SAN DIEGO — One of the distinct pleasures I’ve found that serving as a contributing author for San Diego Jewish World brings, is the opportunity to review material related to psychology and mental health. When I was asked to review Anti-Semitism and Psychiatry edited by H. Steven Moffic, John R. Peteet, Ahmed Hankir and Mary V. Seeman and published by Springer this year, I welcomed the prospect.
After all, anxiety is on the rise in all Jewish communities around the country, indeed, the world. Just last April, we here in San Diego experienced the deadly attack on Chabad of Poway in which the beloved Lori Kaye lost her life. In America last year, we experienced the third-highest spike on record since the ADL began tracking anti-Semitic hate crimes, four decades ago. And in a recent study by the American Jewish Committee, 35% of American Jews said they had experienced anti-Semitism in the past five years. Hold on to your seat belts, because this study also reported that, with neo-Nazi groups finding deeper roots in the United States, one-third of those they surveyed said they concealed any outward indications of being Jewish! The sense of urgency to deal with Anti-Semitism in our time is growing for sure.
When I introduced myself to the key editor of this book, H. Steven Moffic, M.D., I was delighted to connect with a very wise, academically anchored, lovely and gentle, family-focused and spiritual man who has become a near daily contact of mine. We share many thoughts in common, exchange articles we’ve written and share interests in many of the same areas in mental health and wellbeing. Dr. Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist, a graduate of Yale Medical School, a retired Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and an always in demand and clearly inexhaustible author.
This 374-page work that begins with a description of “Chutzpah” and ends on a note of “L’Chaim,” is not a light, casual read. It is detailed, brings unmatched and exceptional, truly unsurpassed and insightful, clinical understanding to the longest running prejudice in society, one that is harmful to mental health of patients and providers. The intellectual level, the scholarly approach, the diverse perspectives curated by the esteemed panel of editors is certainly prize-worthy reading. It is a “must read” if you are a mental health professional, or anyone in any of the health fields, who wants to improve competencies in contending with the negative impact current day anti-Semitism has on clients and patients. From biological determinants of bigotry, to testimony from those connected to the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, reviewing Anti-Semitism in the Deep South, cults, how the Holocaust influenced the development of psychiatry in this country, and to wondering if anti-Semitism can be “cured,” this book daringly, with chutzpah, breaks down each of these areas in consummate erudite detail.
What is Anti-Semitism? Dr. Moffic calls on the U.S. Department of State’s definition described in 2010 for one answer, “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” The author does not necessarily believe anti-Semitism is a psychiatric disease, but more likely a social disease.
The editors observe that we Jews have often found ourselves between the powerful and the powerless, swinging on a pendulum that has depended on society’s problems. They write, “Anti-Semitism can be considered to be the canary in the coal mine, a warning of toxic social political problems and psychological processes that are leaking out.” What seems to have been at least one prompt in writing this scholarly tome, in part, is the belief that psychiatrists can become more proficient at identifying veiled anti-Semitism.
One particular chapter that I found of interest was written by Kate Miriam Loewenthal and Barry Marcus, “Jewish Stereotypes in Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment.” Imagine observing what we call “shuckling” during prayer, swaying back and forth, and labeling it as a “culturally specific form of psychological disturbance.” Labeling the Jewish community as “OCD” due to the many “obsessional religious rules and regulations,” is another example of labeling normative behavior as pathological. From the stereotype of believing Jews are prone to mood disorders, OCD, and neurosis, to the belief that the field of mental health is a Jewish dominated profession, these negative – essentially anti-Semitic – beliefs may serve to prevent some from seeking necessary care and treatment. What’s worse is how thoughts such as these, begin to find their way into the belief system of Jewish psychiatrists.
One problem of what Dr. Moffic calls, “unique hatred” in his final chapter, “Is There a Cure for Anti-Semitism,” is that this “disease” doesn’t even have an agreed upon spelling. Some spell it Anti-Semitism, some anti-Semitism and some antisemitism. The authors note that Anti-Semitism is a “bio-psycho-social-spiritual problem, that has persisted likely because is serves a basic psychological need that can and ought to be fulfilled in “better and more humanistic ways.” The editors believe that “like any virus, this disease mutates, has different expressions, different spellings and different intensities over time.”
Dr. Moffic suggests the following ten steps to bring together the many ways Anti-Semitism has been addressed:
*For child development, empathic parents who will also instill an acceptance of those who are different and a global identification with all people to supplement one’s “tribal” identity;
*For self-esteem, as much as possible the achievement of basic physical needs, safety, security, and the opportunity for self-actualization for all in societies;
*For hate crimes, effective legal punishment;
*For media, policies to reduce dangerous anti-Semitic reinforcement, as well as supporting recommendations for things that people like you rarely like (rather than people like you have liked);
*For political leadership, strategies for the modeling of bringing diverse groups together rather than playing on primitive fears of the other, for when anti-Semitism gets politicized, its danger escalates;
*For community relationships, both individuals and groups, intermittent and ongoing cross-cultural interactions that challenge scapegoating of the other on both sides;
*For Israel and the USA Jewish diaspora, the avoidance of being divided and conquered by external and internal forces;
*For the victims of anti-Semitism, opportunities to therapeutically process their trauma and fears;
*For the perpetrators of anti-Semitism, opportunities to engage in anti-Semitic management programs;
*For medical professionals, making sure to teach the history of the Holocaust, especially because physicians were particularly vulnerable to Nazi ideologues.”
The book is unequaled in tackling anti-Semitism from a clinical psychiatric perspective. The authors observe that the fields of psychology and psychiatry have lost interest in anti-Semitism over the past 30 years. I would hope this studious work will reignite that interest and promote these fields to do better in addressing the problems of discrimination and prejudice, and add to the “understanding, prevention and treatment of anti-Semitism.”
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Michael R. Mantell earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and is a sought-after personal coach, speaker, author and consultant in behavior science. He also writes a weekly D’var Torah column. More of his stories may be accessed by clicking his byline at the top of this page. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com