I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3).
Fundamental to God’s covenant with Abraham was the promise of protection: a protective blessing for Abraham’s friends and cursing for his enemies – which promise continues to apply to his descendants through Isaac to our day, 4 millennia later.
An interesting exercise in history is to trace the treatment of Jews by other people-groups and the subsequent arc of that nation’s lack of success and encounters with adversity from being under the malediction of God.
Over 125 years ago, American author Mark Twain wrote an extended essay entitled Concerning the Jews. It appeared in Harper’s Magazine in 1898.
"The Jew is being legislated out of Russia. The reason is not concealed. The movement was instituted because the [Gentile] peasant and villager stood no chance against his commercial abilities. He was always ready to lend money on a crop, and sell vodka and other necessaries of life on credit while the crop was growing. When settlement day came he owned the crop; and next year or year after he owned the farm, like Joseph". 1
Twain reflected on a common experience for European Jewry, citing several countries for their ethnically motivated systematic tightening of destructive restrictions and imposition of damaging prohibitions.
"Trade after trade was taken away from the Jew by statute till practically none was left. He was forbidden to engage in agriculture; he was forbidden to practise law; he was forbidden to practise medicine, except among Jews; he was forbidden the handicrafts. Even the seats of learning and the schools of science had to be closed against this tremendous antagonist". 1
As I read Twain’s remarks from a bygone era, the conclusion to me was inescapable: once great domains appear to have paid a price for arbitrarily limiting the rights of – and maligning the existence of – the progeny of Abraham.
None has since risen to the heights it previously attained.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.
So where does that leave our beloved country of Canada?
One has to wonder while reading of continued rancorous protests on Canadian soil. The reports portrayed angry vitriol-fueled demonstrations that appear to be motivated more about opposition to everything Jewish and less about opposing Israeli government policy.
We would do well to ponder our own 20th century history'
During the run-up to World War 2 as anti-Semitic persecution intensified, over 900 Jewish refugees – many of them children – attempted to escape Nazi Germany aboard the ship MS St. Louis. The migrants expected – but were ultimately denied – entry in Cuba. Then they were refused entry to the United States.
Finally, the refugees’ vessel continued optimistically north to Canada, but were also turned away before actually docking in Halifax.
The MS St Louis ultimately returned to Europe. Some found safe haven; history records that 254 eventually died in Nazi death camps. 2
Almost 8 decades later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for the government’s role in this debacle;
However, in that era, admitting Jews to our nation was decidedly unpopular politically; consequently only about 5000 were admitted in the years 1933 to 1945. 3
What is particularly staggering is that a mere 500 were admitted during the period of World War 2 when protective sanctuary was most desperately sought! 3 For purposes of comparison, in 2023 the number of permanent immigrants entering Canada was 455,000 (in the first 10 months) plus 800,000 foreign students. 4
And in the 3 years after the war when the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust became more evident, Canada continued to restrict Jewish immigration. The Jerusalem Post recorded, “One Jewish leader declared that it was easier for Nazi war criminals to get into Canada, than Jews.” 3
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King wrote in his personal diary (March 29, 1938) that his own prohibitive motivation was driven by a fear of “too great an intermixture of foreign strains of blood… I fear we would have riots if we agreed to a policy that admitted numbers of Jews.” 5
It is difficult for many of us to imagine that in those days in Ontario, signs appeared at beaches, golf clubs and restaurants, indicating “Gentiles only”. 6
The reality of our history is that over a significant era, the common refrain, “none is too many” provided the backdrop to the attitude towards Jewish immigration of many in power in this country – as well as the common people on the street.
Today, Canada ranks 3rd behind only the US and France in terms of Jewish population outside of Israel. Almost 400,000 Jews call Canada home. 7
Takeaway: as a liberal democratic nation, our foreign policy designers and immigration ministers would do well to remember God’s promise to the ancient Hebrew patriarch: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.
As Christ-followers, may we never forget the conclusion of that verse wherein the promised Messiah – the zenith of that blessing to the patriarch – is assured:
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3).
~ photo credit: Ontario Jewish Archives (online).
1 Mark Twain, Concerning the Jews, Wikisource, the free online library, 1898.
2 Wikipedia article (online): None is Too Many.
3 The Jerusalem Post (online), The Dark History of Canada’s response…, July 9, 2023
4 The National Post (online), Out of Control, Immigration Minister says…January 15, 2024.
5 The Canadian Encyclopedia (online), MS St Louis article, September 2015.
6 Ontario Jewish Archives (online), AntiSemitism article, undated.
7 Wikipedia article (online), Jewish population by country.
