Rabbi Harry Waton on the connection between Judaism as a religion, and Internationalism or Communism.
This is the text of a 1939 book by Rabbi Harry Waton. Waton was a religious communist, and in this book he explains the Jewish worldview — the connection between Judaism as a religion, and Internationalism or Communism.
[Transcribed by Peter Myers. There are occasional typographical errors in the original. I have left them as they are, without correction or annotation.]Although the views of just one man, this book provides original and valuable insights into Zionism, Communism, Nazism, the ideas behind World War II and the Cold War, and the decisions still facing us. Waton is a lone thinker, a man who acknowledges the virtues of opponents, a synthesiser of many traditions, a prisoner of one tradition but also a fugitive from that tradition. The reader will deeply disagree with Waton on some points, will surely agree on others, and be deeply stimulated throughout.
What is amazing me about Rabbi Waton, is the combination of intellectual brilliance with blinkering. He identifies with the pre-Stalin Jewish Bolsheviks yet, despite the ideological universalism he proclaims, ignores and denies the cruelty and totalitarianism of the system they created. For a Jewish source acknowledging that fact, see Benjamin Ginsberg, The Fatal Embrace, pp. 30-33 and 53-56.
From afar, I had heard of the famed Jewish intellect, and trembled before it. But the more I have examined it close-up, the more I have found that these powerful minds are devoted to propagandising; omitting part of the data, and making the data fit a preconceived outlook. They are not the only ones who do this; white Europeans conquered the New World whilst bearing a universal ideology (Christianity) that contradicted their own particularism. But somehow, perhaps because of the reputation of the Jews, I expected more from them.
A Program for the Jews
An Answer
To all anti-Semites
A Program for Humanity
by
Harry Waton
Published by
Committee for the Preservation of the Jews
New York — 1939
Dedicated to my beloved wife ROSAWATON
Copyright 1939
by
Committee for the Preservation of the Jews
Astoria Press, N. Y. C.
Contents
A Program for the Jews 9
The Economico-Political Aspect 18
How Can the Jews Meet this World Situation…………….38
The Biologico-Cultural Aspect 51
And Now, What About Culture 85
The Jewish People 103
Jehovah and Judaism…………..107
Buddhism. and Christianity…………..116
The Religio-Historic Aspect…………..134
Noblesse Oblige…………..150
Judaism and Christianity…………..165
Salvation is of the Jews…………..182
Fata Volentem Ducunt, Nolentem Trahunt…………..224
Foreword
Since 1914 great historic events have taken place. There was the World War, the Russian revolution, and the upheavals in Europe and elsewhere. These historic events brought to mankind disillusionment and bitter disappointment. The World War, which was expected to end all wars, only prepared the ground for still more frightful wars; the Russian revolution, which was expected to bring to the working masses freedom, emancipation and communism, only brought them an oppressive dictatorship, a more intense exploitation and state capitalism; and the upheavals in Europe and elsewhere, which were conceived in democracy, internationalism and socialism, only brought fascism, an insane nationalism and Hitlerism. And whatever these events brought to other nations, to the Jews they brought only greater misery, suffering and despair. Anti-Semitism, which before 1914 found open outbursts among backward nations and in semicivilized countries, since then has become the social philosophy and economic-political policy of the most cultured people in the most civilized countries. Modern Balaams came to the fore and, in the name of culture, religion, science, art and philosophy, endeavored to prove that the Jews and Judaism are inherently wicked and evil, and a deadly menace to the Western nations, their culture and their civilization; and that, to save the Western nations, their culture and civilization from decline and extinction, it is necessary to exterminate the Jews and Judaism. Hence the slogan: Death to the Jews and Judaism. Following up the world events, reflecting on the new philosophies that came to the fore, I convinced myself that human society is irresistibly and inevitably moving towards state capitalism and fascism. Further reflection also convinced me that this social transformation would inevitably bring upon the Jews great suffering. How could the Jews face this world situation? This question occupied my mind for the last twelve years, and these were to me years of intellectual and spiritual agony. At last I reached the conclusion which I embodied in a program for the Jews. Since then I often spoke on this program. When the Jews declared war against Nazi Germany and fascism, I saw that that was a suicidal policy, which would bring to the Jews infinite suffering. I spoke against that policy, but no attention was paid to it. Thus passed more than five years of ever-increasing suffering for the Jews. When the situation became so grave that the Jews themselves began to realize the gravity of the situation, the members of the Spinoza Institute of America asked me to formulate my program. In an address delivered by me before the members of the Spinoza Institute on October 23, 1938, I presented to them, in brief, my program. As a result of this address, a committee organized itself under the name: The Committee for the Preservation of the Jews, and this committee published my address under the title: A Program for the Jews. Ten thousand copies of that program were published and distributed. Thus far, this program met with universal condemnation. This I expected. But I soon realized that, if my program is to receive a more friendly hearing, it must be presented adequately. The following is a more adequate basis for my program.
Dated: Belle Harbor, New York, March 28, 1939. Harry Waton.
A Program for the Jews
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation; and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He doeth according to His will in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can stay his hand, or say unto Him; What dost Thou? — DANIEL,iv. 31-32.
1. When in 1929 our inflated prosperity burst like a soap bubble and revealed the unsoundness of our economic system, its inherent contradictions and its decay, it was universally believed that this was only a local and temporary economic disturbance, which would soon pass away, and prosperity would come to us again. Since then more than nine years passed. During these years more than a hundred billion dollars’ worth of actual and potential values disappeared, tens of millions of human beings in this country suffered privation, misery and humiliation, and the government sank ever deeper into a morass of deficits. Notwithstanding all this, we still believe that the economic crisis is only of a temporary nature, which will soon pass away, and we still confidently hope for the return of prosperity in the near future. During these years, the government, the brain trusts and the leaders in industry, commerce and finance were searching for the philosopher’s stone by which, they hoped, to regenerate our economic system, to revive business and to restore to us prosperity, but all in vain; the philosopher’s stone was not discovered, the economic system was not regenerated, business was not revived, and prosperity did not come. All New Deal measures taken by the government proved futile, and futile they had to be; for they sought to meet what seemed !to be only a local and temporary disturbance, whereas what faced us was a universal and permanent situation. If from the beginning of the crisis, the government, the brain trusts and the leaders in industry, commerce and finance had realized that we were confronted with a universal and permanent situation, and had adopted a radical measure to meet that situation, we would have been spared infinite suffering, and now we would have been in a far better position, and the future would be bright. But we did not adopt such radical measure, because we did not understand the nature of the situation that confronted us. To adopt a radical measure implies a recognition of the fact that a revolutionary transformation of society is taking place all over the world, and this would require a change of ideas, a change of philosophy, and a change of the mode of life. But men will rather perish than change their ideas, their philosophy and their mode of life. This was the universal tragedy of mankind, this is their present tragedy, and this is also the tragedy of the Jews.
2. When Hitler came to power and began to realize in practice his anti-Semitic philosophy, the Jews believed that this was only a local and temporary political disturbance, which would soon pass away, and the Jews in Germany would again enjoy peace and security. The Jews declared war against Nazi Germany, and by means of the boycott they believed that they would destroy the Nazi power in Germany, and would restore Germany to its former state. More than six years passed since then. During these years the Jews in Germany and Austria were expropriated of their property, their possessions and their interests, they were deprived of their political and legal rights, they were humiliated and degraded, and they were subjected to infinite misery, suffering and torture. Tens of thousands of Jews in Germany and Austria were tortured in the prisons and the concentration camps, thousands of them were brutally murdered, and hundreds of them were driven to commit suicide. And outside of Germany and Austria, the position of the Jews became ever worse. Millions of Jews are now in distress and are threatened with expulsion from the countries in which they live, and this at a time when all other countries are entirely closed against them. The position of the Jews in the world is now infinitely worse than it was six years ago. Notwithstanding all this, the Jews still believe that this is only a local and temporary political disturbance, which will soon pass away. All measures taken by the Jews to meet this seemingly local and temporary political disturbance proved futile, and futile they had to be; for these measures could not meet a situation that was universal and permanent. If from the beginning, when Hitler rose to power, the Jews had realized that they were confronted with a very serious universal and permanent situation, and they had adopted a radical program to meet this situation, they would have spared themselves infinite misery and suffering, their present position in the world would have been far better, and their future would not be so desperate. But the Jews did not adopt a radical program, because they did not understand the situation that confronted them. To adopt a radical program would imply the recognition that a revolutionary transformation of society is taking place all over the world, and this would require a change of ideas, a change of philosophy and a change of the mode of life. But, like the rest of mankind, the Jews will rather perish than change their ideas, their philosophy and their mode of life. This was the tragedy of the Jews in the past, and this is also their tragedy now.
3. During all these years I was waiting and hoping that some leader among the Jews would come to the fore with a radical program which could meet the universal and permanent situation that confronts the Jews, but in vain, no such leader came to the fore with such program. Reflecting on the Jewish question and the world situation that confronts the Jews, I crystallized a definite idea of a radical program for the Jews to meet the world situation, but I hesitated to come to the fore with this program for the following reasons. First, I am not a leader among the Jews, and I would at once be met with the old question: Who made thee a leader among the Jews ? Secondly, because my program is a radical program, requiring a change of ideas, of philosophy and of the mode of life, the Jews would not accept it. At last I was challenged to come out with my program. I regarded this challenge as a hint from destiny. The ancient Rabbis said: There where there are no men endeavor to be a man. Since no Jewish leader comes to the fore with a radical program to meet the world situation, since I have crystallized an idea of such program, and since I was challenged to come out with my program, I decided to brush aside all considerations and present my program. I know that my program will not be accepted, and I also know that I will be condemned for this program. I will be condemned, not only by the Jews, but also by the Christians, by the communists, by the fascists, by the liberals, by the conservatives, by the reactionaries, and also by the anti-Semites; in a word I will be universally condemned; I will be universally condemned, because my program is radical, revolutionary and universal; it is a program, not only for the Jews, but for the whole human race. The Jews are not the only ones involved in this world situation, but the whole human race is involved in it. The Jewish question is really a question of the whole human race. And since my program is radical, revolutionary and universal, it will strike a fatal blow at cherished ideas, accepted philosophies, and established modes of life. Hence, in presenting my program, I face universal opposition and universal condemnation. But I am not perturbed by this, and I entertain no ill feelings against any one. I am doing my duty, and in this I am armed with the convictions: first, that my program should be accepted by non-Jews as well as Jews; Secondly though my program will be universally rejected, it will realize itself just the same. Fata volentem ducunt, nolentum trahunt. If my program be accepted, mankind will avoid infinite misery and suffering; if it will not be accepted, my program will realize itself just the same, but only after mankind will have suffered infinitely. Since I face universal opposition and universal condemnation, I feel perfectly free to say what I deem it my duty to say, leaving to destiny to determine the consequences. Again, since I do not expect that my program will be accepted, and yet I am convinced that it will be realized, my program will be in the nature of a prophecy, and I will necessarily suffer the fate of the prophet. Prudence would warn me to refrain from prophesying, but I disregard prudence, and do my duty.
4. A program to meet a universal and permanent situation must necessarily rest upon a universal philosophy. To understand my program, it is necessary to know and understand my philosophy. But within the scope of a program a universal philosophy cannot be adequately presented; all that I can do is to present as much of my philosophy as is absolutely essential to an understanding of my program. This is not to be regretted. Philosophy does not determine life, rather life determines philosophy; we do not live according to philosophy, but philosophize according to the dictates of life. All that philosophy can accomplish is to reveal to us the requirements of life; and, if we are wise, we shall then profit by the wisdom of philosophy. My program concerns the whole human race, yet I address myself principally to the Jews, for the following reasons. First, my program concerns the Jews more directly and immediately than it concerns the rest of mankind, and therefore the Jews should be the first to adopt it. Secondly, the Jews are preeminently qualified to realize a program to meet a universal and permanent situation. This, indeed, is their historic function. As in the past, so now the Jews must be the pioneers of a new philosophy of life.
5. What is the universal and permanent situation that confronts the Jews and the rest of mankind ? It is the rise and spread of fascism. I use the term fascism as comprehending nazism and communism; for, as we shall see later, they are all the same; they all mean a new social order and a new philosophy of life. Fascism is regarded by the anti-fascists as a world menace, an evil that threatens to destroy society, religion, civilization, progress, liberty, democracy and humanity. Now, whatever be the nature of an evil, to overcome it or to render it harmless, it is first necessary to understand the nature of the evil and the cause of it. If we are to overcome fascism or to render it harmless, we must first understand its nature and the cause of it. Fascism did not fall from the sky, nor was it created by Mussolini, Stalin or Hitler; fascism grew out of certain historic and economic conditions, and it has a definite historic function to perform. Assuming that fascism is what the Jews and the anti-fascists think it is, the first thing that is incumbent upon the Jews and the anti-fascists is to understand the nature and the cause of fascism. Now, the Jews and the anti-fascists believe that they understand the nature and the cause of fascism; but, as we shall presently see, they have not the remotest idea of fascism and its cause. The very fact that the Jews and the anti-fascists believe that fascism is only a local and temporary phenomenon, and that they can destroy fascism, this alone proves that neither the Jews nor the anti-fascists understand the nature of fascism and its historic function. We shall presently see that fascism is a historic phase of social evolution through which mankind must pass, and nothing in creation can prevent this.
6. What do the Jews know about fascism? They know fascism only from their own viewpoint, only in so far as fascism affects them; and, since fascism affects them most painfully, the Jews regard fascism as a world menace. But do the Jews know fascism from the viewpoint of the fascists? To know and understand fascism from the viewpoint of the fascists, the Jews must place themselves in the position of the fascists, and from their viewpoint see fascism. The Jews must place themselves in the position of the fascists and from their viewpoint consider the Jewish question and the present social order. Have the Jews tried to understand fascism from the fascist viewpoint? Now, it is natural and easy to misunderstand an enemy and to hate him, but this does not help to overcome an enemy or render him harmless. To do this, we must transcend our emotional reactions against an enemy, and only then can we meet the enemy rationally and effectively. By barricading themselves against the understanding of fascism from the fascist viewpoint, the Jews only aggravate the situation that faces them. It is therefore of vital interest to the Jews themselves to make the supreme effort to transcend their emotional reactions against fascism and the fascists, and to endeavor to understand them. This they must do to serve their own interests. What is true of the Jews is equally true of the fascists. The fascists regard the Jews as a world menace, they are a menace to the Aryans, their culture, their morals and their destiny. But what do the fascists know about Judaism and the Jews and their historic function? To know and understand Judaism, the Jews and their historic function, it is necessary for the fascists to place themselves in the position of the Jews, to make a deep study of Judaism, and to perceive their historic function. But the fascists barricaded themselves against this understanding. The fascists flatter themselves with the illusion that, being for the moment apparently powerful, they will succeed to destroy the Jews and Judaism. Have the fascists ever read intelligently the history of the Jews ? If they did read this history intelligently, they would see that far greater powers than the fascists have endeavored to destroy the Jews and Judaism, with the result that those mighty powers were destroyed and were forgotten, while the Jews still live and function on the historic stage, and Judaism is now as full of life as it was ever before. Are the fascists sure that they will not share the same fate as the enemies of the Jews shared all through history? Is it not in the interests of the fascists to make the supreme effort to transcend their emotional reactions against the Jews and Judaism, and endeavor to view them from the Jewish viewpoint? And now, suppose that the Jews and the fascists did achieve this, would they then understand the world situation that confronts the human race? By no means, for they would still see the situation from two opposite viewpoints; they would not see the world situation from its historic aspect, for fascism is the work of history, and has a historic function to perform. Hence we must rise still higher and see the world situation in its historic aspect. But, alas, history is still a book sealed with seven seals!
7. In the life and death struggle between the fascists and the Jews, and the great noise of them that shout with victory and of them that cry from defeat, one voice is not heard that, above all, should have been heard first, and that is the voice of history. Men plan, scheme and plot to realize their petty aims and vain ambitions. In their ignorance, they believe that they can make history as they please And, when by destiny they are placed in a position of power, they imagine themselves to be supermen who, with impunity can disregard reason, defy justice and trample upon morality and humanity. But there is a logic of events, there is a moral order, there is a causal relation between conduct and consequence; and, above all, there is a historic destiny that overrides and overrules all plans, schemes and plots of men. What Nebuchadnezzar, what Alexander, what Caesar, what Napoleon, what Stalin, what Mussolini, and what Hitler ever realized his aims and ambitions? Hegel said: The study of history convinced him that men never learn from history. Men study history, not for the purpose of finding out the nature, course and destiny of history, so as to be able to conform with the requirements of history, but men study history to find out how they can cheat history, how they can evade the consequences of their evil deeds, how they can evade the fate that befell others like themselves. Men are like children. Children know that sickness, misfortune and death are the common lot of men, yet the children believe that they will never be sick, they will never suffer misfortune, and they will never die. In days of prosperity, men believe that they are the masters over history; but in days of adversity, they blame history, in neither case do they understand history; worse still, they deny that there is history. And so it came to pass that until now history was only a record of frustrated aims and ruined ambitions; and this will continue so long as men entertain the illusion that they can make history as they please.
8. What is history? History is the process of human existence; it is the process that realizes the predetermined destiny of mankind. Mankind are destined to attain to reason, to become rational and morally autonomous, and live in peace and enjoy happiness. This predetermined destiny is an eternal idea of God. Man started out as an animal; he passed through the stages of savagery, barbarism and reached the present state of civilization; but man will rise higher and higher until he will realize his predetermined destiny. Races, nations and peoples came and passed away, but mankind continues to live, make progress and rise ever higher towards its destiny. Did man plan this process, did man conceive this destiny? It was God that planned the existence and the destiny of mankind. Can stupid man frustrate the plan of God? Can foolish man change the course of history? The fascists are determined to destroy the Jews and Judaism; have the fascists consulted the plan of God to find out whether they can destroy the Jews and Judaism? Suppose the fascists consulted this plan of God; suppose they convinced themselves that it is the plan of God that the Jews and Judaism are the means through whom God brings to mankind salvation, light and understanding, will the fascists still want to destroy the Jews and Judaism? Will not the fascists then realize that it is in their interests to make peace with the Jews and Judaism ? The fascists over-estimate their power, and they under-estimate the power of the Jews and Judaism. We shall see later that the Jews are far more numerous and infinitely more powerful than the fascists are. Not that the Jews fear the fascists or have reasons to fear them, but the fascists fear the Jews, and have good reason to fear them. And so, in presenting this program for the Jews, I do not face the fascists as one that has to convince them. Marx said: Him whom we seek to convince, we recognize the master of the situation. I do not recognize the fascists as the masters of the situation. On the contrary, I recognize the Jews as the masters of the situation. But I speak to the fascists, as well as to the Jews, because it is not my purpose to overcome or to defeat the fascists; my purpose is to convince the fascists that it is in their own interests to cooperate with the Jews for the common good of mankind. There is no reason why, at this stage of human progress, we should blindly repeat the tragic experiences of the past. We can and we should learn from history.
9. I will present my program in three aspects. First, an economico-political aspect. Second, a biologico-cultural aspect. Third, a religio-historic aspect. The result will be an idea of a program. I say, it will be an idea of a program, for the following reason. A radical and revolutionary program to meet a universal and permanent world situation requires the cooperation of many experts, for there are numerous economic, political, cultural and religious problems that must be solved. This task is beyond the power of any one man. My aim is only to present an idea for such a program. If the idea is accepted, then it will be the task of many others to work out the details of the program. I do my duty, and leave to others to do their duty.
The Economico-Political Aspect.
10. What is fascism ? The first thing we shall learn about fascism is the following. Fascism is the political form of state capitalism, it is the beginning of socialism. Marx tells us: In considering a social transformation, we must disregard the ideology of men; that is, we must disregard what men think or believe concerning this social transformation. Just as our opinion of an individual is not based on what he thinks of himself, so we cannot judge a social transformation by its own consciousness. This means that, in endeavoring to understand the nature and historic function of fascism, we must disregard what the fascists and the anti-fascists think of fascism, or they think of one another, but we must endeavor to understand the historic significance of fascism, what does history accomplish by fascism. Fascism appears to the anti-fascists to be an evil, but this is due entirely to the fact that the anti-fascists do not understand fascism. Spinoza tells us that, when we adequately understand an evil, it ceases to be an evil. It is the same with fascism. When we adequately understand fascism, it ceases to be an evil. We shall see later that the Jews have no reason to be opposed to fascism.
11. In his message to Congress, delivered January 4, 1939, President Roosevelt spoke of the imperative necessity to be prepared for the impending struggles between the fascist countries and the democratic countries. Among others, he said the following: “The deadline of danger from within and from without is not within our control.” This is an admission that we are not the masters over history. Then President Roosevelt spoke of the need to change our policy, so that we should be able to solve the problem of unemployed labor and unemployed capital, and said the following: “Dictatorships do this by main force. By using main force, they apparently succeeded at it— for the moment. However we abhor their method we are compelled to admit that they have obtained substantial utilization of all their material and human resources. Like it or not, they have solved, for a time at least, the problem of idle men and idle capital. Can we compete with them by boldly seeking methods of putting idle men and idle capital together and, at the same time, remain within our American way of life, within the Bill of Rights, and within the bounds of what is, from our viewpoint, civilization itself? Reflect on this. After nine years of suffering and after we have experimented with various New Deal measures, we are compelled to compete with the fascist countries and their methods! President Roosevelt asked the question: can we solve the problem of unemployment of labor and capital in our American way? He did not answer the question, but history already answered this question and the answer is: we shall be compelled to adopt fascist methods to meet the world situation that confronts us. A revolutionary transformation of society takes places all over the world; it is an economic, political and social transformation; it is the passing away of the present social order and the coming of a new social order. The present social order rests on private capitalism, but private capitalism can no longer function, it can no longer meet the social requirements, it can no longer employ the working class and the accumulated capital, and therefore it no longer has any historic reason for existence. In this country alone, tens of millions of workers have been and still are out of employment and had to be sustained on state relief; billions of dollars are hoarded and lie idle, because there is no longer any room for their safe and profitable investment; production is curtailed, products are destroyed, inventions are held back, and machines and factories are idle, business is groaning under an ever-increasing burden of taxation, the government is piling up mountains of debts, and on the top of all this the government is compelled to spend billions of dollars on war preparations. How long can such a system exist? Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin: private capitalism was weighed in the historic balance, it was found wanting, and it was decreed that it be retired from the stage of history. Private capitalism is dying, and in the near future it will be dead. It will either die peacefully and get an honorable burial, or it will die through wars and revolutions. With the death of private capitalism will also die all political and social institutions resting on private capitalism and organically bound up with it. And what is true of this country. is even more so true of all other countries. And just as nature abhors a vacuum, so history abhors a hiatus. What system shall take the place of private capitalism?
12. If at this time the international proletariat were class conscious, revolutionary and organized, they would come to the fore, they would take in hand the land and the mechanism of production and distribution, they would use them in an organized, rational and just manner, and thus they would establish socialism. Once socialism has been established, and all future social evolution would be towards a human society resting on universal communism. Only then will all social problems be solved. But the working class is not yet prepared to perform this historic function. We have then this situation. Private capitalism can no longer function, and socialism is yet impossible. What course is open for history ? There is only this course open for history, namely, to call upon the state and do that which the working class should have done. The state must take in hand the land and the mechanism of production and distribution, and it must determine their use in accordance with a national plan. When a state, in addition to its political function, also assumes the economic function, the state becomes the capitalist, and w e have state capitalism. State capitalism may come from below through a bloody revolution, as was the case in Soviet Russia; or it may come from above, as will likely be the case in this country, it is state capitalism just the same. Again, the state may become the absolute owner of the land and the mechanism of production and distribution, as it is in Soviet Russia; or the state may content itself only with the absolute control of the land and the mechanism of production and distribution, it is state capitalism just the same: for he who absolutely controls the means of life actually owns them, although nominally they belong to private individuals. Again, the power of the state may be concentrated in the hands of one dictator, as in the case in Soviet Russia; or the power of the state is concentrated in the hands of a dictatorial oligarchy, as is likely to be the case in this country, it is state capitalism just the same, for even a dictatorial oligarchy is governed by an absolute dictator. Clothed with unlimited political and economic power, the state becomes supreme and absolute. A supreme and absolute state cannot tolerate any independence of the people. The state will subordinate to its rule all religious, intellectual, political and social institutions and functions; the state will dictate what to do, how to do, what to think and what to believe. The only right that will be reserved to the individual will be the right to work for the state upon terms and conditions determined by the state, and the only freedom that the individual will be permitted to enjoy will be the freedom to live and die for the state. State capitalism is, as the name implies, still capitalism, but in state capitalism the state is the capitalist. The state will exploit the working class, the state will employ the capitalists as salaried officials, and all will be the servants of the state. We need not speculate on the nature of state capitalism- we see its nature in Soviet Russia. The essence of a reality is its form; destroy its form, and the reality itself is destroyed. This is true of organizations and of states. Every state has a form peculiar to its nature. Destroy the form of a state, and the state itself is destroyed. The form of a state is political in its nature, and the form of state capitalism is fascism. Fascism, then, is the political form of state capitalism. Fascism in its very nature is a dictatorship. The dictatorship may be in the name of the proletariat, or in the name of the people, or in the name of a constitution, it is a dictatorship just the same. State capitalism is thus inevitable, and it follows that fascism is inevitable. The revolutionary transformation of society that now takes place all over the world is the transformation of society into state capitalism and fascism. This is the world situation that confronts the Jews and the rest of the human race. Since state capitalism and fascism are historically inevitable, we must accept them and readjust ourselves accordingly.
