Imam Mohamed Magid takes a strong stand against antisemitism and Holocaust denial and believes it's important for other Muslim leaders to do so as well. Learn more »
This educational module aims to teach students about the relationship between religion and identity. Using material from the Museum’s Voices on Antisemitism, the module:
The module is divided into six sections:
Imam Mohamed Magid takes a strong stand against antisemitism and Holocaust denial and believes it's important for other Muslim leaders to do so as well. Learn more »
Eboo Patel insists that it is not enough for young people to unlearn the hatreds of previous generations. In bringing them together to serve their communities, Patel hopes that they will become the architects of greater religious understanding. Learn more »
For more than forty years, Father John Pawlikowski has urged Catholics and others to confront the long history of Christian antisemitism. Learn more »
At the age of 50, Rabbi Gila Ruskin left her pulpit position to teach Jewish studies at an urban-Baltimore Catholic school with a historically African American student body. The experience led Ruskin to appreciate the many ways that Jews and African Americans can come together through a shared history of oppression and, she says, a commitment to prophetic ideals. Learn more »
Colonel Edward Westermann believes it's important to prepare his cadets to confront morally complicated situations. In a seminar he taught on the Holocaust, Westermann called upon his students to consider carefully the responsibilities of their post. Learn more »
Religious tension exists today around the world. Some people identify very strongly with their religion and at times, this makes it difficult for them to accept the other religious identities surrounding them. This has the potential to lead to serious misunderstandings and even violence. The Voices on Antisemitism podcast series is designed to bring together a variety of people of different backgrounds to comment on why antisemitism matters today. The individuals represented here come from a wide range of backgrounds and religious affiliation. Specific examples of podcasts on this topic include Imam Mohamed Magid, who stands up against antisemitism and Holocaust denial; Father John Pawlikowski, who encourages Catholics and others to confront the long history of Christian antisemitism; Rabbi Gila Ruskin, who appreciates the many ways that Jews and Africa Americans have a shared history; and Colonel Edward Westermann, who prepares his cadets to confront morally complicated situations.
On numerous occasions in religious history, the language of religious tradition has been used as a weapon of prejudice or violence. The Holocaust raises particular challenges for Christianity because of the centuries of anti-Jewish rhetoric, prejudice, and violence throughout Europe grounded, in part, in Christian understandings of their tradition and teachings. Jesus and his disciples were observant Jews, and Jesus was executed by the Roman government because officials viewed him as a political threat to their rule. Yet as the early Christian church emerged and became aligned with political power, the Jewish population became the target of theologically framed prejudices and stereotypes. Jews were blamed for the crucifixion of Christ; the destruction of the Temple by the Romans and the scattering of the Jewish people was interpreted as punishment both for past transgressions and for continued failure to abandon their faith and accept Christianity.
Seeking to retain their beliefs and culture, refusing to convert to Christianity, Jews were members of a minority religion on the Christian continent of Europe. There were periods in some countries during which Jews were welcomed but, at a time in which faith was perceived as the principal form of self-identity and intensely influenced both public and private life, Jews found themselves increasingly isolated as outsiders, the objects of violence and discrimination.
The racial antisemitism of the National Socialists (Nazis) was a new development that took hatred of Jews to a genocidal extreme, yet it emerged on a continent where antisemitism has become deeply embedded in the history and the culture. The Holocaust began with words and ideas: stereotypes, sinister cartoons, and the gradual spread of hatred over hundreds of years.
