• Why the Jews?

  • The Reason for Anti-Semitism, the Most Accurate Predictor of Human Evil
  • By: Dennis Prager, Joseph Telushkin
  • Narrated by: Traber Burns
  • Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (317 ratings)

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Why the Jews?  By  cover art

Why the Jews?

By: Dennis Prager, Joseph Telushkin
Narrated by: Traber Burns
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Publisher's summary

In this seminal work that has spent more than 30 years in print, Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin explain the reasons behind anti-Semitism, the world's preoccupation with the Jews and Israel, and why now more than ever the world needs to confront anti-Jewish sentiment.

Why have Jews been the object of the most enduring and universal hatred in history? Why is the Jewish state the most hated country in the world today? Drawing on extensive historical research, Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin reveal how Judaism's distinctive conceptions of God, law, and peoplehood have rendered the Jews and the Jewish state outsiders and labeled them as threatening. But as Prager and Telushkin are quick to point out, anti-Semitism is not just another ethnic or racial prejudice and is not caused, as so many people falsely believe, by Jewish economic success or the need for scapegoats. Rather, anti-Semitism today, as in the past, is a reaction to Judaism and its distinctive values.

Prager and Telushkin examine in detail how anti-Semitism is a unique hatred - no other prejudice has been as universal, deep, or permanent - and how the concept of the "chosen people" spawned that hatred. They also explore the role of non-Jewish Jews, such as Karl Marx and Noam Chomsky, in provoking anti-Jewish animosity.

In Why the Jews?, Prager and Telushkin identify the seven major forms of anti-Semitism - pagan, Christian, Muslim, enlightenment, leftist, Nazi, and anti-Zionist - and explain why it is impossible in today's world to be an anti-Zionist without being an anti-Semite.

With an eye on the larger picture, Prager and Telushkin express why anti-Semitism threatens more than just Jews and what kind of changes are necessary to achieve a world without hatred.

©2016 Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Why the Jews?

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It answers the question!

We traveled to Israel 3 weeks ago and were impressed with the safety, serenity, and joy of the Jewish people, in spite of being surrounded by hostile countries and having their enemies live among them also. We walked through all the quarters of the Old City: Armenian, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. The differences between them is stark. Where were we welcomed? Where did we feel safe? Only in the Jewish quarter. We came home with the nagging question, "Why are they so hated?" Finally moved to find out, we listened to this book. The research that went into it is evident. Names, places, dates, circumstances, and outcomes are laid out and easily understood. The narration is dry but does the job. This isn't a novel, after all.

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14 people found this helpful

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Eye Opening!

First book I've read by Dennis Prager although I visit his website often. This book has made me think things through and cleared many things up. I plan on doing more studies in this area and pray that we get a better understanding on this issue while the west still has some freedoms.

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7 people found this helpful

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Great summary of the history of anti-semitism

Loved this overview of the human root cause and history of anti-semitism. I think they missed one big thing, though, and that's the spiritual warfare aspect of it all. It seems very clear that the Enemy wants to do away with God's chosen people.

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Excellent account of antisemitism

Essential historical account of antisemitism's roots and why it persists across disparate cultures and peoples.

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Debatable arguments

I expected something more balanced and well written but I ended up with right wing propaganda. I’m not trying to diminish the subject or the suffering experienced by the Jewish community, I’m just saying that I wish someone else wrote this book.

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correct, but preachy

there is Great value in having a touchy subject covered by a disinterested party. this book does not do this. while the content of this book is accurate, the writing does not reflect a necessarily balanced view, suggesting that no Jew has ever done anything wrong ever. the preachy tone is off-putting.

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WITHOUT A DOUBT THE GREATEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ

Easy to listen to and absorb... loved the book and will listen to it over again. Should be the textbook for teaching everyone about Jew hatred... especially in these sad times we find ourselves in again, in the 21st century!!! Unfathomably!!!

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Honest accurate timely

It’s poignant analysis I read and reread and now use in my book club as we dissect the why now in American antisemitism and how did -10/7/2023 shattered our hopes and promises of never again.

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It was like the book was hijacked by Fox News

I generally very much enjoy everything Telushkin writes. He is deeply thoughtful with presentation of sometimes exceedingly difficult material. He typically delivers it clearly and without bias. But this? It was so heavily laden with far right propaganda I was unable to finish it. It was pure Prager extremism blanketed over historical information. A schande.

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Much too graphic

Too graphic gave me nightmares I couldn’t listen anymore Very disturbing I can’t say how disturbing it was

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