13. Naive Americans believe that what happened in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy will not happen here. This is an illusion: what happened there is already happening here; we are already waist-deep in state capitalism and fascism. De te fabula narratur! Naive Americans still believe in the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution, but they do not realize that the Constitution has already fundamentally changed its character. President Roosevelt may honestly believe that he is not a dictator, and he may sincerely hate dictatorship; yet, from day to day, he becomes ever more and more a dictator. And what Roosevelt does with more or less of self-restraint, his successors will do without any self-restraint. State capitalism and fascism are as inevitable in this country as they are in other countries. All that is necessary that in this country state capitalism and fascism shall be completely established is a national emergency or a war. Once such national emergency or war comes—-and it will inevitably come in the near future— and in this country we shall have the state capitalism and fascism that we see in Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany. The government in this country has already worked out a complete plan for the mobilization of the industries and the working class, and of using them under state control. Once state capitalism and fascism have been established in this country, they will remain established for a long time to come, for state capitalism, as we shall presently see, has a great historic function to perform. Hence we must no longer entertain the illusion that we can regenerate private capitalism and its institutions, but we must prepare ourselves to live under state capitalism and be ruled by fascism. This implies a change of ideas, a change of philosophy, and a change of the mode of life. But, oh, this is very hard ! Hence we struggle against this inevitable necessity. But can we successfully struggle against a historic necessity? Those that struggle against history are destroyed by history.
This is the world situation that faces mankind.
14. Fascism is the political form of state capitalism, and this means the beginning of socialism. For nearly a century, socialists demanded government ownership and control of the land and the means of production and distribution, but the socialists did not realize that this means state capitalism and fascism. And now that they see their ideal realized, they do not recognize it and hate it. But this is neither unusual nor remarkable; naive persons are usually disappointed in their ideals, when they realize themselves. In their naive dreams the socialists imagined a socialism in which the working class is in power; and, naively assuming that the working class, just as they are, are already prepared to own and control the production and the distribution of the means of life, the working class will perform this function in a rational and democratic manner. How naive all this was! The socialists never understood history, and they never knew the working class. For thousands of years the working class were kept back in ignorance, dependence and slavery. What do the workers know about organizing the production and the distribution of the means of life? Are they able to organize themselves? Countless numbers of times workers tried to organize production and distribution, and they invariably failed. After bitter experiences, they preferred to go back to the capitalists to be exploited by them. At last came the Russian revolution and the great experiment was made. A bloody war followed by the greatest revolution known to history destroyed the old social order and exterminated the capitalists and the land magnates. The terrain was cleared for the working class to establish themselves in power and to organize production and distribution upon a socialist and democratic basis. And yet, what was the result? In spite of the superhuman effort to realize this idea, we have in Soviet Russia nothing else than state capitalism and fascism. In Soviet Russia the workers are exploited and oppressed as they never were in any capitalist country. This was inevitable, and it will remain inevitable until such time as the working class will grow up and become mature enough to perform this historic function; then, and not until then, will the dream of socialism be realized. But until then, only state capitalism and fascism will be possible and therefore inevitable. But state capitalism and fascism are the beginning of socialism. As the socialists and the communists are themselves in the dark on this subject, we must consider this aspect of the matter fundamentally.
15. We will begin with the consideration of the political form of state capitalism. According to Marx and the Marxists, socialism is only a transitory state between the state of capitalism and the state of communism. What will be the political form of the state during this transitory state ? Marx gave the answer:
“Between the capitalist and the communist system of society lies the period of the revolutionary transformation of the one into the other. This corresponds to a political transition period, whose State can be nothing else but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat.”
Lenin explained the nature of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the reason for its existence as follows. Socialism is only a transitory state of society. When in a proletarian revolution the capitalist class is overthrown and the proletariat becomes the ruling class, this will not mean that all opposition to socialism has been overcome. To sustain themselves in power, the proletariat will have to suppress the capitalist class and all others who do not accept the socialist order of society. This will be the dictatorship of the proletariat. This dictatorship will exist until all opposition to the socialist order has been completely overcome, and then the dictatorship of the proletariat will wither away. Since Lenin and the Russian revolution much has been said and written about the dictatorship of the proletariat, and yet thus far no one perceived the inherent contradiction which makes the dictatorship of the proletariat impossible. Who is the proletariat? The proletariat is the class of proletarians. Who is a proletarian ? A proletarian is a worker who owns neither the land nor the means nor the conditions to labor, all that he owns is his naked labor power which he must sell to the capitalist that he may exist. The capitalist buys the labor power of the worker on the conditions, first, that the worker should submit to the mastery of the capitalist; secondly, that the worker should submit to the exploitation by the capitalist. Hence during the existence of capitalism, the proletariat is dictated and exploited by the capitalist class. Now, assume that a proletarian revolution took place, and the proletariat became the ruling class. Whereas before there was a dictatorship of the capitalist class over the proletariat, now we have a dictatorship of the proletariat over the capitalist class; and, whereas before the capitalist class owned and controlled the land and the means of production and distribution, now the proletariat owns and controls them. And now this question arises: When the proletariat has become the ruling class and owns and controls the land and the means of production and distribution, is it still a proletariat? It is clear that the moment the proletariat becomes the ruling class and owns and controls the land and the means of production and distribution, that very moment the proletariat ceases to be a proletariat, there is no longer any proletariat. We have then the following situation. Before the proletarian revolution, the proletariat was dictated by the capitalist class, after the revolution there is no longer any proletariat to dictate. The dictators now are no longer proletarians, but rulers and owners of the land and the means of production and distribution. Hence, a dictatorship of the proletariat is a contradiction in terms and impossible; it is like a square circle, which is impossible. And now the question arises: How could Marx speak of a dictatorship of the proletariat, and how could Lenin and others accept it ? The answer is: Marx uttered a historic truth, but neither he nor all other Marxists understood it. What is this historic truth? This is the truth: A dictatorship of the proletariat is impossible, but a dictatorship in the name of the proletariat is possible, and such dictatorship now exists.
16. What sort of a dictatorship is it? This is the dictatorship of state capitalism. State capitalism is still capitalism, it has all the characteristics of capitalism. It rests upon the exploitation and suppression of the working class, the wages system exists, money exists, and the proletariat exists. Whereas before the proletariat was exploited and dictated by the capitalist class, now it is exploited and dictated by the state. Now, in all forms of society in which there were classes and class struggles, and in which one class exploited and dictated another class, the state ruled and dictated in the name of some body or something. In a monarchy, the state ruled in the name of God or in the name of the divine annointed; in a democracy, the state ruled and dictated in the name of the people; and in state capitalism the state rules and dictates in the name of the proletariat. In state capitalism the state rules and dictates in the name of the proletariat, because the state derives its main support from the proletariat. In any period, when the state assumes the power over the mechanism of production and distribution, the state must overcome the capitalist and owning classes, and for this purpose the state must appeal to the proletariat for support. The state then favors the proletariat as against the capitalist class, and the proletariat then supports the state against the capitalist class. We see this process going on now in this country. President Roosevelt and his administration move into the direction of state capitalism. To overcome the determined opposition of the capitalists and the magnates of wealth and power, the government in this country favors the working class, and for this reason the working class in this country is behind the government. And so between the upper and the nether mill stones, the capitalist class is grounded into dust and powder and is annihilated. Once state capitalism is fully established, the state then rules and dictates in the name of the proletariat; it rules and dictates the proletariat itself in the name of the proletariat. This is what is actually the case in Soviet Russia, and this will be the case in all other countries to the extent that state capitalism becomes established. Hence a dictatorship of the proletariat is nothing else than a dictatorship over the proletariat as well as over other classes, but in the name of the proletariat. What follows? We saw that the political form of the social order which will intervene between capitalism and communism will be a dictatorship of the proletariat; and we also saw that this intervening social order will be socialism, it follows that state capitalism is nothing else than the beginning of socialism. And, when Marx and others believed that this will actually be a dictatorship of the proletariat, they were deceived; but, though they were deceived, history was not deceived. And that history was not deceived will become clear from the language which history spoke through Marx himself.
17. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx formulates a program which the proletariat will follow when it becomes the ruling class. Marx tells us: We have seen above that the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class, to win the battle of democracy. The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total of productive forces as rapidly as possible. Let us consider what Marx tells us here. The transition of society from a capitalist order into a communist order cannot be accomplished by one stroke; even a world proletarian revolution cannot accomplish this. To accomplish this, it will be necessary not only to reconstruct the whole social foundation, but it will also be necessary to construct a new social superstructure and to change completely the human attitude towards life and society. This transformation will necessarily take a long time. Between the social order resting on private capitalism and the establishment of universal communism there will necessarily be an intervening social order which Marx called lower communism, but which is generally called socialism. Socialism will necessarily partake of the nature of capitalism, but its aim w ill be communism. When the proletariat, through a proletarian revolution, comes into power, it will wrest, by degrees, all capital from the capitalist class, and will centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the State and will increase the total productive forces of society. All this will be accomplished by degrees, and not all at once. Notice carefully this. Marx does not say that the proletariat will use its political supremacy to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the working class or in the hands of society, but in the hands of the State. This is very significant. We are not yet dealing with an organized working class or an organized society, but we are dealing with a State. And may the State be a proletarian state, a capitalist state, a feudal state, or a state of any kind it is a state; it is an impersonal power that rules over the people or over the working class. Hence the coming of the proletariat to political power only means the coming into existence of a proletarian state. Since, however, as we just saw, the proletariat cannot rule and dictate, it follows that the proletariat, on coming into political power, can bring out only a state which will rule and dictate the proletariat as well as all other classes.
18. Marx tells us further: Abolition of property in land, and application of all rents of land to public purposes. Now, Marx himself showed that rent is nothing else than a part of the profits extorted from the working class through exploitation. We assumed that, through a revolution, the proletariat became the ruling class and the owner of the land and the means of production and distribution. How does rent now come into existence? Rent implies money, and money implies wages, and wages imply exploitation: all this Marx himself taught us. Thus we see that, even after the proletariat has become the ruling class, there will be a proletariat and it will be exploited. And this we actually have in Soviet Russia.
Next Marx tells us: A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. What are taxes, and what is income tax ? Taxes like rent, are only a part of the profits extorted from the working class by exploitation. And so, again, we have money, wages and exploitation. Next, who pays income tax ? Not the worker, but the exploiter. And so we see that, even after a proletarian revolution, there will exist exploitation and an exploited proletariat. And this is what we have in Soviet Russia.
Again, Marx tells us: Abolition of all rights of inheritance. Of what kind of inheritance does Marx speak? Suppose a worker dies, will his personal belonging pass over to the State, and not to his children? This is not what Marx contemplates. Marx means those possessions of an individual which are more than of a personal nature. Property which is more than of a personal nature is nothing else than property of a profit-bearing nature. The State may own and control all land and all means of production and distribution, and the State may monopolize all banks, all industries and all commerce, yet there will be individuals who will own shares in all the State enterprises and economic functions, and which ownership will yield them during their lifetime a share in the State profits. And so, even after a proletarian revolution, there will be rich and poor. And this, again, is what we have in Soviet Russia.
Marx tells us further: Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. The property of the rebels was always confiscated by the State. But what property of rebels and emigrants is here meant? Not property of a personal nature, but property of a profit-bearing nature. Next to such property, rich individuals will be allowed to own mansions, estates, and the like. And so the same old story will be repeated. The rich will live in mansions, and the poor, unlike the foxes that have holes and the birds that have nests, have nowhere to lay their head. And this, again, is what we see now in Soviet Russia.
Further: Centralization of credit in the hands of the State by means of national banks with State capital, and an exclusive monopoly. See what we have here: credit, bank, capital and monopoly ! We have here a regular capitalist system. We have here money, wages, exploitation and an exploited proletariat, and all these after the proletariat has become the ruling class! The capital is monopolized by the State, the national banks belong to the State, the national credit is owned and controlled by the State, and the State has an exclusive monopoly of commerce. All this is owned and controlled by the State, not by the people, not by the working class, and not by society. All this we have now in Soviet Russia.
Again: Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State. Again, in the hands of the State, and not in the hands of the people, of the working class or of society. This, too, is what we have now in Soviet Russia.
Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. Again, the State, and not the people, the working class or society.
Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture. Think of it: industrial armies ! An army is an army, whether it is an industrial army or a military army; an army is subject to military rule and discipline. Have we not such industrial armies in Soviet Russia? Have we not now in Soviet Russia armies of laborers watched over by soldiers with bayonets? Have we not now in Soviet Russia armies of prison labor? Are not roads, canals, and all sorts of Dnieprostroys, and all kinds of Stroys performed by prison labor surrounded by soldiers with bayonets?
Finally, free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production. Now, children get free education in all advanced capitalist countries. Child labor in the form that prevailed in Europe in the year 1848 when Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto, was already abolished in all advanced capitalist countries; yet Marx contemplates child labor even after the proletariat has come to power. And this, again, we see now in Soviet Russia.
19. What does all this signify ? It signifies that Marx contemplated nothing else than state capitalism. He called it lower communism, others called it socialism, but it is nothing else than state capitalism. True enough, Marx and others did not expect state capitalism to turn out to be what we see it to be in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, but this was due to the fact that they over-estimated the working class; they thought the working class was prepared for this great historic function, and now we see that it will yet take a long time before the working class will be prepared to take in hand the land and the means of production and distribution and use them rationally and in a democratic manner. But, whatever Marx and others expected is of no consequence; of consequence is what life and history say, and they tell us that the only social order that can take the place of the present social order is a social order resting on state capitalism, having fascism as its political form. Now, state capitalism will necessarily assume in different countries different aspects, just as private capitalism assumed in different countries different aspects; all depending upon economic and historic conditions and the degree of development of the nation. It is certain that state capitalism in this country will not be as crude and brutal as it is in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. And this state capitalism is nothing else than the beginning of socialism. Stalin and Hitler made the wonderful discovery that socialism can be realized in one country, though all other countries may yet be in a state of private capitalism or even feudalism. And so, Stalin tells us that in Soviet Russia they already realized socialism, and now are building for communism; and, likewise, Hitler tells us that in Nazi Germany they have realized socialism. In both countries we have national socialism. All right, if the Stalins and the Hitlers prefer to call it socialism, we will accept their words, and we too will call it socialism. But a name does not change the character of a thing. Call it socialism, if you like, but it is state capitalism. Marx made this perfectly clear. Socialism means nothing less than the abolition of the wages system, the abolition of exploitation, and the abolition of the proletariat. Since, however, in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany we have the wages system, exploitation and the proletariat, we have in these countries state capitalism, and this state capitalism is the beginning of socialism. Only upon the basis of state capitalism will socialism become possible. Now, naive doctrinaires tell us that the Stalins and the Hitlers perverted the doctrines of Marxism. How naive this is! If anything Marx made perfectly clear it is this: a social order cannot be charmed into existence by recipes and doctrinaire formulas. Suppose these doctrinaire revolutionaries were in the places of the Stalins and the Hitlers, what social order would they establish? Men that could not hold on to power, when a revolution brought them to power, such men would not be able to accomplish even as much as the Stalins and the Hitlers accomplished? Hence we must pay no attention to what these naive doctrinaires tell us, and we must consider soberly what life and history tell us, and they tell us that only state capitalism can take the place of private capitalism. State capitalism has a great function to perform, and one of its functions is to prepare the world for socialism. This is the reason why state capitalism is the beginning of socialism. Stalin and Hitler are right, when they tell us that in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany they have already socialism, but they forget to tell us that they have only the beginning of socialism. With this correction, what they tell us is true. And now we must go a step further and see what historic function state capitalism has yet to perform before socialism will be realized.
20. Marx said: No social order ever disappears before all the productive forces, for which there is room in it, have been fully developed; and new higher relations of production never appear before the material conditions of their existence have matured in the womb of old society. Marx utters here a profound truth, and we must endeavor to understand it. By the productive forces, Marx means the working class and the means of production; by the relations of production, Marx means the property relations. If the land and the means of production are owned and controlled by private capitalists, then the working class is necessarily converted into a class of proletarians, who own nothing else than their labor power, which they must sell to the capitalists, and must submit to exploitation and dictatorship by the capitalist class. On the other hand, if the land and the means of production will be owned and controlled by the working class, then there will be the state of socialism, and then there will no longer be exploitation and a proletariat. According to the above statement of Marx, capitalism will not disappear before the working class and the mechanism of productions have been fully developed: and socialism will not appear, before the material conditions for its existence have matured in the womb of capitalism. Now, what are the conditions to the existence of socialism ? A beginning of socialism may exist in one country, but socialism as a social order can exist only upon an international basis, only when most of the advanced countries have established socialism. Likewise, that socialism may be realized, the working class of the most advanced countries must be ready, able and willing to take in hand the land and the means of production and distribution, and use them in a rational, organized and democratic manner. This means that, in order that socialism may be realized, most of the earth must be conquered for progress and civilization, and most of the workers in the advanced countries must become rational and capable of producing the means of life in a rational and democratic manner. Now, what are the conditions before us ? Thus far, only one-fifth of the earth was conquered for progress and civilization: four-fifths of the earth are still in a backward state. Next, the great mass of workers, even in the most advanced countries, are yet in a state of ignorance and unconsciousness; they are still de-humanized and degraded slaves, and are yet wholly unfit for rational cooperation. And the small fraction of so-called revolutionary workers are split up into thousands of fractions, and are ready to destroy one another. Thus we see that neither the material conditions nor the working class are yet prepared for socialism. It is the historic function of state capitalism to prepare the material conditions and the working class for socialism. And this will take a long time. Hence, state capitalism will exist for a long time. If state capitalism will not be able to perform its historic function, then the present social order will be destroyed, and mankind will revert back to barbarism, and then begin the historic cycle all over again. Now, whatever be the outcome of the revolutionary transformation that now takes place all over the world, this is certain: that we are entering into an era of state capitalism and fascism. In different countries, state capitalism and fascism will assume, more or less, different forms, but essentially they will be the same. Viewing the revolutionary transformation of society that goes on all over the world from the economical and political aspect, Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany are the same in essence and historic tendency. Soviet Russia, the child of a complete revolution, is more complete in form than Nazi Germany, which is still in the middle of the revolutionary transformation.
21. Now, the communists and the fascists will emphatically deny this; they will insist that, even economically and politically, Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany are absolutely different from each other. Well, let them deny, but we know the truth and the facts. Viewing both countries from the economical and political aspect, what is the difference between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, excepting that the former is more advanced than the latter? Let us consider a few facts. In both countries there is an absolute dictatorship over the proletariat and the people; Hitler in Germany is deified as much as Stalin is in Russia; in both countries the individual was completely subordinated to the state; in both countries all political rights and freedoms of the individual have been abolished; in both countries the state is supreme economically as well as politically; in both countries the state determines production and distribution; in both countries the children are trained and disciplined for the state, in both countries the children are taught to disregard parents and obey the state; in both countries the children are taught to spy on the parents and to report to the state. And, when we disregard nonessential differences, in both countries they have the same philosophy. And what is true of these two countries is, in a greater or lesser degree, also true of Fascist Italy, and all other countries that fall in line. But, I am asked, if Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany are economically and politically the same, why are they deadly enemies of each other; why are the Russian communists and the German nazis deadly enemies of one another and ready to destroy one another. Does this prove that economically and politically Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany are different ? That this question is at all asked is proof of the thoughtlessness of those that raise this question. Before, however, I answer this question, I want to put to the communists and the nazis a few questions, and let them answer these questions. The Stalinites and the Trotzkyites are both communists, Marxists, revolutionaries; both had the same origin, the same revolutionary struggles, both were identified in the Russian revolution and the building up of Soviet Russia, and both have the same aim. Why, then, are they deadly enemies of one another? Why are they ready to unite, even with the German nazis, to destroy one another ? Can the communists and the nazis answer this question? Again, the Catholics and the Protestants are both Christians, both had the same origin, both had the same history and the same traditions, both believe in Jesus and both recognize the New Testament. Why, then, about four hundred years ago the Catholics and the Protestants were involved in a life and death struggle and were determined to destroy one another? And even now, though between the Catholics and the Protestants there is an apparent peace and reconciliation, all this is only apparent; in reality there is latent among them the possibility of another life and death struggle in the near future. Why is this so? Can the communists and the nazis explain this? Again, the capitalists and the capitalist countries have always been at war with one another, and the recent World War was a war between capitalist countries. Since they were all capitalists and capitalist countries, why were they at war with one another? Whatever be the answer which the communists and the nazis will give to these questions will also be the answer to the question, why the communists and the nazis are at war with one another. There are differences between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany which make them deadly enemies of one another, though economically and politically they are the same. Soviet Russia has more land and raw materials than it needs, while Nazi Germany has not enough land and has still less of the raw materials. If the communists were true communists, and not fascists parading as communists, then they would share with the German people the great abundance of land and raw materials which they possess in Soviet Russia. In turn, the German people would place their great knowledge, technique and discipline at the services of the Russian people; and thus both would benefit, and they would be the best of friends. But the communists are only fascists and nationalists; they are like the nazis, and between fascists there will necessarily be war and struggle about land and raw materials.
22. Men are thinking and speaking beings. Whatever men do is preceded and accompanied by thought and speech. Hegel said: In a reflecting and reasoning age, a man is not worth much who cannot give a good reason for everything, no matter how bad or how crazy. Everything in the world that has been done wrong, has been done for the best of reasons. Between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany a war is impending, unless they come to terms in a peaceful manner. It is therefore natural that either side to the struggle should justify itself in advance by good reasons. The nazis want to tear off from Soviet Russia the Ukraina, and therefore they must give a reason for this, and here is the reason. The communists are Marxists, bolshevists internationalists, Jews, enemies of the Aryans and their culture; Soviet Russia is ruled by Jews and barbarians that are incapable of culture. Are not these good reasons why the German people, the chosen people, the highest cultured people of the highest Aryan race; are not all these good reasons why the German people are entitled to Ukraina? In turn, the Russian rulers do not want to share their abundance of land and raw materials with the German people, therefore they must give a good reason why they should not act communistically. The nazis are fascists, reactionaries, enemies of the working class, they are the bulwark of capitalism, they are barbarians; are not these good reasons why the nazis should not be permitted to share in the bounties enjoyed by the Russian people? But, when we examine the matter soberly and closely, we see that they are birds of a feather, though as yet they do not flock together. We need not deceive ourselves by their ideologies and what they say about one another. The communism that exists in Soviet Russia is only fascism, and is like the fascism that exists in Nazi Germany, both hate democracy, both stand for dictatorship, both are imperialistic, both seek to dominate the whole earth and the whole human race, both carry on the same propaganda and in the same manner. Soviet Russia is the fatherland for all communists in the world, no matter where they are, and all communists owe primary allegiance to Soviet Russia. Likewise, Nazi Germany is the fatherland for all nazis in the world, no matter where they are, and they owe primary allegiance to Nazi Germany. In both countries blood purges take place, in both countries there are concentration camps and prisons where millions of men and women are tortured for no other sins than suspicions that they do not recognize the divinity of Stalin or Hitler, in both countries labor is conscripted, in both countries the real owner and master over the land, production and distribution is the state. In other words, in both countries we have state capitalism and fascism. This means that economically and politically both countries are the same. Still more, when we look into the matter still deeper, we see that Nazi Germany is only an imitation of Soviet Russia. The nazis in Germany have adopted the philosophy, the policy and the methods of Soviet Russia; nazism in Germany is what bolshevism is in Russia; in Russia the bolshevik revolution has already accomplished its task, while in Germany the bolshevik revolution is still performing its task. But it is urged: Nazi Germany is anti-Semitic, while Soviet Russia is not anti-Semitic. First, we must be clear about this. I speak here of the economico-political aspect of both countries, and in this respect both countries are the same. But nazism differs from fascism in this, that nazism, in addition to its being fascism. is also anti-Semitic. Of this I will speak later. We will then see that anti-Semitism is not an essential characteristic of fascism. The proof of this is Italy. Until recently, Fascist Italy was not anti-Semitic. It became recently anti-Semitic, first, because the Jews carried out a world struggle against the fascists; and, secondly, because Italy became an ally of Nazi Germany. But, viewing the world situation in its economico-political aspect, we see that state capitalism and fascism will take the place of private capitalism and democracy all over the world. This is the world situation that faces the Jews. HOW CAN THE JEWS MEET THIS WORLD
Situation?
