# 183 / Editorial

Last week, we mentioned the case of Hungary, where Viktor Orbán is a friend of the Jews, at least when he manages to involve them in his reactionary political project. Looking deeper into this oxymoronic phenomenon, David Nirenberg’s lecture, “Anti-Judaism, Critical Thinking, and the Possibility of History”, examines how anti-Jewish ideas have shaped Western thought and culture over centuries. Nirenberg explores how influential thinkers—from the ancient world to modern times—have used Judaism as a symbol of everything they oppose in their quest for universal truth. By exposing these patterns, Nirenberg challenges historians to recognize the biases that shape historical narratives and to rethink the possibilities of history itself.

The reputation of a saintly man is now crumbling under the weight of public opinion. It’s a fitting turn of events, since it appears that the priest Abbé Pierre, far from being an apostle of the universal right to housing, did not hesitate to make it conditional on a sordid sexual barter. But, as Danny Trom points out, the public attribution of pardon or opprobrium obeys mysterious laws. For this was not the only time our Abbot went back on his profession of faith, and refused shelter to those who had none…

Mitchell Abidor visited the New York Jewish Museum’s exhibition exploring the long and fascinating history of the Sassoon family. A story that takes us from Iraq to England, via India and China. The Sassoons proclaimed themselves descendants of King David, were described as the “Rothschilds of the East”, spoke Judeo-Arabic as well as Hindustani before converting to English civilization. Through a rich selection of works collected by members of the family over the years, the exhibition tells the story of the gradual integration into Europe of an Iraqi Jewish family who turned into British aristocrats.

What if anti-Judaism were not just an irrational prejudice against Jews, but a fundamental structure of Western thought? This is the thesis defended by David Nirenberg in Anti-Judaism, which the Collège de France conference presented in June 2023 on the occasion of its translation into French. In it, we discover a vertiginous problem: the dependence of our moral, philosophical and critical systems on a repulsive figure of the imaginary Jew.

The priest Abbé Pierre, “French Maria Theresa”, has definitely fallen out of favor, and for good reason. Danny Trom, however, was keen to drive the point home, reminding us that the sexual impulse is not the only one that the Abbé’s well-ordered charity proved unable to control.

The Sassoons proclaimed themselves descendants of King David, were described as the “Rothschilds of the East” and spoke both Judeo-Arabic and Hindustani before converting to the English language. Mitchell Abidor, who visited the exhibition ” The Sassoons “, currently on show at the Jewish Museum in New York, tells us their story.

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