that Jewish people make 0.02% of the world population. Does that mean that Jewish people control the Nobel Prize as well? Nonsense! Again, knowledge and innovation are two areas where Jewish people excel, and the results are more inventions and accomplishments brought on by Jews. The world is a better place because of the Jewish people and their innovations. Take for instance the polio vaccine. It was invented by Jonas Salk and saved millions of people. Was he one of too many Jewish doctors?
Being disproportionally represented is not the same as wanting to control everything. If we look hard enough, we can certainly find Jews who are control freaks, stingy, greedy and fame hungry. But all these character traits exist not because these people are Jewish but because they are people. Generally speaking, people are flawed, even if they are exceptionally gifted at what they do. It is called the fallen human nature, and yes, I must bring God into all this because He is at the root of it all, but not in a bad way!
Starting with Abraham in Genesis 12, God formed a people group through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons. We know this people today as the Jews. Through the Jews, the world would get the Bible, the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. That was God’s choice, so maybe we should leave the Jews alone and take it up with God? God’s archenemy, Satan, knows what happens when the Jewish people call upon His son Yeshua, he (Satan) is finished, so he has no choice but to try to destroy the Jews.
If the French or the Italians were in the way of Satan’s position of power in this world, it is after them that he would spend all his energy, but God chose the Jews, thus Satan will concentrate all his irrational creativity against the Jews.
So, how does that work with West’s, Irving’s and Chappelle’s comments? If I can say so without making people upset, I tend to agree with their assessments about the disproportional representation of Jewish people in these fields, but, not for the same reasons. If the world would simply accept the fact that there are a lot of Jewish doctors, lawyers, financiers and actors AND embrace them for their talents, gifts and ingenuity, the false narrative of Jewish world domination could disappear and a recognition of our talents without the world’s jealousy would do us all a lot of good.
I think it is time to realize that there are more Jewish people in influential positions that people care to admit, but not to take over the world, but rather, to make it a better place. In Judaism, it is known as Tikkun Olam (repair of the world), and if a better world could be brought on by mankind, the Jewish people would most definitely play a big part in it. I happen to believe that only Mashiach (Yeshua of Nazareth) can and will bring the perfect world when He inaugurates the 1,000-year Messianic Kingdom before the Eternal Order. Until then there is no harm enjoying what the Jewish people have provided to the world over the centuries. Let us turn jealousy into gratefulness because the Jewish people don’t want to control the world, we just want people to enjoy it more. What’s wrong with that?
