Editing Israel Shahak (section)

==''Jewish History, Jewish Religion''==
In 1994, Shahak published ''Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years'', about Jewish fundamentalism, which history professor [[Norton Mezvinsky]], at Central Connecticut State University, said is a:

<blockquote>Scathing attack upon Classical Judaism and its more modern outgrowth, Orthodox Judaism.... As a lover of prophetic Judaism and as a disciple of Spinoza, Shahak, in a learned and rational manner, condemned the parochialism, racism, and hatred of non-Jews, which too often appeared in the Judaism that developed during and after the Talmudic period, and which, to a goodly extent, still exists.{{sfn|Mezvinsky|2001}}</blockquote>

That the initial history of most nations is [[ethnocentrism|ethnocentric]], and that, in time, by way of a period of critical self-analysis, the nation incorporates the social perspectives of [[Other (philosophy)|the Other]], of the ethnic groups living among them. That, after the [[Age of Enlightenment]], the [[Jewish emancipation]] from legal and religious social subordination was a dual liberation — from Christian [[antisemitism]] and from the rabbinate of conservative [[Judaism]], and their "imposed scriptural control" upon daily Jewish life.{{sfn|Hitchens|1997|p=xi}}

The journalist [[Robert Fisk]] said that the examination of [[Jewish fundamentalism]] is invaluable, because Shahak concludes that:
<blockquote>There can no longer be any doubt that the most horrifying acts of oppression in the West Bank are motivated by Jewish religious fanaticism." He quotes from an official exhortation to religious Jewish soldiers about Gentiles, published by the Israeli army's Central Region Command, in which the chief chaplain writes: "When our forces come across civilians during a war, or in hot pursuit, or a raid, so long as there is no certainty that those civilians are incapable of harming our forces, then, according to the ''[[Halakhah]]'' (the legal system of Classical Judaism) they may and even should be killed... In no circumstances should an Arab be trusted, even if he makes an impression of being civilised.... In war, when our forces storm the enemy, they are allowed, and even enjoined, by the ''Halakhah'' to kill even good civilians, that is, civilians who are ostensibly good.{{sfn|Fisk|1997}}{{dead link|date=April 2022}}</blockquote>

In his foreword to the second edition (1997), [[Edward Said]] said that Shahak was "one of the most remarkable individuals in the contemporary Middle East" who he credits with doing more to dissipate the "ideological smoke screen" of Zionism than any other single individual. He goes on to describe Shahak as "un- and anti-racist" and emphasizes Shahak's consistency in applying a single standard for infractions against human rights. Said describes Shahak's writing as "rigorous and uncompromising", often at the expense of putting things "'nicely'".<ref name=":0">Shahak, Israel. Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years. United Kingdom, Pluto Press, 1994.</ref>

Said comments specifically about ''Jewish History, Jewish Religion'' as a powerful contribution to the study of Judaism and rabbinical and Talmudic traditions and it's associated scholarship. In summary, he describes this work:<blockquote>Shahak shows that the obscure, narrowly chauvinist prescriptions against various undesirable Others are to be found in Judaism (as well of course as other monotheistic traditions) but he also then goes on to show the continuity between those and the way Israel treats Palestinians, Christians and other non-Jews. A devastating portrait of prejudice, hypocrisy and religious intolerance emerges.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>About his other writing, Said also emphasized Shahak's willingness to criticize Palestinian policies, addressing "the PLO's sloppiness, its ignorance of Israel, its inability to resolutely oppose Israel, its shabby compromises and cult of personality, its general lack of seriousness." {{sfn|Said|2002|pp=ix–xiv}}

In his book review, [[Werner Cohn]] said that Shahak was making "grotesque charges" and that specific passages in ''Jewish History, Jewish Religion'' are without foundation:{{sfn|Cohn|1994|pp=28–29}}

<blockquote>Some are just funny. He says (pp. 23-4) that "Jewish children are actually taught" to utter a ritual curse when passing a non-Jewish cemetery.{{efn|"So now, one can read quite freely—and Jewish children are actually taught—passages such as that, which commands every Jew, whenever passing near a cemetery, to utter a blessing if the cemetery is Jewish, but to curse the mothers of the dead if it is non-Jewish."{{sfn|Shahak|1994|pp=23–24}}}}  He also tells us (p. 34) that "both before and after a meal, a pious Jew ritually washes his hands....On one of these two occasions he is worshiping God... but on the other he is worshiping Satan..." I did take the trouble to question my orthodox rabbi nephew to find what might be behind such tall tales. He had no clue. If orthodox Jews were actually taught such hateful things, surely someone would have heard. Whom is Dr. Shahak kidding?.{{efn|"Other prayers or religious acts, as interpreted by the Cabbalists, are designed to deceive various angels (imagined as minor deities with a measure of independence) or to propitiate Satan... both before and after a meal, a pious Jew ritually washes his hands, uttering a special blessing. On one of these two occasions he is worshiping God, by promoting the divine union of Son and Daughter; but on the other he is worshiping Satan, who likes Jewish prayers and ritual acts so much that, when he is offered a few of them, it keeps him busy for a while, and he forgets to pester the divine Daughter."{{sfn|Shahak|2002|p=34}}}}</blockquote>

The remark regarding children passing a cemetery occurs in Shahak's discussion of passages modified by rabbis who, under pressure from antisemitic Christian authorities such as those in Tzarist Russia, altered the texts, while keeping private copies of the originals which, according to Shahak were restored as the proper manuscript readings and published in Israel after the founding of the state of Israel.{{sfn|Shahak|2002|pp=23–24}}

[[Samuel Heilman]] writing for the ''[[Middle East Studies Association of North America|Review of Middle East Studies]]'' gave a negative review and proposed to dispose the book "into the same dustbin as the infamous anti-Jewish tract and fraud, [[the Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Heilman|first=Samuel|date=2001|title=Review of Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, (Pluto Middle Eastern Series)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23063425|journal=Middle East Studies Association Bulletin|volume=35|issue=1|pages=112–113|doi=10.1017/S0026318400041997 |jstor=23063425 |s2cid=164310024 |issn=0026-3184}}</ref>