By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO–Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is currently playing in repertory at Balboa Park’s Old Globe Theater.
One of the main characters is Shylock, a Jewish money lender. Shylock lends Bassanio three thousand ducats at no interest, despite the fact that the loan is being acquired for Antonio, who has long tormented Shylock. When Bassanio cannot repay the loan, Shylock demands the surety he demanded: a pound of Antonio’s flesh.
Shakespearian expert Dr. Stephen Greenblatt writes, “Even though there were no Jews left in England, the stereotypes and fears remained in Shakespeare’s England. Jews were immensely wealthy even when they looked like paupers and covertly pulled strings of an enormous intellectual network of capital and goods. Jews poisoned wells and were responsible for spreading the bubonic plague. Jews secretly plotted an apocalyptic war against the Christians.”
Even though Shakespeare most likely never met a Jew, he still had a negative impression of them and perpetuated a negative stereotype.
As the book of Deuteronomy opens, Moses instructs the Israelites: “You will be passing through the territory of your kinsmen, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. Though they will be afraid of you, be very careful not to provoke them…” (Deut. 2:4)
The commentary Meorat Esh observes: “If the descendants of Esau are afraid of us, why do we have to worry about not provoking them.”
His answer: “When Jews live outside of Israel, non-Jews fear us because they think that we are after their money. We must not provoke them because our mission is to spread the word of God throughout the world. Therefore, we should suffice with little. If we pursue wealth and power we will confirm their fears and make life difficult for ourselves.”
The stereotype of the wealthy avaricious Jew is one that exists to this day, despite our best overcome it. One example is found in the speech made by Finnish politician Pertti Salolainen last year. Salolainen said, “Now about the United States, it finds it difficult to take a more neutral stance on the Israel-Palestine issue because they have a large Jewish population who have a significant control of the money and the media. The US for internal political reasons is afraid to become adequately involved. This is a sad truth about US politics.”
Unfortunately, he is far from alone in his thoughts.
While I detest this destructive stereotype, I don’t agree with Meorat Esh’s proposed solution: Jews should keep their heads down and avoid inciting our enemies. Anti-Semitism and Jewish stereotyping says more about those who hate us than about ourselves.
There is very little we can do to change the minds of those who think Jews control the world’s wealth and power…except, perhaps, to follow Meorat Esh’s other suggestion, to make our primary mission sharing God’s word, truth, and love with the world.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. He may be contacted via leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com
Rabbi Rosenthal has not dismissed or distorted Shakespeare’s antisemitism, unlike contemporary Jews such as the current director of the Old Globe are trying to do, but rather faced it head-on. I appreciate Rosenthal’s honesty. No matter what modern Jewish scholars of Shakespeare may say and for whatever reasons, the “Merchant of Venice–a Comedy” remains an antisemitic play. Apart from the money-grubbing characterization of Jews described by Rabbi Rosenthal, here is a more general example of the play’s antisemitism: In Shakespeare’s day, the definition of “a comedy” was a play with a happy ending, often with a wedding. “Merchant” certainly satisfies that definition. By the end of the play, simchas abound. Not only are there weddings, but Shylock the Jew converts to Christianity!