“They cry from the storm: Watchman, how much yet of the night; watchman, how much yet of the night; Said the watchman: the morning, will surely come, but it is yet night. If you are seriously inquiring, return to your task, you will surely reach your goal.” —Isaiah 21.
23. State capitalism and fascism are the new social order which will spread over the whole earth, and this social order will exist for centuries. No power in creation can stop this social transformation. In fighting against state capitalism and fascism, men are fighting against history; and he who fights against history is destroyed by history. State capitalism can be fought only with state capitalism, and fascism can be fought only with fascism. The democratic countries, in fighting against state capitalism and fascism, will be compelled to become fascistic and establish state capitalism. The question, then is: Can the Jews fight against state capitalism and fascism ? Can the Jews rely upon the existing democratic countries? We saw how in a few months democratic countries became fascistic; we saw how upholders of democracy, who were ready to die for democracy, over night became fascists, and turned against their own democracy. The Jews cannot rely on any one, not even on their best friends; as in the past, so now and in the future, the Jews will have to fight single-handed for their existence. Can the Jews fight against a world situation to which the mighty nations and powers succumb ? Now, in the case of the other nations, they fight for something positive; they fight for their country, their institutions, their sovereignty, and their economic and political positions in the world; but for what can the Jews fight? The Jews have no country, they have no economic and political position in the world, they have no government of their own, and they have no institutions of their own. All that the Jews can fight for is private capitalism and a dying democracy. And, strange, while the mighty nations succumb to state capitalism and fascism, the Jews persist to fight against them. It is too late now to consider the relative value of private capitalism; private capitalism is doomed, and in the near future it will die and be buried. And the same is true of democracy; it is dying, and in the near future, it will be dead and buried. Facing this universal and permanent world situation, the Jews have only this course to follow: to give up the struggle against state capitalism and fascism, and to reconcile themselves with them. This means that the Jews must give up their struggle against Nazi Germany and fascism, they must give up the boycott against Nazi Germany, and make up their mind that they must change their ideas, their philosophy and their mode of life to conform with the new social order. This will be much harder for the Jews than for the other nations, but for this they must blame themselves. By carrying on a war against Nazi Germany and fascism, the Jews aggravated the situation for themselves and for this they must suffer. But may the task that presents itself to the Jews be ever so hard and painful, they have no alternative: either they readjust themselves to the new social order, or the new social order will destroy them. In reconciling themselves with Nazi Germany and fascism, the Jews must be honest and open, for they are dealing here with history itself. This, then, is the first step in the program: the Jews must reconcile themselves with Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and fascism generally.
24. But it will be asked: how can the Jews reconcile themselves with nazism and fascism that are brutal, inhuman and reactionary; how can they reconcile themselves with the nazis and the fascists who are determined to destroy the Jews? Assuming that the Jews will reconcile themselves with Nazi Germany and fascism generally, will that change the attitude of the nazis and the fascists towards the Jews, will they then give up their determination to destroy the Jews? Granting that whatever the Jews will do to reconcile themselves with nazism and fascism will not have any effect on the nazis and the fascists, what will the Jews gain by this ? The Jews will gain much, as we shall presently see. State capitalism and fascism are the new social order all over the world. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy are not the whole earth, and the German nazis and the Italian fascists are not the whole human race. Since state capitalism and fascism will become the social order for all nations all over the world, by reconciling themselves with state capitalism and fascism, the Jews will reconcile themselves with the new social order that comes into existence in all other countries. And so, even if the Jews will forever lose Germany and Italy, they will gain for themselves the rest of the world. For instance, the United States is fast entering into state capitalism and is becoming fascistic. President Roosevelt, whether he is conscious of it or not, is a Stalin or a Hitler in the making. In the event of a national emergency or war—which is bound to come in the near future—it is inevitable that Roosevelt, or whoever may be then President, will assume dictatorial power, and he will become a dictator like Stalin or Hitler. This is inevitable. What are the Jews to do, fight against this inevitability? This will be suicide. The only course that Jews in this country can rationally follow is to recognize this inevitability and accept it For instance, it is likely that President Roosevelt will be required by the Democratic Party to serve a third term. The Republicans and the magnates of capital will mobilize all forces to prevent the re-election of Roosevelt, and they will invoke all arguments against state capitalism and dictatorship, and will fight in the name of the Constitution, democracy, liberty and the traditions of this country. Notwithstanding all this, Roosevelt will be again re-elected, and it will be of infinite benefit to this country that he be re-elected, for this reason. Roosevelt has grown up with the new tendency in social evolution, he has the confidence of the majority in this country, he has behind him the working class and the tens of millions that depended on relief. If he is re-elected, the process of social transformation can so continue, and in a peaceful manner we may bring about this transformation. But suppose that a Republican should be elected President. By the very nature of the case, he will be compelled to make a radical change; he will be compelled to stop relief altogether or greatly to reduce it, he will be compelled to put a check upon the trade unions. All this he will be able to do, but he will not be able to find employment for the millions that are unemployed, he will not be able to find employment for the billions of dollars that lie idle, he will not be able to regenerate the economic system resting on private capitalism, and he will not be able to revive business and to restore prosperity. What, then, will be the result? The result will be the same as that which faced this country when Roosevelt first entered the White House. The banks will close, business will be at a standstill, tens of millions of workers will be out of employment, and the American people will suffer misery and privation. How will the new Republican President meet this situation ? H e will not be able to meet the same situation as Roosevelt met it six years ago, for the people will not have confidence in him. Besides on the political horizon there is not a Republican great enough to inspire the confidence of the American people. The result will be a bloody revolution— a revolution that will bring infinite suffering upon the American people. And what will this revolution accomplish? It will accomplish nothing else than what the Russian revolution accomplished; the result will be state capitalism and fascism. Since state capitalism is inevitable, whether it comes with or without a revolution, it is rational that we accept state capitalism and fascism without a revolution. It therefore follows that the Jews should support Roosevelt and his measures that are in the direction of state capitalism and fascism. And what is true in this country is equally true of all other countries. Since the Jews will identify themselves with the new social order, the other nations will rather welcome the Jews. And since state capitalism and fascism will become the social order in all other countries and the Jews will be welcomed there, then Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy will have to reconcile themselves with the Jews for the reason that Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy will have to reconcile themselves with the other countries.
25. Any new social order that has to overcome an existing decaying social order necessarily meets with violent opposition and for this reason the new social order must be violent itself. State capitalism and fascism must be violent, since it meets with violent opposition from the upholders of the present social order. And since the Jews are opposed to the new social order, and the Jews are helpless, it is natural that the violence of the new social order should affect the Jews first. But in proportion as the new social order becomes established, in that proportion the necessity for violence diminishes, and the new social order becomes rational and humane. In time the Stalins and the Hitlers will pass away, and together with them will also pass away their ideology and their violence. A new generation will come that will no longer harbor the illusions and the ambitions of the present Stalins and Hitlers, and will want to live in peace and enjoy the good will of others. When nations are at war with one another, they hate one another, and they endeavor to destroy one another. At this time, each nation cannot find words enough and cruel enough to express their hatred and contempt for the other nation. We saw this in the recent World War. But when the war is over, peace is established, and a few years pass away, and these nations forget their former hatreds and their bitter words. And so it is in this case. Now that the nazis and the fascists are fighting for the new social order, the nazis and the fascists hate the Jews and all those that are opposed to the new social order. But, let the new social order be established, then the hatred and violence will disappear. Hence, while during the rage of the violent hurricane that sweeps over the world the Jews will suffer; when the rage of the hurricane will subside the Jews will no longer suffer; the Jews will adjust themselves to the new social order, and the upholders of the new social order will adjust themselves to the Jews.
26. There is another aspect of the matter that we must consider. I showed before that fascism is the beginning of socialism. Socialism was the dream and hope of the working class. and socialism was expected to be a social order resting on reason, justice, democracy and humanity. But we see that socialism in its realization turned out to be the opposite; it is opposite, not only in Nazi Germany, but also in Soviet Russia. How can this be explained? This question touches a deep aspect of history. I must begin by referring to another case. In ancient times, when a man was murdered, the next of kin of the murdered person were under the duty to avenge the murder, to find the murderer and to kill him, for murder could not be left unavenged. But, in avenging the murder, the avengers themselves became murderers. In turn, the avengers of the first murderer were themselves murdered by the next of kin of the first murderer. And so, once a murder was committed, and an endless chain of murders followed, one murder gave birth to numerous murders, and this continued from generation to generation. How could this be stopped? There was only one way: it could be stopped only by the state assuming the burden of becoming a murderer. The state avenged the first murder by killing the murderer, and thus relieved the next of kin of the murdered person from becoming murderers, and of the danger of being murdered in turn. In this manner, while the state assumed the burden of becoming a murderer, it enabled the members of society to become ever more humane and moral. Naive sentimentalists never realized the infinite service that the state thus rendered to mankind. This was true in all cases. While the state assumed ever more burdens, the members of society were enabled to become humane and moral. This will enable us to understand the nature and function of state capitalism and fascism. The supreme task that now presents itself to mankind is to abolish the exploitation of human labor for the profit of the individual capitalist, and to regulate the production and distribution of the means of life in accordance with a rational and organized plan. But mankind are not yet able, of their accord, to abolish the exploitation of human labor for profit and to establish a rational and organized system of production and distribution of the means of life. But history demands that this should be accomplished. For this purpose the state is called to the fore to perform this great historic task. It is the historic function of state capitalism to abolish the exploitation of human labor for profit and to abolish the anarchy in production and distribution. How can the state accomplish this? It can accomplish this in only one way: by itself becoming the exploiter of human labor and determine production and distribution in accordance with an organized plan. The exploitation of human labor means profit. The profits system must be abolished; but, since mankind are not yet prepared for a profitless system, the state must exploit for profit. Hence the state now steps into the shoes of the private capitalists, the state exploits the working class, and the state appropriates the profits from that exploitation. And, while the state is the exploiter and the appropriator of all profits, the members of society are freed from the necessity and deprived of the incentive to exploit human labor for profit. Since the state must perform this function in the face of universal opposition, the state must become fascistic and despotic. Exploitation was always cruel and despotic; but so long as the private capitalists had the privilege to exploit human labor and to tyrannize over the workers, so long the private capitalists did not regard exploitation and dictatorship as evils. But now that the state assumes this function, the private capitalists condemn state capitalism and fascism. But, just as in the case of murder we saw that, by assuming the burden of punishing the murderer, the state enabled mankind to become humane and moral, so also in this case, by assuming the burden of exploiting human labor and appropriating the resulting profit, the state enables the members of society to wean themselves from the immorality and inhumanity of exploiting human labor and to tyrannize over the working class. When, at last, mankind will completely wean themselves from this pernicious habit, when they will become morally autonomous, so that of their own accord they will no longer want to exploit human labor, and they will not want to dictate to others, only then will all exploitation and dictatorship be done away with. And then, also, mankind will fully realize that state capitalism and fascism have rendered to mankind an infinite service. Not state capitalism and fascism are to be blamed, but we are to be blamed that we cannot utilize all our great achievements in a rational, just and humane manner. The very fact that we cannot yet have socialism and that we must have state capitalism, this fact shows how immature we are. W e brought out a mechanism of production and distribution which can meet all requirements of mankind, and there is no longer any need for struggles, wars and revolutions. And yet we are so far behind our material achievements, that we will rather perish through wars and revolutions than use our mechanism of production and distribution rationally and enjoy the good of life at our command. Since we are still so immature, we must bear the consequences. If we do not accept state capitalism and fascism, we will be forced by history back to barbarism. Let the barbarians go back to barbarism, but the Jews are not barbarians, and they cannot go back to barbarism. For the Jews there is only one course open, namely, to accept state capitalism and fascism.
27. But I am told: Now that in the democratic countries the indignation of the Christians has been aroused against the barbarities of the nazis in Germany, now that the American people are becoming anti-fascistic, is this the time for the Jews to proffer reconciliation to the nazis and fascists ? My answer is this: It is right and proper for the Christians to rise in indignation against the barbarities of the nazis and the fascists, for these barbarities are a disgrace to the Christians and Christianity. Christianity is now on trial, and the Christians are justly ashamed of what Christians are doing in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. If, after thousands of years of Christianity, the Christians are still barbarians, then Christianity has failed. Would the barbarians in Germany and Italy have been worse if they had never known of Christianity? We know that the pagans before the advent of Christianity were far above the barbarians in Germany and Italy, who have been Christians for nearly two thousand years. If Christianity had no effect upon the Christians, then Christianity has no reason for existence; and, since it has no reason for existence, it cannot and will not exist. This is the spiritual tragedy that faces the Christian nations. But the barbarities of the nazis and the fascists are not a disgrace to Judaism and the Jews, and the Jews have no reason to be indignant. The Christians cannot and should not acquiesce in the barbarities of the nazis and the fascists, for in them this will he cowardice and moral turpitude, but in the Jews this will rather manifest virtue and strength of mind. By extending to the nazis and the fascists the hand of reconciliation, the Jews will render to the Christians a great service, and thus will win the gratitude of the Christians, for it will take away from them the moral shame. The Jews can now serve the cause of humanity and peace. If at this time the Jews sincerely endeavor to promote humanity and peace, by this they will prove themselves worthy of Judaism, whose supreme mission in the world is to promote humanity and peace. But I am asked: Will not this mean a cowardly capitulation of the Jews to the nazis and the fascists, will not this mean a giving up of the struggle against barbarity and inhumanity. Should the Jews cowardly capitulate to their enemies, who are determined to destroy the Jews? My answer is this: My program is just a program for a supreme struggle against the enemies of the Jews, it is a program for a heroic struggle against barbarity and inhumanity. It is not a question, whether the Jews should struggle; it is a question, how the Jews should struggle? The method of struggle pursued until now was both irrational and ineffective, and only aggravated the situation for the Jews. But my program calls for a rational and effective struggle. This we shall presently see.
28. The Rabbis tell us: He is a hero who controls his will; he that controls his anger is stronger than a hero; and he who rules his spirit is stronger than he who conquers a city. Spinoza tells us: The virtue of a rational person is seen to be as great in avoiding danger as in overcoming it. Flight at the proper time, just as well as fighting, is to be reckoned, therefore, as showing strength of mind in a man who is rational; that is to say, a rational man chooses flight by the same strength or presence of mind as that by which he chooses battle. In other words, stupid and blind audacity is just as cowardly as cowardly flight. False pride and stupid vanity may induce the coward to fight, but reason will dictate the acceptance of an inevitable defeat, so that we may avoid still greater suffering, and that we may utilize ourselves and the opportunities to our greater profit. The question before us is this: which course is rational and effective, to continue a futile and hopeless fight against the nazis and the fascists, simply because we once stupidly started this fight; or to recognize the futility and stupidity of this fight, and to endeavor to make peace with the nazis and the fascists? Is this a novel question ? Throughout past history mankind had to answer this question an infinite number of times, and the Jews themselves had to answer this question many times. Shakespeare said: He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day. Consider but two historic events which we witnessed only twenty years ago. The Germans conquered the Russians in the recent World War, and at the Brest Litovsk peace treaty Lenin advised to submit to a most humiliating peace treaty. The Germans in their arrogance imposed a most inhuman and humiliating peace treaty upon the Russians. And yet, what was the result? In a short time the Russians cleared Russia of the Germans and the peace treaty disappeared. Later the Allied Powers similarly imposed upon the Germans a humiliating and cruel peace treaty. Well, where is that treaty now ? Who is now the master in Europe, France and England, or Germany? Why should not the Jews learn from history? It takes a great man, like Lenin, to accept a humiliating defeat, in order that out of the defeat to create a triumphant victory. unfortunately the Jews do not have such a great leader as Lenin was, and this is the tragedy of the Jews. I ask the Jews in this country: suppose they were in Germany, what would they do, would they fight the Nazis? Would not the proud Jews in this country, like the Jews in Germany, submit to the nazis? But the Jews in this country say, it is different for them here, here they must fight the nazis and the fascists. Yes, it is different for the Jews in this country, for the Jews in this country are secure and safe, and the fight against the nazis and the fascists does not cost much, and it does not involve any risk or danger. Oh, what heroes the Jews in this country are ! The Jews in this country boycott German goods, what a terrible deprivation this is to the Jews! Do they miss the German goods? In this blessed country, the richest and most bountiful country, one can live a thousand years, and enjoy the greatest abundance of the gifts of nature and the products of human labor, without missing one single article produced in Germany. Is this a struggle, is this a fight? Only stupid babies living in the nursery can in their stupid imagination magnify this stupidity into the semblance of a heroic fight. This is not a struggle; it is a cowardly capitulation to vanity and stupidity. But what the Jews overlook and they refuse to recognize is that by this stupid boycott they aggravate the position of the Jews in Germany. In their vanity and stupidity the Jews in this country do not realize how inhuman and cruel it is to sacrifice the Jews in Germany in order to satisfy a stupid, and insane vanity. The Jews in this country cackle about self-respect and Jewish honor, what self-respect and honor do these Jews have? Is this self-respect and honor to sacrifice half a million Jews in Germany for the sake of false pride and stupid vanity? What moral cowardice this is! These Jews call my program a cowardly capitulation to the nazis and the fascists. Well, let these Jews try to overcome their false pride and stupid vanity, will they find it to be an easy task? But my program calls for just this: to overcome the false pride and stupid vanity that dictated the policy of the Jews until now. Let the Jews come out from their nursery, and let them face the reality and act rationally. Six years passed since the Jews outside of Germany declared war against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Jews will never admit that the recent pogroms had much to do with their stupid boycott. If, instead of wasting valuable time on a futile and hopeless struggle, the Jews had used these years for constructive work to help the Jews in distress, infinitely more good would have been accomplished. Hatred cannot be overcome by hatred; and, since the Jews want peace, they should be the first to endeavor to secure peace. The Jews must endeavor to understand nazism from the nazi viewpoint, and fascism from the fascist viewpoint. Self-preservation and self-interest should dictate to the Jews this policy. This course is as effective practically as it is morally justified.
29. But suppose that the Jews changed their attitude towards the nazis and the fascists; suppose that the Jews made an honest and sincere attempt to make peace with the nazis and the fascists; and suppose that, notwithstanding all this, the nazis and the fascists will not change their attitude towards the Jews; suppose that the nazis and the fascists will persist in their determination to destroy the Jews—what will the Jews accomplish? The Jews will accomplish a moral and historic victory over the nazis and the fascists. The Jews will justify themselves before mankind, before posterity and before history. We must not forget this. A nation may become insane, but it cannot remain insane all the time, for then it will perish. Next, though one or two nations may become insane mankind cannot and will not become insane. Under the stress of exceptional circumstances, a nation may become inhuman and brutal, but a nation cannot long remain inhuman and brutal, for it will be destroyed. We are now passing through an unusually trying period but it will not last long. Whatever may be the outcome of the impending world struggles, mankind will regain their sanity and their moral nature. And before that humanity the Jews will justify themselves, if they themselves act rationally and morally. The Jews can afford to be magnanimous and just even to the nazis and the fascists. Now that the democratic countries are preparing themselves for a struggle with the fascist countries, now is the proper time for the Jews to bring to mankind the message of peace. It is not for the Jews to foment strife and to inflame the passions for war. But all this requires a strength of mind and a moral virtue which infinitely transcend the pretended virtue of fighting a stupid and hopeless fight. Hence it will not lie in the mouth of any one to say that my program is a defeatist program; on the contrary, my program is a program of supreme effort and heroic struggle, because it is a struggle against ourselves, against our own false pride and vanity. Are the Jews ready to take up this heroic struggle ? If so, they will overcome their enemies; the Jews will overcome their enemies by converting them into friends. Suppose you and I were bitter enemies of each other; suppose that openly and honestly I endeavored to reconcile myself with you; at first, you would say that I was a hypocrite and you would suspect that I was scheming to do you harm. But if I honestly and openly endeavored to reconcile myself with you, you would be compelled to change your attitude towards me. Perhaps you would never like me, but you would not continue to hate me; your hatred would lose the reason for its existence, and it would wear off. It is the same with the nazis and the fascists. If the Jews honestly and openly made peace with the nazis and the fascists, no matter what at first the nazis and the fascists would say about the Jews, in time the nazis and the fascists would change their attitude towards the Jews. And even if the nazis and the fascists would never like the Jews, they could not continue to hate them, and in time their hatred would wear off. Hence, from whatever angle we view the problem before us, the solution is the same. The Jews must give up their struggle against nazism and fascism, they must reconcile themselves with the nazis and the fascists, and they must have confidence in mankind and in history.
30. I stated at the outset that the adoption of a program to meet a universal and permanent situation requires a change of ideas, a change of philosophy and a change of the mode of life. I also stated that, to overcome the evil of fascism, we must first understand fascism from the viewpoint of the fascists. This, however, is not enough. To overcome the evil of fascism, the Jews must also understand themselves. In facing a new social order, the Jews must examine themselves to find out whether, as they are and have come out from the past historic crucible, they are fit for the new social order. In addition, the Jews must have the courage to hear attentively and consider seriously what their enemies say about them. The enemies will exaggerate the faults and the vices of the Jews, but there is much in what the enemies of the Jews say about them which is true, and the Jews must make a supreme effort to overcome those faults and vices. The Jews must do this, not so much for the sake of pleasing their enemies, as for their own sake. It is high time that the Jews assume full responsibility for what they are. They are no longer infants living in the nursery; they are the maturest people on earth, and therefore they should act as mature persons. Next to this, the Jews must completely change their attitude to life. In what this consists, we will see later. So much for the economico-political aspect of the world situation that faces the Jews. And now we will take up for consideration the biologico-cultural aspect of the world situation.
THE BIOLOGICO-CULTURAL ASPECT
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I w ill bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. —GENESIS: xii.
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the earth in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it. —GENESIS: xii.
And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharoah and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharoah also called for the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their secret arts. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. —EXODUS: vii.
And they hired Balaam against the children of Israel, to curse them; howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing. —NEHEMIAH: xiii.
31. In speaking of the economico-political world situation that faces the Jews and mankind generally, I spoke of fascism as comprehending nazism and communism, signifying the political form of state capitalism. But now that I come to speak of the biologico-cultural aspect of the world situation, I will speak of nazism. Nazism is economico-politically fascism, but nazism is more than fascism; in addition to being the political form of state capitalism, nazism is also anti-Semitism. The anti-Semitism of fascism is due to nazism. I will use the term nazism as comprehending all forms of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is as old as the Jews are. As soon as the Jews appeared on the historic stage, anti-Semitism appeared. Since then, wherever the Jews were and are, and to the extent of their numbers in any country, there was and is anti-Semitism. What is the nature of anti-Semitism? Much has been written about anti-Semitism, its literature is vast and dates from the remotest antiquity. And yet, if one were to spend years on the study of this literature, in the end he will be no wiser than he was in the beginning; and this for the reason that until now the true nature of anti-Semitism was not understood. Anti-Semitism may appear to be racial, religious or economic in its nature, but in essence it is infinitely deeper than all that. Anti-Semitism is the mortal dread of Judaism and the Jews. A religion does not fall from the sky, nor does it arise from historic or material conditions; a religion is the manifestation of the soul of a race or of a people; it manifests the destiny of the race or of the people. The destiny is intuitively perceived by the foremost of the race or of the people. And this is the reason why a race or a people rises and falls together with its religion. This means that the race or the people rises and falls with its soul. The Jews differ from all other races and peoples because of Judaism; Judaism differs from all other religions because of Jehovah; and Jehovah differs from all other gods. All other gods dwell in heaven. For this reason, all other religions are concerned about heaven, and they promise all reward in heaven after death. For this reason, all other religions negate the earth and the material world and are indifferent to the well-being and progress of mankind on this earth. But Jehovah comes down from heaven to dwell on this earth and to embody himself in mankind. For this reason, Judaism concerns itself only about this earth and promises all reward right here on this earth. The Kingdom of God is to be realized right here on this earth. The immortality which men are to enjoy, they will enjoy right here on this earth. God assumes his holiest name, Jehovah, only on this earth and when embodied in man. This is the reason why Jehovah promised to give this earth an eternal inheritance to those that will identify themselves with Jehovah. All that identify themselves with Jehovah are Jews, they are the children of Jehovah. This is the soul and essence of Judaism, and this is the soul of the Jews.
