> Who benefits from "Anti-semitism" ? (a sad story)
4 November 2004, 06:59
Whenever I hear the word "Anti-Semite" used as a catch-all smear of anyone whom we disagree
with (after all, one doesn’t have to prove the invalidity of any argument put forward by an Anti-
Semite, does one?), I’m reminded of a story told by a college professor. It seems that as a
small boy he took 2nd Prize in a Spelling Bee at school. But when he proudly returned home
his relatives (they were Jewish) insisted that he had actually been the best speller in the contest,
but that the Judges had been Anti-Semites and so couldn’t allow a Jew to win 1st Prize.
"Well, that may be," the boy replied, "but the little girl who won was Jewish."
Whenever I hear the word "Anti-Semite" used as a catch-all smear of anyone whom we disagree
with (after all, one doesn’t have to prove the invalidity of any argument put forward by an Anti-
Semite, does one?), I’m reminded of a story told by a college professor. It seems that as a
small boy he took 2nd Prize in a Spelling Bee at school. But when he proudly returned home
his relatives (they were Jewish) insisted that he had actually been the best speller in the contest,
but that the Judges had been Anti-Semites and so couldn’t allow a Jew to win 1st Prize.
"Well, that may be," the boy replied, "but the little girl who won was Jewish."