Part 5

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ISRAEL is the heart of mankind.

YEHUDAH HALEVI.

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THE high-road of Jewish history leads to wide outlooks. That which is great and lasting in Jewish history is the spiritual wealth accumulated through the ages; the description of the fierce battles fought between the powers of darkness and light, of freedom and persecution, of knowledge and ignorance. Our great men are the heroes of the school and the sages of the synagogue, not the knights of the sanguinary battlefield. No widow was left to mourn through our victory, no mother for her lost son, no orphan for the lost father.

M. GASTER, 1906.

THE HALLOWING OF JEWISH HISTORY

THE first part of Jewish history, the Biblical part, is a source from which, for many centuries, millions of human beings belonging to the most diverse denominations have derived instruction, solace, and inspiration. Its heroes have long ago become types, incarnations, of great ideas. The events it relates serve as living ethical formulas. But a time will come――perhaps it is not very far off――when the second half of Jewish history, the record of the two thousand years of the Jewish people’s life after the Biblical period, will be accorded the same treatment. The thousand years’ martyrdom of the Jewish people, its unbroken pilgrimage, its tragic fate, its teachers of religion, its martyrs, philosophers, champions――this whole epic will in days to come sink deep into the memory of men. It will speak to the heart and conscience of men, not merely to their curious mind. It will secure respect for the silvery hair of the Jewish people, a people of thinkers and sufferers. It is our firm conviction that the time is approaching in which the second half of Jewish history will be to the noblest part of _thinking_ humanity what its first half has long been to _believing_ humanity, a source of sublime moral truths.

S. M. DUBNOW, 1893.

ISRAEL’S MARTYRDOM

IF there are ranks in suffering, Israel takes precedence of all the nations; if the duration of sorrows and the patience with which they are borne ennoble, the Jews can challenge the aristocracy of every land; if a literature is called rich in the possession of a few classic tragedies――what shall we say to a National Tragedy lasting for fifteen hundred years, in which the poets and the actors were also the heroes?

LEOPOLD ZUNZ, 1855.

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COMBINE all the woes that temporal and ecclesiastical tyrannies have ever inflicted on men or nations, and you will not have reached the full measure of suffering which this martyr people was called upon to endure century upon century. It was as if all the powers of earth had conspired――and they did so conspire――to exterminate the Jewish people, or at least to transform it into a brutalized horde. History dare not pass over in silence these scenes of wellnigh unutterable misery. It is her duty to give a true and vivid account of them; to evoke due admiration for the superhuman endurance of this suffering people, and to testify that Israel, like his ancestor in the days of old, has striven with gods and with men, and has prevailed.

H. GRAETZ.

UNDER THE ROMAN EMPERORS

THERE had now a tumult arisen in Alexandria between the Jewish inhabitants and the Greeks, and three ambassadors were chosen out of each party that were at variance who came to Caius (Caligula). Now, one of the Greek ambassadors was Apion, who uttered many blasphemies against the Jews; and among other things he said that while all who were subject to the Roman Empire built altars and temples to Caesar, and in other regards universally received him as they received the gods, these Jews alone thought it a dishonourable thing for them to erect statues in honour of him, as well as to swear by his name.

Hereupon Caligula, taking it very heinously that he should be thus despised by the Jews alone, gave orders to make an invasion of Judea with a great body of troops, and, if they were obstinate, to conquer them by war, and then to erect the statues. Accordingly Petronius, the Governor of Syria, got together as great a number of auxiliaries as he possibly could, and took with him two legions of the Roman army. But there came many ten thousands of the Jews to Petronius, to offer their petitions to him, that he would not compel them to transgress and violate the law of their forefathers. ‘If’, said they, ‘thou art entirely resolved to bring this statue, and erect it, do thou first kill us, and then do what thou hast resolved on; for, while we are alive, we cannot permit such things as are forbidden us to be done by the authority of our Legislator.’

