Judaism
"'Jew" (redirect Jewish), as a demonym, should be covered in its own article, as it's identity, and is also used derogatorily. But "Judaism" is not a derogatory term.
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Judaism was one of the major religions of Earth. It was practised by the Jewish people, who spoke Hebrew.
In Masada, Judaea, a band of Jewish zealots were losing in a war against the Romans. Eleazar ben Jair, the leader of the group, devised a plan: they would all kill each other.
When the Doctor's TARDIS appeared there, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright joined the Jews, while the First Doctor and Susan Foreman joined the opposing Roman camp. Ian tried to change history by helping the Jews fight, which the Doctor counteracted by helping the Romans, trying to preserve time. In the end, Ian was chosen to kill everyone, and Elezar killed himself. (PROSE: The Last Days [+]Loading...["The Last Days (short story)"])
When Christianity came into being, the Jewish leaders — in particular the Pharisees — reacted with hostility. They tried to murder Lazarus and anyone else they judged to have had contact with Jesus Christ. (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"])
I have no doubt that they, the Jews that is, consider Christianity to be a danger to them.
In the 12th century, there existed widespread prejudice against Jews in medieval England. This largely derived from "stories you heard", with most English lords never having personally met any Jewish people. When Henri d'Arrée, returning from the Crusades, introduced his old friend Earl Godfrey to his fellow Knight Templar Moses of Tyre, D'Arrée was put off by Godfrey's dismissive treatment of him for being of Jewish origins, and by the other members of Godfrey's household unthinking propensity to refer to him as "the Jew" instead of by his name. He tried to explain the nature of prejudices to Godfrey, with little success. However, after Moses used his knowledge to save Godfrey's wife Maud from a grave illness, the Earl found new respect for him, referring to him as "Master Moses" thereafter. A short time later, Moses of Tyre semi-accidentally became responsible for the invention of gunpowder. (AUDIO: The Green Man [+]Loading...["The Green Man (audio story)"])
In 16th century Europe, when Susan tossed a part of a Liciax ship out of the TARDIS, thinking it was a meteorite, it found its way to Prague and was shaped into a golem. When the golem went on a murderous rampage, they managed to trap it in a Jewish synagogue. (PROSE: Life from Lifelessness [+]Loading...["Life from Lifelessness (short story)"])
In 1888, the London Police thought that Sir Charles Warren's reference to Ju'wes was to induce a riot against the Jews. (COMIC: Ripper's Curse [+]Loading...["Ripper's Curse (comic story)"])
In 1938, River Song told a Nazi officer that she was on her way to a gay gypsy Bar Mitzvah for the disabled, flippantly referring to several groups that the Nazis considered "undesirable." (TV: Let's Kill Hitler [+]Loading...["Let's Kill Hitler (TV story)"])
Anti-Semitism was a form of prejudice against Jewish people. (PROSE: The Turing Test [+]Loading...["The Turing Test (novel)"], Birthright [+]Loading...["Birthright (novel)"]) Dr Ruth Horwitz, a physicist at St Ursula's College in England, was Jewish. In 1939, she received anti-Semitic poison pen letters for two to three months. (AUDIO: An Eye For Murder [+]Loading...["An Eye For Murder (audio story)"])
During World War II, Jews were heavily persecuted by the Nazis, and many were sent to concentration camps. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"]) The word "Jewish" was used at least by the Nazis around this time derogatorily; for example, Joachim Wolff called psychoanalysis "Jewish science". (PROSE: Just War [+]Loading...["Just War (novel)"])
In 1963, Rosa's, a café owned by a German Jew named Rosa, was a popular hangout for Coal Hill School students. (AUDIO: Hunters of Earth [+]Loading...["Hunters of Earth (audio story)"])
In 1989, Saul Hoffman was the rabbi of a synagogue in Prague. (COMIC: The Broken Man [+]Loading...["The Broken Man (comic story)"])
Amongst the other people not aforementioned who were Jewish were:
- Professor Rachel Jensen, Captain Ian Gilmore's scientific advisor. (AUDIO: Threshold [+]Loading...["Threshold (audio story)"])
- Julius Silverstein, businessman and collector. (TV: The Web of Fear [+]Loading...["The Web of Fear (TV story)"])
- Barnabas, Jewish priest. (PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"])
- Mjovic, Sneshna, and William Jovanka, the paternal grandparents and father of companion Tegan Jovanka. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties [+]Loading...["Divided Loyalties (novel)"])
New Zion was a Jewish colony founded prior to or during the 23rd century. (PROSE: Shopping for Eternity [+]Loading...["Shopping for Eternity (short story)"])
Judaism was the precursor to New Judaism. The Tenth Doctor asked the Beast, if he was the Devil of Neo-Judaism, along with that of numerous other religions, to which he responded he was the Devil of all religions. (TV: The Satan Pit [+]Loading...["The Satan Pit (TV story)"])
Alternate timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]
In an alternate timeline in which Adolf Hitler won World War II, British Jews were deported along with invalids and anyone else considered useless to the Nazis. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- In the novelisation of The Web of Fear, Julius Silverstein's name was changed to "Emil Julius" in order to remove the offensive stereotype of the greedy Jewish businessman.
- One of New Zion's towns was Gehenna, (PROSE: Shopping for Eternity) probably named after the Jewish hell. There was also a planet named this, which was inhabited by Devil-like creatures. (PROSE: Mean Streets)
- Sydney Newman, considered one of the creators of Doctor Who, was Jewish, as was the show's original producer, Verity Lambert.
