Part 2
This small land of Palestine, drenched with human blood since time immemorial, has become the holy centre of three great religions, and witnessed the birth of two great religions, Judaism and Christianity. From the purely religious point of view the land is as holy to Islam as it is to Christendom or Jewry. Politically, it has always been and still remains the goal of many a great power. The Turk holds it, the British are anxious to conquer it, the French have politico-historical claims on Syria, which includes Palestine, the Roman Church considers it its special domain and aspires to possess it; the Emperor of Austria still bears the title King of Jerusalem, and the King of the Belgians, on the assumption that he is an offspring of the Crusader Prince who ruled over Jerusalem for a while, asserts historic claims on the Holy Land which, however, he does not press. Palestine has seen many a change of masters and has been inhabited in turn by many peoples. But among all the peoples that have lived in Palestine there is only one, the nationhood and culture of which has grown and developed there--the Jewish people.
The Judaism originating in Palestine has become one of the driving powers in history; it continues to fructify the human mind of the present day. Mankind bears in mind that just as in modern philosophy there is scarcely a single thought that was not already known either to the Greeks or to the Romans, so in modern social ethics, humanitarianism and countless branches of modern political life there is scarcely an idea or thought that was not propounded by the representatives of the ancient Jewish mind. Many a radical idea commonly supposed to be a product of the civilization of the 19th century is found on close examination to be the embodiment of an ancient Jewish idea born on Palestinian soil. The kernel and sum total of Marxism is of ancient Jewish origin; Karl Marx added a modern garb to an ancient Jewish thought.
But Palestine has witnessed not only the birth and development of Judaism but also of Christianity. Christianity is, reduced to its original components, a synthesis of Eastern and Western Aryan thought, consisting of the universalism and pessimism of ancient India and the individualism and optimism of the Greeks and Romans. Christianity is therefore not only not a continuation of Judaism, but its very antithesis, despite the fact that there is nothing in Eastern Aryan and Western Aryan thought, when looked at separately, that cannot also be found in Judaism.
The fight for Palestine by the great nations of ancient times, the origin and growth of two historic religions on Palestinian soil, the subsequent struggle for Palestine by united Christendom against the Islam and the constant attention that humanity pays to Palestine does not explain why Palestine is held sacred. Another explanation must be found why Palestine, a strip of coast land on the Mediterranean, has become the land of wonders, the cradle of European spiritualism.
Palestine has become the very well and centre of the spiritual life of humanity because she was so placed geographically as to be in a position to mediate between the Eastern and the Western Aryans and because Jewish thought, born in Palestine, the mediating centre, was later to act as the spiritual mediator between both wings of the Aryan race without giving up its own position and independence.
The geographical position of the region where Judaism arose is located just between the settlements of the West and East Aryans. Just as Palestine is the geographical centre between East and West Aryans, so also does the Jewish mind born in Palestine mediate between Tibet and Greece.
The East Aryans believed in the universal, the infinite--the West Aryans in the individual, as expressed in classic mythology. The Jewish God-concept comprises both of these extremes. The Jewish God is the highest individuality, but he is also God who has created the universe, the God of all mankind. The Biblical cosmogony shows combination of this individuality with universality. As the Biblical metaphysic mediates between the extremes of Aryan thought, so does the Jewish mind born in Palestine hold the middle between Greek and Indian thought. The Jewish mind lacks both the cold, analytical intellectuality of the Greek and the mystic, fantastical tendency of the Indian mind. With the Jew, however, reason is praised and knowledge highly valued, while feeling is given its due and is not mortified. The prophet is not an individualist nor is he a hazy universalist, but a self-sacrificing patriot who for the love of his people suffers martyrdom, and yet a cosmopolitan who in his heart full of love embraces all mankind.
When the two Aryan culture thoughts met in Alexandria and Rome, the Jewish thought intervened and acted as mediator between the two extremes. Of course it was not done by conscious design, but we cannot disregard the influence men like Philo exercised on the course of events. While many momenta and causes co-operated in making the Jew the mediator between these two extremes, the main cause no doubt was the middle position occupied by Judaism. It was related to both sides and could therefore effect a reconciliation.
