In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Jews and Race An Introductory Essay Mitchell B. Hart The well-known Israeli writer A. B. Yehoshua insisted some years ago that “Jews are not a race and never viewed themselves as such.”1 These claims are popular assertions, in all senses of the word. They are popular because they are widely held, and because they are appealing and satisfying. They reinforce some deeply rooted and comforting ideas held by Jews and non-Jews alike about Jewish history, culture, and identity. The first assertion, that the Jews are not a race, would appear at present to be fairly unproblematic, at least if we look to science as our guide in such matters. Since many biologists have told us that races in general do not exist in any “real” or natural way—that they are, rather, a cultural or social construct—then it seems patently absurd to consider the Jews a race. As Steven Kaplan has asked, if there are no races, how can Jews be a race?2 Yet, it turns out that things are not that simple. Science, it seems, has not made up its mind on the issue of race. Some researchers in genetics now insist, as the philosopher Ian Hacking has written, “that stereotypical features of race are associated both with ancestral geographic origin and, to some extent, with genetic markers.”3 In other words, “race” might not be just a social construct after all, though it certainly is that. Race no longer exists in the older version of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but modern genetic research may be in the process of redefining notions of identity that reanimate “the racial.”4 The status of the Jews as a race surely depends in part on the ontological and epistemological status of races in general. If science tells us that races do not exist, then the Jews cannot be a race. On the other hand, to invert Kaplan’s question, if there are races, can the Jews be a race—or, more precisely, a genetic community? Certainly many Jews as well as non-Jews continue to employ some sort of racial or quasi-racial language when they think and speak about Jewish identity (and many others, of course, reject such language). Many Jews in the past considered themselves members of a distinct race, one characterized by both positive and negative features. And Jewish thinkers employed the language and images of race to think about the Jewish past and present. Thus, Yehoshua’s xiii xiv | Jews and Race assertion that the Jews never understood themselves as a race is, despite what many wish to believe, patently incorrect. The collection of source material that makes up this volume is but a small sample of a large group of texts, written by Jews about Jews, that engaged the vexedquestionofJewsandrace.Thesearetextswritteninanumberoflanguages and in different contexts, by Jewish scholars and community leaders living in different countries.5 Their work was published in a variety of media: in books, academic and popular journals, newspapers, and magazines. It was aimed at both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. Although the differences among these Jewish thinkers and writers were surely important, it is nonetheless possible to identify a common set of questions and issues that drove their inquiries into “the Jewish race.” Are the Jews a race? If so, are they a pure race? If so, what accounts for this purity? If not, which of the various racial branches contributed to the makeup of the Jewish race? Do the Jews possess particular, even unique, traits or qualities that set them apart from other groups? If they do, what accounts for these traits? Are they biological and hereditary, or cultural and environmental? Are they the product of a Jewish nature or essence, or the vicissitudes of historical and contemporary external forces? These broad, foundational questions led, in turn, to more specific questions. If the Jews are a race, then what is the impact of assimilation on the collective Jewish body and mind? Is intermixture—including intermarriage—with other races and peoples a boon, or does it produce decline and degeneration in the Jews? Do Jews suffer from certain illnesses more than other people? Are Jews immune to certain disorders? Are they prone to certain types of criminal behavior and other social pathologies? Are they naturally an urban rather than a rural or agricultural people? Are Jews predisposed to certain occupations or economic systems, such as capitalism? How much does Judaism have to do with...

Share