32. All through the past, the anti-Semites perceived intuitively, though vaguely, that the Jews will inherit this earth, and that all other races will either disappear altogether or they will become Jews and they will together with the Jews inherit this earth. This was the mortal dread of the anti-Semites. It was the dread that is felt by one who faces the yawning mouth of the serpent who is about to swallow him. Judaism appeared to the anti-Semites as a serpent that is about to swallow them. It was not only the dread of death but worse still, it was the dread of being swallowed by the serpent Judaism and be turned into Jews. Every individual being endeavors to persevere in its being. And this is also true of man. Man wants to exist forever, but he wants to exist as he is. For an anti-Semite to be converted into a Jew is worse than death. This seemed to the anti-Semites as being converted into an inferior being, since they regarded the Jews as being inferior to themselves. This was and is the mortal dread of the anti-Semites. In the past, the anti-Semites were only vaguely aware of this, but now the anti-Semites have become fully conscious of this. This definite intuition of the anti-Semites of today found a most definite expression in Hitler’s work: Mein Kampf. This book contains the philosophy of the anti-Semites. I do not know whether Hitler wrote this book all by himself, or others helped him write this, but this is certain. most of the ideas contained in this book are not original either with Hitler or with the nazis; most of the ideas are as old as anti-Semitism is. But Hitler’s book is historically significant for the following reasons. First, it contains a most definite expression of the philosophy of anti-Semitism, it most definitely reveals the true nature of anti-Semitism. Secondly, this book has become the Bible of all anti-Semites, and it will have a wide influence upon mankind. It is therefore of vital interest to the Jews to know and understand what this hook contains. For this reason I will consider the philosophy contained in this book. Every system of thought centers around one idea, which is the soul of the whole system of thought. To understand this one idea, it is necessary to know the whole system of thought; but to understand the whole system of thought, we must first understand this one idea. I will therefore begin with this one idea, which is the soul of the nazi philosophy, and which is now the soul of the philosophy of anti-Semitism. This idea is involved in the nature of nazism.
33. What is nazism ? Nazism is an imitation of Judaism; nazism adopted the principles and ideas of Judaism with which to destroy Judaism and the Jews. This alone places Hitler on the same level with Balaam. And, first, we must acquaint ourselves with Balaam. Of all anti-Semites that ever lived, Balaam was the greatest. His greatness is attested in three ways. First, the Bible tells us that Jehovah spoke to Balaam, and that Balaam believed in Jehovah. This alone shows that Balaam was great; the mere fact that Jehovah spoke to Balaam makes him great. Next, the Talmud tells us that Balaam was even greater than Moses. The Bible tells us that among the Jews there never was and never will be a prophet as great as Moses was. The Talmud tells us: among the Jews, but among the other nations there was one that was even greater than Moses and that was Balaam. The Talmud tells us the reason why Balaam was greater than Moses. When in the Last Day of Judgment Jehovah will judge the nations, the nations will say to Jehovah: If Thou hadst sent to us a prophet like Moses, we would also have accepted Thy Torah. To this Jehovah will answer: I sent to you Balaam, who was even greater than Moses, and yet you did not accept My Torah. But the greatness of Balaam appears in the method he used for the purposes of destroying the Jews. Let us consider the facts as told in the Bible.
34. The Jews were approaching the Promised Land. On their way they conquered the nations that warred against the Jews. Now the Jews were near the land of the Moabites, and the Moabites were overcome with dread. Balak, the king of the Moabites, knew very well that his people were no match against the Jews; he also knew that the Jews would destroy the Moabites and the other neighboring nations, unless they all united against the Jews. But how could the other nations be made to realize the danger that faced them all and to induce them to unite together with the Moabites against the Jews? There was only one way, to call upon Balaam, who was famous among the nations, to come to curse the Jews. What w as the nature of that curse? Balaam was required to convince the nations that the Jews were an inferior race and a menace to the nations, and that they must all unite to destroy the Jews: otherwise, the Jews would destroy them. Balaam, however, told Balak that he could say only that which Jehovah would tell him to say. However, Balak hoped that Balaam would say otherwise. When Balaam came to Balak, the latter prepared for Balaam a prominent place on a mountain, invited the representatives of the neighboring nations, and made sacrifices to the gods. Balaam delivered four addresses; but, instead of cursing the Jews, he rather praised them and blessed them. And yet, the Bible tells us that Jehovah turned the curses of Balaam into blessings? What curses? Balaam did not curse the Jews; he rather praised and blessed them. Here, then. is a mystery; but we will presently understand the mystery.
35. In any struggle between men, whether it be a struggle on the battle-field, on the political arena, on the economic terrain or in the realm of thought, ordinary men fight their adversary by endeavoring to belittle the adversary, to treat him with contempt and to ridicule him. This is a suicidal method, for by this they shut their eyes to the merits and virtues of the adversary, and for this they pay a terrible penalty. But the great man fully recognizes the merits and virtues of the adversary, endeavors to acquire those merits and virtues, and thus prepares himself to meet the adversary successfully. By this alone we can recognize the great man. This was the method used by Balaam. Because Balaam knew Jehovah, he fully recognized the merits and virtues of the Jews. In the four addresses, Balaam sought to convince the nations that, unless they acquired the merits and virtues of the Jews, the Jews would destroy them. This was the reason why Balaam praised and blessed the Jews. In what, then, consisted the curse? It consisted in this. Balaam did not praise and bless the Jews for their sake, but he praised and blessed the Jews for the sake of the nations, that the nations should acquire the merits and virtues of the Jews, and thus be able to destroy the Jews. The curse was not in what he said, but in the purpose. And now, how did Jehovah turn the curse into a blessing ? Jehovah turned the purpose of Balaam into a blessing. Balaam intended that the nations should endeavor to acquire the merits and virtues of the Jews, in order to be able to destroy the Jews; but this very purpose turned into a blessing. By endeavoring to acquire the merits and virtues of the Jews, the nations would become Jews. And so, instead of destroying the Jews, the nations would themselves become Jews and join the Jews. Thus Jehovah defeated the purpose of Balaam. History repeats itself. Since the days of Balaam, Hitler is the first great anti-Semite that adopted Balaam’s method. Hitler fully recognized the merits and virtues of the Jews, and he convinced himself that, unless the Aryan nations will unite against the Jews, the Jews will destroy them. To convince the Aryan nations of this, Hitler wrote his work, Mein Kampf. In this book Hitler endeavors to convince the Aryan nations that the Jews are a world menace, that they would destroy the Aryans, their culture and their world, and would inherit the earth. But to convince the Aryans of this, Hitler, like Balaam, recognizes the merits and virtues of the Jews, and advises the Aryan nations to endeavor to acquire those merits and virtues; otherwise, they will be destroyed by the Jews. Since the days of Balaam, Hitler is the first anti-Semite that was great enough to adopt this method. But, like Balaam Hitler does not perceive that, if the Aryan nations endeavor to acquire the merits and virtues of the Jews, they will also become Jews, and then they will join the Jews. And so, as in the case of Balaam, Jehovah turns the curses of Hitler into a blessing. We shall presently see how the curses of Hitler turn into a blessing.
36. I stated that nazism is an imitation of Judaism; nazism adopted the principles and ideas of Judaism with which to destroy Judaism and the Jews. But this, too, was already anticipated in the Bible. The Bible tells us that, when Moses and Aaron came to Pharoah to tell him that Jehovah demanded that the Jews be released from bondage and exploitation, Pharoah demanded proof that Jehovah had sent them. What Pharoah wanted was this: that Moses and Aaron should prove that, in the end, the Jews will prevail over the non-Jews. And this was the proof that they gave. Aaron cast his rod on the ground, and the rod became a serpent. Then Pharoah ordered his own wise men, the sorcerers and the magicians, to do likewise. They cast their rods to the ground, and they also became serpents. Then the rod of Aaron swallowed the rods of the Egyptians. This was the proof: in the end, the rod of Israel will swallow the rods of the non-Jews. The rod is the symbol of rulership, of power. When the rulership is in close contact with mother earth, like Antaeus, when thrown to the ground, received new life from mother earth. Throw down the Jews to the ground, oppress them, yet by this alone, the Jews become regenerated and come to life. Then the Jews become a power, and this is symbolized by the rod. And the rod of Israel will swallow the rods of the non-Jews. This was the eternal proof that was given for all the Pharoahs of all time. Hitler is repeating the acts of Pharaoh and the end of Hitler will be that of Pharaoh and Balaam. Let us now examine the philosophy of nazism.
37. The central idea of nazism is this. Nazism and Judaism are two serpents that are involved in a life and death struggle, each serpent endeavoring to devour the other serpent. The nazis have the mortal dread that Judaism will swallow the serpent nazism, and the Jews will swallow the Aryans. Nazism starts out with this postulate: a world philosophy roots deep in the blood of the race or of the people. Nazism is the world philosophy which roots deep in the blood of the Aryans, Judaism is the highest world philosophy which roots deep in the blood of the Jewish people. A world philosophy, just because it is a world philosophy, endeavors to become the only philosophy in the world, and therefore cannot tolerate any other world philosophy. Since Judaism and nazism are both world philosophies, neither can tolerate the other, and therefore either philosophy endeavors to destroy the other philosophy. Since nazism roots deep in the blood of the Aryans, and Judaism roots deep in the blood of the Jews, it therefore necessarily follows that there must be a life and death struggle between the Jews and the Aryans. On this earth, there is no room for both Judaism and nazism and there is no room on this earth for the coexistence of the Jews and the Aryans. If either is to exist on this earth, the other must be destroyed. Since, however, the Aryans are superior to the Jews; since the Aryans are more numerous than the Jews; it follows that it is the supreme duty of the Aryans to destroy the Jews. I call particular attention to this. Hitler positively and emphatically denies that Judaism is a religion; he insists that Judaism is only a world philosophy. We shall see later why Hitler denies that Judaism is a religion, and we shall also see the significance of this. For the present we shall take the words of Hitler and treat Judaism as only a world philosophy.
38. What is the difference between Judaism and nazism? According to Hitler, this is the difference. Judaism is Marxism, communism, internationalism, democracy, the equality of the races, nations and peoples, it strives to realize the universal brotherhood of man and the emancipation of the working class. Nazism is just the reverse: it is state capitalism, dictatorship, nationalism, the supremacy of the Aryans and principally of the German people, it seeks to perpetuate the inequality of races, nations and peoples and the subordination of the working class to the class of aristocrats. And, though nazism is just the opposite of Judaism, nazism adopted the principles and ideas of Judaism. I will explain this later. The supreme mission of the Aryans, and especially of the German people, is to annihilate the Jews and Judaism. When the Aryans will have annihilated the Jews and Judaism, then this earth will be purged of all sins and corruption, and the Aryan race will attain to its highest development. The other races will have to serve the interests of the Aryans, and will have to submit to the rule of the Aryan race. Who, then, are the Jews, whom the nazis are determined to annihilate? According to Hitler and the nazis, all are Jews who, in the whole or in part, accept the world philosophy of the Jews and Judaism. According to the nazi philosophy, the following are Jews: Christians, Marxists, communists, internationalists, upholders of democracy, those that believe in the equality of the races, nations and peoples, who strive to realize the universal brotherhood of man and the emancipation of the working class. And so, the nazis are determined to annihilate, not only the sixteen million Jews who regard themselves as Jews, but also the more than a thousand million non-Jews who, to a greater or lesser extent, have adopted the philosophy of Judaism. And the nazis regard it their mission and supreme historic task to convince the Aryan nation that they should unite with the nazis to annihilate all the Jews. By this Hitler has accomplished a most marvelous historic task; he has converted the Jewish people, consisting of only sixteen million Jews, into a mighty nation consisting of more than a thousand million human beings. And, while before it seemed that the two hundred million nazis and fascists had an easy task, namely, to destroy only sixteen million Jews; now they are confronted with the impossible task of annihilating more than a thousand million Jews. We shall see later that the task which faces the nazis is even greater, for we shall see later that, not only is it inevitable that the rest of mankind will become Jews, but also that the Nazis themselves will be compelled to become Jews. Hitler and the nazis perceive this, and this is the reason why they are terrified by the mortal dread and foreboding that, in the end, they will be destroyed by the Jews. This mortal dread and insane fear drive the nazis to despair and they lose their reason. Terror drives them to risk all, in order to accomplish their purpose; and, if the nazis have to perish, they are determined to drag down the whole human race to destruction. It is this mortal dread that makes of the nazis sadists and beasts. But it is all in vain: in the end, Judaism and the Jews will triumph over all their enemies. And so, while fighting against Judaism, the nazis in fact fight against nazism; and, while fighting against the Jews, the nazis are fighting against themselves. This gives you an idea of the nature of the struggle. It is not a struggle for political supremacy or economic advantages, but it is a struggle for life. We shall see later that the nazis truly sense the world situation. Let us hear what Hitler tells us. In his work: Mein Kampf he tells us the following. (I quote from the official and unabridged original, published in 1938, at Munchen. I give the pages of the quotations).
A. It is certain that the world approaches a great transformation. And the only question is this: Will this transformation turn out to the happiness (Heil) of Aryan humanity, or to the benefit of the eternal Jew? (475). The question of the future of the German nation is the question of the annihilation of Marxism. (171).
B. All through the long periods of human history I searchingly reflected on the influence of the Jewish people, the terrible question occurred to me: Perhaps for reasons which are not revealed to us miserable men, the inscrutable destiny by an eternally immutable decree awarded the final victory to this small people? May it not be that to this people, that always lived for the earth, as a reward for it this earth will be awarded? Triumphs the Jew with the aid of Marxian creed over the nations of the world, then his crown will be the wreath for dead mankind; and this planet, as for millions of years before, will pull through the ether devoid of mankind. Eternal nature inexorably avenges the violation of her laws. And so I believe now to act in accordance with the intention of the Almighty Creator; and, while I fight against the Jew, I battle for the Lord. (69-70).
C. While I deepened myself into the doctrine of Marxism, and in calm clarity I considered the influence of the Jewish people, destiny gave me the answer. The Jewish doctrine of Marxism denies the principle of natural aristocracy; and, instead of the eternal principle of power and strength, it places the mass of numbers and its dead weight. By this, it denies in man the dignity of personality, it combats the significance of nationality and race, and so takes away from mankind the presupposing reason for its existence and its culture. If this law were the foundation of the universe, it would put an end to all humanly conceivable order. And so, just as in this greatest conceivable organism the result of such law would be chaos, so also on the earth for the inhabitants of this star, it would be only their extinction. Human culture and civilization are inseparably bound up with the Aryans. The death or disappearance of the Aryans will again bring down on this earth the dark veil of a cultureless time. (421).
D. By the categoric denial of personality, and with this the denial of the nation and its social content, Marxism destroys the elementary foundation of the collective human culture, which exactly depends upon this factor. This is the true kernel of the Marxian world philosophy if the abortion of a criminal mind can be characterized as a world philosophy. With the destruction of personality and the race also falls the essential barrier to the dominance of the inferior race—and this is the Jew. (351)
E. The destructive influence of the activity of Judaism in other national bodies must, at bottom, be ascribed to its eternal attempt to undermine the significance of the person among the nations, and in its place put the masses. But with this, in the place of the organizing principle of Aryan humanity, steps the destructive principles of the Jew. With this he becomes the ferment of incomposition of the nations and races, and in a wider sense also the dissolution of human culture. (498).
F. A world philosophy which strives, through the denial of the democratic mass idea, to give this earth to the best nations, and this means to the best humanity, must logically also within this nation again obey the same aristocratic principle, and within this nation to secure to the best heads the leadership and the highest influence. With this it builds up, not on the idea of the majority, but upon the idea of personality. (493).
39. The foregoing gives us an idea of the soul of the nazi philosophy. What Hitler said in “Mein Kampf” has been repeated with infinite variations by the nazis and anti-Semites all over the world. It all means one thing: Death to Judaism and the Jews! How should the Jews meet this philosophy? There are two ways to meet the nazi philosophy: a natural way and a rational way. The natural way is the way motivated by our emotional reaction; it negates the nazi philosophy, it declares it to be false and irrational and belittles it by ridicule. But this is an ineffective way. A philosophy cannot be destroyed or overcome by this natural way. No philosophy was ever destroyed or overcome in this manner, and the nazi philosophy cannot and will not be destroyed or overcome in this manner. That the nazis treat Judaism and the Jews in the same natural way— this is no reason why the Jews should imitate the nazis. To their bitter disappointment, the nazis will learn the painful lesson that Judaism and the Jews cannot be destroyed by negation, contempt and ridicule. The Jews, therefore, should not use this natural way. We saw that whatever be the nature of an evil, to destroy or overcome it, we must first understand its nature and cause. Hence, instead of negating and ridiculing the nazi philosophy, the Jews must first understand it, and then meet it in a rational manner. Reason postulates that, whatever be the nature of a system of thought, it must rest on truth; the truth may be distorted and inadequate, yet it is a truth, and we must understand the truth. The rational way of meeting the nazi philosophy is the way dictated by reason. Hegel tells us: Reason is just as cunning as she is powerful. Her cunning consists principally in her mediating activity, which, by causing objects to act and to react on each other in accordance with their own nature, in this way, and without any interference in the processes, carries out her own intentions. This, then, is the rational way that we shall follow to meet the nazi philosophy. We shall meet the nazi philosophy, not by a negation, but by and affirmation; we will affirm the nazi philosophy as resting on truth. But we will meet the nazi philosophy with a superior philosophy. One truth cannot negate or destroy another truth; but when a superior truth meets an inferior truth, the superior truth absorbs the inferior truth and makes the inferior truth serve the superior truth. This is also true of systems of thought and of philosophies. We will meet the nazi philosophy with a superior philosophy, which will absorb the nazi philosophy and make the nazi philosophy serve and sustain our philosophy. What shall be our superior philosophy? The very philosophy which nazism is determined to destroy, namely, Judaism; we will meet the nazi philosophy with Judaism. The Jews always looked upon Judaism as a religion, but now the Jews must also look upon Judaism as upon a world philosophy. Hitler has rendered infinite service to Judaism and the Jews by making it clear that Judaism is a world philosophy. Hitler errs by denying that Judaism is a religion. We shall see later that Judaism is both a religion and a world philosophy. But for the present we will regard Judaism as a world philosophy, and for this alone the Jews should be grateful to Hitler, for we shall presently see that this is of great historic significance. Since nazism is determined to destroy Judaism; since, as we shall presently see, Judaism is infinitely superior to nazism, it follows that Judaism will overcome and absorb nazism. Since Judaism roots deep in the blood of the Jews, while nazism roots deep in the blood of the German Aryans, the Jews will overcome and absorb the German Aryans. Judaism has no need to fight against nazism, and the Jews have no need to fight against the nazis, for Judaism is superior to nazism, and the Jews are superior to the nazis. This, as we shall presently see, the nazis themselves recognize. We shall see that nazism is nothing else than an imitation of Judaism; nazism adopted the principles and ideas of Judaism. Likewise, the nazis are trying hard to imitate the Jews. The nazis are then confronted with this alternative: if they succeed to acquire the merits and virtues of the Jews, the nazis will become Jews; on the other hand, if the nazis fail to acquire the merits and the virtues of the Jews, they will disappear from the stage of history. The whole nazi philosophy is fully conscious of this truth; and nazism, more than any other system of thought, sustains Judaism and the Jews. This is the way Jehovah turns the curses of the nazis into blessings for the Jews.
40. The nazis and the fascists number hundreds of millions of human beings; they have countries, they have armies and navies, they have economic and political power. On the other hand, the Jews are small in number, scattered over the earth, everywhere they are a small and helpless minority. And yet, notwithstanding all this, like the Moabites of yore, the nazis and the fascists have the dreadful foreboding that, in the end, the Jews will triumph. Why have they this dreadful foreboding? And here is a remarkable fact. Throughout the past, the Jews were small in number, and they were always surrounded by powerful enemies that sought to destroy the Jews, and yet the powerful enemies feared the Jews. Why was this so ? Here is the answer:—
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will trust in Jehovah our God. They are bowed down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. Jehovah will help us, the King will answer in the day that we call.
—PSALM S: xx.
Why have Hitler and the nazis the terrible foreboding that the Jews will triumph? This is due to the nature of Judaism. We saw that Judaism is Christianity, Marxism, communism, internationalism, democracy, the equality of the races, nations and the people, the universal brotherhood of man and the emancipation of the working class. Judaism has already on its side more than half of the human race, and in due time it will have on its side the whole human race. Judaism will win the human race, not by the might of the sword, but by truth and spirit. In declaring war against the Jews, the nazis and the fascists declared war against the human race. This is the reason why Hitler and the nazis have the terrible foreboding that their struggle will be in vain. Not the Jews fear the nazis, but the nazis fear the Jews. Since the Jews are the masters of the situation, they can well afford to examine the nazi philosophy in a rational manner.
41. The nazi philosophy starts out with the postulate: the blood of a race determines the nature, course of evolution and the destiny of that race. The blood of one race differs from the blood of another race; therefore the nature, course of evolution and destiny of the one race differs from those of the other race. The blood of any race can bring out its potentialities and realize its destiny only then when the blood is kept pure and free from admixtures from the bloods of other races. The blood of one race brings out cultural values according to its nature and destiny; and therefore the cultural values of one race differ from the cultural values of another race. And, just as the blood of one race must be kept pure and free from admixtures from the bloods of other races, so the cultural values of one race must be kept pure and free from the admixtures from the cultural values of other races. Now, the Germans belong to the Aryan race, while the Jews belong to the Semitic race. The bloods of these races cannot mix, without corrupting the blood of the Aryan race; and the cultures of these races cannot mix, without corrupting the Aryan culture. Hence it becomes the supreme historic duty of the Aryans, and especially of the Germans, not to mix their blood and their culture with the blood and the culture of the Jews. But this is not enough. That the Aryans, and especially the Germans may realize their destiny, the Jews and their culture must be destroyed. Now, this theory of the nazis was ridiculed as being false and irrational, yet thus far no one met this theory rationally and adequately. We shall presently see that this theory rests on a truth, and we must understand this theory.
42. This theory involves the biologic law of heredity. Heredity is a natural law that pertains to all living beings. According to this law, offspring resemble the parents physically and mentally. This gives rise to definite races and species, and in this manner the evolution of life is made possible. Because evolution is possible through the preservation of the races and the species, nature scrupulously guards against the mixing of the races and the species. Suppose that an individual of a superior race unites with an individual of an inferior race. The offspring will resemble the parents. This means that the offspring will be inferior to the parent of the superior race and they will be superior to the parent of the inferior race. The result will be devolution. And thus what life has accomplished by the process of evolution will be destroyed. For this reason life prevents the defeat of evolution, and this it accomplishes in either of two ways: either the offspring are sterile and cannot reproduce themselves, or the offspring are not endowed with great power of self-preservation, and in due time they succumb in the struggle for existence. Now, according to the nazi philosophy, the Aryans are superior to the Jews. If the Aryans unite with the Jews, their children will be inferior to the Aryans, but superior to the Jews. This will mean that the Aryans will devolute and they will lose their superior evolution. But suppose we regard the Jews as being superior to the Aryans, the result will be the same. In that case, when the Jews unite with the Aryans, the children will be inferior to the Jews and superior to the Aryans. The Jews will lose, while the Aryans will gain. But even then the Aryans will lose, and for the following reason. The children will no longer be Aryans. True enough, they will be superior to the Aryans, but the Aryans will disappear. Now, as I stated before, each individual being endeavors to preserve itself in its own being; it strives not to change into either a superior or an inferior being. And the same is true of man. True enough, man strives to rise higher in evolution, but he strives to rise as he is. If he is an Aryan, he wants to rise as an Aryan, but he does not want to become some other race, even if that race is superior to the Aryan. And what is true of the blood is equally true of the culture. Hence, the nazi philosophy demands that the Aryans should not mix with other races, especially with the Jews. And for the same reason the nazi philosophy demands that the Aryans should not mix their culture with the cultures of other races, and especially with the culture of the Jews. The nazi philosophy is primarily concerned about the Jews and their culture because, as we shall see later, the greatest danger to the Aryans and their culture lies in the Jews and in their culture. This, in brief, is the race and blood theory of the nazi philosophy.
