Pre-Christian antisemitism: "Jews don't even kill their own children!"

Many have noted how modern antisemitism morphs to whatever the hater wants to ascribe to Jews: they are too insular or too assimilationist, too capitalist or too communist, too pious or too atheist, too rich or too wretched, all depending on the hater. Of course, in recent decades it has morphed yet again into the idea that Jews are colonialist, or racist, or victimizers instead of victims. "Go back to your land" has become "Get out of the land." There is no consistency for Jew-haters except the hatred itself.

It is therefore fascinating to see how Jew-haters thought before Christian antisemitism took prominence.

The Histories by Tacitus has a short chapter on Jews, with a very twisted history of the Jewish nation and an interesting description of the Second Temple. It was written around 100 CE.

Tacitus hated the Jews, but his reasons are quite different from the ones we are used to seeing:

Whatever their origin, these observances are sanctioned by their antiquity. The other practices of the Jews are sinister and revolting, and have entrenched themselves by their very wickedness. Wretches of the most abandoned kind who had no use for the religion of their fathers took to contributing dues and free-will offerings to swell the Jewish exchequer; and other reasons for their increasing wealth may be found in their stubborn loyalty and ready benevolence towards brother Jews. But the rest of the world they confront with the hatred reserved for enemies. They will not feed or inter-marry with gentiles. Though a most lascivious people, the Jews avoid sexual intercourse with women of alien race. Among themselves nothing is barred. They have introduced the practice of circumcision to show that they are different from others. Proselytes to Jewry adopt the same practices, and the very first lesson they learn is to despite the gods, shed all feelings of patriotism, and consider parents, children and brothers as readily expendable. However, the Jews see to it that their numbers increase. It is a deadly sin to kill a born or unborn child, [Infanticide was a common practice among the Greeks and Romans] and they think that eternal life is granted to those who die in battle or execution—hence their eagerness to have children, and their contempt for death. Rather than cremate their dead, they prefer to bury them in imitation of the Egyptian fashion, and they have the same concern and beliefs about the world below. But their conception of heavenly things is quite different. The Egyptians worship a variety of animals and half-human, half-bestial forms, whereas the Jewish religion is a purely spiritual monotheism. They hold it to be impious to make idols of perishable materials in the likeness of man: for them, the Most High and Eternal cannot be portrayed by human hands and will never pass away. For this reason they erect no images in their cities, still less in their temple. Their kings are not so flattered, the Roman emperors not so honoured. However, their priests used to perform their chants to the flute and drums, crowned with ivy, and a golden vine was discovered in the Temple; and this has led some to imagine that the god thus worshipped was Prince Liber, the conqueror of the East. But the two cults are diametrically opposed. Liber founded a festive and happy cult: the Jewish belief is paradoxical and degraded.

Tacitus' hatred for Jews shows, more than ever, that Jew-hatred is a psychological problem with the haters, and has nothing to do with reality. Jews have been and always will be the bogeyman, with the unique ability to be hated for anything and everything - even, and perhaps especially, for morality.

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