If Christianity is avodah zarah and Islam is not, why has the Christian world triumphed over the non-Christian, and why do Jews prefer to live among Christians and not Muslims?

Question

The Rambam quite clearly considered Christianity to be avodah zarah. He did not feel the same way about Islam, however, going so far as to condone praying within a mosque, and many Orthodox Jewish Rabbis take the same position on the subject, but with some adding a "shittuf" exception for gentiles.

If Christians are idolaters and thus violate the Noahide laws against idolatry and the commandment to worship the one G-d, why has the Christian West come to dominate the entire world? Why was it Christians who explored and colonized the globe, went into space and then later to the moon, and not Muslims? It really does seem that G-d has favored and blessed the West and the United States in particular, which seems to be completely at odds with the designation of their faith as avodah zarah, when G-d could have just as easily elevated the Muslim world instead. Why would G-d prefer idolaters to non-idolaters?

Second, why are Jews still living among Christians if they are idolaters and not with each other in Israel or, following the Rambam's lead, living among Muslims? Isn't it hypocritical to denounce the faith of the majority of those around you as idolatry when you could choose to live, as Maimonides did, in a Muslim country without those idolaters or without as many of them (particularly without them in positions of power)?

Answer 1

R' Chaim Dov Rabinowitz (author of Daas Sofrim), in his volume on Jewish history since the close of Tanach, in fact harshly criticizes the Jews of Babylonia for migrating from there to the Christian West during the Geonic era. He argues, for one thing, that they should have learned from the experience of the Jews under Byzantine domination (especially in the 5th-6th centuries) that a Christian society is no place for Jews.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and maybe indeed if our ancestors knew then what we know now, they might have stayed put. But on the other hand, the fact is that neither religion has been monolithic in its treatment of Jews - in fact, during that era Charlemagne and his immediate successors in Western Europe were pretty friendly towards Jews.

As for why the Christian nations dominate the world rather than the Muslim ones, some thoughts:

• History isn't over yet. Were we living a thousand years ago, the question would be reversed - and we don't know what might happen in the future.

• We're still in the exile of Edom (until the coming of Moshiach). Throughout Talmudic and Midrashic literature, Edom is identified with Rome; and Rome's successor (cultural and religious) is the Western world far more so than the Islamic one. (Though there were some early authorities - I think R' Saadiah Gaon was one - who say that the Romans were the cultural inheritors of Greece and therefore count as part of that kingdom, while Islam is the "fourth kingdom" that will hold sway in the era before Moshiach's arrival.)

Answer 2

Yes it seems funny; at the other extreme, anti-Semitism in India is considered virtually nonexistant historically, when Hinduism and Judaism have, shall I say, more or less mutually-exclusive theologies.

Part of the answer seems to be that "good fences make good neighbors", or as one genealogist put it, "you fight with your cousins." A religion that has nothing to do with Judaism whatsoever tends to mind its own business. It's because Islam shares so much history, ideology, and geography with Judaism that it has caused clashes.

Answer 3

In response to your first question, see Rambam Kings (ch. 11) where he discusses the reasons for the success of Christianity and Islam. He prefaces the discussion by noting that we cannot ever hope to fully understand God's motivation for shaping history.

He then continues by offering the idea that these religions pave the way for the coming of Mashiach, by spreading the ideas of God, the Law and Messianic times.

Answer 4

First, I have to point out that the Rambam, although he lived in Egypt, was no fan of Islam or Mohammed who he called a "madman" and "the defective one" in his Letter to Yemen.

On the general point: Over the last 2000 years, Jews have migrated extensively; probably more so than any other nation or people. Here is a nice summary of the post-exile movement of our people. As you can see from the descriptions and the map at the bottom of the page, Jewish migration was often linked to economic potential and cultural advantages and disadvantages. Therefore a variety of issues caused some people to emigrate to Rome, others to Greece, east to Babylonia, Europe or along the African and Asia Minor coasts.

For the first six centuries, the Christians were not a major problem to Jews as the Christians were busy battling and converting (often by force) the pagan tribes of Europe. Dimont, "Jews, G-d and History, pp. 151-152. Also Jews benefited because they were more educated and cultured than the newly-converted pagans were, and rose to relatively high positions. Ibid. pp. 213.

During the feudal era, Europe held some attraction to Jews because of the restrictions placed on Jews. Christians were tied to the land or if they were craftsmen, they were tied to their guilds and forbidden by law to lend money at interest. Jews, however, were forbidden to own land or join the guilds. But that meant they had nothing tying them down, and they alone could lend money with interest to non-Jews. Carroll, "Constatine's Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History," pp 243-44.