This, to our mind, explains in the main the place of Palestine and Judaism in the world's history. The Jews, a small Asiatic people, owing to a remarkable concatenation of events and chances, have set in motion a circulation of ideas, which later on cemented other great cultures. Christianity is not, as Christian theologians would have the world believe, a continuation of Judaism. What Judaism in the main did contribute to Christianity was the form, the architecture, and the cohesive power of its various elements. If there be any truth in the assertion that the Jews are the "everlasting middlemen," it is not because they have been for the last two thousand years the economic or political middlemen among the nations who forced them into a parasitical life, but because they, a Palestinian people, have brought about a union between worlds of thought which were arrayed against each other. By reason of this mediation, they have impregnated other peoples with their own mind.
JUDAIZING PALESTINE
In spite of the political and diplomatic events of the two months preceding the Baltimore Zionist Convention, not one of the responsible Zionist leaders uttered a word with regard to the political situation pertaining to Palestine. The various rumors concerning a Jewish republic in Palestine have been answered by the representatives of American Zionism with--silence. This attitude on the part of the responsible Zionist leaders testifies to their political ability and tact, for nothing would be more dangerous today than to discuss Palestine at a Zionist assembly in as careless a manner as persons have done for the last few months. The situation is still fraught with difficulties, dangers and uncertainty; and the less it is spoken of the better for all parties concerned. The question on the lips of every delegate to the convention: What have we to expect? has been well answered by the representative of the Provisional Committee for General Zionist Affairs--We expect to be able to create after the war such conditions in Palestine as to enable us to carry out our program. To those delegates who are not able to think in terms of statesmanship the answer of the official representatives of the Provisional Committee must have appeared to be unsatisfactory, but the better politically trained Zionists appreciated the answer as the only one possible under the present circumstances and it convinced them that the leaders in this country are politically on the right track.
All the talk about a speedy establishment of a Jewish republic in Palestine in which even a part of the general press indulged is pure fancy if we consider things in the light of reality. A republic or any form of state cannot be made--it must grow naturally from certain given conditions, it must develop organically. So long as the people and the people's land are separated physically from one another, how can the synthesis of the state be won? It is, therefore, clear that the very first condition for the realization of the Zionist program is a settlement of Jews in Palestine en masse, which settlement is not possible unless certain economic conditions are created to enable the settlers to organize their life speedily and acclimatize themselves as quickly as possible. But this creating of conditions is not as easy a task as many persons imagine. It not only presumes a favorable political situation, but also a display of organizing genius, important financial transactions and almost heroic deeds. If Palestine were an industrial country where new industries could be created or the old ones so developed as to give sustenance to masses of new settlers, the task would not be difficult. Palestine, however, is at present not an industrial country, there are no mines and consequently no factories of importance; it is altogether an agricultural country, the soil of which, though potentially very productive, has been neglected for centuries and must be regenerated before it can produce enough to feed a large population. But even if Palestine were an industrial country it would be an unwise policy to make industry the economic basis of the future population. If the Jewish people are going to be reborn not only politically but also physically, mentally and morally, the masses of the Jewish people must return to agriculture and to country life. For the last two thousand years we have been a city-population and we have acquired all the habits and qualities of one. City life has wrought havoc among us. If Zionism has a philosophy then the return of large numbers of the Jews to country-life is part and parcel of that philosophy by which we must abide if we do not mean to deceive ourselves. Besides, agriculture is a much sounder basis for a state than industry. The agricultural country is peaceful, conservative, moderate, while the industrial country is always restless, upset, radical and bellicose. If an individualistic--and because of a long life in the dispersion--nervous people like the Jews should build its entire future on industry, it would be built on sand. For this and many other good reasons, we must make agriculture the main economic basis of Jewish life in Palestine. But to create favorable agricultural conditions to enable an immigration en masse to Palestine is much more difficult than to create favorable industrial conditions, especially in view of the fact that the Palestinian soil has been neglected.
The economic future of Palestine rests to our present knowledge on agriculture and trade. For the past ten years Palestinian trade has been increasing from year to year, especially that of commerce in fruit and wine. Palestine can, if its soil is properly tilled and modern agricultural methods used, produce such quantities of fruits and grain as not only to feed the native population but also to supply other countries. The same holds true of wine and tobacco and probably cotton. Industries can be established which have the home products as a main basis, such as canning and packing industries, manufacture of soap, perfumes, etc. The possibilities of pastoral industry in Palestine are enormous, and industrious Jewish ranchers may turn Eastern Palestine into a second Texas.
