Big Ideas Antisemitism's religious roots
Mar 9, 2026
Rabbi Zalman Kastel, educator who builds empathy through school programs; Geoffrey Levey, political scientist studying modern antisemitism; Adis Duderija, Islam scholar on Quranic interpretation; Magda Teter, historian of medieval anti-Jewish myths; Amy-Jill Levine, New Testament scholar on Christian–Jewish relations. They explore religious texts, medieval myths, modern political shifts, interpretive choices in Islam and Christianity, and practical education strategies.
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Train Preachers To Stop Using Pharisees As A Slur
- Do educate clergy and preachers to avoid casual anti-Semitic language by contextualizing Pharisee passages and teaching historical nuance.
- Amy-Jill Levine recommends training Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox ministers to stop using 'Pharisees' as a cipher for Jews.
Printing Press Amplified The Simon Of Trent Legend
- Bishop of Trent (1475) used new print technology to mass-propagate the Simon of Trent story with pamphlets, poems and images.
- Magda Teter describes how printed chronicles and commissioned iconography spread the martyr cult widely.
Enlightenment Scholarship Helped Racialise Jews
- Enlightenment-era scholarship racialized Jews by portraying them as primitive Old Testament types, linking nascent racial theories with religious othering.
- Magda Teter ties this literature to the same intellectual currents that justified transatlantic slavery and racial hierarchies.