every revolutionary phenomenon in life, every political catastrophe, upsets men's minds and shakes old rooted opinions to their very foundations. the sudden break with tradition affects both the mind of the individual as well as that of the collective body. it brings about a radical change in views and sentiments and often in the whole world-concept. the gloomy pessimist may suddenly become a joyous optimist and vice versa. the earthquake of lisbon of 1755 not only shook the belief in providence of the young goethe, but turned numerous orthodox circles into agnostics. the french revolution broke the conservative spirit that was prevailing in western europe and put an end to the mediaeval conception of the state, just as the appearance of bonaparte brought about the revival of the longing for caesaric splendor and the cult of the superman.
the russian revolution, successful till now, has naturally greatly affected the minds of our contemporaries, and compelled them to revise their attitude on many historical forces and to consider the course of recent history in an entirely new light. men who never believed in the political ability of the slavonic race and, therefore, thought that russia was doomed as a political power, are now admiring the political genius of the russian people and the tactfulness of its leaders. many jewish contemporaries, who considered the jewish case hopeless because of the terrible oppressions directed against our brethren in russia by the representatives of the old regime, are now joyous optimists and think that since millions of russian jews have been freed the jewish question is completely solved. to the minds of these men the jewish question will sink into forgetfulness within a short time because the jews will enjoy everywhere freedom and liberty and will live in complete happiness.
this is the attitude of just those people who but the other day were convinced of the hopelessness of the jewish cause and were worried over the sufferings that the future had in store for the jews. this radical outburst of optimism, understandable at the present junc[50]ture, nevertheless betrays a naive intellect and a lack of historical intelligence. we all hope that the successful russian revolution, next to the world war the most important event in the history of the twentieth century, will open a new era for our people, an era of happiness and peaceful development but, at the same time, we should never lose sight of the fact that there is so far nothing new under the sun. there is only a definite number of forces and energies prevailing in history and each and every one of these forces has in turn its term of domination. history is only a continuation of biological nature plus human intelligence. there is only a certain definite amount of matter and energy in the realm of nature as well as in history, and energy in history can be destroyed as little as energy in nature. and just as there is always a substitution and constant change of forms in the realm of nature, so there is in history. progress never assumes the shape of a straight line but that of a curve. the most glorious period in human history may be followed by a period of decay and misery. the golden era may be followed by an era of iron, to use a parable of ovid.
there is in the realm of history as well as in the realm of nature an eternal cycle. the old graeco-roman historian, polybius, already recognized the eternal cycle in the development of the state when he graphically described this development from despotism, monarchism and feudalism, and from republicanism, democracy and ochlocracy back again to despotism.
we, as jews, have too often experienced ups and downs to believe that a happy era will last forever. the jews in spain not only saw golden days of complete happiness and freedom, but formed for a time the vanguard of human civilization. yet within one hundred years the spanish inquisition annihilated 200,000 jews while the other 400,000 were compelled to leave the country. today, spain is again inviting the jews to settle in the land, promising them complete liberty and freedom where torquamada's rule was supreme.
there was a time when the jews of poland lived in happiness. today, the poles are harassing the jews in every possible way and are scheming and devising plans to break up judaism in poland. in rome, where the jews only one hundred years ago were humiliated and depressed, a jewish mayor dared to criticize the pope openly and to challenge all the forces of mediaevalism in the eternal city. england, that invented the ritual murder accusation, has today a jew as its lord chief justice. on the other hand, the jews of north africa, who were politically supreme in the atlas countries, are today the most oppressed human beings on god's earth.
all these ups and downs which we have experienced ever since we have lived dispersed warrant a certain reserve in our judgment on phenomena in life, even when these phenomena be of the most revolutionary nature. too much optimism and too much overstating of matters must subsequently lead to disappointment, to despair, even to ruin. our age as a people, our historical and general intellectual experience, do not warrant too much optimism even at present.
the jews are a force in history. the other historical forces must take an attitude to and judgment from judaism. this attitude and judgment are likely to change. the change that is necessary to take place from time to time is not always a product of malice, but a product of certain factors which the individual, be he even the most powerful, is often unable to control. if an oppressed people is set free, all the suppressed energies in it begin to pour out suddenly; this may lead to the reaction against the jews. the people sheltering us may often need a scapegoat and it will without fail take the jews for that purpose. national as well as international crises may often affect the attitude of a people to the jews or the attitude of the dominating class to the jews. in this case we will always be the sufferers. because of the hostile encounter between clericalism and liberalism in france the jews had to suffer. the dreyfus affair is still in the memory of every contemporary. when the liberal forces in france finally emerged victors from the struggle, another jewish group—the hungarian—felt the effects of this struggle in a very unpleasant way. the clericals not being in a position to do any more harm to the french jews began to awaken the anti-semitic instincts of the hungarians, and set about to create an anti-semitic movement in hungary. even the polish jews had to suffer because of the victory of liberalism in france, for the clericals in poland took revenge on the jews for their defeat in france.
[54]as to the future of the jews in russia, it is hard to predict whether or not it will be a happy one. the mind of the russian people is still a blank. the russian people have been kept in ignorance; their will is not domesticated and their mind not trained. the russians themselves, or, to be correct, the great russians do not know the jews. they have never lived together. on account of the emancipation the jews of the pale will emigrate to the interior of russia and will settle in the midst of the great russians, and they will become active in various spheres and fields.
how will the presence and the activity of this new neighbor react on the russian mind? will the presence of the jews in the midst of the great russians result in the development of friendship or will the reverse be the case? and if a new crisis should break out in russia, and a russian government should need a scapegoat to save its neck, will it or will it not pick out the jews to serve as the scapegoat? russia is a land of unlimited possibilities for good and for bad; there are no prophets nowadays to predict future happenings, especially since the mind of the russian people is still a question mark.
thus, besides the eternal cycle and besides the necessary ups and downs in history, we have now a special reason to be careful in our judgment and to moderate our optimism. but even taking for granted that the jewish development in russia will be unhampered, does it already mean that the jewish question is solved? does the jewish question consist of bread and butter and human rights? can the ideal of a people as old as the jews be satisfied with just being permitted to live as individuals? can it be the meaning and aim of 4000 years of jewish history that the zenith of our development as a people should consist in being permitted to live among the people with mere civic equality? is that what we have struggled for during the centuries?
greater and more civilized people than the russians have not succeeded in solving the jewish question. why then should we expect that from russia will come the salvation, especially as only one-quarter of our people is today living in russia?
the jewish question can become simplified when we are liberated by the one people or the other, but it can be solved entirely only by the jewish people itself. the russian revolution means for the jews freedom to breathe and to move, freedom from prison and captivity, but even the free man has his own problem to solve. life only begins when the prison-doors open.