There are altogether vast possibilities and should a favorable political situation enable us to revive and to create the necessary economic conditions for a Jewish settlement en masse in the land, Jewish industry and Jewish financial strength combined with Jewish idealism would within a few years of hard work prepare the ground for a realization of the Zionist program. This is what the Zionist leaders have in mind when they speak of creating such conditions in Palestine. It is further understood that next to the preparing of economic conditions, something must be done in the field of social and cultural preparation. When a group of Jews is sent to Palestine, it must find there such social and cultural preparations as to make civilized life possible. One cannot, of course, build communities, schools, social and charitable institutions in Palestine before large masses of our people have settled in the country. The ground for the establishment of such institutions must be prepared before the actual immigration takes place for we will not send our people to a wilderness. The Jewish groups that will emigrate to Palestine may not find actually erected all the schools and hospitals they need, but they must find everything that is necessary for re-establishment of such institutions and the men needed to conduct them. This is not an easy task but it can be accomplished if we centre our organizing genius on it. In this way we can _Judaize Palestine_ in a relatively short time and when this is done the geographic and economic position will be used for a strengthening of all the sociological factors which are necessary for the creation of a Jewish homeland. Palestine, on account of its geographic condition can again be developed to a mighty trade centre and it can become the great commercial roadway between Europe, Africa and Western Asia. This, together with its solid economic and social organization, will give Palestine political strength and position among the civilized countries in the world.
It can thus be seen that it is futile at present to talk of the immediate establishment of a Jewish republic in Palestine. The very best that can be done and will be done is to prepare the ground economically, socially and culturally for the settlement of great masses of our people in the Holy Land. And it will be for the settlers to shape the future and to strive to realize the Zionist Ideal: A permanently secured homeland for the Jewish people in the land of its ancestors. Unless this big work is done, no power on earth can help us carry out our national political program, because states cannot be made but must develop organically.
NATIONAL EXISTENCE AND NATIONAL HISTORIC LIFE
What is the essence of the historic life of a people? This question has been on the program of the sociologist ever since society began to free itself from the hold of the state. Prior to the French Revolution, when society and the state were interlinked by thousands of strands, the belief was current that the national state--particularly, the well organized, centralized state--is the essence of the historic life of a people. It was thought that as soon as a special form of government was overturned the people would turn loose like a herd of wild men. Then came the French Revolution and laid the prestige of the state low. A national society began to organize, outside the state, and became a historic factor of its own account. It then became evident that the state was not the only essence of the historic life of a people, that there were other factors equally, or even more important, and that no national historic life could exist without them. Only a short time before the French Revolution, a French historian said that the Chinese nation, despite its living a national life, is only _existing_ in a historic sense, because it has no influence upon the historic process, and plays no part in the production of cultural values for the human race. In short, the Chinese nation lives outside the pale of history. Now then, if a people like that of China, numbering hundreds of millions of souls and living on its own soil under the auspices of its own government, is placed in the category of nations that merely _exist_, other nationalities of smaller numbers and having no national government are certainly not to be classed as historically living nations.
Liberal-minded thinkers, whose thought was influenced directly by the events of the French Revolution endeavored to minimize the historic glory of the state and reduce it to only one of the factors in the historic life of a people. The conservatives on the other hand endeavored to restore to the state its old glory. The controversy was especially intense in Germany. Hegel, the father of conservative philosophy in Germany, raised the state to the pedestal of a deity, characterizing it as the aim and substance of historic development, in general, and as the most significant phenomenon in history. Johann Fichte, Hegel's contemporary and opponent, the father of the national doctrine in Germany gave society the first place, and looked upon the state as a necessary evil. He regarded culture, with the exception of art, as opposed to the state. The essence of historic life was to him not the political life of the people but its ethics, science, religion and art. The state can have a positive attitude towards art alone--all the other elements, such as science, religion and ethics, must enjoy the freedom and independence which the state can not always grant to them. According to him, therefore, not political acts but scientific cognition and intellectual development are the driving forces in the historic life of a people.
