Antisemitism

Antisemitism is a broad and complex phenomenon that has generated considerable debate among scholars. Some use the term in a general sense of “hatred of Jews” while others insist that it is appropriate when describing modern Jew-hatred but another term, such as “anti-Judaism” is more appropriate for the related medieval phenomenon. Whatever one’s judgment on this question, it is clear that Jews have been victims of many hatreds through the centuries. 

In Jewish manuscripts created in the upper Rhine region of southern Germany in the 13th and 14th centuries, Jews were generally depicted as having birds’ heads, with prominent beaks, and wearing characteristic Jewish hats. The most famous of these works is the so-called Bird’s Head Haggadah, though such images are found in other manuscripts as well. Various theories have been offered to explain this feature, with many interpreting these images as expressions of dehumanizing antisemitism. But others see something more benign—such as the avoidance of human images, following the second Commandment—in this phenomenon. Suffice it to say that, whatever the explanation, this phenomenon was short-lived.