What Is anti-Semitism?
I would imagine to most of the known world to be anti-Semitic means one has hatred or is racist toward Jews. The word/phrase anti-Semitic does not appear In the Bible. Reportedly it is an invented word that came into the English language around 1879 by a man named Wilhelm Marr (1819-1904). [i] Wilhelm was convinced Jews were a threat In Germany and had to be eliminated during his time. Jews were considered inferior. He wrote an essay entitled: “Der Weg zum Siege des Germanenthums uber das Judenthum. (“The Way to Victory of Germanicism over Judaism ” ) The Anti-Semitism phrase caught on as new word phrases often do and it has been used to express hostility and or hatred toward Jews ever since. Let us go back in history to see where the word comes from. The prefix anti means against. The word Semite is a derivative of the Biblical name Shem. Shem was one of the Sons of Noah. These are the descendants of Shem: And children were born also to Shem, the father of