The Intolerance of Monotheism: Towards a Religious History of Antisemitism

Robert Seltzer Series

The Intolerance of Monotheism: Towards a Religious History of Antisemitism

Because of their minority status in Medieval Islamic and Christian societies, Jews became the persecuted other who justified Christian and Muslim belief in their own supersession or replacement theology. Even in the modern, more secular era, baked-in religious prejudices informed the dynamics of racial antisemitism. The Nazis freely drew upon Christian imagery in their propaganda. Similarly post-Holocaust Islamic and Western antisemitism today still rely on these notions of religious superiority. Perhaps the only hope for an end to this 2500-year hatred is for each monotheism to renounce the intolerance inherent in their religious traditions and truly appreciate each other’s value.

BRUCE RUBEN was raised in Portland Oregon. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music (1975) and a Master’s in Religion (1978) from Indiana University. He went on to the Jewish Theological Seminary where he became a cantor in 1981. A year later he began a twenty-four-year tenure at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City. While serving as the congregation’s cantor, Cantor Ruben earned a Ph.D. in history from thae Graduate School of City University. He has taught Jewish history at Hunter College from the early 1990s. He continues to teach Jewish history at Hunter and serves as the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Am in Parsippany New Jersey.

This lecture will also be available live on Zoom. Link sent upon registration.

Boxed lunch provided in person.

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