ABSTRACT
The dispersal of Jews is given a historical summary – and, through the centuries, rabbinic scholars were anxious to ensure that dispersed Jews were kept separate form their gentile neighbours. Throughout Europe in the medieval and early modern period, such separation was enforced by the Christian population who regarded the Jewish community with contempt. The treatment of Sephardic Jews led some to settle in Amsterdam and to Spinoza’s excommunication there for heresy.
Explorations are made of how liberal democracies should deal with groups requiring special treatment or exemptions, groups such as the Sikhs with regard to wearing crash helmets – and Jews requiring kosher food.
Thought experiments are also given concerning what constitutes Jewish identity in generations to come. If all religious belief and respect for tradition is lost by future Jewish generations, would that be a ‘posthumous victory for Hitler’? Were all future Jews to become highly Orthodox, how would non-Orthodox Jews assess such?
