The Israel-Palestine confrontation has been muted and less violent in recent years. However, simmering beneath the surface is a cauldron of animosity, often justified by each other’s texts: Jews cite the Koran as promoting aggression; Muslims counter with the Bible’s verses on bloodshed. In “The Peace and Violence of Judaism,” Robert Eisen, a professor of religion at George Washington University, examines the Jewish side of the equation, asking: Do Jewish texts promote peace or encourage violence?
The case for violence is based on the biblical doctrine of Jewish chosenness, which justified war against other nations and the destruction of God’s enemies after the Messiah comes. Based on this principle, rabbis and medieval sages often wrote negative things about non-Jews. Similarly, the Kabbalah associates non-Jews with evil, according to Eisen.
In religious Zionism, violence is predicated on the belief that Jews are superior and that Israel was promised to Jews. Secular Zionism translates dictates of the Bible, rabbinic and medieval Judaism into nationalistic views that result in insensitivity toward Palestinians, he writes.
On the other hand, the Bible says humans were created equal. The Jews were “chosen” to share God’s blessings with other peoples. Texts demonstrate that peace was always offered before wars began. The Kabbalah, despite its negative attitudes toward non-Jews, never expresses violence.
Violence in the name of Zionism has always been in self-defense or from external influences not related to Judaism, such as nationalism and anti-Semitism.
Eisen’s academic treatise is loaded with 598 footnotes and a 19-page bibliography. This is no beach read but a sober academic text. Although Eisen moderates his erudition with an informal touch, he is nonetheless repetitious and often writes as if he’s lecturing, using such phrases as, “I will come to this point shortly” or “let us now delve more deeply. ”
However, this is a readable summary of hundreds of books and scholarly articles relating to peace or violence in Jewish texts. Neither side — peace or violence — is favored. The author takes great pains to smooth over any biases. He emphasizes that the texts are so ambiguous that closure is not possible.
Yet in his 21-page epilogue, after 213 pages of carefully dissecting various claims about peace and violence in Judaism and Zionism, he finally comes to closure, offering his personal opinion: Judaism should favor peace over violence.
“The Peace and Violence of Judaism” by Robert Eisen (275 pages, Oxford University Press, $29.95)