Petronius then hasted to Tiberias; and many thousands of the Jews met Petronius again, when he was come to Tiberias. Then Petronius said to them: ‘Will you then make war with Caesar without considering his great preparations for war and your own weakness?’ They replied: ‘We will not by any means make war with him, but still we will die before we see our laws transgressed’. So they threw themselves down upon their faces, and stretched out their throats, and said they were ready to be slain. Thus they continued in their resolution, and proposed to themselves to die willingly rather than to see the dedication of the statue[23].

FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, 1st cent.

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IN the world-wide Roman Empire it was the Jews alone who refused the erection of statues and the paying of divine honours to Caligula, and _thereby saved the honour of the human race_ when all the other peoples slavishly obeyed the decree of the Imperial madman.

J. FUERST, 1890.

IN MEDIAEVAL ROME

IN the whole history of heroism there is nothing finer than the example of the Jews of the Roman Ghetto, a handful of men who for 1,500 years and longer remained true to their own ideals――unmoved and undazzled by the triumphant world-power of the dominant faith; and undaunted

By the torture prolonged from age to age, By the infamy, Israel’s heritage, By the Ghetto’s plague, by the garb’s disgrace, By the badge of shame, by the felon’s place, By the branding tool, by the bloody whip, And the summons to Christian fellowship.

Helpless victims of all the horrors enumerated in these burning lines of Robert Browning, these Jews were yet _free men_. Not a trace of what a modern Jewish thinker――Achad Ha’am――has called ‘spiritual slavery’ was theirs. In all fundamental matters they were totally indifferent to the opinion of those who might torture the body but could never crush the soul.

J. H. HERTZ, 1915.

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THE history of the daughter religions of Judaism is one uninterrupted series of attempts to commit matricide.

M. STEINSCHNEIDER, 1893.

THE FIRST CRUSADE (1096)[24]

YEA, they slay us and they smite, Vex our souls with sore affright; All the closer cleave we, Lord, To Thine everlasting word. Not a word of all their Mass Shall our lips in homage pass; Though they curse, and bind, and kill, The living God is with us still. We still are Thine, though limbs are torn; Better death than life forsworn. Noblest matrons seek for death, Rob their children of their breath; Fathers, in their fiery zeal, Slay their sons with murderous steel, And in heat of holiest strife, For love of Thee, spare not their life. The fair and young lie down to die In witness of Thy Unity; From dying lips the accents swell, ‘Thy God is One, O Israel’; And bridegroom answers unto bride, ‘The Lord is God, and none beside’, And, knit with bonds of holiest faith, They pass to endless life through death.

KALONYMOS BEN YEHUDAH. (_Trans. E. H. Plumptre._)

THE SECOND CRUSADE

IN the year 1146 Israel’s communities were terror-stricken. The monk Rudolph who shamefully persecuted Israel, arose against the people of God, in order, like Haman of old, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish. He travelled throughout Germany to bestow the cross of the crusaders upon all who consented to set out for Jerusalem to fight against the Moslems. In every place where he came he aroused the people, crying, ‘Avenge ye first the vengeance of our God on His enemies who are here before us, and then we will go forward’. When the Jews heard this, their courage failed them by reason of the rage of their oppressor who sought their destruction. They cried to God, saying: ‘Alas, O Lord God! Behold fifty years, like the period of a jubilee, have not yet elapsed since we shed our blood like water to sanctify Thy holy, great, and revered Name, on the day of the great slaughter. Wilt Thou indeed forsake us for ever and extend Thy wrath against us unto all generations? Shall misery follow misery?’

The Lord heard our supplications, and turned unto us, and had pity upon us, according to His abundant loving-kindness. He sent one of their greatest and respected teachers, the abbot Bernard, from the town Clairvaux in France, after this evil monk. And he also preached to his people according to their custom, crying ‘It is good that you are ready to go forth against the Moslems; but whosoever uses violence against the Jews commits a deadly sin’.

