Editing Philosemitism

{{Short description|Affinity towards the Jewish people}}
{{Not to be confused|Opposition to antisemitism}}{{expand German|date=November 2021}}
[[File:Chanuka Sejm 2015.JPG|thumb|Celebration of [[Hanukkah]] at the [[Sejm]] in the city of [[Warsaw]], 2015]]
'''Philosemitism''', also called '''Judeophilia''', is "defense, love, or admiration of Jews and Judaism".<ref name=Samuels>{{cite book |last1=Samuels |first1=Maurice |title=Key Concepts in the Study of Antisemitism |date=2021 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-51658-1 |pages=201–214 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-51658-1_16 |language=en |chapter=Philosemitism|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-51658-1_16 }}</ref> Such attitudes can be found in Western cultures across the centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burnett |first1=Stephen G. |title=Philosemitism in History edited by Jonathan Karp and Adam Sutcliffe (review) |journal=Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies |date=2013 |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=132–134 |doi=10.1353/sho.2013.0098 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/523700 |issn=1534-5165}}</ref> The term originated in the nineteenth century by self-described German [[Antisemitism|antisemites]] to describe their non-Jewish opponents.<ref>Sutcliffe, A. (2011). The Unfinished History of Philosemitism. Jewish Quarterly, 58(1), 64–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/0449010X.2011.10707112</ref><ref name=Samuels/> American-Jewish historian Daniel Cohen of the [[Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies]] has asserted that philosemitism "can indeed easily recycle antisemitic themes, recreate [[Other (philosophy)|Jewish otherness]], or strategically compensate for [[German collective guilt|Holocaust guilt]]."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cohen |first1=Daniel |title=Good Jews |journal=S: I.M.O.N. Shoah: Intervention. Methods. Documentation. |date=2020 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=118–127 |doi=10.23777/SN.0120/ESS_DCOH01 |url=https://simon.vwi.ac.at/index.php/simon/article/view/80 |language=en |issn=2408-9192}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The controversial term "philosemitism" arose as a pejorative in [[Germany]] to describe the positive prejudice towards Jews; in other words, a philosemite is a "Jew-lover" or "Jew-friend".<ref name=NR> [https://newrepublic.com/book/review/philosemitism-history-sutcliffe-karp/ ''With Friends Like These''] Review of ''Philosemitism in History'' in the New Republic by Adam Karp</ref>

==Concept==
The concept of philosemitism is not new, and it was arguably avowed by such thinkers as the 19th-century philosopher [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], who described himself as an "[[anti-antisemitism|anti-anti-Semite]]."<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Christianity'', Volume 4 by Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley</ref>

Philosemitism is an expression of the larger phenomenon of [[allophilia]], admiration for foreign cultures as embodied in the more widely known [[Anglophilia]] and [[Francophilia]]. The rise of philosemitism has also prompted some{{who|date=November 2017}} to reconsider Jewish history, and they{{who|date=October 2024}} argue that while antisemitism must be acknowledged, it is wrong to reduce the history of the Jewish people to one merely of suffering (as has been fostered by well-meaning gentile philosemites).{{cn|date=November 2017}}

=== Religious philosemitism ===
Christian philosemitism, which has been associated with [[Dispensationalism|dispensational theology]] and [[Puritans|Puritanism]], promotes a positive view of the Jewish people for religious reasons (in contrast to [[Anti-Semitism in Christianity|Christian antisemitism]]). Christian philosemitism generally arises from a [[Premillennialism|premillennial]] and an Israel-centered understanding of biblical prophecy, causing the belief that God still sees the Jews as his [[Jews as the chosen people|chosen people]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christian Philosemitism in England from Cromwell to the Jew Bill, 1656-1753. A Study in Jewish and Christian Identity. |url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/christian-philosemitism-in-england-from-cromwell-to-the-jew-bill- |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=University of Bristol |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

== Prevalence ==

=== In Europe ===

====Germany====
Iris Dekel writes that in twenty-first-century Germany, philosemitism "is performed in three interconnected social domains: institutional, where state institutions declare their commitment to protecting Jews as a religious minority; group, where the contingent relations between love for the Jews and exclusionary statements about them appears, mostly in casting Jews as both strange and unknown and embraced; and individual, where individuals exhibit positive sentiments toward Jews as an ideal collective".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dekel |first1=Irit |title=Philosemitism in contemporary German media |journal=Media, Culture & Society |date=May 2022 |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=746–763 |doi=10.1177/01634437211060193}}</ref>

==== Poland ====
[[File:Łuszczkiewicz-Kazimierz Wielki u Esterki.jpg|thumb|Depiction of Polish king [[Casimir III the Great]] visiting his Jewish mistress Esther, by Polish painter [[Władysław Łuszczkiewicz]] (1870)]]
While Jews had lived in Poland since before his reign, King [[Casimir III the Great]] allowed them to settle in Poland in great numbers and protected them as ''people of the king''. About 70 percent of the world's European Jews, or Ashkenazi, can trace their ancestry to [[History of the Jews in Poland|Poland]] due to Casimir's reforms.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Poland, a Jewish Revival Thrives—Minus Jews|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=12 July 2007}}</ref> Casimir's legendary Jewish mistress [[Esterka]] remains unconfirmed by direct historical evidence, but belief in her and her legacy is widespread and prolific.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://histmag.org/Esterka-miedzy-legenda-a-prawda-historyczna-17409 |title=Esterka: między legendą a prawdą historyczną |access-date=28 March 2020}}</ref> South of the Old Town of [[Kraków]] King Casimir established the independent royal city of [[Kazimierz]], which for many centuries was a place where ethnic Polish and Jewish cultures coexisted and intermingled.

