New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-10

ment that admiration was to be obtained ,,,...,
Is the sharpest spur to the human mind. W.
mattered 1t that outside the Ghetto wa. q.
spised that which within It was praised? ~
because 1t was the opinion Of ignorant enern;ss
One tried to please ones cO-relgionists. srS
their applause was the worthy contentment -
-" '''~' DRESS AND BELIEF.
So did the Ghetto Jews live, in moral resn.,.
a real full lfe Their external situation was IN
secure, often seriously endangered But ints,-
nally they achieved complete development ~
their specific qualities They were human
beings in harmony. who were not In want OF H.
clements Of normal social life. They fen IN.
stinctivey the whole Importance Of the Ghett.
for their inner lfe and therefore they had thS
one sole care to make its existence securs
through invisible walls which were much
thicker and higher than the stone walls that
visibly shut them in. All Jewish buildings ana
habits unconsciously pursued only one purpose:
to keep up Judaism by separation from thu
other people and to make the individual Jew
continually aware Of the fact that he was lost
and would perish II he gave up his specific
character. This impulse for separation gaye
him also most Of the ritual laws. which for ina
everyday Jew are identical with his faith itself:
and also other purely external. often accidental
marks Of difference In attire and habits re.
ceived q religious sanction only in order that
they might be maintained the more surely
Kaftan, peoth, fur cap and jargon have an.
parently nothing to do with religion. The Jew.
of the East already regard It the commences
ment OF a secession from belief If fellow-Jew
dresses himself in European fashion and speaks
a European language correctly. For he has sew
cred the ties between himself and his people
But they feel that these ties alone offer them
connection with the community, without which
an individual morally. intellectually. and at last
physically cannot exist for any length OF time
EMANCIPATION IN NAME.
That was the psychology Of the Ghetto Jew.
Now came emancipation. The law assured the
Jews that they were full citizens or their couin.
try In It's honeymoon II evoked also from the
Christian feelings which warmed and purified
the heart. The Jews FASTENED. In species Of
intoxication as it were. to burn their boats
They had now another home; they no longer
needed the Ghetto; they had now other con-
nections and were no longer forced to associate
only with their co-religfonists Their instinct Of
sef-prese-vatOn fitted itself Immediately and
completely to tho new conditions OF existence
Formerly this instinct was only directed toward
a sharp separation. Now they sought after the
closest association and assimilation In place
OF the distinction which was their salvation,
there followed true mimicry For one ~ two
ages the Jew was allowed to believe that hs
was only German French, Italian. and so forth
All at once twenty years ago, after slumb9
OF thirty to sixty years, anti Semitsrn once moro
broke out from the fnnermost depth of the ma
tons. and revealed to the eyes OF the mortified
Jew his real situation. which he had no longer
seen He was still allowed 10 vote for members
of Parliament but he saw himself excluded from
the clubs and the meetings Of his Christian feL
low -countrymen. He was allowed TO go wher.
ever he pleased, but everywhere he met with the
Inscription: mo Jews admitted" He had stil
the right Of discharging all the duties Of cu.
zen. but the nobler rights which are granted TO
talent and for achicvements-those rights were
absolutely denied to him. Such is the existing
situation of the emancipated Jew In Western
Europe He has given up his specifically Jewish
character; but the peoples let him feel that he
has not acquired their special characteristics He
has lost the home Of the Ghetto, but the land OF
his birth is denied 10 him his home. He avoids
his fellow Jew, because nti-Semtism has made
him hateful His countrymen repel him when
he wishes to associate with them. He has no
ground under his feet. and he mas no community
to which he belongs as a full member. With
his Christian countrymen neither his character
nor his intentions can reckon on justice still less
on kindly feeling. With his Jewish cOuntrymen
he has lost touch: necessarily he feels that the
world hates him. and he sees no place where he
can find warmth when he seeks for II This u
the moral Jewish misery, which Is more bitter
than the physical because II befails men who
are differently situated, prouder and possessed
OF finer feelings.