All honoured this monk as one of their saints, neither has it ever been said that he received a bribe for his good service to us. Many desisted from any further murderous attacks against us. We gladly gave our possessions as a ransom for our lives. Whatever was asked of us, silver or gold, we withheld not.

If our Creator in His great compassion had not sent us this abbot, there would have been none in Israel that would have escaped or remained alive. Blessed be He who saves and delivers. Praised be His Name.

EPHRAIM OF BONN, 1180.

JEWISH SUFFERING

BREAK forth in lamentation, My agonizing song, That like a lava-torrent Has boiled within me long.

My song shall thrill each hearer, And none so deaf but hears, For the burden of my ditty Is the pain of a thousand years.

It melts both gentle and simple, Even hearts of stone are riven―― Sets women and flowers weeping; They weep, the stars of heaven.

And all these tears are flowing By channels still and wide, Homeward they are all flowing To meet in Jordan’s tide.

H. HEINE, 1824.

THE JEWS OF YORK (1190)

WHEN Richard I ascended the throne, the Jews, to conciliate the Royal protection, brought their tributes. Many had hastened from remote parts of England, and, appearing at Westminster, the Court and the mob imagined that they had leagued to bewitch His Majesty. A rumour spread rapidly through the city that in honour of the festival the Jews were to be massacred. The populace, at once eager of Royalty and riot, pillaged and burnt their houses and murdered the devoted Jews.

The people of York soon gathered to imitate the people of London. The alarmed Jews hastened to Jocenus, the most opulent of the Jews, who conducted them to the Governor of York Castle, and prevailed on him to afford them an asylum for their persons and effects.

The castle had sufficient strength for their defence; but a suspicion arising that the Governor, who often went out, intended to betray them, they one day refused him entrance. He complained to the sheriff of the county; and the chiefs of the violent party, who stood deeply indebted to the Jews, uniting with him, orders were issued to attack the castle. The cruel multitude, united with the soldiery, felt such a desire of slaughtering those they intended to despoil, that the sheriff, repenting of the order, revoked it; but in vain: fanaticism and robbery once set loose will satiate their appetency for blood and plunder. The attacks continued, till at length the Jews perceived they could hold out no longer, and a council was called to consider what remained to be done in the extremity of danger.

When the Jewish council was assembled, the Haham[25] rose, and addressed them in this manner: ‘Men of Israel! the God of our ancestors is omniscient, and there is no one who can say, Why doest Thou this? This day He commands us to die for His Law; for that Law which we have cherished from the first hour it was given, which we have preserved pure throughout our captivity in all nations; and for which, because of the many consolations it has given us and the eternal hope it communicates, can we do less than die? Death is before our eyes; and we have only to choose an honourable and easy one. If we fall into the hands of our enemies, which you know we cannot escape, our death will be ignominious and cruel. It is therefore my advice that we elude their tortures; that we ourselves should be our own executioners; and that we voluntarily surrender our lives to our Creator. God seems to call for us, but let us not be unworthy of that call.’ Having said this, the old man sat down and wept.

The assembly was divided in its opinions. Again the Rabbin rose, and spoke these few words in a firm and decisive tone. ‘My children! since we are not unanimous in our opinions, let those who do not approve of my advice depart from this assembly!’ Some departed, but the greater number attached themselves to their venerable priest. They now employed themselves in consuming their valuables by fire; and every man, fearful of trusting to the timid and irresolute hand of the women, first destroyed his wife and children, and then himself. Jocenus and the Rabbin alone remained. Their life was protracted to the last, that they might see everything performed according to their orders. Jocenus, being the chief Jew, was distinguished by the last mark of human respect in receiving his death from the consecrated hand of the aged Rabbin, who immediately after performed the melancholy duty on himself.

All this was transacted in the depth of the night. In the morning the walls of the castle were seen wrapt in flames, and only a few miserable and pusillanimous beings, unworthy of the sword, were viewed on the battlements pointing to their extinct brethren. When they opened the gates of the castle, these men verified the prediction of their late Rabbin; for the multitude, bursting through the solitary courts, found themselves defrauded of their hopes, and in a moment avenged themselves on the feeble wretches who knew not to die with honour.

