If I were to reduce to an irreducible minimum I’d say its their undeserved reputation as the killers of Christ. I think all other explanations stem from this. It is also interesting to note that some of the most virulent anti-Semitism in the 19th century was in France. (Sartre wrote a good book that’s worth a look - Anti-Semite and Jew.) There’s simply no way of denying their successes however. They’ve simply had to triumph over adversity wherever they settled. They have a disproportionate amount of Nobel Laureates. See below:
At least 193 Jews and people of half- or three-quarters-Jewish ancestry have been awarded the Nobel Prize,1 accounting for 23% of all individual recipients worldwide between 1901 and 2013, and constituting 37% of all US recipients2 during the same period.3 In the research fields of Chemistry, Economics, Physics, and Physiology/Medicine, the corresponding world and US percentages are 27% and 39%, respectively. Among women laureates in the four research fields, the Jewish percentages (world and US) are 38% and 50%, respectively. Of organizations awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 23% were founded principally by Jews or by people of half-Jewish descent. (Jews currently make up approximately 0.2% of the world’s population and 2% of the US population.)
• Chemistry (36 prize winners, 22% of world total, 33% of US total)
• Economics (29 prize winners, 39% of world total, 50% of US total)
• Literature (13 prize winners, 12% of world total, 27% of US total)
• Peace (9 prize winners, 9% of world total, 10% of US total)4
• Physics (51 prize winners, 26% of world total, 37% of US total)
•Physiology or Medicine (55 prize winners, 27% of world total, 40% of US total)
This illustrates what Thomas Sowell wrote: over or underrepresentation in any field of human endeavor is the rule, not the exception. This seems unqualifiedly true. I don’t know why, but any list of the greatest composers who ever lived would include a very high percentage of Germans, perhaps three or four of the top five - Bach, Beethoven Brahms, Wagner, and Mozart.