It is so easy to blame someone or something else for our failures. Everyone is guilty of that to one degree or another.
If we are honest with ourselves, we can acknowledge that we take credit for our successes, but it is more difficult to acknowledge that we are also responsible for our errors.
The issue arises then of who or what will take the blame when life does not go as we had hoped.
When there is a minority that has achieved financial success and hold a disproportionate number of prestigious positions comparative to their numbers, it promulgates hatred. And so the Jews become the ready scapegoat.
If you look around and see successes in law, medicine, finance, entertainment and Nobel prizes that are disproportionally attributable to Jews and you either individually, or as a group are not so fortunate, it is easier to blame them instead of looking inward.
This is self-serving bias. Feel better about yourself by attacking someone else – and who better to attack than a world-wide population so small it is less than the total number of citizens in New York City.
My experiences have taught me that so many antisemites know nothing about Judaism. They may have had few, if any, interactions with Jews but somehow are convinced that Jews are the bane of their existence.
How someone worships on the Sabbath or what dietary laws they follow have absolutely no bearing on what kind of person they may be, yet so many want to blame all Jews for their own disappointments in life.
Ironically, the Jewish doctrine of “Tikun Olam” (repairing the world), a principle central to Judaism, guides us to help others. How then can someone who does not know us assume we are a people to be extinguished?
Jews want to help others regardless of their religion or ethnicity. Instead, we are the target of self-serving bias. To the haters I say man-up, put on your big boy pants, own up, and take responsibility for your own life. Be proud of your accomplishments, if you have any, and admit that your failures are of your own making and have nothing to do with Jews or anyone else.
