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ourselves. We must have our own students' societies and adopt an attitude of
courteous but consistent reserve to the Gentiles. And let us live after our own
fashion there and not ape duelling and drinking customs which are foreign to
our nature. It is possible to be a civilized European and a good citizen and at
the same time a faithful Jew who loves his race and honours his fathers. If we
remember this and act accordingly, the problem of anti-Semitism, in so far as
it is of a social nature, is solved for us.
A Letter to Professor Dr. Hellpach, Minister of State
Dear Herr Hellpach,
I have read your article on Zionism and the Zurich Congress and
feel, as a strong devotee of the Zionist idea, that I must answer
you, even if it is only shortly.
The Jews are a community bound together by ties of blood and
tradition, and not of religion only: the attitude of the rest of the
world towards them is sufficient proof of this. When I came to
Germany fifteen years ago I discovered for the first time that I
was a Jew, and I owe this discovery more to Gentiles than Jews.
The tragedy of the Jews is that they are people of a definite
historical type, who lack the support of a community to keep
them together. The result is a want of solid foundations in the
individual which amounts in its extremer forms to moral
instability. I realized that the only possible salvation for the race
was that every Jew in the world should become attached to a
living society to which the individual rejoiced to belong and
which enabled him to bear the hatred and the humiliations that he
has to put up with from the rest of the world.
I saw worthy Jews basely caricatured, and the sight made my
heart bleed. I saw how schools, comic papers, and innumerable
other forces of the Gentile majority undermined the confidence
even of the best of my fellow-Jews, and felt that this could not
be allowed to continue.
Then I realized that only a common enterprise dear to the hearts
of Jews all over the world could restore this people to health. It
was a great achievement of Herzl's to have realized and
proclaimed at the top of his voice that, the traditional attitude of
the Jews being what it was, the establishment of a national home
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or, more accurately, a centre in Palestine, was a suitable object
on which to concentrate our efforts.
All this you call nationalism, and there is something in the
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accusation. But a communal purpose, without which we can
neither live nor die in this hostile world, can always be called by
that ugly name. In any case it is a nationalism whose aim is not
power but dignity and health. If we did not have to live among
intolerant, narrow-minded, and violent people, I should be the
first to throw over all nationalism in favour of universal humanity.
The objection that we Jews cannot be proper citizens of the
German State, for example, if we want to be a "nation," is based
on a misunderstanding of the nature of the State which springs
from the intolerance of national majorities. Against that
intolerance we shall never be safe, whether we call ourselves a
"people" (or "nation") or not.
I have put all this with brutal frankness for the sake of brevity,
but I know from your writings that you are a man who attends to
the sense, not the form.
Letter to an Arab
March 15, 1930
Sir,
Your letter has given me great pleasure. It shows me that there is good will
available on your side too for solving the present difficulties in a manner
worthy of both our nations. I believe that these difficulties are more
psychological than real, and that they can be got over if both sides bring
honesty and good will to the task.
What makes the present position so bad is the fact that Jews and Arabs
confront each other as opponents before the mandatory power. This state of
affairs is unworthy of both nations and can only be altered by our finding a via
media on which both sides agree.
I will now tell you how I think that the present difficulties might be remedied;
at the same time I must add that this is only my personal opinion, which I have
discussed with nobody. I am writing this letter in German because I am not
capable of writing it in English myself and because I want myself to bear the
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entire responsibility for it. You will, I am sure, be able to get some Jewish
friend of conciliation to translate it.
A Privy Council is to be formed to which the Jews and Arabs shall each send
four representatives, who must be independent of all political parties.
Each group to be composed as follows:--
A doctor, elected by the Medical Association;
A lawyer, elected by the lawyers;
A working men's representative, elected by the trade unions;
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An ecclesiastic, elected by the ecclesiastics.
These eight people are to meet once a week. They undertake not to espouse
the sectional interests of their profession or nation but conscientiously and to
the best of their power to aim at the welfare of the whole population of the
country. Their deliberations shall be secret and they are strictly forbidden to
give any information about them, even in private. When a decision has been
reached on any subject in which not less than three members on each side
concur, it may be published, but only in the name of the whole Council. If a
member dissents he may retire from the Council, but he is not thereby
released from the obligation to secrecy. If one of the elective bodies above
specified is dissatisfied with a resolution of the Council, it may repiace its
representative by another.
Even if this "Privy Council" has no definite powers it may nevertheless bring
about the gradual composition of differences, and secure as united
representation of the common interests of the country before the mandatory
power, clear of the dust of ephemeral politics.
Christianity and Judaism
If one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and Christianity as Jesus Christ
taught it of all subsequent additions, especially those of the priests, one is left
with a teaching which is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity.
It is the duty of every man of good will to strive steadfastly in his own little
world to make this teaching of pure humanity a living force, so far as he can. If
he makes an honest attempt in this direction without being crushed and
trampled under foot by his contemporaries, he may consider himself and the
community to which he belongs lucky.
--end