==== Czechoslovakia ====
The case of the myths created around the supposed special relationship between [[Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk]], the founding father of [[Czechoslovakia]], and influential Jews from the U.S. or elsewhere, myths created by Masaryk and adopted in amended forms by Czechoslovak Jews, let [[cultural history|cultural historian]] Martin Wein quote [[Zygmunt Bauman]]'s and [[Artur Sandauer]]'s concept of an "[[Allosemitism|allosemitic]]" worldview, in which, in Wein's words, "antisemitism and philosemitism overlap and share [[stereotype]]s, producing exaggerated disregard ''or'' admiration for Jews or Judaism."<ref name="Wein" /> In this sense, Wein quotes Masaryk's statements about a decisive Jewish influence over the press, and him mentioning Jews and [[freemasonry|freemasons]] in the same breath, when it came to lobbies he allegedly managed to win over.<ref name="Wein">{{cite book |isbn= 978-1138811652 |first= Martin |last= Wein |title= A History of Czechs and Jews: A Slavic Jerusalem |pages= 44–50 |chapter= Masaeyk and the Jews |year= 2015 |publisher= Routledge |via=Google Books |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0bugBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |access-date=2 July 2015 }}</ref>

=== In the Americas ===

==== United States ====
[[Mark Twain]]'s essay ''[[Concerning the Jews]]'' has been described as philosemitic. Israeli scholar [[Bennet Kravitz]] states that one could just as easily hate Jews for the reasons Twain gives for admiring them. In fact, Twain's essay was cited by Nazi sympathizers in the 1930s. Kravitz concludes, "The flawed logic of 'Concerning the Jews' and all philo-Semitism leads to the anti-Semitic beliefs that the latter seeks to deflate".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kravitz |first1=Bennett |date=2002 |title=Philo-Semitism as Anti-Semitism in Mark Twain's "Concerning the Jews" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41970387 |journal=Studies in Popular Culture |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=1–12 |issn=0888-5753 |jstor=41970387}}</ref> 

Philosemitic ideas have also been promoted by some American [[Evangelicalism|Evangelicals]] due to the influence of [[Dispensationalism]],<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Frey |first=Jörg |title=Anti-Judaism, Philosemitism, and Protestant New Testament Studies: Perspectives and Questions |date=2022-04-04 |work=Protestant Bible Scholarship: Antisemitism, Philosemitism and Anti-Judaism |pages=149–181 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004505155/BP000016.xml |access-date=2024-02-13 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-50515-5}}</ref> with some interpretations being considered anti-semitic.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weil |first=Julie Zauzmer |date=2019-08-22 |title=How anti-Semitic beliefs have taken hold among some evangelical Christians |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/08/22/how-anti-semitic-beliefs-have-quietly-taken-hold-among-some-evangelical-christians/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |quote=Certain interpretations of Revelation say that Jewish presence in Israel is important for Christians, because it will take the homecoming of Jews to the land of Israel to bring about the return of the Messiah.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Antisemitic Face of Israel’s Evangelical Allies |url=https://jacobin.com/2022/02/israeli-us-evangelical-alliance-zionism-antisemitism |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=jacobin.com |language=en-US}}</ref>(compare also [[Zionist antisemitism#Right-wing and Christian Zionist antisemitism|Zionist antisemitism § Right-wing and Christian Zionist antisemitism]] and [[Christian Zionism]])

==== Brazil ====
A current of Jewish studies in [[Brazil]] has dedicated itself to studying the extent to which far-right politician [[Jair Bolsonaro]]'s professed philo-Semitism reproduces traces of antisemitism.<ref name="Gherman">{{Cite book |author=Gherman, Michel |title=O não-judeu judeu: A tentativa de colonização do judaísmo pelo bolsonarismo |url=https://www.fosforoeditora.com.br/catalogo/nao-judeu-judeu/ |language= |format= |edition= |location=São Paulo |publisher=Fósforo |year=2022 |page=9 |isbn=9786584568471 |access-date= |ref={{harvid|Gherman}}}}</ref> This perspective, based on a study of the speeches of Bolsonaro and his mentor, the writer [[Olavo de Carvalho]], suggests that the proclaimed sympathy of far-right sectors for the State of Israel and the Jews, often presented without distinction, reverberates antisemitic tropes in two ways. Firstly, by portraying Jews as a wealthy and powerful group. In this context, Jews are often depicted as pillars of capitalism, and therefore inherently hostile to the left.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gherman|page=132}}</ref> The second and most significant expression of antisemitism in the far right's sympathy for Judaism would be inspired by authors such as Rabbi [[Marvin Stuart Antelman]], and reaffirms conspiracy theories presenting left-wing Jews as a group seeking world domination, but which would ultimately undermine the Jewish nation itself.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gherman|pages=142, 145}}</ref> In this context, researchers demonstrate how the philo-Semitism of the Brazilian extreme right has been employed to divide the Jewish community. The designation of true Jews is thus reserved for those who espouse conservative or reactionary policies, while left-wing Jews are regarded as apostates or traitors.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gherman|page=149}}</ref>

