著者

嶋田 英晴

出版者

東京大学文学部宗教学研究室

雑誌

東京大学宗教学年報 (ISSN:02896400)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.30, pp.17-31, 2013-03-31

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Every people tries to survive, but the Jewish people in particular has struggled to survive. One characteristic of the Jewish people is that they not only try to survive, but also take account of such struggle in order to keep their Jewish identity. This was the destiny of Jewish people since they established a covenant with God to live as a chosen people and made it their mission to realize God’s will on earth. However, their behavior toward Gentiles put their own beliefs before all else and rejected compromises with the majorities into which they would assimilate, often leading to conflicts with their host societies. At the worst, they were massacred and almost exterminated. There were many crises that Jewish people faced, such as religious conflicts, economic conflicts, political conflicts, racial conflicts, cultural conflicts and environmental changes. This paper is an attempt to show Jewish survival strategies by surveying their strategies for survival that appeared in their scriptures, especially in the Hebrew Bible. Henceforth, I intend to expand into cases of failure to show the whole picture. The results of this investigation will offer tactics for survival for peoples who may possibly face conditions similar to those confronted by the Jewish people.