The conflict between Moslems and Christians, during the Crusades period, also benefited Jews who lived in or traveled to both worlds. Welcome in both worlds, Jews were able to sell the goods of Moslems (and others through Asia) to the Christian nations, thereby pollinating Europe with many influences from the Orient. See Abrahams, "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," p. 214; Stillman, "Jewish Merchants," contained in Meri and Bacharach, "Medieval Islamic Civilization L-Z" at pp 497-498.

But with the success of Jewish merchants came a downside: "When Feudal man realized the superiority of the Jewish way of doing things, he absorbed Jewish know-how, kicked the Jews out to eliminate the competition, and went into business for himself." Dimont, at 224. Jews migrated instead to Eastern Europe where their special skills were welcomed. Ibid.

Jews did well in the Islamic world, depending upon the rise and fall of various sects. Jews during Rambam's early years were respected and protected in Andalusia during the reign of the Almoravids, but when they were deposed in 1148 by the Berbers, that sect forced Jews to convert to Islam if they chose to stay. 1954 Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 18, p. 140.
Similarly, other Jewish communities in the Arab world suffered ups and downs depending on who was in charge.

But, as always, Jews outside of their homeland live where they are welcome, and leave where they are not. Before World War II, 9.5 million Jews lived in Europe. Holocaust Encyclopedia. But because of the Holocaust and continued anti-semitism in parts of Europe, only 1.45 million reside there, according to the American Jewish Yearbook for 2010. The Arab-Israel conflict has caused a sharp downturn in the Jewish population in Moslem countries. The Jewish population in the Middle East dropped from 1 million in 1948, including Iran but excluding Israel, to less than 20,000 in 2010. That decrease includes 867,000 Jews who were expelled, or forced out of Moslem countries at war with Israel. "The Forgotten Exodus," Jerusalem Post Special Supplement, Nov. 29, 2002, pp. 12-13.

To summarize: The fact that Christians are or are not idolators is not determinative of where Jews live. They live where it is in their own interests.

Answer 5

Some thoughts:

First, if there is a "shituf" exception for gentiles (making Xianity essentially permissible to them), then it's unclear why Islam should dominate.

Second, the United States has only been dominant for 100 years or less. During that period of time, rabbis have often referred to the U.S. as a medinat shel chessed, a state of lovingkindness, because of the relative absence of anti-Semitism here. So even if Xianity may be technically Avodah Zara, it is understandable that Hashem would allow one of the least anti-Semitic countries in the world, that allows Jews unprecedented freedom and tolerance (unmatched outside of Israel), to dominate the world.

Third, interestingly, many of the early Founding Fathers were Deists, who believed in God but not necessarily Yashka. (I'm trying to avoid saying the Xian "messiah's" name for halachic reasons.) Thomas Jefferson even wrote a version of the Xian Bible removing everything supernatural and portraying Yashka as little more than a wise man. Our national public discourse ("In G-d we Trust;" "under G-d, with liberty and justice for all," the "great God our king" line in "My Country 'Tis of Thee," which has the same melody as "G-d Save the Queen") often refers to G-d but seldom to Yashka. Perhaps this makes Xianity a less serious candidate for Avodah Zara here.

Fourth, it makes sense that a country would be judged for its national discourse and what it imposes on its inhabitants (which is very little, given church/state separation), rather than the beliefs of the population itself.

Fifth, I'm not sure we should assume it's such a good thing to dominate the world. The US lags behind numerous European (and a few Asian) countries in life expectancy, infant mortality rate, literacy, educational quality, inequality/social cohesion, social services/welfare, health care quality, public safety/crime, happiness, homelessness, etc., all of which result at least partly from insufficient public spending, while the military gets as much funding as it wants.

Answer 6

It has been my understanding that the Rema stated that Christians are not exactly idolaters. They are, rather, practicing "Shituf", meaning that though they associate Hashem with... some other thing, they still have Hashem as the creator of heaven and earth in mind when they pray. Though the associations they are making are false and forbidden to Jews, they are not actually violating the prohibition on gentiles. Is this an incorrect understanding?

Answer 7

The Christian world is more advanced in science an technology now because they are blessed with most Jews (outside of Israel) living among them. This is the opposite to Muslim countries. But Muslims got their peace of blessing for strict monotheism, and that is through oil, which was given to them in such disproportional abundance that they got lazy and slack on education.

Answer 8

Ok, Chirstians dont want to dominate the world, just share the love of Jesus as their bible says. It depends who accept it and who doesnt. And Jewishs live among chirstians because their bible teach to love Jewish people [you can read it in rom. 11] or leave them by their way. About the muslims, if you can investigate, all muslim country want to kill Jewish. thats all.

and about idolaters its simple too, if a muslim broke the law, the punishment is death [or something horrible] and christians teach the forgiveness of God by Jesus, the problem is when they take it easly without awe of God or lightly.

The people who idolizes, hate, lie and all those things are no christians. I can share with you more information. BTW, im not religious.