Opposition to Violence: A Jewish Perspective

Abstract

Among the ways in which Jews have characteristically differed from other people, none has been so persistent nor today, so acute, as attitudinal and behavioral expressions of violence. This anti-violent predisposition derives from a history and culture in which Jews were frequently the object of violence and rarely the initiators. Jewish law and custom developed a strong antipathy to the use of violence, a cultural norm which has persevered even as their objective socio-economic-political world changed. Attitudes of Jews today about violence closely parallel the traditional norms, much more than on most issues.