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Then came emancipation, which suddenly opened up undreamed-of

possibilities to the individual. Some few rapidly made a position for
themselves in the higher walks of business and social life. They greedily
lapped up the splendid triumphs which the art and science of the Western
world had achieved. They joined in the process with burning enthusiasm,
themselves making contributions of lasting value. At the same time they
imitated the external forms of Gentile life, departed more and more from their
religious and social traditions, and adopted Gentile customs, manners, and
habits of thought. It seemed as though they were completely losing their
identity in the superior numbers and more highly organized culture of the
nations among whom they lived, so that in a few generations there would be
no trace of them left. A complete disappearance of Jewish nationality in
Central and Western Europe seemed inevitable.
But events turned out otherwise. Nationalities of different race seem to have
an instinct which prevents them from fusing. However much the Jews adapted
themselves, in language, manners, and to a great extent even in the forms of
religion, to the European peoples among whom they lived, the feeling of
strangeness between the Jews and their hosts never disappeared. This
spontaneous feeling is the ultimate cause of anti-Semitism, which is therefore
not to be got rid of by well-meaning propaganda. Nationalities want to pursue
their own path, not to blend. A satisfactory state of affairs can be brought
about only by mutual toleration and respect.
The first step in that direction is that we Jews should once more become
conscious of our existence as a nationality and regain the self-respect that is
necessary to a healthy existence. We must learn once more to glory in our
ancestors and our history and once again take upon ourselves, as a nation,
cultural tasks of a sort calculated to strengthen our sense of the community. It
is not enough for us to play a part as individuals in the cultural development of
the human race, we must also tackle tasks which only nations as a whole can
perform. Only so can the Jews regain social health.
It is from this point of view that I would have you look at the Zionist
movement. To-day history has assigned to us the task of taking an active part
in the economic and cultural reconstruction of our native land. Enthusiasts,
men of brilliant gifts, have cleared the way, and many excellent members of
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our race are prepared to devote themselves heart and soul to the cause. May
every one of them fully realize the importance of this work and contribute,
according to his powers, to its success!
The Jewish Community
A speech in London
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is no easy matter for me to overcome my natural inclination to a life of quiet
contemplation. But I could not remain deaf to the appeal of the O.R.T. and
O.Z.E. societies*; for in responding to it I am responding, as it were, to the
appeal of our sorely oppressed Jewish nation.
The position of our scattered Jewish community is a moral barometer for the
political world. For what surer index of political morality and respect for
justice can there be than the attitude of the nations towards a defenceless
minority, whose peculiarity lies in their preservation of an ancient cultural
tradition?
*Jewish charitable associations.
This barometer is low at the present moment, as we are painfully aware from
the way we are treated. But it is this very lowness that confirms me in the
conviction that it is our duty to preserve and consolidate our community.
Embedded in the tradition of the Jewish people there is a love of justice and
reason which must continue to work for the good of all nations now and in the
future. In modern times this tradition has produced Spinoza and Karl Marx.
Those who would preserve the spirit must also look after the body to which it
is attached. The O.Z.E. society literally looks after the bodies of our people.
In Eastern Europe it is working day and night to help our people there, on
whom the economic depression has fallen particularly heavily, to keep body
and soul together; while the O.R.T. society is trying to get rid of a severe
social and economic handicap under which the Jews have laboured since the
Middle Ages. Because we were then excluded from all directly productive
occupations, we were forced into the purely commercial ones. The only way
of really helping the Jew in Eastern countries is to give him access to new
fields of activity, for which he is struggling all over the world. This is the grave
problem which the O.R.T. society is successfully tackling.
It is to you English fellow-Jews that we now appeal to help us in this great
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enterprise which splendid men have set on foot. The last few years, nay, the
last few days, have brought us a disappointment which must have touched you
in particular nearly. Do not gird at fate, but rather look on these events as a
reason for remaining true to the cause of the Jewish commonwealth. I am
convinced that in doing that we shall also indirectly be promoting those
general human ends which we must always recognize as the highest.
Remember that difficulties and obstacles are a valuable source of health and
strength to any society. We should not have survived for thousands of years
as a community if our bed had been of roses; of that I am quite sure.
But we have a still fairer consolation. Our friends are not exactly numerous,
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but among them are men of noble spirit and strong sense of justice, who have
devoted their lives to uplifting human society and liberating the individual from
degrading oppression.
We are happy and fortunate to have such men from the Gentile world among
us to-night; their presence lends an added solemnity to this memorable
evening. It gives me great pleasure to see before me Bernard Shaw and H. G.
Wells, to whose view of life I am particularly attracted.
You, Mr. Shaw, have succeeded in winning the affection and joyous
admiration of the world while pursuing a path that has led many others to a
martyr's crown. You have not merely preached moral sermons to your
fellows; you have actually mocked at things which many of them held sacred.
You have done what only the born artist can do. From your magic box you
have produced innumerable little figures which, while resembling human
beings, are compact not of flesh and blood, but of brains, wit, and charm.
And yet in a way they are more human than we are ourselves, and one almost
forgets that they are creations not of Nature, but of Bernard Shaw. You make
these charming little figures dance in a miniature world in front of which the
Graces stand sentinel and permit no bitterness to enter. He who has looked
into this little world sees our actual world in a new light; its puppets insinuate
themselves into real people, making them suddenly look quite different. By
thus holding the mirror up to us all you have had a liberating effect on us such
as hardly any other of our contemporaries has done and have relieved life of
something of its earth-bound heaviness. For this we are all devoutly grateful to
you, and also to fate, which along with grievous plagues has also given us the
physician and liberator of our souls. I personally am also grateful to you for
the unforgettable words which you have addressed to my mythical namesake
who makes life so difficult for me, although he is really, for all his clumsy,
formidable size, quite a harmless fellow.