43. How can the Jews meet this philosophy ? According to the postulate of reason, every system of thought rests on truth. From this follows that this race and blood theory rests on truth. It is our task to understand this truth. What is the truth in this theory ? This is the truth: the biologic law of heredity pertains to living beings in a state of nature. This means that this law pertains also to men that are still in a state of nature. From this follows that men who are still in a state of nature must obey this law: otherwise, they will degenerate. But this law no longer pertains to men that attained to reason, for reason transcends nature: reason is no longer subject to the laws of nature, rather reason subordinates to herself the laws of nature. What is significant about this is the following. This biologic law and this rational law were already stated in the Bible; and, whether consciously or not, the nazis took this theory from the Bible itself. Let us, then, refer to the Bible and see what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us that Elohim created the herbs, plants, trees, fishes, birds and animals —all according to their kind; that is, each was created according to its race and species. The only exception was man. The Bible tells us that Elohim created man in the image of Elohim. Notice this: man was not created according to his kind, but in the image of Elohim. In other words, man was not created according to his race and species, but in the image of Elohim. What the image of Elohim is, we shall presently see. Now, the nazi philosophy constantly speaks of blood: blood, blood and blood again, and yet the nazi philosophy does not tell us what blood is, and this for the simple reason that the nazi philosophy does not know what the blood is. Here, again, we must go to the Bible, for the Bible and the Bible only, knows what blood really is.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be for food for you; as the green herb have I given you all. Only flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. —GENESIS ix.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood…. For as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all one with the life thereof. Therefore, ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh, for the life of all flesh is the blood —LEVITICUS: xvii.
I call attention to the following. The Bible use the term, Nephesh, which is translated life. Nephesh is life, but it is more than life. For life, the Bible has a definite word: Chaim. But the term, nephesh, also means life. What is this nephesh? Man is a trinity, consisting of nephesh, ruach and neshomoh. Nephesh is the soul in its primordial and most implicit form; it is the life in the blood. Ruach is reason, and neshomoh is the intellect: Until man attains to reason he is still a natural being, a mere animal; only when he attains to reason does he attain to his true nature; until then man is only an animal; take away from man reason, and he becomes an animal. The soul of man is the essence of man; his body and mind are only means through which the soul functions in this material world. The soul goes through an evolution. It begins as nephesh, when the soul is wholly implicit, and embodied in the blood. Thus far, man is still an animal. Then the soul becomes ruach, which is reason. The soul then becomes explicit and conscious of herself, and only then does man attain to his human nature. The ruach resides in the brains. Finally, the soul becomes neshomoh, the intellect. In this state the soul attains her highest state of self-consciousness and explicitness. The soul then perceives that she is part of God, she identifies herself with God and enjoys what Spinoza calls the Intellectual Love of God—it is the love of Jehovah of which the Bible speaks. It is therefore clear that in the blood, that is, the nephesh is already implicit the nature and the destiny of man. The Jews always knew this, and this is a profound truth. And may the biologists say what they please, what the Bible tells us is absolute. This is the truth in the nazi philosophy. Now, so long as men are yet implicit and in a state of nature, so long is it true that men of different races should not mix, for the natural law of life applies to them. And now let us consider the case of men that already attained to reason.
44. When men attain to reason, they attain to their true human nature. Men are created with the potentiality of attaining to reason, but they come into existence only as animals. I stated before, that Elohim created man, not according to his kind, but in the image of Elohim. What is the image of Elohim? Elohim is Binah, reason: Eternal, infinite and universal reason is the mother of all creation; while Jehovah, Chochmah, the intellect is the father of all creation. This means that man was created with the destiny to attain to reason. As I stated before, reason transcends the world of nature; reason is no longer subject to the laws of nature; rather reason rules over the laws of nature. When men attain to reason, they are no longer subject to the law of blood and race, for they then all belong to the same race, the race of rational human beings. The biologic law of heredity is now transformed into a rational law of heredity. This means that all human beings that attained to reason belong to the same race of rational beings. In this case, all men that attained to reason may freely intermarry, regardless of race, color and blood. Nay, still more, their intermarriage is rather a benefit to all. Reason is universal as well as transcendental; it not only transcends nature but it universalizes nature. All natural differences and distinctions are then overcome. Hence, the natural law of blood and race no longer applies to men that attained to reason. This is confirmed by the universal experience of mankind. All religions, philosophies, ideas and ideals that originated in reason never attached any importance to race, color and blood. This is true of Judaism, Christianity, Marxism, communism, and the like. For instance, Judaism never attached any importance to race, color and blood. Any one embracing Judaism, no matter what his race, color or blood was, became a Jew to all intents and purposes, and the Jews freely intermarried with him. The same is true of Christianity, of Marxism, of communism, and of all ideas and ideals originating in reason. All that attain to reason belong to the same human race. This is the answer of Judaism to nazism, and this also should be the answer of the Jews to the nazis. And now, what is the conclusion ? This is the conclusion. The fact that the nazis still cling to the natural law that applies to animals, that they still dread the mixing of their blood with the blood of other races—this fact shows that the nazis are still animals. The nazis have not yet attained to reason, and this means that they have not yet attained to their human nature. Since the nazis are still animals, it is true that to them the natural law of life applies. And no one should blame them for holding fast to this law. But what is most remarkable is this: the nazis imagine that they discovered this law of blood, and do not get tired of speaking about blood; and yet, this law of the blood was known to the Jews for more than four thousand years. And what a difference ! The nazis talk about blood, without knowing what it is; but the Bible reveals to us the profoundest secret of the nature of blood. In connection with the blood theory, there is a corollary drawn by the nazis. As is known, Marx based his historic philosophy upon the class struggle. The nazis deny the class struggle, but instead recognize the race struggle. The nazis pride themselves that they discovered this law of the race struggle. And yet, even the law of race struggle was discovered by a Jew, Ludwig Gumplowitz, and from this Jew the nazis borrowed the theory. What a misfortune ! For the blood theory the nazis were compelled to go to the Bible, and for the theory of race struggle they were compelled to go to a Jew! As we proceed, we shall see that nazism is only an imitation and perversion of Judaism. And this is the great tragedy that is in store for the nazis. The nazis will feed so long on the principles and the ideas of Judaism that they will become Jews. No greater tragedy can be conceived !
45. There is also an internal aspect of the blood theory, which the nazis borrowed from the Jews. Since in the blood is the soul in her implicit state, it follows that the purity of the blood, is an essential condition to the full development of the soul. By the purity of blood, the Jews always understood the purity from loose sexuality. The Jews never attached any importance to race, color and blood, because the Jews attained to reason; but the Jews were exceptionally strict in maintaining the blood pure. Judaism imposed upon the Jews a very rigid discipline with relation to sex. No matter to what race, color or blood a person belonged, if a Jew married that person, the sex relations between them was pure. Prostitution was never an institution among the Jews, and adultery was rare among the Jews. Hitler himself tells us: In the Jews the virtue of self-preservation is the highest development; it is higher than in any other race or people. He ascribes this exceptional virtue of self-preservation in the Jews to the fact that they did not intermarry with other races. Now, this is absolutely false, for the Jews are the most mixed people on earth. They are the most mixed, first, because they are the oldest people on earth; secondly, because the Jews lived among all races and peoples on earth; and, finally, because Judaism never attached any importance to race, color and blood. Read the Bible, read the history of the Jews, and see that all through the past the Jews freely intermarried with other races. Many non-Jews embraced Judaism and became foremost intellectual and spiritual leaders among the Jews. But what is true is this: the sex relations among the Jews were always the purest known to mankind. It is this which brought out in them the virtue of self-preservation in the highest degree. Sex purity is a condition to self-preservation. Since self-preservation is the highest virtue, it follows that sex purity is a condition to the highest virtue. This is the reason why the Jews attained to the highest virtue. But far different was the case of the Germans. The Germans were sexually loose, prostitution was rampant, and sex perversions were widespread. Bebel and Engles speak of the widespread prostitution among the Germans. Hitler saw in what deplorable state the Germans were. How could he arouse them from their physical and moral degeneracy? There was only one way, and that was to follow the example of the Jews. The Jews regarded themselves to be the chosen people—the people chosen by Jehovah to be a model people, a holy people, a people of prophets and priests. The consciousness that one belonged to this chosen people, gave the Jew a racial pride and personal dignity. This gave the Jew moral and spiritual strength to maintain his sex purity. This idea Hitler borrowed from the Jews, and by this idea he seeks to save the German people from physical and moral degeneracy. Hitler tells them that they belong to the German nation, the highest nation among the Aryans, and the Aryan race is the highest race among the races. Now, whether Hitler will succeed to make of the Germans a people that, like the Jews, will maintain their sex purity, this remains to be seen. Rut this is certain, that a rational person must sympathize with Hitler. This is especially true of the Jews; the Jews must be both proud of the fact that Hitler borrowed this idea from the Jews, and also that Hitler endeavors to make of the Germans a regenerated people. May all the nations copy the example of the Jews and become regenerated. But, while the Jews can maintain their sex purity, irrespective of race, color and blood, because the Jews already attained to reason; the Germans cannot maintain their sex purity irrespective of race, color and blood, because the Germans have not yet attained to reason. It is for this reason that the nazi philosophy most strenuously guards the Germans against mixing with Jews, because the Germans are strongly inclined to intermarry with the Jews. The German women want to marry Jews, because the Jews make the best husbands, the best fathers and the best providers. Again, the Germans are anxious to marry Jewish women, because, as the Bible tells us, the Jewish women are spirited and lively. The Jewish women are the most loyal and make the best mothers. By this vigilance against the Germans marrying the Jews the nazis fully recognize the superiority of the Jews. If, indeed, the Jews were inferior to the Germans, as the nazis tell us, they would not have to take such drastic measures and they would not have to be always on guard to prevent the Germans from marrying the Jews: the Germans would not want to marry the Jews. In truth, the Jews should not want to marry the Germans, for the Germans are still in the state of nature. However, there is a reason why the Jews should want to marry the Germans, but this reason I will reveal later.
46. We now come to the race theory. Hitler claims that the Aryans are the superior race. What is the truth in this theory? This theory was ridiculed as being false, that there was no such a race as the Aryans. This is entirely irrelevant, for it is quarreling about a name. This is certain: the Germans and the Jews belong to different races. The Jews belong to the Semitic race. Now, to what race do the Germans belong ? For an answer to this question, we must go to the Bible, for the Bible is the only authority on this question. The Bible tells us that Noah had three sons: Shem, Japeth and Ham, and from these three sons all races, nations and peoples were differentiated. The Jews are the descendants from Shem, while the Germans are the descendants from Japeth. Call the descendants from Japeth Aryans or what you please, the name is immaterial. What concerns us is this: which race is superior, the Semitic or the Aryan race. How are we to judge ? Hitler tells us that intellectually the Aryans are not superior to the Jews, but they are superior to the Jews culturally. Culture, Hitler tells us, is art, science and technique. Later I will speak of culture at length. But for the present it is enough to know that, according to the nazi philosophy, this is the difference between the Jews and the Germans. Intellectually the Jews are superior to the Germans, but culturally the Germans are superior to the Jews. The Germans are preeminent in building temples, in making statues, and in flooding the world with commodities. Now, the Jews will readily admit this, for the Jews never claimed that they were good builders of temples, or makers of statues or producers of commodities. What the Jews always claimed that in the realms of reason, the intellect and the spirit they were preeminent. It is the historic function of the Jews to bring to mankind the light of reason, the divine message of the intellect, and the morality and humanity of the spirit. Now, what function is superior? Suppose that a university is to be constructed, the purpose of which is that in it science, philosophy and religion shall be taught. The first thing is to construct the university, and for this purpose it is necessary to procure the materials and the proper mechanics. When the university is already completed, then it is the function of the professors and the scholars to come to teach to the students assembled there the sciences, philosophy and religion. Now, the mechanics may claim, that their function is superior to that of the professors and the scholars, for without the university the professors and the scholars could not teach to the students. But, in turn, the professors and the scholars could answer: the university is only a means and a condition to the teaching of science, religion and philosophy, but the teaching of these branches of human knowledge is the aim, and the aim is always superior to the means. Since the function of the Aryans is only to prepare the material world for the spread of light, knowledge, morality and humanity, it follows that the function of the Jews is superior to that of the Aryans or the Germans. And this was already told in the Bible. Noah stated the destiny of the Jews and the Aryans. He said: blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; and let Elohim prosper the work of Japeth; yet in the end Japeth will dwell in the tents of Shem. What does this mean ? It means this: After the Aryans will have built the temples, made the statues, flooded the world with commodities, and prepared the earth for rational mankind, then Japeth will settle in the tents of Shem, and will enjoy peace and happiness. But the tents of Shem are communism, internationalism, democracy, the equality of the races, nations and peoples, the universal brotherhood of man, the emancipation of the working class, and the human society. All that the Aryans will accomplish in this world is only a condition to the enjoyment of the gifts which the Jews will bring to mankind. Which function is superior ? Thus we see that the Jews are superior to the Germans. And the nazis know this.
47. Two of the great sins of Judaism and the Jews are communism and internationalism. And there is a valid reason why the nazis and the fascists should regard these as great sins. The nazis and the fascists want to become a world power and appropriate for themselves the whole earth Therefore, they must necessarily be against communism and internationalism. But in this respect, the nazis and the fascists are not an exception. Even opponents of nazism and fascism are opposed to communism and fascism. And it is to the greatest credit of Judaism and the Jews that they are identified with communism and internationalism. It therefore behooves us to examine the nature of Communism and internationalism. And, first, communism. What is communism ? Communism is a social order in which every member thereof, in common with all other members of society, has an absolute and inalienable property right to the earth and all means of life so that every member of society is free to contribute to society as much as he can, and to receive from society as much as he needs. Communism is not something new, something which never existed, and which must be established; communism is as old as human society is. Communism was and is the foundation of society, it was and is the basis of all human progress, it is the soul of all social institutions, it is the hope of the working class, and it is the destiny of the human race. Human society was conceived in communism, it was brought up in communism, and all through it was the soul of all human progress. Religion, philosophy, morality, science, art, culture, industry and civilization — all are communistic in origin, nature, use and destiny. For thousands of years mankind struggled to acquire knowledge, understanding and skill. With infinite thought they crystallized the ideas and the truths of religion, philosophy, morality, science, art, culture, industry and civilization; and with infinite labor they brought out the tools, invented machines, discovered processes, and brought out a most wonderful mechanism for the production and the distribution of the means of life. All these infinite values and treasures the past generations bequeathed to posterity as the common property of all to be used by all in common. No matter when, where and by whom an idea was crystallized, a truth discovered, a machine invented, a process discovered and worked out, it is now the common property of all, and each one is free to use them. Each idea, each truth each invention and each process grew out of the infinite intellectual and material values and treasures which mankind created in common, and which they own, possess and use in common. Destroy all that is communistic in origin, nature, use and destiny, and human society will disappear, mankind will degenerate and become extinct. Communism is the hope of the working class, for only in communism will the working class be emancipated from exploitation and degradation. Communism is the destiny of mankind. All social evolution was communistic in origin, nature, use and destiny. The great redeemers, the great thinkers, the reformers and the revolutionaries, all through history, were communistic in origin, nature, function and aim: they all served the whole human race. With time and progress all these communistic efforts brought out a rich harvest of communistic institutions and promoted the communistic life of mankind. Consider but a few of the communistic institutions that mankind already wrested from individualistic chaos and selfishness: the public schools, the municipal departments, the health centers, public parks, public libraries, public hospitals, and the numerous functions of government. A poor man may have ten children, and a rich man may have but one child; yet the ten children of the poor man have the same right to the privileges and benefits of the public school as the only child of the rich man has, although the rich man may have contributed much to the support of the public school. A poor man is just as free to use the books in the public library as the rich man is, although the rich man might have contributed much towards the library. The municipalities, the states and the government generally are ready to serve all alike; the fire department is just as ready to extinguish the fire in the hut of the poor man as it is ready to extinguish the fire in the mansion of the rich man; the law is just as ready to protect the life and property of the poor man as of the rich man; and so it is with all social and political institutions. And from day to day these communistic institutions increase in the number, in extent of function and in efficiency of service. The most significant change towards communism is taking place in the mode of production. The mode of production is becoming ever more communistic, and its inevitable destiny is to become one universal communistic mode of production all over the world. All cities, countries and continents are becoming ever more integrated and organized by the mode of production. This will compel the mode of distribution, which still lags behind in chaos and selfishness, to become universally communistic. When this has been accomplished then the human society will come into existence—a human society resting on universal communism. And what is most striking is this. Even the most bitter opponents of communism are compelled to fight communism with communism; so that, while they believe that they are struggling against communism, in fact they are struggling for communism. The nazis and the fascists tell us that they are determined to destroy communism, and yet what are they actually doing? They are only promoting communism, they copy the communistic principles and ideas, and they imitate Soviet Russia. Whatever the nazis and the fascists do is only in the direction of universal communism; and this is inevitable, because universal communism is inevitable. Can one fight against what is historically inevitable ? What, then, is the conclusion ? Since universal communism is inevitable; since the nazis, the fascists and the enemies of communism are only working for communism, it follows that we must identify ourselves with communism. And this is especially the duty of the Jews: the Jews must identify themselves with communism, which means to identify themselves with history and human progress. By this the Jews will identify themselves with life itself, and then nothing will destroy them. In identifying themselves with communism, the Jews must disregard the shortcomings of the communists and the perversions of the nazis and the fascists: the communists, the nazis and the fascists are still immature and wild children, but history works through them, and we must accept them as they are. In due time, the communists, the nazis and the fascists will become mature, rational and human. The Jews must have faith in history and in the destiny of mankind. And now let us consider the other cardinal sin of Judaism, namely, internationalism.
48. Like communism, internationalism is the foundation of society, it is the basis of all human progress, it is the hope of the working class, and it is the destiny of mankind. Religion, philosophy, morality, culture, art, science language, industry and civilization—all are international in origin, nature, use and destiny. There is not an idea, a principle, a truth, a system of thought that is not international in origin, nature, use and destiny; there is not a tool, a machine, a process and an invention that is not international in origin, nature, use and destiny; there is not a thing which men use that is not international in origin, nature, use and destiny. All infinite material, intellectual and spiritual values and treasures are international in origin, nature, use and destiny. Even the special culture of a nation is international in origin, nature, use and destiny. Take away from the language of any people all that is international in origin, nature, use and destiny, and there will not he left words enough to satisfy the needs of an infant; take away from any culture all that is international in origin, nature, use and destiny and there will not be left enough to satisfy the needs of a savage. All our cultural, spiritual, intellectual, political, industrial and commercial relations are international in origin, nature, use and destiny. All human relations are inevitably tending to become ever more international until all human relations will become international. Take away all that is international in origin, nature, use and destiny, and human society will become impossible, and mankind will degenerate and disappear. Internationalism is the hope of the working class, for only through international solidarity of all workers in the world will they emancipate themselves from exploitation and degradation. Internationalism is the inevitable destiny of mankind. Internationalism, as the term implies, means a federation of nations in one universal brotherhood of man. Internationalism does not seek to destroy nationalism and the nations; on the contrary, internationalism seeks to preserve nationalism and the various nations and peoples, so that each nation and each people should be free to bring out its special cultural, intellectual and spiritual values and thus contribute to the stock of values of the human race. But internationalism endeavors to free nationalism from its superstitions and the impediments to social progress, and it seeks to free the nations and the peoples from the dominance and the exploitation of one another, and to free mankind from the necessity of struggles, wars and revolutions. Only through internationalism and upon the basis of universal communism can mankind emancipate themselves from all social evils, injustice and suffering. And the strangest thing is this. The most chauvinistic and bigoted nationalist, the most bitter opponents of internationalism are themselves striving after internationalism. The German nazis, for instance, want that German nation should become a world power and rule all over the earth. The German nazis want that all nations and peoples should become nazis. Suppose this is realized, will not nazism become international ? And so, while the nazis are fighting against internationalism, in fact they are fighting for internationalism. Consider the religion, the philosophy, the art, the language, the culture, the industry and the commerce of the German people—how much of all this belongs exclusively to the German people, and how much of it is international in origin, nature and use ? Take away from the Germans all that is international in origin, nature and use, and the Germans will find themselves where they w ere 2400 years ago. Think of it, even the German alphabet is Jewish in origin ! Take away the alphabet, and what will be left ? And so we see that all this talk against internationalism is only the prattle of foolish babies in the nursery. An intelligent person ought to be ashamed to speak against internationalism, just as one ought to be shamed to speak against nationalism. Internationalism and nationalism are correlatives, they imply each other, and each helps the other. Let us consider the matter in concreto. Suppose that I begin with nationalism. I am a citizen of the United States, I love this country and the American people, it is my country, and I wish to see it prosperous and happy. But I notice that economically and politically this country is bound up with all other countries. I see that, due to the fact that there is international economic and political rivalry, we are now compelled to spend billions of dollars to prepare for war, and this at a time when we suffer from an economic depression. I also know that, when this country becomes involved in the impending war the American people will suffer infinitely. Now, I want to avoid this suffering for the American people, and I am concerned only about the American people. How can their suffering be avoided? By isolation this cannot be avoided. It can be avoided only by internationalism. Let all nations on earth become rational, let them enter into such a federation of nations as in this country we have a federation of states. Then, just as this federation of states in this country avoided infinite suffering for the American people, so a federation of nations will avoid infinite suffering for the American people and all peoples on earth. And thus it is clear that by being an internationalist I am infinitely more a nationalist, and am far more patriotic, than the blind nationalist who shuts himself in ostrich-like isolation. And the Jews furnish a concrete illustration of nationalism identified with internationalism. The Jews are true nationalists and true internationalists. The Jews are internationalists, because they live everywhere, because they lived everywhere, because they are acquainted with all nations, all cultures, all languages and all religions. At the same time they are intense nationalists. They are nationalists in a double sense. On the one hand, they love the country in which they live, and identify themselves with the nation of the country. Let the anti-Semites say what they please, the Jews love the country and the people where and among whom they live. But at the same time the Jews are also nationalists as Jews. The Jews all over the world, no matter where they live, what language they speak, what mode of life they have, and what customs they follow—all Jews are identified with one another as one people. The Jews in this respect, as in all other respects, are pioneers; they show to mankind how nationalism and internationalism go hand in hand. The nations of the world will prosper, make progress and attain to happiness only in proportion as they become international. And this must be so, because the destiny of mankind is internationalism, the universal brotherhood of man. And thus we see that these two cardinal sins of Judaism, namely: communism and internationalism, are in truth and in fact great virtues. Judaism may be justly proud of these virtues. Fortunately, Judaism is not alone; Judaism finds itself in good company. Christianity, philosophy, morality, science, art, industry, commerce, culture and civilization—all are international. It is with Judaism as it is with the Jews. We saw that the Jews are now more than a thousand million human beings in the world, and this is also true of Judaism. Judaism counts its followers more than a thousand million human beings. And if, indeed, there are true nationalists in the world, they belong to the category of the primitive savages, and civilized humanity does not fear the primitive savages.
