But anyway - I want to get to the heart of the matter with Pogroms. Past the obvious “you’re different from us” bigotry. What was their role during the peaceful times? What led up to these disturbances? How did things settle down again? Was it really a religious, or more secular government matter - who benefited (if at all) from this ugliness?
I would recommend that you carefully read the Book of Esther. In it, you will find that anti-semitism was alive and well even in the Old Testament.
You ask, “What led to these disturbances?” There are probably several answers to this question throughout history. There are, however, several “themes and patterns” of anti-semitism that are noted by the Jewish Sages. And there are plenty of examples in the Old Testament where the Jews are undeservedly persecuted.
We see in the Book of Esther, Chapter 3, that Mordechai refused to kneel to the king for religious reasons. Specifically, Mordechai, as a Jew, held the religious belief that it was only proper to kneel to God alone, and not a secular public figure:
"And all the king’s servants, that were at the doors of the palace, bent their knees, and worshipped Aman: for so the emperor had commanded them, only Mardochai did not bend his knee, nor worship him. 3 And the king’s servants that were chief at the doors of the palace, said to him: Why dost thou alone not observe the king’s commandment? 4 And when they were saying this often, and he would not hearken to them; they told Aman, desirous to know whether he would continue in his resolution: for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 Now when Aman had heard this, and had proved by experience that Mardochai did not bend his knee to him, nor worship him, he was exceeding angry.
Aman, being angry at Mordechai, devised to kill the Jewish people:
6 And he counted it nothing to lay his hands upon Mardochai alone: for he had heard that he was of the nation of the Jews, and he chose rather to destroy all the nation of the Jews that were in the kingdom of Assuerus… 8 And Aman said to king Assuerus: There is a people scattered through all the provinces of thy kingdom, and separated one from another, that use new laws and ceremonies, and moreover despise the king’s ordinances: and thou knowest very well that it is not expedient for thy kingdom that they should grow insolent by impunity. 9 If it please thee, decree that they may be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents to thy treasurers."
The same themes of persecution and anti-semitism noted in the Book of Esther against the Jewish people are repeated throughout Jewish history.
In exile, Jews industriously work for the betterment of their host country (We see this even in the Old Testament when Jews were slaves in Egypt), only to be cast out due to unwarranted and undeserved jealousy and envy. Instead of being thankful and appreciative, the rulers in the host country view the Jewish people as a threat. Unjustified hatred is fomented against the Jewish people.