ISAAC D’ISRAELI, 1793.

THE EXPULSION FROM SPAIN, 1492

LOOK, they move! No comrades near but curses; Tears gleam in beards of men sore with reverses; Flowers from fields abandoned, loving nurses, Fondly deck the women’s raven hair.

Faded, scentless flowers that shall remind them Of their precious homes and graves behind them; Old men, clasping Torah-scrolls, unbind them, Lift the parchment flags and silent lead.

Mock not with thy light, O sun, our morrow; Cease not, cease not, O ye songs of sorrow; From what land a refuge can we borrow, Weary, thrust out, God-forsaken we?

Could ye, suff’ring souls, peer through the Future, From despair ye would awake to rapture; Lo! The Genoese boldly steers to capture Freedom’s realm beyond an unsailed sea![26]

L. A. FRANKL. (_Trans. by M. D. Louis._)

THE EXODUS (AUGUST 3, 1492)

THE Spanish noon is a blaze of azure fire, and the dusty pilgrims crawl like an endless serpent along treeless plains and bleached high-roads, through rock-split ravines and castellated, cathedral-shadowed towns.

2. The hoary patriarch, wrinkled as an almond shell, bows painfully upon his staff. The beautiful young mother, ivory-pale, wellnigh swoons beneath her burden; in her large enfolding arms nestles her sleeping babe, round her knees flock her little ones with bruised and bleeding feet. ‘Mother, shall we soon be there?’

3. The halt, the blind, are amid the train. Sturdy pack-horses laboriously drag the tented wagons wherein lie the sick athirst with fever.

4. The panting mules are urged forward by spur and goad; stuffed are the heavy saddle-bags with the wreckage of ruined homes.

5. Hark to the tinkling silver bells that adorn the tenderly carried silken scrolls.

6. Noble and abject, learned and simple, illustrious and obscure, plod side by side, all brothers now, all merged in one routed army of misfortune.

7. Woe to the straggler who falls by the wayside! No friend shall close his eyes.

8. They leave behind the grape, the olive, and the fig; the vines they planted, the corn they sowed, the garden-cities of Andalusia and Aragon, Estremadura and La Mancha, of Granada and Castile; the altar, the hearth, and the grave of their fathers.

9. The townsman spits at their garments, the shepherd quits his flock, the peasant his plough, to pelt with curses and stones; the villager sets on their trail his yelping cur.

10. Oh, the weary march! oh, the uptorn roots of home! oh, the blankness of the receding goal!

11. Listen to their lamentations. _They that ate dainty food are desolate in the streets; they were reared in scarlet embrace dunghills. They flee away and wander about. Men say among the nations, They shall no more sojourn there; our end is near, our days are full, our doom is come._ (Lam. 4. 5, 15, 18.)

12. Whither shall they turn? for the West hath cast them out, and the East refuseth to receive.

EMMA LAZARUS, 1883.

A SONG OF REDEMPTION

SURELY a limit boundeth every woe, But mine enduring anguish hath no end; My grievous years are spent in ceaseless flow, My wound hath no amend. O’erwhelmed, my helm doth fail, no hand is strong To steer the bark to port, her longed-for aim. How long, O Lord, wilt Thou my doom prolong? When shall be heard the Dove’s[27] sweet voice of song? O leave us not to perish for our wrong, Who bear Thy Name! _Wherefore wilt Thou forget us, Lord, for aye?_ _Mercy we crave!_ _O Lord, we hope in Thee alway,_ _Our King will save!_

Wounded and crushed beneath my load I sigh, Despised and abject, outcast, trampled low; How long, O Lord, shall I of violence cry, My heart dissolve with woe? How many years without a gleam of light Has thraldom been our lot, our portion pain? With Ishmael[28] as a lion in his might, And Persia as an owl of darksome night, Beset on either side, behold our plight Betwixt the twain. _Wherefore wilt Thou forget us, Lord, for aye?_ _Mercy we crave!_ _O Lord, we hope in Thee alway,_ _Our King will save!_

