Why Jews Succeed FrontPageMagazine.com | December 3, 2001 By: Jamie Glazov

THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN has illuminated many phenomena in the Middle East. One of them is the virulent anti-Semitism that exists among Arabs.

Why does the Arab Middle East so wholeheartedly embrace anti-Semitism? I have always found it peculiar that, while many Arab countries suffer from a pitiful economic, political, and social backwardness, wherein no democracy or prosperity can be found, Arabs discuss their problems only within the context of their hatred of Israel.

But Israel is only a small country that occupies a tiny piece of land in the Middle East. A desert fifty years ago, it has become a thriving and prosperous democracy. How is it that this small nation is the cause of all Arab problems?

In the eyes of many Arabs, success is obviously Israel’s crime.

But here is the key question: how is it that Jews came to a desert and, within a few decades, created a more functional and prosperous society than anything else that exists in the Middle East?

What does it mean that whenever you find Jews in a country, you always find among them a high number of academics, doctors, lawyers, politicians and other prominent professionals? In the United States, the Jews represent about two per cent of the population, but the number of successful Jewish professionals within the population by far surpasses that percentage.

Of course, there are always individual exceptions. I have personally met several Jews that were clearly not on their way to becoming rocket scientists.

But they were the exception. Overall, it simply cannot be denied that there are certain general ethnic and group traits. And there is a certain group trait among Jews: they are intelligent.

In his History of the Jews, Paul Johnson points out that when you look at the world of music, science, medicine, law, literature, and philosophy, you always find a lot of Jews.

Why?

To begin with, Jews value educational attainment. This is, in part, due to their tradition of poring over holy books, a practice which clearly induces a love of study and learning.

Anyone that knows Jewish people cannot deny that their homes are places in which learning – above all other achievements (e.g. attending WWF extravaganzas) – is highly valued.

In The Jewish Mind, scholar Raphael Patai points out that, "The typical Jewish child knows the alphabet and can even read long before he enters school, and he usually keeps well ahead of the national average in his mastery of the three R’s."

Why is this?

One reason points to the conditions of the hostile, Gentile environment in which the Jews lived for two thousand years. Fighting for survival in foreign and oppressive territory for centuries, the Jews nurtured the life of the mind to persevere.

Raphael Patai has called Jewish intelligence a result of "environmentally induced genetic development." At the very least, is it not fair to say that when a particular culture values certain activities that, after many generations, those activities become implicit features of the very identity of the people within that culture?

Did not the European Jews who came to the New World possess great knowledge, culture, specialization, acumen, and efficiency? Had they not mastered the sciences and made great inventions in their fields?

It is also evident that Jews have been able to utilize their cleverness to attain an inordinate amount of wealth – wherever they find themselves.

Unlike people of numerous other religious faiths, Jews do not have ambivalent feelings about wealth. They see it as a good thing – a worthy and respectable goal to strive toward. Unlike Christianity, for instance, Judaism does not consider poverty a virtue.

There are many Jewish ideals. Asceticism and self-denial are not prominent among them.

Most importantly, perhaps, is the fact that, in a world where one of the greatest human desires is to be fed lies, Jews adhere to reality. They have no choice. If they do not perceive and accept reality, then they disarm themselves in the face of the violent extinction which has consistently threatened them for thousands of years.

As Patai has written, the Jewish people "act to adapt themselves to reality or to adapt reality to themselves."

This cannot be said of many cultures and groups. Many Arab societies, for instance, have nurtured a type of historical amnesia that perpetuates falsehood. And falsehood cannot fertilize the soil in which success needs to grow.

Historical amnesia is a luxury that Jews cannot afford.

That’s why they succeed.

Jamie Glazov holds a Ph.D. in History with a specialty in Soviet Studies. He is the author of 15 Tips on How to be a Good Leftist. Born in the U.S.S.R., Jamie is the son of prominent Soviet dissidents, and now resides in Vancouver, Canada. He writes the Dr. Progressive advice column for angst-ridden leftists at EnterStageRight.com. E-mail him at jglazov@home.com.

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2001

Answers

Historical amnesia is a luxury that Jews cannot afford.

Sums it up... good article, even though I'm not jewish, I agree...

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

However, I am circumsized... does that make me biased?

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

Only if it was cut at an angle.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

Shouldn't it be mitre'd?

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

Only if it's a Catholic bishop.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001