The Denver Jewish news., 1924-02-21
The Antitheses of Jeuish
History
Historic Antithess and Modern Alternatives. An EX-
pIanatiOn of the Jewish Question: Trip Thru Europe
Egypt Palestine.
BY ELISHA NJ. FRIEDMAN

VI. FRl lfl)MAN
Strictcd section of the city. In Poland.
Hungary Roumania and Germany after
the war. Jewish life is characterized
by intensified persecution and by
strong revival of the Jewish conscious
ness Ms n historic social group. ON the
other hand in Denmark and Sweden
where anti -Semitism il. unknown. the
Jews minglc freely with the rest of the
the arts and commerce proportionatc
to their intellectual ability.
1t iS Il story of freedom ne Il group
md absorption as eroup-a story that
is repeated today without variation rs
it WIS repeated in Italy whose cities,
padua ad Mantua were cities of Jew
ish learning in the middle ages. and
as II was told in southern France
where fouriShcd some of the brilliant
Biblical cxcgctes. Rashi and Alfas+i.
These indeed are the terrible alterna
tivcs of the persistent survival Of the
Jewish people. ON the one hand ear
curs phlacterics. kosher food, Sab
ba h observance, segregation. pcrsecu-
tion. hatred by the majority. pcgroms.
an attempt at killing of the body which
is met by n strengthened will to live
on the part of the Jews. and on the
other hand. tolerance. the abandonment
of all religious observance and n
shriveling of Jewish cultural activity,
followed by physical amalgn nation
and the ultimate disappearance of the
Jewish group.
TIE Explanation of the Problem.
Many theories have been offered in
explanation of the Jewish question and
Of the attitude of the world toward the
Jew Some say the basis, is entirely
Theological. The reminders 10y the
oloeiaps~ in EsAstcr sermops.-of the sup
posed killing Of Christ by Jews is UNI
doubily n stimulant 10 the flames OF
prejudice. Another theory is the Ger
man doctrine that the Jews are an
inferior racc-that the great creative
gcnir,es of the world were the blond
haired. bluc-eyed Nordic. Another the
ory 10 justify anti-Iewish prejudice is
that the enst-European Jews are the
dcsccndcnts of the KahZars, n Tartar
tribe. In other words. this theory of
nnii-Jewish prejudice is justified ON the
ground that the Jews are not really
Jews.
All of the above explanations over
look what seems TO he tine funda mental
c,alogical reason-namcly. that any
scattered group attempting to survive
as nincrities in the several countries
OF settlement causes anti-social feel
Ing. Undoubtedly the persis ence of
Jewish minorities for two thousand
years explains many Of the social and
psychological phenomena of Jewish his
tory.
In their Ghcttocs the lew we're cut
OF from the main currents of western
civilization and therefore there WAS an
intellectual inbreeding and n tremen-
dous amount of effort and energy de
voted to diulectic and to theological
subjects. On the other hand the Jews
in dispersion developed high intel
lcctual capacity. for under Il settled
status. wealth is the desired indication
of social position and the basis of pow
cr. Wandering in exile, scholarship
and men nj kecness were the surrogate
traits priced by Jews. 1t is hardly
to he wondered in view of the history
Of the Jewish mind that the percentage
Of Jews in academic Institutions should
ne larger than that of the rest of the
population.
Likewise. herdcd in cities the Jews
developed II physiological immunity 10
the city diseases. The low statistics
for mOrbidity and morality among
Jews is an established fact Further
more the effect Of persecution was to
make the Jew mature early in life and
10 agr early. As a result Jewish chill
'lern frequently show a brilliance which
loes not persist through maturity. On
he other hand, some of the extremely
BILE individuals, lacking an opportunity
for the expression of their capacities
are disappointed in the fruits of their
activity and develop an attitude toward
'fe which is characteristic of the So
allied Judenschmerz.
tro be continuedl