New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-06-17


the national problems now awaiting
solution at the hands Of the coming
peace conference, has completely
changed its aspects during the Great
War.
The Russian revolution had pro-
found effect on the fate of the worlds
Jewry, as the complete emancipation Of
more than half Of the Jewish race re-
moved some Of the urgent necessities
in the Jewish situation.
And yet there are enough causes left
for tie discussion and solution of the
Jewish problem at the international
gathering that will decide the worlds
new order of life.
Jewish Problem 1000 Years Old
The problem Of the jew is nearly
two thousand years old. 1t first came
into existence when Rome destroyed,
} in A. D. 20, the Jewish state in Pales-
tine, exiling it inhabitants. Robbed
Of its home. the Jewish nation was dis
persed to all the corners Of the Roman
Empire. There seemed little chance
that it would survive as an individual
entity. Even as the ten tribes Of Israel
had been assimilated by their captors,
so the Judean Hebrews were destined
to lose their nationalstic identity.
But while the Hebrews were going
into exile a great power, arisen from
their midst, was developing in hui
manity. II was TO be the savior Of the
! human race, the civilizer of barbar
Gus world. 1t was to organize life on
new bases, justice and love. And as this
power-Christiani and ex-
panded it exercised a conserving inhu-
once over the dispersed Judeans. But
this influence was not woven of love
and justice. but, on the other hand, Of
hatred and persecution.
Had Christianity come into existence
three centuries later there would have,
in all probability, no longer existed a
Jewish people on earth. For it was the
violence and corruption of organized
Christendom that was largely respon-
sible for the remarkable religious re-
viyal that occurred in the midst Of the
scattered Jews in the early centuries
o. our era. The fact that Christianity
vas at its beginning but new Hebrew
sect was another big factor in the pro-
duction Of the conditions that kept
Mosaic Judaism alive. with greater
viCor than ever. The treatment ac-
corded the Hebrews and their holy
rlaccs by the Christian Romans. which
was atrocious and inhumar. only famed
the spirit Of nationalsm.
The preservation Of the Jew during
the last eighteen and half centuries
is perhaps the most phenomenal thing
in the history OF nations. 1t is some
times referred TO as puzzle and some
times as miracle. 1t is neither The
explanation for it is to be found in two
main factors. One is religious and the
other economic.
Talmud Guide of Dispersed People
The spread and activities Of Chris
tiauity provoked the religious factor
The leading Hebrews saw the danger
Of absorption Of their race soon after
the destruction Of Jerusalem, and de-
cided 10 prevent it by a food Of re-
strictive laws. The law of Moses was
INTERPRETED i'm various ways by the
rabbnical schools for the purpose Of
keeping the Jewish nation and religion
intact. These interpretations, called
the Talmud. became for centuries to
come the guide of the dispersed people.
Along with the religious segrega-
tion Of the Jews. there developed "A
potent economic factor. Prosecuted.
oppressed and driven from place TO
place. the Jews were forced to turn 30
trading as a means for daily existence.
Thus the famous Jewish aptitude for
business and commerce came into be-
ing. When a body of mon is confined to
certain limits. interchange necessarily
becomes their leading occupation.
Trading. being but a form Of communal
life, was. therefore. only the result Of
the conditions in which the Jews lived.
As the Jews were usually the pioneers
in commerce wherever they settled.
that in itself segregated them from the
rest Of the population. helping them
70 conserve their national character
istics.
The remarkable history Of the jew
i'm Goluth, or exile, is the tale Of two
parallel forces religious and economic
endeavoring TO keep him from being
submerged in the scetning caldron Of
Irations and races in evolution. Wan
dcring from land TO land, spreading all
over the surface Of the globe. the peo-
ple without country continued TO
stick TO their national institutions and
TO passionately ycarn for their lost
fathcrland. Organized Christianity, in
stead of uprooting the law Of Moses,
only fortified its position
Jewish Religion National
eirce the Jewish religion is intensely