Mutual Respect is a
Blessing for the Whole Planet
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Partial view of the painting “Salvator Mundi”,
by Leonardo da Vinci, and the flag of Israel [Wikipedia]
It is sometimes fascinating to look at human history from the point of view of the first goal of the theosophical movement, which is the construction of a nucleus of universal brotherhood, with due respect for human differences. One gets perplexed when looking, for instance, at the dynamic process of superstitious hatred against the Jews.
Obvious things are easily forgotten. Everyone knows that Jesus Christ is a Jew. His mother, Mary, is Jewish. His mother’s husband, Joseph, is Jewish. All of Jesus’ direct disciples were Hebrews. Jesus never turned against his people. He never attacked Israel. His followers did not oppose Judaism nor did they reject its sacred scriptures. After his crucifixion, the first Christians were all Israelites.
According to the Christian Bible itself – which the Christians borrowed from the Jewish people adding to it only the New Testament – the Jews are God’s chosen people. This point should be enough for the Christians who believe in their own Bible to feel a deep respect for the Jews.
Nobody denies the fact that Jesus is a Jew, and most of Christianity claims that Jesus is God. We must then conclude that for the majority of Christians, God is Jewish. This should be one reason more for all Christians to feel sincere admiration for the people of Israel.
According to Judaism and theosophy, however, Jesus was a great sage and not a deity, nor God. A few Christians, like the Unitarians, think the same. Theosophy rejects personalized images of the universal intelligence. It sees them as symbolic and poetic ideas used as a means of referring to the Eternal Cosmic Law and to divine intelligences that are actually beyond the precarious verbal expression of humans.
Some people may hate the Jews out of envy, because the Bible says they are the chosen people. In fact, Theosophy considers a chosen individual the one who chooses himself to seek for truth, and for wisdom, through ethics. A chosen nation is that nation which chooses to seek for the divine world through study and honesty. Every nation should choose itself and let others choose themselves; and all nations must learn to live in peace together.
Christianity was born as a Jewish religious movement. How important has been Judaism to Christians since the Middle Ages?
Gratitude is a virtue recommended by Christianity.
Nobody can deny the fact that Christians throughout the world study the holy scriptures of the Jews, and do so as if such texts were their own. However, instead of thanking the Jews, most Christians have persecuted and humiliated them for at least fifteen centuries. We all know that hating anyone expressly contradicts the main teachings of Jesus Christ, the Jewish Sage who taught peace.
The fact is that from the moment Christianity ceased to be a grassroots movement and became a Roman imperial religion, Christian power structures began to persecute the Jews. Hatred replaced gratitude, and anti-Semitism emerged.
The Collective Crucifixion of the Jews
Expelled from their land, the Jews had to spread throughout the world, and were oppressed and murdered for centuries. In several countries they were burned in public squares in front of the highest authorities while their scriptures were systematically destroyed. The persecution was usually carried out in the name of Jesus, the Master of Compassion.
In the New Testament Jesus is crucified, first morally, then physically. In similar ways, the Hebrew nation – the people of Jesus – has been humiliated morally and physically. It can be said that the entire nation of the Christian Messiah has been crucified in the Christian world. So much for human logic. But the collective crucifixion of the Jewish people expands the inner spiritual identity of Jesus with the Jews.
During the Second World War, the German Nazis carried out a systematic effort to murder defenseless Jews to the last one if possible. This would be the “final solution” for those criminals. But the extinction of the Jewish people did not occur: on the contrary.
The Nazis were defeated, at least on a military level. The Jewish people rose again. In 1948, the modern, sovereign state of the Jews emerged under the name of Israel. Tolerated by the UN, it was approved and respected by both Russia and the United States.
Since then, anti-Semitism has skillfully changed its face. “It is no longer a question”, say the anti-Semites, “of eliminating the Jews; but only of eliminating Israel”, which happens to be the Land of the Jews. Since 1948, wars against Israel have been waged one after another, at regular intervals of time. The attackers have almost always been defeated. As a result, the territory of Israel has been growing: the law of karma is operating.
Citizens with common sense see no need to pretend to themselves that they do not know a basic fact: that the defeat of anti-Semitism, and the fraternal acceptance of the people of Israel living in its ancestral land will be a great blessing for humanity as a whole – and more especially for Christianity, which thus can heal itself from hypocrisy, grow in wisdom and help improve the whole world from within.
Such a blessing has already started to take place around the planet. The number is growing of Christian groups and Churches which realize that they are nothing less than brothers of the Jews; that Israel is their sacred land, too, and religious differences must be accepted as part of life. This might be the first step to the fulfilment of an interesting prophecy which sees Judaism saving Christianity from danger. Eliphas Levy wrote about that in the 19th century. The topic is examined elsewhere. [1]
Meanwhile challenges to peace and aggressive feelings are also spreading. Their seemingly purposeful fabrication gains momentum. Many a materialistic person feels now a sort of hysterical euphoria in deriding all mechanisms of peaceful dialogue. Psychoanalysis – created by a Jew – could help treat many of them successfully.
Various inspiring facts are taking place which foster good will and mutual help among countries, religions and civilizations. However, our commercial media in the West has been consistently ignoring them, perhaps due to profitable reasons. And yet the intensity of fraternal cooperation between Jews and non-Jews, and among all social groups around the globe should grow fast. There is no reason to waste time. Every occasion is the right moment to awaken from the nightmare of unbrotherly actions.
NOTE:
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The article “Remembering that Jesus is a Jew” was first published on 14 April 2024 at the theosophical blog in “The Times of Israel”. It is available at the websites of the Independent Lodge of Theosophists since 19 April 2024.
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