=== In Asia ===
Very few Jews live in [[East Asia]]n countries, but Jews are viewed in an especially positive light in some of them, partly owing to their shared wartime experiences during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. Examples include [[South Korea]],<ref name="Korea">Alper, Tim. "[https://www.thejc.com/lifestyle-features/48771/why-south-koreans-are-love-judaism-1.22961 Why South Koreans are in love with Judaism]". ''The Jewish Chronicle''. May 12, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2014.</ref> Japan, and [[China]].<ref>Nagler-Cohen, Liron. "[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4216893,00.html Chinese: 'Jews make money']". ''Ynetnews''. April 23, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2014.</ref>

==== China ====
According to Mary J. Ainslie, philosemitism in China is "part of a civilizationist narrative designed to position China as globally central and superior".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ainslie |first1=Mary J. |date=2021 |title=Chinese Philosemitism and Historical Statecraft: Incorporating Jews and Israel into Contemporary Chinese Civilizationism |journal=The China Quarterly |language=en |volume=245 |pages=208–226 |doi=10.1017/S0305741020000302 |issn=0305-7410 |s2cid=218827042 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==== South Korea ====
In general, Jews are stereotyped with characteristics that in South Korean culture are considered positive: intelligence, business-savviness and commitment to family values and responsibility, while in the [[Western world]], the first of the two aforementioned stereotypes more often have the negatively interpreted equivalents of guile and greed.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} The South Korean ambassador to Israel, Ma Young-sam said that, in South Korean primary schools, the [[Talmud]] should be mandatory reading.<ref name="Korea" />

==== Japan ====
{{Main|Jewish settlement in the Japanese Empire}}
{{See also|Japanese-Jewish common ancestry theory|Kirisuto no Haka}}

==== Indian subcontinent ====
{{See also|Theory of Kashmiri descent from lost tribes of Israel}}

==== Central Asia ====
{{See also|Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry}}

==See also==
* [[Anti-antisemitism]]
* [[Conversion to Judaism]]
* [[Judeo-Christian]]
* ''[[Ger toshav]]''
* [[La belle juive]]
* [[Model minority]] ([[Model minority myth]])
* [[Racial fetishism]]
* [[Messianic Judaism]]
* [[Sacred Name Movement]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* [[Alan Edelstein]]. ''An Unacknowledged Harmony: Philo-Semitism and the Survival of European Jewry''. (Contributions in Ethnic Studies). {{ISBN|0-313-22754-3}}
* [[David S. Katz]]. ''Philo-Semitism and the Readmission of the Jews to England, 1603–1655''. {{ISBN|0-19-821885-0}}
* [[Hilary L. Rubinstein]] & [[William D. Rubinstein]]. '' Philosemitism: Admiration and Support in the English-Speaking World for Jews, 1840–1939''. (Studies in Modern History). {{ISBN|0-312-22205-X}}
* [[Frank Stern]]. ''The Whitewashing of the Yellow Badge: Antisemitism and Philosemitism in Postwar Germany''. (Studies in Antisemitism) {{ISBN|0-08-040653-X}}
* [[Marion Mushkat]]. ''Philo-Semitic and Anti-Jewish Attitudes in Post-Holocaust Poland''. (Symposium Series, Vol 33). {{ISBN|0-7734-9176-7}}
* [[Frank Stern]]. ''Im Anfang war Auschwitz : Antisemitismus und Philosemitismus im deutschen Nachkrieg''. {{ISBN|3-88350-459-9}}
* [[Gertrude Himmelfarb]]. ''The People of the Book: Philosemitism in England, From Cromwell to Churchill''. {{ISBN|1-59403-570-9}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Samuels |first1=Maurice |title=Key Concepts in the Study of Antisemitism, ''eds. Sol Goldberg, Scott Ury, Kalman Weiser'' |date=2021 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan-Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-51658-1 |pages=201–214 |language=en |chapter=Philosemitism}}
*{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Gerard Daniel |title=Good Jews: Philosemitism in Europe since the Holocaust |date=2025 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-37091-2}}

==External links==
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/07/AR2006010701267.html?nav=rss_print/asection Washington Post], January 8, 2006; page A01.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070623012358/http://pjc.georgetown.edu/docs/philo_semitic.pdf "On Philo-Semitism"], by [[Jacques Berlinerblau]], [[Georgetown University]]'s Program for Jewish Civilization via [[archive.org]].

{{Cultural appreciation}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Jewish political status]]
[[Category:Admiration of foreign cultures]]
[[Category:Orientalism by type]]
[[Category:Philosemitism| ]]