Why do jews prosper

In addition, Jews had a religious culture that promoted universal adult literacy — at least for men — and a culture that respected book learning. Those attitudes and dispositions were transferred from religious texts to secular forms of education.

As a result, Jews were highly oriented toward education, and willing to defer current pleasures and income to obtain more of it. Such factors provide a sense of why attention to the history of Jews under capitalism helps us to understand capitalism more generally. It reminds us that much of success in a capitalist society is based on cultural and historical factors that produce qualities such as innovativeness, willingness to tolerate risk and willingness to defer gratification through savings and education.

These cultural traits are difficult to quantify, so economists are uncomfortable in dealing with them. They are often passed down within families, so they elude social policies that are based on the notion that equality of opportunity can be created by government action. Exploring the economic history of the Jews also reminds us that groups that are disproportionately successful are met by different political reactions.

Societies long oriented to economic dynamism tend to welcome the economically successful, viewing them as a source of mutual gains. But cultures that tend to resent the economically successful — either as an affront to equality, or on the implicit assumption that the economic gains of some must be at the expense of others — tend to be more hostile toward Jews and given to conspiratorial theories to explain their economic success.

Most societies lie somewhere along a spectrum between these two poles. Tzedakah, a Hebrew word that has come loosely to denote charity, in actuality means righteousness. There is, then, a particular vileness in attributing tight-fistedness and greed to a people for whom generosity and open-handedness lie at the heart of religious life. Tracing the history of a slur is no easy business. Christianity has first to make a clear line in the sand between it and the religion of which it is an offshoot, and the Judas kiss of betrayal does that better than finance.

Altogether, early attitudes to Jews made nothing of their commercial deviousness. The Greek Sophist Apion, a resolute hater of Jews in the immediate years before Christ, found them obstinate but submissive, superstitious and incompetent.

The Jew with the money bag on his belt would come later. Judas was an invention from the start. Yes, all 12 apostles were Jews, but that fact would slowly disappear, as the only false one, who just happened to be named after the Jewish people, took centre stage. He is known to us today largely through the paintings of the last supper that were to be the mainstay of medieval and Renaissance European art.

There he is, often at the far end of the table, nursing the bag of silver, red-haired and yellow-cloaked — symbols of foreignness and duplicity both. It is not unknown for Judas to be painted with an erection, in reference to the lechery that was thought to be a side-product of Jewish acquisitiveness.

Turn a profit and you get a hard-on. By the middle ages, the work of the church fathers has been accomplished and lewd acquisitiveness has come to be the mark by which Jews are known. Judas kiss: detail from a 17th-century depiction. All the experts we asked said the reason was Jewish education. To this day there are many Jewish names in the top echelon of Hollywood and the television networks.

Later on, they took high-tech by storm too — another new industry requiring learning abilities. How do community institutions help people succeed in business? My family is an example of what happened to millions. My grandfather arrived in New York with two dollars in his pocket. He sold pencils, and then pants and then other things, and in the meantime studied English, German and Spanish and established ties.

Is that why they succeeded in the US more than in other places? The discrimination lessened in most countries. I think Jews succeeded in America in particular because capitalism is good for the Jews.

Jews have a tendency for entrepreneurship, they study more and have quick perception, know how to seize opportunities and have networking skills.

A competitive environment gives Jews an advantage. Is that the reason Israelis are not as rich as American Jews? The Jews in America arrived in a country with existing, stable and strong infrastructure.

Here they had to build the entire infrastructure from scratch, under harsh conditions. Every time there are arguments between the Israeli government and Jews in America, Israeli and American public figures warn that "one day they'll have enough and stop donating. They want to see their names at a New York museum rather than at Jerusalem museum. It looks like our government is trying to make it happen with all its might, but fortunately, it can't even do that. All rights reserved. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website.

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