Even Kant himself--who gave preference to the state--recognized a certain antagonism between ethics and the state. The state is the realm of law, while ethics has its origin in conscience. The romantic philosophy, which attempted to solve this problem from the standpoint of esthetics culminated in the extreme individualism which found its highest expression in the doctrines of Nietzsche. The superman, the great personality which a people produces is according to this doctrine the aim and end of history, and, naturally, that of the historic life of a people. Herder hinted at this conclusion, Schelling developed the doctrine and Nietzsche--the extremist of romanticists--perfected it. But this historic personality of the romantic philosophers is not only, as many are inclined to believe, an intellectual being. The great philosopher or the great artist is not the historic personality, but the man of great deeds; for history is first and foremost the realm of action and not that of thought. Nietzsche's "blond beast," that is, the man of great passions and great deeds, is the historic personality, that motive power in historic life, in general, and the life of the nation in particular.
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If we look upon Jewish history in the Diaspora in the light of classic, or romantic, or even modern philosophy, we are bound to come to the conclusion that the Jewish people ceased to live a historic national life when it was exiled from its land. We have not lived a political life during the past two thousand years; hence we could not contribute to the civilization of mankind, for a national civilization is possible only in a national state. True, we have produced many great personalities, but the Jewish great personality in the Goluth is not a great Jewish personality--in the majority of cases it is merely an intellectual personality: a poet, an artist, a philosopher, etc. Lord Beaconsfield certainly was a great historic personality; but who would dare claim this statesman as a Jewish historic personality--the product of Jewish culture? His deeds are chronicled in the history of the English people; his historic accomplishments are the historic accomplishments of the English people. It was not the Jew Disraeli who procured the Suez Canal for the Jewish people, but the English statesman, the Lord Beaconsfield who acquired it for the English people.
The Jewish great personality displayed its talent in various intellectual fields, but did nothing in the political field, for which it lacked the necessary conditions. For two thousand years, we have lived an unhistoric life--the life of Chinese, with the exception that the Chinese live on their own soil and were spared the persecutions that fell to our lot. We eked out an existence; but we did not live. Hence the entire history of the Jewish people for the past two thousand years is a history of Jewish literature. Since the deterioration of the Jewish state, Judaism has been a mere literary tendency in general history; an interesting tendency, to be sure, occasionally even original, but not more than a literary tendency. Not our historic deeds but the abstract thought alone aided us in continuing our existence--our philosophy, poetry, ethics, and religious cravings kept us alive. We the bearers of that literary aspiration have been going a-begging for thousands of years. We wandered from land to land and from sea to sea without an end in view. All our political achievements have been concentrated in our memory for the past two thousand years. We remembered that we once were a people like every other people, and by the mere force of these memories we went wherever we were directed. Thus in our long travels we have become spiritualized, we have converted a system of national culture with laws and regulations about the state and its rulers to a system of theology. The ancient Hebrew culture which is essentially a secular culture became to us a sacred thing. The Hebrew prophets, who were historic personalities in the full sense of the word, because they were men of action, statesmen and warriors of political battles, were raised by us to the category of saints in the theological sense. Thus the Hebrew culture was reduced to a mere theological system.
We lived in a Roman environment, that is, in an environment which draws its strength from ancient Rome, whose program was the state, practical civilization, wars, conquests, revolts, political reorganization, etc. In such an environment with its peculiar culture, there was no room for the ancient Jewish culture based on ethical teachings, which, in order to be able to maintain its existence, was compelled to confine itself within the walls of the synagogue. In short, it is not only impossible to create new cultural values in the Diaspora but even to continue the thread of the ancient Hebrew idea, in essence an idea of civilization. In exile, more so in Roman exile, there was no past and no future for Judaism. Ancient Judaism was a historic and not a literary phenomenon; hence, since it has been the destiny of the Jewish people for the past two thousand years _to exist_, and not to live a normal national life, it is even unable to preserve the memories of a historic past.
Then came Zionism. The nationalistic trend in history has influenced the Jewish people too. Zionism came not from the East, but from the West--from the centre of modern nationalism. Modern nationalism, unlike that of ancient peoples, is not a cultural nationalism; modern nationalism is nationalism in the sense of civilization and can be understood only in connection with the industrial revolution and the colonial expansion of the great nations. Zionism could not have come from the East; for the East is politically and industrially not sufficiently developed to produce a movement which is both national and civilizing.