Immorality

The notion of Jewish immorality is a stereotype which ascribes to Jews complete alienation from, contempt for and deliberate acting against the common-sense norms of morality. The concept of immorality is anchored in the religious and early Christian view on the rival religion. Portraying Jews as alien to the type of moral constraints which bind other people or religions is a gateway towards their subsequent dehumanisation, casting them apart from the ethically “sound” humanity. This stereotype harks back to late antiquity and early Medieval conceptions of Jews as “godless” betrayers of Christ, and of Judaism as a religion bereft of the higher spirituality attributed to Christianity.