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From Eliyahu:

Shalom friends,

Who dunnit? Who killed Jesus?

His Hebrew name is Yeshua. But that question, "Who killed Jesus?" Somehow that question is always seen using His Greek-based name, Jesus. That seems to suggest to me that this question has its origins from the Gentiles. Not from Jews. At any rate, since that is how the question is usually phrased, that's how I'm asking it as well.

It is obvious that Jesus was crucified as a Jewish victim of a Roman death sentence. This is impossible to deny. A Gentile Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, condemned him to death and had him flogged and crucified by Gentile Roman soldiers. From one perspective, this was not unusual. The Roman Empire was known for being brutal, and often made gruesome examples out of people they viewed as troublemakers and malcontents. Further, Judea, although a Roman province, was not populated by Romans, but was occupied territory. The Judean population did not rest easy under the iron fist of Rome, and many were fanatical zealots, who might be termed "terrorists" today. The political climate was often a powder keg, just waiting for a spark to set it off. Jesus was one of thousands of Jews crucified by the Romans, even if the most famous in history. From that perspective, Rome killed Jesus.

Since it can be said that Rome killed Jesus, why does nobody hate the people of Rome today? That would be ludicrous, wouldn't it? After all, the Romans living today had nothing to do with the unjust execution of Jesus 2,000 years ago. It would be patently unfair on its face to hate modern day Romans for acts committed by some of their ancient ancestors. This is a non-issue though, since nobody hates Romans for the crime.

Nobody blames modern day Romans for the murder of Jesus - but many people blame and hate the whole race of Jews for exactly that same crime, even now, after 2,000 years. Does that make sense to you? Clearly this prejudice is not rational, yet anti-Semitism is a growing issue today, and some of it is driven by this accusation against all Jews that they are "Christ-killers" and therefore criminals. For example, a recent survey concluded that about a quarter of Americans believe that "Jews were responsible for the death of Christ." No doubt this belief has played a role in the attacks on synagogues that we have seen in the news with increasing frequency lately here in America.

Of course, hatred of Jews is not limited to America. It is growing in many places, including Europe, as The Guardian recently reported:

Antisemitism is rising sharply across Europe, experts have said, as France reported a 74% increase in the number of offences against Jews last year and Germany said the number of violent antisemitic attacks had surged by more than 60%. The figures confirm the results of three recent Europe-wide surveys showing Jewish people feel at greater risk, and are experiencing markedly more aggression, amid a generalised increase in racist hate speech and violence in a significantly coarser, more polarised political environment. France’s interior ministry said this week that recorded incidents of antisemitism rose to 541 last year from 311 in 2017, while the German government said offences motivated by hatred of Jews hit a 10-year high of 1,646 in 2018. Physical attacks rose from 37 to 62, leaving 43 people needing medical treatment.

As the article points out, in Germany, offences motivated by anti-Semitism hit a ten year high last year. What can be done in response to these crimes of hate? In its May 26,2019 edition, BBC News reported a rather strange response by a German government official, in an article entitled; "German Jews warned not to wear kippas after rise in anti-Semitism."