Philo-Semitism (also spelled philosemitism) or Judeophilia is an interest in, respect for, and appreciation of the Jewish people, their historical significance and the positive impacts of Judaism in the history of the western world, in particular, generally on the part of a gentile. Within the Jewish community it also includes the significance of Jewish culture and the love of everything Jewish. The concept is not new, and has been avowed by thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, who described himself as a "anti-anti-Semite",[1] but it has perhaps recently become a growing phenomenon. It is characterized (among other things) by an interest in Jewish culture and history, as well as increasing university enrollment by non-Jews in courses relating to Judaism (including Judaism, Hebrew and Jewish languages). A philosemite or Judeophile is a gentile who substantially subscribes to, or practices, any of the above.
Philo-Semitism has been the subject of a series of books and journal articles (see partial listing below). Philo-Semitism has been met by a mixed response among the Jewish community. Some warmly welcome it and argue that it must lead Jews to reconsider their identity, a viewpoint expressed by a leading liberal Jewish publication.[2]
Others reject philo-Semitism, as they feel it (like its apparent opposite anti-Semitism) implicitly gives a special status to Jews. This contradicts the traditional goal of Zionism to make Jewry "a nation among nations." Philo-Semitism is not a unique phenomenon, and it is part of the larger phenomenon of Allophilia, admiration of foreign cultures (like anglophilia, francophilia, etc.). Daniel Goldhagen, Harvard scholar and author of the controversial Hitler's Willing Executioners, argues that philosemites are often closet anti-Semites. His detractor Norman Finkelstein agrees. The thesis is that Jew haters feel a need to talk about Jews, and with anti-Semitism no longer being socially acceptable they must instead make exaggerated positive statements.
But in modern transcultural contexts, where the terminologies used to describe people are more clearly seen, the issue of the terminology is perhaps more important than the term itself. In this case, a Jew does not think of his non-Jewish friends as automatically philosemitic (ethnicity having little or nothing to do with friendship). Similarly, there may be certain people whom he or she finds disfavorable, on grounds that are completely unrelated to Judaism. Thus philo-Semitism, and similarly anti-Semitism, are rather new perceptual terms used by Jews to describe their perceptual relationship to the views of non-Jews (both in their common society and abroad).
The rise of philo-Semitism has also prompted some to reconsider Jewish history. While the significance of anti-Semitism must be acknowledged, they claim, it would be wrong to reduce the history of the Jewish people to one of suffering. In many cases, this was helped by philo-Semitism among surrounding Gentiles. While the existence of so-called "righteous Gentiles" during Jewry's most recent darkest hour, the Holocaust, has long been recognized, they were by no means a new phenomenon at the time.
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