Philosemitism in History (review)
- Philosemitism in History
The term philosemitism elicits a range of responses. For some it is insidious: "philosemites are anti-Semites in sheep's clothing"; "the anti-Semite is preferable to the philosemite because at least he isn't lying." Incontrovertibly the term was coined in 1880 by the German anti-Semite, Heinrich Treitschke, to incriminate his opponents; Treitschke denounced the "philosemitic zealotry of the Progressive Party." Yet one need not assume perennial pejorative intent if one accepts a commonsense definition of a "philosemite" as "a non-Jew who expresses support or admiration for the Jewish people." Surely there have been numerous individuals in modern times who have spoken or written approvingly of Jewish qualities, even if the proposed qualities were stereotypical. We do refer unhesitatingly to "Anglophilia" and "Francophilia." This edited volume legitimately allows the notion of philosemitism without shuddering. But I find it problematic on two grounds. For one thing, I do not grant that one can pursue "philosemitism" through all of Western history, starting in ancient times. As the first five essays implicitly demonstrate, the term is not a useful unit of analysis for the Middle Ages and the early modern era before the eighteenth century. One can locate limited willingness to tolerate Jews, enthusiasm for studying Hebrew, and [End Page 365] idealizations of assumed traits of Old Testament Judaism, but not any vein of genuine friendliness for living Jewish people. My other reservation is that the editors have given their contributors too free a rein to write highly detailed articles on specialized topics lying within their realms of expertise. Who but the most knowledge-lusting reader will be amenable to making the trek from the views of a certain Mór Jókai, to a close reading of a Trollope novel, to the polemics of a certain Ernest Belfort Bax, to the poetry of John Berryman, to café conventions in contemporary Poland? Obvious names such as Theodor Mommsen, Jacob Riis, and Dmitri Shostakovich are missing; Gotthold Lessing himself appears only in passing. Thus, if one is looking for coverage, one ought not to look here.
Robert Lerner is Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at Northwestern University and author of The Feast of Saint Abraham, The Heresy of the Free Spirit in the Later Middle Ages, The Age of Adversity, and The Powers of Prophecy. His books have appeared in a half-dozen European and East Asian translations.