SOLOMON IBN GABIROL, 1050. (_Trans. Nina Salaman._)

SHYLOCK

SHYLOCK is ‘the Jew that Shakespeare drew’. He is not the Jew of real life, even in the Middle Ages, stained as their story is with the hot tears――nay, the very heart’s blood――of the martyred race. The mediaeval Jew did not take vengeance on his cruel foes. Nay, more than this: with a sublime magnanimity he could actually preach and practise widest benevolence towards his oppressors. Throughout the Middle Ages, when Jews were daily plundered and tortured, and done to death ‘for the glory of God’, not a word was breathed against the morality of the victims. They suffered because they were heretics, because they would not juggle with their conscience and profess a belief that did not live in their souls. But Jewish ethics soared to still nobler heights. The Jew preserved his integrity in spite of his suffering; but more than this, he forgave――ay, even blessed――its authors. The Jews hunted out of Spain in 1492 were in turn cruelly expelled from Portugal. Some took refuge on the African coast. Eighty years later the descendants of the men who had committed or allowed these enormities were defeated in Africa, whither they had been led by their king, Dom Sebastian. Those who were not slain were offered as slaves at Fez to the descendants of the Jewish exiles from Portugal. ‘The humbled Portuguese nobles’, the historian narrates, ‘were comforted when their purchasers proved to be Jews, for they knew that they had humane hearts.’

MORRIS JOSEPH, 1891.

ON THE EVE OF THE RE-SETTLEMENT IN ENGLAND

THE Lord, blessed for ever, by His prophet Jeremiah (chap. 29. 7) gives it in command to the captive Israelites that were dispersed among the heathens, that they should continually pray for and endeavour the peace, welfare, and prosperity of the city wherein they dwelt and the inhabitants thereof. This the Jews have always done, and continue to this day in all their synagogues, with a particular blessing of the prince or magistrate under whose protection they live. And this the Right Honourable my Lord St. John can testify, who, when he was ambassador to the Lords the States of the United Provinces, was pleased to honour our synagogue at Amsterdam with his presence, where our nation entertained him with music and all expressions of joy and gladness, and also pronounced a blessing, not only upon His Honour then present, but upon the whole Commonwealth of England, for that they were a people in league and amity, and because we conceived some hopes that they would manifest towards us what we ever bare towards them, viz. all love and affection.

MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL, 1656.

JEWISH EMANCIPATION

THE whole question of emancipation, as it concerns only our external condition, is in Judaism but of secondary interest. Sooner or later the nations will decide the question between right and wrong, between humanity and inhumanity; and the first awakening of a higher calling than the mere lust for possession and enjoyment, the first expression of a nobler recognition of God as the only Lord and Father, and of the earth as a Holy Land assigned by Him to all men for the fulfilment of their human calling――will find its expression everywhere in the emancipation of all who are oppressed, including the Jews. We have a higher object to attain, and this is entirely in our own hands――the ennobling of ourselves, the realization of Judaism by Jews.

SAMSON RAPHAEL HIRSCH, 1836. (_Trans. B. Drachmann._)

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IF the political privileges we have gained could in any way weaken our Jewish sympathies, they would have been purchased at a terrible cost, and would signally defeat the intentions of those who aided and laboured for the movement.

BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD, 1869.

THE JEWISH QUESTION

TO approach the Jewish question is to be confronted with every great question of the day――social, political, financial, humanitarian, national, and religious. Each phase should be treated by an expert; but however discussed or dealt with, there is one point of view which should never be lost sight of, namely, the point of view of humanity. First and foremost we must be human if we would raise our voice on so human a theme.

JOSEPHINE LAZARUS, 1892.

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EVERY country has the Jews it deserves.

K. E. FRANZOS, 1875.

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