Why wasn’t self defense promoted during the Diaspora? Certainly Jewish lives would have been saved. Certainly would-be tormentors would have been discouraged. Is fighting back un- Jewish?
1. Self-defense was promoted in the Diaspora. Some of the most important Zionist movements got started as self-defense organizations. Non-Zionist movements like the Bund organized for self-defense as well. All of this basically culminates in the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt, which is led by Zionist and Jewish-socialist youth movements.
2. There's no doubt that self-defense was not a mass movement in the Jewish community, probably because the Jews were massively outnumbered, scattered, and disorganized. They couldn't possibly have won. Even the Warsaw Ghetto fighters weren't fighting for victory but for a noble last stand.
3. There's also a psychological phenomenon at work: 2,000 years of learned helplessness. The Jews had long since been sufficiently abused to believe that the only choice was stoic endurance. This eventually became almost a point of pride: The Jews came to believe that passivity was morally noble. This was a kind of survival strategy and it worked to an extent, but it failed completely in the face of modern antisemitism. Nonetheless, it's definitely still around and many Jews find it difficult to break out of.
Benjamin, please essay me this.
Why wasn’t self defense promoted during the Diaspora? Certainly Jewish lives would have been saved. Certainly would-be tormentors would have been discouraged. Is fighting back un- Jewish?
So, several things:
1. Self-defense was promoted in the Diaspora. Some of the most important Zionist movements got started as self-defense organizations. Non-Zionist movements like the Bund organized for self-defense as well. All of this basically culminates in the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt, which is led by Zionist and Jewish-socialist youth movements.
2. There's no doubt that self-defense was not a mass movement in the Jewish community, probably because the Jews were massively outnumbered, scattered, and disorganized. They couldn't possibly have won. Even the Warsaw Ghetto fighters weren't fighting for victory but for a noble last stand.
3. There's also a psychological phenomenon at work: 2,000 years of learned helplessness. The Jews had long since been sufficiently abused to believe that the only choice was stoic endurance. This eventually became almost a point of pride: The Jews came to believe that passivity was morally noble. This was a kind of survival strategy and it worked to an extent, but it failed completely in the face of modern antisemitism. Nonetheless, it's definitely still around and many Jews find it difficult to break out of.
I think those are the main factors at work.