49. The most heinous crime of Judaism and the Jews is Marxism. Hitler tells us that, if with the aid of Marxism the Jews triumph, then there will be the end of mankind. As for millions of years before, the earth will move through the ether devoid of mankind. How horrible! And all this will come pass because of the triumph of Marxism. What a horrible monster ! Let us, then, examine this horrible monster. The first thing we notice is this: Marxism is nothing else than our old friends, communism and internationalism, for this is what Marxism endeavors to realize. Next, let me reveal to you a secret: Nazism is nothing else than an imitation and perversion of Marxism; there is nothing in nazism which was not taken from Marxism. Study Hitler’s anti-Marxist Bible: Mein Kampf, read it carefully, and what will you find ? You will find that Hitler adopted the principles, the ideas, the policy and the method of Marxism. The National Socialist Party of Hitler was modelled after the fashion of the Communist Party of Soviet Russia, and both were fashioned according to the ideas of Marxism. Like the revolutionary Marxists, Hitler laid the emphasis upon the working masses. Where did the nazis get the idea of the National Socialist Party, where did they get the principles and demands embodied in the twenty-five demands of the National Socialist Party? And who were the theoreticians of nazism, were they not socialists, communists and men and women who received their education from Marxism ? Where did Hitler and his followers get the idea of international capital, exploitation, on the one hand, and socialism and national planning, on the other? Did they not get all this from Marxism? But what is most significant is this. If not for the great work that had been done by the Marxists, if not for the Russian revolution, if not for the ground that had been prepared by the socialists and the communists, Hitler, the nazis and the National Socialist Party would have never come into existence; Hitler would still eke out a poor living from papering, and the nazi leaders would still rot away in their miserable occupations. As for the masses of nazis who seem so important now that they can make pogroms upon the Jews, they would be, as before, proletarians, the dust of the earth. All what Hitler and the nazis have accomplished was nothing else than to steal and appropriate what the Marxists had created and achieved. Even the Swastika was stolen by the nazis from the Jews. Think of it, the holy swastika was stolen from the Jews? How poor is the mentality of the nazis that for their holy symbol they had to go to the hated Jews and steal from them the swastika ! Wait a while, the nazis will also steal from the Jews Jehovah. Nazism is nothing else than an imitation and perversion of Marxism; the nazis distorted Marxism that it should not be recognized. The nazis shout, stop thief, to cover up the theft. The nazis play the part of goodys, to make it appear that they are innocent and well-meaning; they shout against Marxism, communism, internationalism, bolshevism, and the like; while in fact they are nothing else than caricatures of Marxists, communists, internationalists and revolutionary bolsheviki. But the logic of events will force them to unmask themselves and appear in their true colors. The logic of events will force them to unite with the hated communists, to unite Nazi Germany with Soviet Russia, and then it will appear that they are birds of a feather that do flock together. But the day when Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia will unite will also be the day of the downfall of Hitler and Stalin. Thus, what the nazis condemned in Judaism and the Jews as sins and crimes, turned out to be virtues and beneficences.
50. Judaism is guilty of another crime: Judaism strives to emancipate the working class from exploitation and degradation. Hitler’s chief mission in life is to prevent the emancipation of the working class; he believes that he is championing the cause of God by championing the perpetuation of the rule of the aristocracy of force and power. Well, let us examine this crime. Since the nazis got their education from Marxism, since they adopted the principles and ideas of Marxism, they ought to understand the language of Marxism. Let us, then, hear what Marxism tells us. The mode of production is the foundation on which rests the whole social superstructure and which determines the social relations of men. The mode of production has a nature and course of evolution that are independent of the will and the consciousness of men. Until now there was and still is a materialistic society—a society in which mankind are dominated by the material world and enslaved by the mode of production. But a time will come when the materialistic society will disappear, and in its place will be established a human society. In the future human society, mankind will become the masters over the material world, and they will determine the mode of production. This will be brought out by the historic law of dialectics. By the law of dialectics, history realizes a purpose through two negatives. It begins with an affirmation, then negates this affirmation, and then it negates this negation, and brings out a higher affirmation; this second affirmation is higher and richer than the first affirmation. Thus history achieves a continuous process of progress. That universal communism and the human society may be realized, the present materialistic society and the existing mode of production must be negated, and they will be negated through the class which was negated by them, and this class is the proletariat. The proletariat is the class of proletarians. A proletarian is a worker who owns neither the means nor the conditions for production; all that he owns is his naked labor-power. This labor-power he must sell in order to exist. He who buys his labor-power is a capitalist. The proletarian sells his labor-power for wages. Wages conceal the exploitation; for while the proletarian is paid for only a part of his labor, the wages seem to be a full equivalent for his labor. Thus arises the profit system, and with it also capitalism. Wages are the basis of capitalism; wherever wages exist there also is capitalism. Throughout the past, the mode of production negated the working class. Until now the working class never performed any active function either in society or on the stage of history. When, at last, the workers were converted into proletarians, they were also negated as human beings. The proletarians have neither political power nor a social standing, nor human rights, nor do they share in the benefits of the accumulated wealth and progress. Naked and poor they come into existence, and naked and poor they are retired from existence. Spinoza tells us: no one endeavors to preserve his own being for the sake of another object. Kant tells us: man is not a means to an end, but he is an aim to himself. Spinoza and Kant spoke of persons, but the proletarians are not persons. The proletarians do not exist for their own sake; they exist for the sake and the benefits of the capitalists. So long as the capitalists can profitably exploit the proletarians, so long the proletarians are given the chance to slave for the capitalists. But, when the capitalists cannot profitably exploit the proletarians, then they are thrown out of employment, and then they must perish from hunger, cold and sickness, in the midst of a superabundance of the means of life. And, if the proletarians do not die quickly enough, and they become a menace to the capitalists, then war is an effective means for getting rid of the surplus proletarians: in war they are killed out by the thousands and the millions. Thus the mode of production completely negated and dehumanized the working class.
51. Hegel said: Everything carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction. The mode of production carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction, and these seeds are the proletarians. When the great mass of workers have been converted into proletarians and have been completely negated as human beings, then comes the time for the negation of the mode of production itself—the mode of production that, in the first instance, negated the working class. The negation of the working class was the first negation, and the negation of the mode of production is the second negation—it is the negation of a negation. Before, the mode of production negated the working class, and now the working class negates the mode of production. And now their respective roles change; whereas until then the mode of production was riding on the backs of the proletarians, now the proletarians begin to ride on the back of the mode of production. By becoming the masters over the mode of production, the proletarians emancipate themselves from their status as proletarians and become free persons—rational human beings. They raise labor, which until then was despised and held in deepest contempt, to the highest dignity, and they make labor a condition to life, progress, joy and happiness. The working class, now assuming the status of free human beings, abolish the private property in the land and the means of life, establish universal communism, and lay the foundation for the human society. Then the eternal law of equivalents assumes the form: From every one according to his ability, unto every one according to his need. All this is inevitable, and all this will be realized. The Kingdom of God on earth which for thousands of years was the noblest dream of mankind is nothing else than the human society resting on universal communism. It is the highest virtue of Judaism, and it is to its ever-lasting credit, that it perceived this Kingdom of God through the emancipation of the working class. Yes, the working class will be emancipated, and an end will be put to the rule of the aristocracy of force and power. The abolition of the aristocracy of force and power will, indeed, mean the end of a race that in appearance was human, but in essence animal and beastly. The earth will then continue to move through space devoid of human animals and beasts, but instead it will become the abode of rational, humane and morally autonomous free human beings. And so, what Hitler dreads, we rejoice and welcome. And now, what is the conclusion ? This is the conclusion. The Jews must identify themselves with communism, with internationalism, with Marxism, and with the working class. In this identification lies the hope and the salvation of the Jews. This is the tree of eternal life; and when identifying themselves with this tree of eternal life, the Jews need not fear the nazis, the fascists and the anti-Semites: the Jews will overcome them all.
AND NOW, WHAT ABOUT CULTURE?
Good-natured enthusiasts, Teutomaniacs from blood and free thinkers from reflexion, search our history of freedom in the beyond of our history, in the Teutonic primeval forest. But wherewith does our history of freedom differ from the history of freedom of boars, when it is sought only in the forest? Moreover, it is known that as we shout into the forest, so it resounds out of the forest. Therefore. peace to the Teutonic forest ! —MARX.
52. Spengler, Dickel, Rosenberg, and Hitler tell us that the Aryans are superior to the Jews, because only the Aryans brought out culture, and only they are capable of culture: the Jews did not bring out any culture, and they are not capable of culture. And, since according to these prophets only culture entitles one to live on this earth, it follows that only the Aryans are entitled to live on this earth. And, since the Jews are not capable of culture, they have no right to live on this earth, and therefore must he destroyed. Philip the Second regretted that God did not consult him when He created the world, for he would then give God good advice on how to create the world. For instance, he would have advised God not to create the Protestants, the heretics and the Jews. History repeats itself. The Spenglers, the Dickels, the Rosenbergs and the Hitlers would advise God not to create the Jews; but, as if to anticipate the good advice of these prophets, God chose the Jews as his people. What can be done about this? These Aryan prophets tell us that all culture began with the Aryans, was continued and preserved by the Aryans, and will exist only so long as the Aryans exist. All this is pure assertion, without any historic proof and justification. Indeed, these Aryan prophets cannot adduce any proof to sustain their bare assertions. How far back can the Aryans trace their history? Can they trace their history back five thousand years ago? What do the nazis know about their German ancestors of five thousand years ago? Absolutely nothing. If it was necessary to disprove these childish assertions from the vast mass of evidence that accumulates daily, it could be shown that, long before there was any trace of an Aryan race, there were mighty cultures created by races that were in no way related to the Aryan race; still more, it could be shown that the Aryans borrowed from the non-Aryan races, and what they borrowed the Aryans only corrupted and distorted. But for the purposes of this program it is not necessary to go into this subject. I will therefore leave this assertion of the Aryan prophets unchallenged; all that I demand is that the specification be made concrete, for this assertion is only an abstraction, a mere generalization. Let us, therefore, examine this culture closely and concretely.
53. What is culture ? Hitler tells us: culture is art, science and technique. Notice carefully, this culture does not include religion, morality and philosophy. Right here we already see the limitations of the Aryan culture. And we will see later that this is very significant. Very well, we begin with art, science and technique. Now, technique is implied in art and science, for there can be no art or science without technique. Even religion, morality and philosophy imply a technique of their own. Therefore, I will speak only of art and science. Marx said: The anatomy of the human being is the key to the anatomy of the ape; for the intimation of the higher animal in the lower ones can be understood only if the animal of the higher order is already known. This means that, instead of speculating about the ancient Aryans and the ancient Semites, we will consider the Germans, who regard themselves the highest Aryans, and the Jews, who regard themselves to be the highest Semites. Knowing the difference between the Germans and the Jews, we shall readily infer what must have been the difference between the ancient Aryans and the ancient Semites. The culture of a race roots deep in the blood of the race. And from this we will also learn the difference between the blood of the Aryans and the blood of the Semites. I begin with the arts. The arts constitute a hierarchy: they begin with architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and end with literature. The arts rise higher and higher in proportion as they emancipate themselves from matter and attain to thought and spirit. Architecture is the lowest art, for here matter dominates and overwhelms thought and spirit: the thought and the spirit are wholly implicit in architecture. Higher than architecture is sculpture. Here matter is subdued and reduced, and thought and spirit begin to manifest themselves. Higher than sculpture is painting. Here matter is reduced to two dimensions, matter is here symbolized and idealized, while thought and spirit are here dominant and manifest. Higher than painting is music. Here matter is entirely overcome, and thought and spirit are here free and independent, yet the thought and the spirit in music speak an implicit language: the soul speaks through sounds, but not through ideas. Higher than music is literature. Here thought and spirit are free and wholly explicit: Literature speaks the language of ideas and ideas are universal. Literature therefore speaks a universal language. For this reason, literature is the highest art. Literature transcends space and time. A literary work can be translated into all languages, and it can endure forever. This is not the case with the other arts. Hence, literature is the highest and most universal art. And now I ask the question: What is the greatest literary work known to mankind? The answer is: This is the Bible. And let the Aryans themselves judge. For nearly two thousand years countless millions of Aryans recognized the Bible as the greatest literary work in existence. If on one scale were put the works of Homer, Aeschylus, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, and all other great works of the great poets and writers; and on the other scale were put the Bible, and the Aryans had to choose between them, the one or the other, it is absolutely certain that the Aryans would choose the Bible. The Bible is the oldest and most universal literary work in existence, it is still the best seller, and it is still held by the Aryans in the highest esteem. For every German that knows the works of Goethe, there are tens of thousands of Germans that know the Bible; for every Englishman that knows the works of Shakespeare there are tens of thousands of Englishmen that know the Bible; and so it is true of all Aryan nations. The Bible, then, is the highest, the greatest and the most universal literary work. And who created this Bible? The Jews created it. Will the Germans ever create a work like the Bible? Not in an eternity. Thus we see that the Jews are the greatest and highest artists in the world. Was this a singular instance? By no means. The Jews are the best speakers and the best writers in the world. No people on earth learns to speak and to write foreign languages as readily as the Jews do. This is not only attested universally, but it is also attested by Hitler and the nazis. Hitler complains bitterly that the Jewish socialists and communists are the hest speakers and writers in Germany. Dickel tells us the following. We Germans write our laws in our blood. Then comes the Jewish lawyer and gives to our laws a Jewish interpretation; and what German lawyer can hold his own against a Jewish lawyer ! And thus we in Germany are ruled by Jewish laws ! Professor Sombart, the spokesman for the nazi philosophy, tells us the following: We can neither write well nor speak well. For that reason, we do not place a high value on fine writing and good speaking. They appear to us as something trivial and superficial. Thus speaks the nazi professor. Think of it; the Germans do not speak and do not write well their own language! The Germans do not place a high value on good speaking and good writing. In other words, on the highest art the Germans do not place any high value, this art appears to them to be trivial and superficial. What shall be said about a nation that places little value on speaking and writing ? Speaking and writing are the highest art, they are the highest gift given by God to man; and yet in this art the Germans are deficient. The Germans place little value on good speaking and good writing for the very good reason that they cannot speak and write well. It is sour grapes! Indeed, the ignorant hod carrier attaches little importance to Einstein’s relativity, and for the very good reason that he is not able to understand it. And so we have the admission of the nazis themselves that the Jews are higher and greater artists than the Germans are. And the Germans are the highest Aryans ! And mark it well, the Bible was written by the Jews at a time when there was not a German in existence who even knew the alphabet. The Germans are good builders, they make good tools, and they can produce cheap and good commodities. In other words, in the material arts the Germans are preeminent; but in the arts of thought and spirit the Jews are preeminent. If the Germans think that the building of temples, the making of statues, and painting pictures are higher than writing immortal books, then the Germans confess by this that they still root deep in the material world. And the fact that the Jews attach great importance to thought and spirit shows that the Jews have their soul and essence in thought and spirit. The nazis charge the Jews with being materialists, but now we see that the Germans are the grossest materialists. And to conceal from the world their gross materialism, the nazis charge the Jews with being materialists. How quick the nazis were in taking away from the Jews their material possessions ! The nazis burned books, but they did not burn the Jewish material possessions and material interests. What hypocrisy, what lie!
54. Is literature the highest art ? By no means, there is a still higher art, and that is the art of creating great men and noble women. It stands to reason that the creation of the artist is a higher art than the creation of art. Once a Shakespeare is created, and his immortal works will follow as a matter of course. And a Shakespeare has to be created, for he cannot create himself; and the creator of a Shakespeare must be far greater than Shakespeare himself, for Shakespeare could not reproduce himself. A great man or a noble woman is the creation of a race or a people. I will mention a few names. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the prophets, Jesus and the Apostles; Sarah, the mother of Isaac; Rachel, the mother of Joseph; Jochebed, the mother of Moses; Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Mary, the mother of Jesus. Here you have a few of the greatest men and noblest women that mankind know. Have the Aryans, and especially the Germans, produced such men and such women? But the Jews did produce such great men and such noble women. By the fruit ye shall know. Such great men and such noble women do not fall from the sky, nor do they come by accident, nor can they arise among people that are not capable of bringing out such men and such women. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit…. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know. Do the nazis know who said this? Can the nazis deny the truth of this statement? Hic Rhodus, hic salta! If the Germans, the highest Aryans, can show what they can do, let them produce a Moses or a Jesus ? I give them a thousand years—the thousand years allotted to the Germans by Hitler—within which time to produce a Moses or a Jesus, and the Germans are sorely in need of a Moses or a Jesus. Hitler is now deified by the nazis. But let them wait a while. A lamp near at hand gives enough light to read a book, while the mighty star in heaven does not give light enough to show the road. But let the lamp be placed among the stars, and not by an infinite telescope will the lamp be discovered. The lamp may exist and function a few years, and then it perishes; but the stars live for ever and ever. What will become of a Hitler in ten or twenty years ? But Moses and Jesus will live so long as mankind live. By bringing such great men and such noble women the Jews showed themselves to be the greatest and highest artists in the world.
55. Have we already reached the highest art? By no means, there is a still higher art, and that is the art of creating a state— a state for the preservation of a people. And what about the state ? Let us hear what Hitler says about the state. Hitler came out with a new theory of the state. The state was always regarded as a material attribute of a nation; the state pertained to the country of the nation, and it was coextensive with the country. The sovereignty of the nation was bound up with the country and was coextensive with the territory of the country. Any one coming to the country at once became subject to the sovereignty and the laws of the state of that country. For instance, any one coming to the United States at once becomes subject of the sovereignty and the laws of the United States. On the other hand, if an American leaves the United States and goes to live in another country, he is no longer subject to the sovereignty and the laws of the United States, but becomes subject to the state of the country in which he lives. Now, Hitler tells us this is a false theory of the state. The state is not a material attribute of a nation, but is a spiritual attribute of a nation. A state is therefore coextensive with the nation. Hitler tells us that the German state is not limited to Germany, but is coextensive with the German people, and extends to the Germans no matter where they live. And Hitler is now trying to realize such German state. Now, this is indeed a higher conception of the state than the universal conception of the state that prevailed until now. It turns a materialistic state into a spiritual state, it turns a materialistic society into a human society. This is a great step in progress. Now, whether Hitler will realize this German state or not, this remains to be seen. But what is significant about this new theory of the state is this: Hitler borrowed this idea from Judaism and the Jews, and he tries to adopt this idea. Hitler exclaims: See the Jewish state was never a materialistic state bound up with territory, but was bound up with the Jewish people; the Jews never recognized a materialistic territorial state. For this reason the Jewish state always was coextensive with the Jewish people. And now that the Jews are spread over the whole earth, the Jewish state extends all over the earth. This is the reason why the Jewish state is international and so powerful. To destroy the Jewish state it will require the combined power of all mighty Aryan nations. Is it not strange? The Jews had this spiritual state for four thousand years, and now the nazis have to go to the hated Jews and borrow from them the ideas of a spiritual state ! Since the Jews always had such state, and it is doubtful whether the Germans, the highest Aryans, will bring out such state, who are the highest and greatest artists? When the nazis will bring out a spiritual state like the Jewish state, then we will compare notes with the nazis. Until then the nazis must not cackle about their superior culture.
56. Have we already reached the highest art? Not yet, there is a still higher art, and that is the art of self-preservation. Spinoza tells us that self-preservation is the eternal and infinite law of infinite existence, it is the first commandment of reason, and it is the highest virtue: all other virtues flow from the virtue of self-preservation. A being or an individual that lost the virtue of self-preservation lost all virtue. And it stands to reason that self-preservation is the highest virtue, and therefore is the highest art. Man is not a means to an aim, but man is himself the aim: all that man does and creates has only one purpose, and that is to serve man. In this world, every living being is surrounded with infinite other beings and elements that constantly prey upon the living being and endeavor to destroy it. To preserve oneself in such a world is indeed the highest art as well as the highest virtue. This is the reason why life has bestowed infinite care and vigilance to preserve the living being. And now let us, again, hear what Hitler says about this highest art and virtue. He tells us that the Jews have developed the art and virtue of self-preservation in the highest degree, and demands that the Germans should endeavor to acquire the same art and virtue that the Jews possess. Indeed, the Jews attained to the highest degree the art and virtue of self-preservation. The Jews are the oldest cultured people in existence, their cultured existence alone is nearly six thousand years old. During these six thousand years the Jews always lived in a world that was hostile to them, and were always surrounded by mighty enemies that sought to destroy the Jews. And yet, though numerically the Jews were always a small people, they survived all their mighty contemporary enemies, and preserved themselves to this day. And not only did they preserve themselves, but they also preserved their pristine youth, vigor and progressiveness; so that, though the Jews are the oldest cultured people on earth, they are younger, more vigorous and more progressive than the youngest nation on earth. Because of this high degree of the art and virtue of self-preservation, the Jews never thought of death and do not think of death; whereas the Germans, the highest Aryans, already made their last will and testament, and they expect to die in about a thousand years from now.
57. There is yet a still higher art, and that is the art of self-reproduction. The Jewish soul gave birth to the Christian soul, which embodied itself in Christendom, and brought out the Christian nations, the Christian religion, Christian philosophy, Christian morality, Christian culture and Christian institutions— what an infinite achievement ! Elohim created man in the image of Elohim, the Jewish-soul created a soul in the image of the Jewish soul; can the German soul create a soul like the soul which the Jewish soul created? The nazis claim that the German nation was corrupted by Christianity and the baneful influence of Judaism and the Jews; and for this reason the nazis are determined to destroy Christianity, Judaism and the Jews. And suppose Christianity, Judaism and the Jews never affected the Teutons in the Teutonic primeval forest, what would become of those Teutons ? They would still be on the level of the boars in the forest. That this is not merely a matter of speculation is shown by the fact that the nazis, who completely purged themselves of the poison of Christianity, Judaism and the Jews, reveal themselves to be nothing else than wild boars of the forest. What virtues have the nazis substituted for the virtues of Judaism and Christianity ? The virtues of the boar: brutality, cruelty, pitilessness and sadism. For this ungratefulness to Christianity, Judaism and the Jews, the Germans will pay a terrible penalty. The day is near at hand when the Germans will cry to Christianity and Judaism for help; the day is near at hand when the Germans will rise in righteous indignation and destroy the insane and idolatrous worship of the Moloch Hitler and will exterminate his brood. The conclusion is this. In the realm of the lower material arts, the Aryans are preeminent; but in the realm of the spiritual arts the Jews are preeminent Since the Jews fully recognize the preeminence of the Aryans in the material arts, the Aryans must also fully recognize the preeminence of the Jews in the spiritual arts. Neither the Jews nor the Aryans determined themselves to be what they are, it was God that determined that the human race should he differentiated, and each race, each nation and each people is assigned a definite task, and in this task that race, nation or people is preeminent. Since it is all the work of God, no race, nation or people can boast and say: I have created all this. It is high time that we stop this nursery boasting, and we face one another as equals, and fully recognize the merits of one another. The Jews loved the German people, the German language and the German culture, and the Jews still love them. In turn, the truly intelligent and cultured Germans also loved the Jews and the Jewish culture. The day is near at hand when this love between the Jews and the Germans will come to life again, and that love will thrive and prosper. And the nazis know this very well. This is the reason why in their insane despair they seek to forestall destiny, but it is in vain: no one can forestall destiny. So much for the arts. And now we come to the sciences.
58. We saw that in the material arts the Aryans are preeminent, and in the spiritual arts the Jews are preeminent. We shall presently see this is equally true in the sciences. Spengler, Dickel, Rosenberg, Hitler and other nazis and anti-Semites tell us that only the Aryans are scientists, and only they brought out the sciences. On the other hand, these self-constituted judges tell us that the Jews are not scientists and they never produced any scientists. As in the case of the arts, so in the case of the sciences, I will not challenge this statement of these self-constituted judges; all that I ask is that this statement be made specific. The statement that only Aryans are scientists and brought out the sciences, while the Jews are not scientists and never brought out any science—this statement is only an abstraction. Let us therefore consider the sciences in concreto. As the arts, so the sciences constitute a hierarchy. Professor Wilhelm Wundt—a German and an Aryan—in his Philosophy refers to Comte and Spencer—also Aryan thinkers—for the classification of the sciences; and, in the main, Wundt agrees with their classification. This is the classification: Mathematics, mechanics, physics, chemistry, Astronomy, Geography, Biology, Psychology and Sociology. This means that mathematics is the lowest science and sociology is the highest science. This classification rests upon the recognition of the fact that a science rises higher the more factors are involved in it. This is a commonplace, and we need not elaborate on this. As this classification of the sciences was made by three Aryan thinkers, there ought to be no dispute about it. All that I wish to add that none of these Aryan thinkers recognized a still higher science, and that is history, and for the very good reason, as we shall presently see, that the Aryan thinkers have no yet attained to an idea of history. And now I ask this question: In what sciences are the Aryans preemient? The answer is: The Aryans are preeminent in the lower materialistic sciences, the sciences that deal with time space, matter and motion; namely: mathematics, mechanics, physics, chemistry, astronomy and geology. I will not stop to show that the basis of all these sciences had already been built up by ancient races that were not Aryans at all. It is clear that a poor man who by industry and talent builds up an industry and becomes a rich man accomplishes an infinitely greater task than his son who inherits the business and the fortune—and enlarges the business. It is clear that for the ancient races, out of nothing, to build up the sciences was a far greater achievement than for the modern Aryans to enlarge these sciences. But I leave this out of consideration, because it is not essential to my purpose. Let us then state boldly that the Aryans are preeminent in the lower materialistic sciences. And now we come to biology. What about biology ? It seems that in recent years infinitely much has been accomplished in biology, and yet, when we look deeper into the matter, we discover that very little has been accomplished in biology. Bergson showed in his Creative Evolution that modern science—which is Aryan science—succeeded only in the realm of matter, motion, force, and no more. But in the realm of life, modern science accomplished nothing. Biology— this is the science of life. What shall be said about a biology that does not know what life is ? And this is the biology of the Aryans ? Study the thousands of books that were written on biology by the Aryans, and in all of them you will not find a single statement as to what life itself is. For instance, Spencer defines life to be a continuous adjustment of inner relations to outer relations. Is this a definition of life ? This only tells us of a function of life, but what is life itself that makes this adjustment? Spencer himself admits that he does not know. And in all cases in which the Aryans come to the ultimate aspects of existence, they draw down the curtain on which is written: The Thing in Itself, Nihil Ulterius, The Unknowable. And ask no further questions. Now, the basis of the nazi philosophy is the blood theory, and we already saw that the nazis do not know what blood is, and they know absolutely nothing about life itself. What is life ? We already saw that the Bible knew what life is. Life is what the Bible calls nephesh, it is the soul in its implicit state. Life is the Absolute, it is the cause of itself, it is the substance of all realities, and all infinite existence is a living reality. Infinitely superior is the Jewish understanding of life as compared with the naive theories of life of the Aryans. And yet, the Jews knew of this theory for more than four thousand years before there was a nazi to cackle about blood. The conclusion is: in the realm of biology the Jews are the only scientists.
