Psychoanalysis and Anti-Semitism

If today's social scientists are right, then anti-Semitism (perhaps most simply defined as hostility towards Jews because they are Jews) is the product of many and diverse causes. And he who would try to understand and possibly do something about anti-Semitism would certainly be well advised to examine it in the light of psychological, economic, religious, cultural, historical, sociological, political, and a dozen and one other causes.3, 4 Yet if, as many of today's social scientists believe, anti-Semitism is fundamentally irrational, then approaching it with the aid of psychoanalytic tools and insights would seem to be the most direct method of exposing its taproots. After all, psychoanalytic theory and practice is largely concerned with revealing (and, hopefully, learning to control) the irrational or unconscious forces that play such a significant role in human affairs.

Psychoanalytically oriented studies of anti-Semitism suggest two major (though paradoxical) conclusions: (1) anti-Semitic beliefs and practices (whether mild or violent, directed against Jews as a group or against an individual Jew because he is a Jew) are frequently symptoms of emotional disorders; (2) Judaism and the behavior of Jews may often “invite” anti-Semitism. The psychoanalytic discoveries that support the first conclusion—that anti-Semitic behavior frequently reflects the presence of emotional problems—are comparatively well-settled and, as will be seen, readily lend themselves to rapid exposition and summary. On the other hand, the psychoanalytic findings that suggest the second conclusion—that Judaism and the conduct of Jews often tend to encourage anti-Semitism—are less settled, but more