Don’t Exaggerate Diaspora’s “Distress”​

In Germany, there was a massive surge of antisemitism in the 1890s, ranging from a blood libel trial in 1891-1892 to a series of electoral victories for Jew-haters. The number of openly antisemitic deputies in the Reichstag increased from one to five in 1890, and then to sixteen in 1893, and the Conservative Party became the first major political party in modern Germany to embrace antisemitism, vowing to “fight the multifarious and obtrusive Jewish influence that decomposes our people’s life.”

The rising tide of antisemitism prompted German Jews to create defense groups such as the Association for Defense Against Anti-Semitism (1890) and the Association for Defense Against Anti-Semitism (1892), as well as the more assimilationist Centralverein of German Citizens of Jewish Faith (1893), and, because of campus antisemitism, the Confederation of Jewish Fraternities (1896.)

Herzl was particularly troubled by events in France, and in Austria, where he had lived since his teens. The Dreyfus Affair, which Herzl followed closely, began in 1894, culminating in mass anti-Jewish riots in Paris in 1898.

In Austria, the openly antisemitic Karl Lueger became mayor of Vienna in 1895 and was repeatedly re-elected. Adolf Hitler later cited Lueger as a source of inspiration.

This snapshot of the distress suffered by some major Diaspora communities in the 1890s is obviously quite different from what Jews in the Five Towns or Beverly Hills are experiencing today.

This is not to minimize the unhappiness of those who have missed family celebrations or whose academic conferences have had to be conducted via Zoom. But the history of the Jewish people is filled with all too many instances of life-or-death distress. Careless historical comparisons contribute little to the public conversation concerning temporary travel restrictions to Israel.

This article originally appeared in the Jerusalem Post, and is reprinted by permission of the author.