59. Next is psychology. Psychology is the science of the soul; it concerns itself about the soul and the mind. What is the soul, and what is the mind? Study the works on psychology, written since the days of Aristotle to this day, and written by Aryans, and you will not find in all these thousands of works a single idea that can tell you what the soul is and what the mind is. Modern psychologists of the Aryan schools, despairing of ever learning anything about the mind and the soul, declared: there is neither mind nor soul. And yet, in spite of this, the Aryans still speak of mind and soul ! And this is called psychology ! Now, this is not the occasion for me to go into the deep subject of psychology and reveal what the soul is, what the mind is, the distinctive functions they perform, and that our soul is eternal. But this I will state. The mind is called in the Bible Ruach, and the soul is called in the Bible Neshomoh. One who has made a deep study of the Bible, the Cabala, the deep works of Jewish thinkers, and the works of Spinoza, knows and understands the mind and the soul. Now, if the nazis are serious about the mind and the soul, I will be ready to reveal to them the mind and the soul that is in them, but of which they are totally ignorant, and I will render them this service gratis, for by this I will render to mankind an infinite service. When the nazis will learn to understand the mind and the soul that are in them, and which are still in an implicit state, so that the nazis are not aware of their existence, then the nazis will slough off their boar nazi skin and become rational and humane human beings, and they will be grateful to me for this. And so, again, we see that, as in biology, so also in psychology the Jews are the only scientists. The Aryans will achieve a wonderful task to grow up to the understanding of the mind and the soul. And the Jews attained to this understanding more than four thousand years ago. How marvellous this is !
60. We come now to sociology. Sociology—how many books were written by Aryans about sociology. But, just as in biology and psychology, so also in sociology the Aryans know only of the dead facts of history and society. They can tell us infinite facts about the various races and peoples, their customs, their institutions, and the like; but what is the life and soul of society? This they do not know. For instance, Spencer wrote many big books on sociology. Spencer saw that mankind are progressing towards a state of ever greater individual freedom, until the individual will become wholly free from the constraint of society. Not many years passed since Spencer wrote his many books on sociology, and what do we see ? Look at Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and all other countries, what will you find? You will find that, just the reverse, the individual became ever more and more constrained by society. What shall be said about a sociology that did not perceive that all social evolution inevitably tends to constrain the individual ever more towards he requirements of social life, and that the time must come when the individual will become completely constrained by society? There is one work on sociology, and only one work, and that is Marx’s Capital. Dickel tells us that no Aryan will ever be able to understand this work. Whether this is true or not does not concern me; what is certain is this: no Aryan will ever be able to write such a book. Only a Jew could write this work. Marx was the first thinker, and to this day, the only thinker, who revealed to mankind the material basis of society and of history. Only with the aid of Marx’s work can one understand the nature and course of evolution and the destiny of human society. One that does not understand Marx’s works will never understand society. And because of this, may the Aryans all rise in their fury to annihilate Marxism, the Aryans will be destroyed and Marxism will triumph. Against an eternal and infinite truth the gods are fighting in vain. And so we see that in the realm of sociology the Jews are still the only scientists.
61. And now we come to history—the highest science. What about history? What do the Aryans know about history? When did history begin, what is the soul of history, what is its course of evolution, and what is its destiny? What shall be said about a history that can date its beginning only a few thousand years ago ? What shall be said about a history that cannot inform the Aryan nations whence they came, whither they go, and what is their historic function ? Absolutely nothing. The past is veiled in darkness; the present is hazy, and the future is entirely shut out of sight. May the Aryans dig up the whole earth, and may they gather an infinite number of fossils, and yet they will never discover history. The infinite number of books on history that were written by the Aryans since the days of Herodotus down to this day contain infinite facts, events and dates, but they do not contain history. What would not the Aryans give to know whence they came, whither they go, and what is their historic function? Even the nazis would give up their aim to become a world power only to know what is their historic destiny. And yet, the Jews possess the Book of History, and this is the Bible. In the Bible is written, once for all eternity, the whole history from beginning to end, and this book was written by Jews. Infinite misery and suffering would have been spared mankind, if only they understood this Book of History. The destiny of mankind is that they will understand this book, and then they will realize their predetermined destiny. In the realm of history the Jews are the only scientists. The conclusion is this. In the materialistic sciences, the Aryans are preeminent, but in the spiritual sciences the Jews are preeminent. And thus we see that the Jews are the highest and greatest artists and scientists. The arts and the sciences imply corresponding techniques. It therefore follows that the Jews are the highest and greatest technicians. Since culture is art, science and technique, it follows that the Jews are the highest and most cultured people on earth. According to Hitler, a race of a superior culture has a right to subordinate to itself the races of ad inferior culture, and the race of the highest culture has a right to be the master over the whole earth and the whole human race. What follows ? Since the Jews are the highest and most cultured people on earth, the Jews have a right to subordinate to themselves the rest of mankind and to be the masters over the whole earth. Now, indeed, this is the historic destiny of the Jews, but not in the sense of Hitler and the nazis. With Jesus, who only symbolizes the Jews, the Jews say: Our kingdom is not of this world. The Jews will become the masters over the whole earth and they will subordinate to themselves all nations, not by material power, not by brute force, but by light, knowledge, understanding, humanity, peace, justice and progress. Judaism is communism, internationalism, the universal brotherhood of man, the emancipation of the working class and the human society. It is with these spiritual weapons that the Jews will conquer the world and the human race. The races and the nations will cheerfully submit to the spiritual power of Judaism, and all will become Jews. And it shall come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it, and many peoples shall go and say: Come ye, and let us go up to the top of the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.—Isaiah.
This is the kingdom of the Jews, of all Jews, no matter what be their race, color and blood. Even the nazis will become Jews, and they, too, will rejoice in Jehovah. This is the predetermined destiny of mankind, of all mankind, without exception, and this destiny was predetermined by God. Empires, states, societies, dynasties and parties may come and go, but mankind will advance and rise until they will reach their goal. Are the nazis, the fascists and the anti-Semites ready to join us in this great realization? If so, we shall embrace them as our brothers, and we shall work together for the well-being, salvation, and happiness of all. It is high time that the races and nations emancipate themselves from their nursery philosophy and vain and futile ambitions; it is time that they become mature and sober up and become rational and humane. We show you the way that leads to life, good, joy and happiness, and you ought to join us in our common journey to the same destiny.
62. I stated before that the soul of a race or of a people knows its destiny, and this is intuitively, though vaguely, perceived by the foremost of the race or the people. We saw that the Jewish soul speaks an eternal language: and we saw, on the other hand, that the soul of the non-Jews speaks a temporary language. On this subject alone much can be written, but I will conclude this chapter with a reference to one case that is very significant. Of all the Aryan geniuses that concerned themselves with the destiny of the Aryans, and especially with the destiny of the German people, the greatest was Goethe. On this subject he spent his whole creative life, and the result of his thinking he embodied in his great work, Faust. Faust symbolizes the Aryans in a general way, but the German people in particular. Faust spent many years in an earnest endeavor to fathom the depth of existence and the destiny of mankind He studied all sciences, delved into mysticism, and reflected on existence. But nowhere did he find light and happiness. In despair, he sold his soul to Mephistopheles, and this he did only for the sake of a moment’s happiness. Numerous and varied were the adventures of Faust in company with Mephistopheles; but hard as he tried to drink from the cup of pleasure, like Tantalus, all pleasure eluded him. At last he became old, reaching the age of one hundred years. One hundred years spent in a strenuous and earnest endeavor to enjoy a moment of happiness, but all in vain. At last Faust saw a beautiful vision. There he saw a foul swamp that infested the neighborhood and brings death to living beings. The idea occurred to Faust: if this swamp could be cleared, the ground cleared, it could become the abode of men, women, children, and cattle, and all would enjoy life. He saw the vision of a free people living on a free soil. What for a hundred years Faust sought in vain, at last he grasped it. He grasped the ideal which alone could give him the happiness he sought. In joy he exclaimed: To this moment I must say, stay, you are so beautiful; in anticipation of such high bliss, I already enjoy the highest moment. But no sooner did he utter these words, and he died. What does Goethe reveal to us ? This is very profound and significant. Faust, symbolizing the German people and the Aryans, tells us the history and the destiny of the Germans and the Aryans. For thousands of years the Aryans will work, struggle and achieve; they will clear the swamps, they will bring out a beautiful world and make mankind a free humanity living on a free earth; but then the Aryans will die; they will die as Aryans and will be born again as Jews. Not as Aryans will they enjoy the fruit of their labor, but as Jews. This was already foretold by Noah. The Aryans will enlarge and beautify the earth; but they will settle to enjoy the world which they created only in the tents of the Jews. These tents are communism, internationalism, the universal brotherhood of man, the emancipation of the working class and the human society—a society of free and morally autonomous rational human beings. The destiny of the Aryans is to become Jews, to recognize Jehovah and to identify themselves with Him. Thus we see that Goethe revealed the destiny of the Aryans. But notice carefully this. Goethe saw no further than the death of Faust; he did not see beyond, for the Aryans cannot see deep into the future. Only the Jews saw the future of the races and the nations. What an infinite distance there is between Goethe and Isaiah ! None the less, great credit is due to Goethe, that he could see so far. And so we see that the situation for the Jews is not so hopeless as it appeared at first. On the contrary, from a small people the Jews have grown into the whole human race. May the Jews suffer, and may they be decimated again and again, they will survive all, because they are the holy seed into which Jehovah implanted the tree of eternal life. And the rest of mankind will become eternal only by identifying themselves with this tree of eternal life.
THE JEWISH PEOPLE
For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be his treasure out of all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth. Jehovah did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any other people—for ye are the fewest of all peoples—but because Jehovah loved you. —DEUTERONOMY: vii, 6-7.
When the Supreme Being gave to the nations their inheritance, when He differentiated the children of men, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel; for the portion of Jehovah is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance. —DEUTERONOMY: xxxii, 8-9.
63. Who are the Jews? And, first, what the Jews are not. The Jews are not a nation in the usual sense of the term. A nation is a people organically bound up with a definite territory, over which the people exercise exclusive sovereignty; they make their own laws, administer justice, coin money, maintain an army and navy, make war and enter into treaties with other nations. Take away the people from the territory, or deprive the people of sovereignty over the territory, and the nation becomes a people: it loses the attributes of a nation. Now, the Jews have no territory of their own, and they do not possess the attributes of a nation. The Jews, therefore, are only a people. A reference to the Bible will show that the Jews were always referred to as a people, and not as a nation. And an understanding of the history and destiny of the Jews will reveal the fact that the Jews were not intended to be a nation. But what constitutes the Jews as a people? It is their identification with Jehovah and Judaism. Take away from the Jews Jehovah and Judaism, and they cease to be Jews. Judaism and the Jews never attached any importance to race, color and blood. Any one embracing Judaism and identifying himself with Jehovah became a Jew to all intents and purposes, and then the Jews freely intermarried with him. The Bible shows that the Jews freely intermarried with people of other races, colors and blood, provided they embraced Judaism and identified themselves with Jehovah. The history of the Jews abounds in cases in which non-Jews embraced Judaism and identified themselves with Jehovah, who became outstanding intellectual and spiritual leaders among the Jews, and whom the Jews to this day held in the highest esteem and reverence. On the other hand, a Jew who abandons Judaism and Jehovah and embraces another religion and identifies himself with another god—may he be the son of a Moses—is entirely cut off from the Jewish people and is regarded as dead. The Jews always insisted on the purity of blood, not in a racial sense, but in the sense of sexual purity. All were welcome to embrace Judaism, and become part of the Jewish people; but, once one embraced Judaism, he was required to live up to the rigorous sex purity of Judaism. What was true of race, color and blood was equally true of culture. The Jews were always international, and they always freely absorbed the cultures of other races and peoples; yet they always insisted on the integrity of their own culture. The case of the Jews is neither unique nor exceptional; this is true of all peoples that are identified in a religion or in an ideal. For instance, Christianity or Communism never attached any importance to race, color or blood. Any one embracing Christianity or Communism— no matter what be his race, color or blood—becomes a Christian or a communist to all intents and purposes. And this arises from the fact, as we saw before, that all religions and ideals that arise from reason or the intellect transcend the natural biologic law; in their case, race, color and blood are no longer factors.
64. The Jews always regarded themselves to be the chosen people, and for this they were hated. But strange to say, the nazis copied even this from the Jews: the nazis regard the Germans as the chosen people Well, we will be generous and allow them to enjoy this distinction, but we must make clear in what sense the Jews regarded themselves as the chosen people. First, we must notice this. The Jews did not claim that they chose themselves for some great historic function, but they maintained that Jehovah chose them to perform a great historic function: the Jews had nothing to say about this choice. Then the question arises: Why did Jehovah choose the Jews, the smallest people on earth ? This we shall presently see. When we contemplate existence as a whole, it reveals itself to be like a pyramid: broad and massive at the base, and tapering to a point at the apex. At the base of the pyramid is the infinite inorganic world; upon the inorganic world is the plant world, above the plants is the animal world, and above the animals is the human world. As we rise from the base to the apex, existence loses in mass but gains in life, consciousness and understanding; and so, the higher a being is in the pyramid of existence the more conscious and intelligent it is. The human world is an epitome of existence. The human world is also a pyramid—broad and massive at the base, and tapering to a point at the apex. At the base is the great mass of human beings who possess consciousness, the senses, the understanding and judgment; above them are men that attained to intuition, above them are men that attained to reason, and highest of all of them are the exceptional few that attained to the intellect. And now the question is: has any human being determined the place in this human pyramid? By no means: this was determined by God. Again, has the human race determined its place in the pyramid of existence ? By no means: this was also determined by God. God determined the place of everything in existence in the infinite pyramid of existence. Why, then, did God choose the human race to be above the rest of existence, and why did God choose the few men of intellect to be above all men? We shall presently see the answer. The whole of existence has a predetermined history and destiny, the destiny is to reach the perfection of God. Existence moves forward and upward with its apex on the top. With the apex the pyramid cuts into the unknown and unconquered, discovers more light and approaches ever nearer to its goal—the perfection of God. But at the apex of the human pyramid is the exceptional man, the man who attained to the intellect. Whatever be the aspect of human progress—religious, philosophic, scientific, technical, political or social—it always begins with the exceptional man; it begins with a Moses, a Plato, a Jesus, a Newton, a Shakespeare, an Edison, and so on indefinitely. One Edison brought out the electric lamp, and physical light was brought to the whole human race. It was so with intellectual and spiritual light. Now, a Moses, a Plato, a Jesus, a Shakespeare or an Edison did not choose himself; no one determined his mind, his body, the conditions of his existence, and the task that he was to perform: all were determined by God. With absolute truth these men could say that God chose them to perform their respective functions. It was so with the human race generally, and it was also so with the Jews in particular; they were chosen by God to perform definite functions. And for this purpose God revealed to each of them the function that he was to perform, and for this purpose, also, God endowed each one with the faculties to perform that function. The Jews were chosen to perform their historic function by Jehovah. Who is Jehovah? we shall see later.
65. And now the question arises: How did Jehovah reveal to the Jews what their historic function is ? Before this question is answered, let us consider a more concrete case. How did God reveal to an Edison that his function was to bring out the electric lamp ? Did Edison determine of his own accord to achieve this great work? If you look into the matter soberly, you will perceive that each scientist was determined to achieve his particular work by God. It was God that determined his mind and body, the conditions of his existence, the knowledge that he should acquire, the problems that he should solve, and the task that he should perform. If the scientists spoke an honest and rational language, then they would truthfully say that God chose them to perform the tasks that they performed, and for this purpose God gave them all things necessary for the performance of that task. Apply this to the Jews, and you will see that the Jews are absolutely correct when they say that Jehovah chose them for a definite historic function. Jesus said: No man lights a candle and puts it under bed that no one should see the light, but he will place it on a candlestick that all may see the light. This applies universally. Once a truth is revealed to us, and we cannot keep it back, but we must make it manifest to the world. Once Jehovah revealed to the Jews the destiny of mankind, and the Jews could not keep it back, but had to make it manifest to the rest of mankind. Throughout their past the Jews endeavored and struggled to make manifest this great truth; they sent out prophets and apostles to reveal this truth to mankind. As a result of this, Christianity, Mohammedanism, Marxism, and other ideas and ideals spread among mankind. It is in this sense that the Jews regard themselves the chosen people of Jehovah. Other peoples can with equal justice and right claim that they, too. were chosen by God to perform definite functions; and, indeed, they do claim that they were chosen by God, and that they have a definite destiny. Even the nazis claim that the Germans have a destiny. But destiny —this is only another name for God. Every great man believed in destiny, although not always consistently. But the Jews are a unique people, their uniqueness consists in this, they are a historic people. Hegel tells us that history begins then when men become conscious of history and begin to concern themselves about history. Prior to that time, like other living beings, mankind passed through a process of evolution, but it was not history. We already saw that the Jews are the only people that know whence they came, whither they go and what is their historic function; the Jews are the only ones that brought out the Bible—the Book of History, the book in which is written the history of mankind from beginning to end. The Jews are a historic people, because they are identified with Jehovah, and Jehovah is the God of history. Who is Jehovah? This we shall presently see.
JEHOVAH AND JUDAISM
And Moses said unto Elohim: Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them: The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me: What is His name? What shall I say unto them? And Elohim said unto Moses: I Am Becoming what I Am to Become; and He said: Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I Am Becoming hath sent me unto you. And Elohim said moreover unto Moses: Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name forever, and this is My manifestation unto all generations. —EXODUS: iii, 13-15.
66. Jehovah is the God of Israel, to Jehovah they pray, and to Jehovah they look for salvation and their destiny. Who is Jehovah ? As we seek to know and understand Jehovah, we must begin with the philosophy of Spinoza, for his philosophy is only an explicit revelation of Jehovah. Spinoza begins with the Absolute. The Absolute is in himself; he has no relation to anything outside of himself, because there is nothing outside of the Absolute and independent of him. The Absolute is the causa sui; he exists eternally and infinitely by eternally and infinitely causing himself to exist. The Absolute is substance; his essence is from himself. The Absolute is life; he is eternally and infinitely living. The Absolute is thought; he is conscious of himself and thinks of himself. The Absolute in nature is prior to the world. This does not mean that the Absolute existed in himself, and then manifested himself as the world. Eternally and infinitely the Absolute manifested himself as the world; the world, therefore, is coeternal and coinfinite with the Absolute. But by nature the Absolute is prior to the world. This means that, while the world presupposes the existence of the Absolute, the Absolute does not presuppose the world.
67. The Absolute is absolute thought, thought without any form. As thought, the Absolute reflects on himself. This selfreflection of the Absolute is the Infinite Intellect. Whatever is absolute, infinite and eternal is absolute, infinite and eternal in every part thereof; for the absolute, infinite and eternal cannot be composed of relative, finite and temporary parts, nor can it resolve itself into relative, finite and temporary parts; but eternally and infinitely remains absolute, eternal and infinite in every part of itself. Since the Absolute is eternal and infinite, the Infinite Intellect is absolute, infinite and eternal. The Infinite Intellect is the self-reflection of the Absolute; through the Infinite Intellect the Absolute sees itself as substance consisting of infinite attributes. Each attribute expresses the eternal and infinite essence of the Absolute. Like the Absolute, the attributes are each in itself, and bear no relation to one another. All attributes are coeternal and coinfinite; one attribute can neither create nor determine another attribute. Of themselves the attributes cannot combine together to bring out the world of realities. But the Infinite Intellect contemplates the infinite attributes in infinite different combinations, and these infinite different combinations constitute the infinite modes, and these infinite modes are the infinite realities in existence. The modes derive their essence from the attributes, but their existence they derive from the Infinite Intellect. When the Infinite Intellect contemplates two or more attributes together, a mode comes into existence; and when the Infinite Intellect ceases to contemplate the attributes together, the modes cease to be. The Absolute reflects himself in the Infinite Intellect, the Infinite Intellect reflects himself in an infinite series of infinite reflexions, and all reflexions involve the infinite attributes of the Absolute, and constitute the infinite realities in existence. The further a reflexion is from the Absolute the less perfect and the more corporeal it is. Matter is the furthest reflexion, and therefore it is the least perfect and the most corporeal. Thus the material world comes into existence. But, though matter is the least perfect and the most corporeal, it is none the less the Absolute.
68. The world has neither essence nor existence of its own; the world is merely the reflexion of the reflexion of the Absolute through the Infinite Intellect in an infinite series of infinite reflexions. The Absolute is absolute thought, thought without form. The form of thought is an idea. The first, eternal and infinite idea of the Absolute is the Infinite Intellect, and all realities in existence are nothing else than the infinite ideas of the Infinite Intellect comprehending the infinite attributes in infinite different combinations. The Absolute, because he is the cause of himself, eternally and infinitely reflects on himself through an infinite series of infinite reflexions. The Absolute, therefore, eternally and infinitely renews the process of creation. Should the Absolute cease to reflect on himself, and the whole world will cease to exist. The Infinite Intellect is both the Absolute and the world; as Absolute, the Infinite Intellect is unknowable, but as the world the Infinite Intellect is knowable through his manifestations in the world. The Infinite Intellect is God, the Creator of the world, and this Infinite Intellect is Jehovah. Through Jehovah the Absolute realizes an eternal and infinite aim, and this aim manifests itself in the destiny of every reality in existence. Every reality has a destiny, just as the whole of existence has a destiny; for, whatever is absolute, infinite and eternal is absolute, infinite and eternal in every part thereof. Take an acorn. It is a small and perishable reality, yet in its essence there is an eternal and infinite destiny. Suppose we put into the ground this one acorn, in time it will sprout out and in due time it will become a mighty oak tree reproducing the acorn a thousandfold, a millionfold. Suppose we remove all other objects, trees, plants and herbs from the face of the earth, then this one acorn will reproduce itself in countless billions of oak trees, reproducing acorns infinitely. Suppose from existence all other material realities be removed, then this one acorn will reproduce itself in infinite oak trees and the whole infinite material world will assume the form of oak trees and acorns. Thus we see that in every reality there is an eternal and infinite destiny. Once a human being is conceived, in the first germ is already contained the destiny of this human being. This human being may be destroyed, but if it is not destroyed it will in due time attain to the form, nature and function of a human being. The realization of this destiny constitutes history; we call it evolution, but it is history. The history of existence is nothing else than the realization of the eternal and infinite idea of the Absolute. Let us now consider the material world with relation to history.
69. We saw that through the combination of the infinite attributes by the thought of the Infinite Intellect the world was brought out. But now, when we come to consider the material world, we must consider the attributes in their modes, for in the material world we do not see the attributes themselves. These modes are: matter, space, time, force, motion, gravitation, light, electricity, and the like—all these are eternal and infinite modes of the attributes. And, just as the attributes of themselves cannot combine to bring out modes, so these modes of themselves cannot combine to bring out the material realities. Like the attributes, these modes eternally and infinitely remain the same; they do not go through a process of evolution, they have neither destiny nor history; like the triangle, these modes eternally and infinitely remain the same. The changes evolution and history that manifest themselves in the material world are only the realization of the eternal and infinite idea of the Absolute through the Infinite Intellect. And so, while matter, space, force, motion, gravitation, light, electricity, and the like, eternally and infinitely remain the same their combinations go through a process of evolution, they have a destiny and a history, but this evolution, destiny and history is the realization of the eternal and infinite idea of the Absolute. But this eternal and Infinite Idea is the Infinite Intellect, Jehovah. Hence Jehovah is evolution, destiny and history. Jehovah speaks the language: I Am Becoming what I am to Become; this is the language of evolution, of destiny and history. In the whole infinite and eternal existence only Jehovah is evolution, destiny and history. Since Jehovah is God, the Creator of the world, it follows that Jehovah is the God of evolution, destiny and history.
70. And now the question is: What is the aim of the Absolute? The aim of the Absolute is to realize himself in the material world, to make the world as perfect as he is, and to bring out material beings that shall know and understand him as Infinite Intellect. Creation is not from the centre of the Absolute towards the periphery of the material world, but is from the periphery of the material world to the centre of the Absolute; it is from implicitness, darkness, chaos, evil and imperfection towards explicitness, light, order, good and perfection. Viewing creation from this aspect, we see how out of chaos and darkness emerged creation; we see the dawn of light, life and consciousness; we see the infinite forms of light and life following one another, rising ever higher toward greater light and more explicit consciousness, until man appears, and leads all existence toward infinite light, universal consciousness and supreme perfection. The ladder of evolution, destiny and history stands on the basis of the material world, but its top reaches the Infinite Intellect, Jehovah. The angels of God ascend by this ladder, reach Jehovah and receive divine light, knowledge and understanding, and then go down to the masses of humanity to enrich them with the divine light, knowledge and understanding. From time to time, a Moses, a Jesus, a Spinoza ascended to Jehovah, and brought down to mankind light, knowledge and understanding. These immortals saw Jehovah face to face, and what they saw they imparted to mankind in a veiled manner, for mankind were not yet prepared to see Jehovah face to face. Man begins as an animal, but he is destined to attain to reason, become rational and morally autonomous. Then man will be prepared to realize the aim of Jehovah, and this man will realize by attaining to the intellect. The intellect is the soul wholly explicit, self-conscious and universally conscious. When man attains to the intellect, he then perceives that his intellect is part of the Infinite Intellect; that is, he then perceives that his soul is part of Jehovah. He then identifies himself with Jehovah in eternal and supreme intellectual love of Jehovah. This is the destiny of man. Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God Jehovah is One. And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. But, while it is the destiny of man to identify himself with Jehovah, it is the destiny of Jehovah to realize himself in man. God, the Infinite Intellect, has as many names as he comprehends attributes, but God assumes the name, Jehovah, only when he realizes himself in man. Hence only on this earth and in man does God assume the name Jehovah. Jehovah is the holiest name of God, because it is the realization of the eternal and infinite aim of the Absolute. When man attains to the intellect and he identifies himself with Jehovah, then man becomes the son of Jehovah. It was for this reason that Moses told the Jews, they are the sons of Jehovah, for the Jews attained to the intellectual love of Jehovah. The name Jehovah consists of four letters: Yod, He Vav He. If you look on these four letters in the Bible, you will see that the forms of the letters symbolize the physical form of man. The Yod consists of a middle point and two lines projecting from it, on the top and the bottom. The Yod symbolizes the head of man containing the brains, the upper line connects man with Jehovah, and the lower line is the spinal cord. The first He consists of a horizontal line and two vertical lines. The horizontal line is the shoulder, and the two lines are the hands. Next, we have the Vav, which is a prolonged Yod. The Vav symbolizes the medulla oblongata and the spinal cord. Finally, we have the second He, which symbolizes the pelvis and the two legs. When the Bible tells us that Elohim created man in the image of Elohim, this is true physically and spiritually. Physically and spiritually man is the epitome of Jehovah. In man Jehovah realizes himself, and this realization makes of man the son of Jehovah. Thus we see that Jehovah is the God of evolution, destiny and history. Bear this in mind, the Bible speaks of many Gods, and the Bible recognizes many Gods, but the Jews are commanded to believe only in Jehovah. The many Gods are the many forces and processes in existence, but only Jehovah is evolution, destiny and history. By identifying themselves with Jehovah, the Jews identify themselves with evolution, destiny and history. This is the reason why the Jews are the only historic people, only they know of history and the destiny of n1ankind. They are the first ones whom Jehovah chose and imparted to them this eternal and infinite idea. But the Jews were chosen, not for their own sake, they were chosen to become the means through whom Jehovah will redeem all mankind. Salvation is of the Jews, but the Jews themselves will realize this salvation only through the salvation of the whole human race. It is therefore the historic function of the Jews to bring salvation to mankind.
71. What, then, is Judaism ? Judaism is the perception of this eternal and infinite idea of Jehovah, and the endeavor to realize this idea. In other words. Judaism is the endeavor to bring salvation to mankind. This is the essence of Judaism. All commandments have only the purpose of serving this idea. By the exceptional commandments the Jews are trained and disciplined to perform their exceptionally difficult historic task. The Jews must be as holy as Jehovah is, the Jews must be a model to all other races and peoples, they must be prophets and teachers to mankind. Since Jehovah is the God of evolution, history and destiny, it follows that Judaism is the only religion that is evolution, history and destiny. Like Jehovah, Judaism speaks the language of: I Am Becoming what I Am to Become. Judaism is a dynamic religion, it is a religion that relates to the material world, for only in the material world there is change, there is evolution, there is destiny and there is history: in the transcendental world there is no change, no evolution, no destiny and no history. The transcendental world is the world of perfect ideas. Take, in illustration, the triangle. Look at the triangle, what do you see: you see eternity. You can see in the triangle neither beginning, nor end, nor change, nor evolution, nor destiny, nor history. Through eternity, through infinite time, space and matter, the triangle was, is and will remain the same The language of the triangle is: I Am. This is the language of eternity. Eternity is static and perfect, and as such it is beyond history and beyond morality. Morality relates only to the material world, the world of chaos, darkness, evil and imperfection. The function of morality is to convert chaos into order, darkness into light, evil into good and imperfection into perfection. Morality is conduct in the material world; conduct relates to the future; for the consequences of conduct realize themselves in the future; the future may be the next moment, the next day, the next year, or the next thousand years but in all cases conduct relates to the future. Morality implies the overcoming of obstacles and difficulties, morality implies work, struggle and suffering. Morality is conformity with the eternal and infinite law of equivalents. Existence rests on the law of equivalents. There must be a quid pro quo; for everything we get from existence we must pay an equivalent, and this equivalent we must pay in coins of work, struggle and suffering. We must work for the material means of life, we must struggle for intellectual attainments, and we must suffer for spiritual excellence. Judaism is a religion that requires work, struggle and suffering. Judaism declares: man can be justified only by deeds, faith alone is not enough. To identify oneself with Jehovah through Judaism, one must constantly work, struggle and suffer. Judaism is not only the only historic religion, but it is also the only moral religion. Judaism prescribes rules for conduct in all cases. There is nothing a Jew can do which is not prescribed in the Bible how the Jew shall do it. Noblesse oblige; nobility of birth, nobility of position and nobility of function require nobility of conduct. The Jew cannot eat, he cannot drink, he cannot dress, he cannot do a thing, unless it is in accordance with the commandments prescribed by Judaism. Next, we must bear in mind that Judaism rests upon a covenant, the eternal covenant between Jehovah and the Jews. And any one that wants to embrace Judaism must accept this covenant. A covenant imposes duties and obligations, and one that wants to enjoy the benefits of this covenant must first perform the conditions and requirements of the covenant. Once one enters into a covenant, he cannot abrogate the covenant without the consent of the other party to the covenant. Since the Jews entered into this covenant with Jehovah, the Jews cannot abrogate this covenant without the consent of Jehovah, and Jehovah swore that he will never abrogate the covenant. And so, whether the Jews want it or not, they are eternally bound by this covenant. And Jehovah said: As I live, I will rule over you with a strong hand. And Jehovah does rule over the Jews with a strong hand. When the Jews relax in the performance of the covenant, Jehovah punishes them severely, and compels the Jews to return to their historic task. Judaism is a historic religion, it is a moral religion, and for this reason it is a hard religion. But the law of equivalents reads both ways. Just as we must pay an equivalent for whatever we get from existence; so, once we did pay the equivalent, there is nothing in existence that can deprive us from what we justly earned. The Jews had a hard task, they always suffered, but their reward is absolute and immutable. Nothing that can pass in infinite existence can rob the Jews of the reward which awaits them. Since Jehovah, the God of evolution, of destiny and history chose the Jews to perform this great historic task, may the rest of the human race combine against the Jews and endeavor to destroy the Jews, the Jews will not be destroyed; rather their enemies will be destroyed. Judaism and the Jews are unique; there is no religion like Judaism, and there is no people like the Jews; and all this is because Jehovah is unique. There are infinite forces and processes in existence, but only Jehovah transcends them all, comprehends them all, and determines them all, for Jehovah is the eternal and infinite idea of the Absolute, the idea that realizes itself in the world and the human race. That we may thoroughly realize all this, we will consider other religions and their Gods. I begin with the consideration of Buddhism.
BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY
The riddle of the world—proclaim it boldly who can!
Who made the heavens, then? and who, forsooth, quick-feeling man ?
No gods were there to say: who then can know or half foretell
The unravelling of this mighty universal spell ?
Whether by Will or of Necessity arose the earth,
He of his heaven alone can tell, who knows not death nor birth—
Or haply even He knows not! —VEDIC POEM.
The universe, that is the All, is made neither of gods nor of men, but ever has been and ever will be an eternal living Fire, kindling and extinguishing in destined measure, a game which Zeus plays with himself. —HERACLITUS…
72. Buddhism is a religion without a God. It begins in the middle of the story, ends in the middle of the story, it lives, moves and has its being in an Unknowable; it does not know whence, it does not know whither, and it does not know what for. Buddhism negates the material world, it negates the body, and it negates the mind; all existence is an illusion. Human existence is an illusion and inherently evil, and there is no hope for living men on earth. Buddhism does not know of progress and destiny for mankind on this earth. The only thing man can do to free himself from the inherent evil of existence and suffering is to emancipate himself from the illusion of existence; he must negate the will to live, and strive after nirvanum. Nirvanum—this is the state of the perfect idea in the transcendental world; there is no motion, no change, no time, no desire, no evolution, no history and no destiny. It is a state of I Am. One that attains to this enlightenment must renounce this world and life, he must not concern himself about the material body, he must not till the land, he must not produce the material means of life, he must not concern himself about his physical needs, and he must not seek deliverance through suicide. Since he must continue to exist on this earth in a physical body, and the physical body, so long as it lives, needs material things, the enlightened one must take up the beggar’s bowl and live on beggary. Not only must he negate the material world and the body, but he must also negate the intellectual world and the mind, for even they are an illusion. He must train himself not to think. Living on beggary, in filth and dirt, expiating for the mistake of having come into existence, he must wait until the illusion of existence comes to an end, and then he will be free to enter into the state of nirvanum. We shall see later that Buddhism embodies a deep truth. But for the present we must notice this. Buddhism is both unhistoric and unmoral. Buddhism knows of no history, and it knows of no morality. Morality is nothing else than conduct in this material world that has its aim to convert chaos into order, darkness into light, evil into good and imperfection into perfection, and all this must be accomplished right here on this material earth and while we exist in our physical body. Since, however, Buddhism regards all this an illusion and negates all this, it negates morality. Whatever morality there is in Buddhism, relates to the transcendental world, where there is no morality. Again, since history pertains only to the material world, Buddhism is unhistoric, because it negates the material world. Thus we see that Buddhism is unhistoric and unmoral. Let sentimentalists and misguided idealists extol Buddhism to the sky, they do not know what they are talking about. By the fruit ye shall know. Buddhism, not only degenerated to the grossest superstitions, but it destroyed in the followers of this religion all power to resist evil and to struggle for a better human world right here on this earth. And what is true of Buddhism is equally true of Brahmanism. And what is the result ? More than three hundred and fifty million Hindus are ruled, oppressed and exploited by a handful of Englishmen, and the Hindus cannot shake off the yoke of oppressors and exploiters. All they can do is to follow a leader who by prayers and fasting hopes to accomplish the miracle of freeing the Hindus from the yoke of the English. So much for Buddhism. And now we come to Christianity.
73. Christianity is akin to Buddhism. But having come from Judaism and the Jews it retained some traces of both, but they are only traces. Christianity has sublimated the God of the Jews into an abstraction, The Father in Heaven, and retired him into the background. His place was taken by Jesus. What Jehovah is to the Absolute, this is Jesus to Jehovah. And, just as the Jews look to Jehovah for salvation and help, so the Christians look to Jesus for salvation and help. We saw that Jehovah revealed himself as I Am Becoming what I Am to Become; but Jesus revealed himself as I Am. I Am is the language of the perfect eternal idea in the transcendental world, it is the language of the triangle. Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I Am. This is Christianity. Like Buddhism, Christianity does not concern itself about the material world, its sole concern is the transcendental world; it does not concern itself about morality, its sole concern is immortality; it does not concern itself about conduct, its sole concern is faith; a man is justified, not by deeds, but he is justified by faith. Like Buddhism, Christianity negates this material world and the body. There is not a word in the New Testament about human conduct in this material world. Man is to take no thought of the tomorrow of what he shall eat or drink, he shall neither till the land nor spin nor sew, but be like the fowls of the air or the lilies of the field, trusting to the Heavenly Father that he will feed them and clothe them. Man is not to concern himself about justice and should not interfere with the ruling classes. Not a word of protest did Jesus utter against oppression, exploitation and slavery, but advised men to submit to them all. Judaism demands that evil be exterminated, but Christianity rather encourages evil. If one strike me at the right cheek, I must let him also strike me at the left cheek; if one takes off my upper garment, I must also let him take off my under garment. Marriage is only a concession to lust; but, if one can overcome the lust, he should not marry. Naive Christians tell us that Christianity failed, because the Christians did not live up to the requirements of Christianity. How naive ! These naive Christians do not realize that, if the Christians did live up to the requirements of Christianity, there would have been left neither Christians nor a semblance of Christianity. Suppose the Christians did live up to the requirements of Christianity, then they would not till the land, they would not produce the material means of life, they would not spin, they would not sew, they would not wash the body, they would not concern themselves about justice and morality, they would not marry, and they would live in filth and dirt. What would become of them ? They would degenerate and perish, and then there would not he a Christian to tell the tale. Christianity was not meant for this world, it was meant for another world, somewhere in heaven, to be enjoyed after death. Christianity does not concern itself about life, but about death; it does not concern itself about existence on this earth, but only about existence in heaven after death.
74. Death is the chief concern of Christianity, and for this reason it rests on a testament, it is conceived in death and exists only for death. Christianity was born only with the death of Jesus. If Jesus had not been crucified, there would have been no Christianity. The basis of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension to heaven. And, while Judaism promises reward on this earth and while we live, Christianity promises reward in heaven and only after death. Jehovah is a living God, he is I Am Becoming what I Am to Become; Jesus is a dead God, he is I Am. Jehovah is a living God, because he functions in the material world; but Jesus is a dead God, because he is an eternal idea in the transcendental world; the material world is a living, changing, developing and progressing world, but the transcendental world is a dead world, no change, no evolution, no history, no progress and no destiny. As stated before, Judaism rests on a covenant, but Christianity rests on a testament. This is no accident: it goes to the essence of these two religions. We must consider the difference between a covenant and a testament. A covenant is between living beings, while a testament is between the dead and the living. A covenant imposes duties and tasks. Once the covenant is made, neither party to the covenant can withdraw from the covenant without the consent of the other. But a testament does not impose duties and tasks. True enough, the bequest in a testament can impose duties and tasks as a condition to the bequest, but the beneficiary is not bound to accept both, he can renounce both the bequest and its conditions. Next, the reward in a covenant can be earned only after the performance of the duties and the task, but in the case of a testament the beneficiary gets the reward at once. Hence, while Judaism promises reward only in the end of days, and after the Jews will have performed their hard historic task, the Christians attain to salvation the moment they believe in Jesus; the moment they believe in him they are saved. It is enough to believe in Jesus to be saved and the sins to be forgiven, but it is not enough to believe in Jehovah to be saved and the sins to be forgiven; one must justify himself with deeds, and with deeds to atone for sins. And, while Judaism is principally concerned about the people, society and the whole human race, Christianity is concerned only about the soul of the individual. Judaism is social, Christianity is individualistic. Christianity, like Buddhism, is unhistoric; it knows of no beginning and of no end, and it does not know what is its historic function. Christianity broke away from Judaism and became an antagonist of Judaism. Then take away the New Testament from the Jewish Bible, and what will be left? An abstraction, like Einstein’s chest, hanging in an infinite vacuum. Christianity, therefore, is unhistoric and unmoral. Whatever morality the Christians have is not due to Christianity, and whatever history the Christians know is not derived from the New Testament.
75. Now, Christians will indignantly protest against all that I said about Christianity, they will say that I misstated the facts and misrepresented the truth of Christianity. If it were necessary for me to justify every word I said about Christianity, I could write a big volume; but it is not necessary for me to do this ungrateful task, for it was already done by Christians themselves. And intelligent Christians know very well that a great revolution takes place among Christians themselves; they wake up to the realization of the fact that Christianity is neither historic nor moral, and they try to regenerate and revolutionize Christianity. The literature on this subject is vast, and is well known to intelligent Christians. But for my present purposes, I will call upon three Christians to testify, and let them tell you what Christianity really is. The first witness whom I will call to testify is I. M. Haldeman, D.D., Pastor, First Baptist Church, Broadway and 79th St., New York City. A few years ago he wrote an essay, entitled: Morality or Immortality? In this essay, Pastor Haldeman endeavors to prove that Christianity has nothing to do with morality, its sole and only concern is immortality. And now let us hear what he says. Did our Lord Jesus Christ come into the world to make men moral or immortal? I shall answer this question from a basic text to be found in Saint Paul’s Epistle to Timothy, First Chapter, ninth and tenth verses: Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purposes and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But now is made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
76. Pastor Haldeman continues: According to the popular concept, our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to do good, heal the sick, comfort the sorrowing, set a good example of morality, of strict righteousness, and live a life of thoughtful reverence for, and sincere devotion to, the unseen God. Christianity, it is held, consists in following this example. Like Christ, people are to go about doing good, visiting the sick. Looking after the poor and needy, being kindly and cleanly spoken, gentle-mannered and full of brightness and cheer for other lives. In short, a life of perpendicular honesty and unquestioned morality, owning and having reverence for God as the Supreme Being, but a God bigger and broader than the limited tribal God of Israel, not the Jehovah of a small and comparatively insignificant nation, but a God who, by whatever name He may be called, is, in the final terms, the Father of all men. Such with more or less modifications is the kind of Christianity the advanced preacher is preaching. And this is the kind of Christianity, equally more or less modified, the average Christian is trying to practice, or, at least, holds theoretically. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Where does moral character stand in relation to this text? Let it be said you are the most perfectly righteous person who ever trod over the earth; that you have a character in which no one can find a flaw; say you do not believe in the story about Jesus Christ, you do not accept Him at all, even, as your best example; say you do not believe in the Bible as the inspired, infallible Word of God. What then? Why this text declares that your moral character in relation to your fellow men is of no saving value before God. It warns you that as you die and pass into eternity with all your ethical culture you enter there under the wrath of God, and this wrath will abide on you forever.
77. Pastor Haldeman continues: What is the modern concept of Christianity in the light of that text but a monstrous and open lie ? But now I turn from all hypothecations and suppositions to positive and absolute affirmation. I affirm Jesus Christ did not come into the world to live a merely moral life and do good. I affirm His deeds of benevolence and healing were not objective, and were in no way the superlative, of His mission. I affirm His deeds were only incidental to His mission. They were simply the foretold credentials of His mission, the dynamic demonstration that He was in truth vi hat He claimed to be— the long announced Messiah of Israel and the Lamb of God who should bear away the sin of the world and reconcile it to God. I affirm Jesus Christ did not come into the world to be a reformer, an advanced socialist.. Nay ! He saw soldiers everywhere. Everywhere He heard the tramp of armed men returning from the field of battle. He said no word against war; on the contrary, He warned men that he had not come into the world to bring peace, but a sword, that his coming would put men at variance with one another and bring a bloody controversy concerning himself. He saw corruption in government. He was born and lived under one of the most corrupt. He organized no movement of reform against it. Instead, He commanded those who lived under it to pay their taxes and therefore support it. He saw slaves under the whip lash. He saw men toiling for a stipend. He made no effort to liberate the slave, uttered no incendiary word that would stir up revolt, even dissatisfaction, but bade them put their hands upon their mouths and their mouths in the dust and say: We are unprofitable slaves. He did not start a campaign for the amelioration of the voluntary laborer nor suggest an increase of wages. He saw abject poverty; and yet, when a young woman broke an alabaster box, pouring its contents of costly perfume upon Him, He rebuked those who rebuked her (those who called it a waste, would have sold it and the proceeds given to the poor) by justifying the expenditure upon Himself, bidding the necessities of the poor to wait.
I affirm the average Christian is in the dark as to the whole truth of God and that the great mass of mankind today are on the verge of imminent peril by reason of the false preaching that morality is Christianity or that the supreme objective of Christianity is an ethical or moral life.
78. Thus spake Pastor Haldeman, D. D., a high dignitary of the Christian Church. Could I put the case any stronger? What Pastor Haldeman says about Christianity is the truth. Christianity is not concerned about morality, its sole concern is immortality. This is clear. Morality relates to this material world, and its purpose is to promote our well-being on this earth. But Christianity negates the material world and the life on this earth. Therefore Christianity is not concerned about morality. Pastor Haldeman wants the Christians to stop thinking of morality, and think only of immortality. And now I will call upon another witness, who will condemn Christianity just because it negates the material world and morality. This witness is Professor John Macmurray, of University College, London. He wrote an essay, entitled: Creative Society. In this essay, Professor Macmurray shows that what passes as Christianity is a superstition and a fraud, just because it negates the material world and morality. Professor Macmurray believes that true Christianity, like Judaism, concerns itself only about the material world and morality. He therefore demands the destruction of the existing Christianity, and bring out a true Christianity, but this regenerated and true Christianity must identify itself with Marxism and communism, and concern itself only about this material world and morality. I will now let Professor Macmurray speak to you. Christianity, in fact, seems to inhabit the ethereal region which is widely separated from the human conflicts by which the fate of men and nations is decided; and it takes God with it out of the world…. If we cannot define our Christianity in such a way that it can determine for us a clear programme of action through which we can claim the future as our own and fight for its possession, then we ought, without hesitation, reject Christianity completely and find another faith to fight for…. Belief in God is properly an attitude to life which expresses itself in our ways of behaving. If we wish to know what it means to believe in God, we must ask ourselves what this practical attitude is and how it expresses itself…. We are concerned with actions, not with professions, and we have repeated warning from the teaching of Jesus that the Divine judgment pays little attention to professions and is likely to have surprising results…. I cannot help feeling that Communism, whatever its exponents may say, has recovered that essential core of a real belief in God, which organized Christianity has in our day largely lost. For the Communist movement started when Marx said: Let us turn from ideas to reality, let us look not at people’s theories but at their actions. It is by seeing how societies and their institutions work in practice, and not by accepting their ideal accounts of what they are, after that we shall understand their real faith…. Pseudo-religion takes the truth of real religion and isolates it in an ideal heaven, completely divorced from the material reality of common action, and floods it with the colorful lights of primitive fantasy. Such a process, by establishing illusion in the mind of men, establishes in reality their isolation and their slavery.
79. Professor Macmurray continues: In world history the Hebrew people is unique; and it is unique because it is the only people whose history is religious through and through. It is this which makes the history of the Jews both the unsolved problem of history and the clue to its inner meaning. The characteristic of Hebrew religion which makes it unique in history is its intense and continuous realism. This realism shows itself peculiarly in the absence of a doctrine of immortality and in the absence of other wordliness. For the Hebrew religion remained the great organizing principle of social life, capable of unifying every aspect of individual and social activity. It never became a particular aspect of human life, relating men to a human existence transcending the earthly life. Hebrew religion, in fact, was intensely materialistic and it is precisely this that gave it persistent and effective reality. It adapted itself continuously to the material and social changes in the development of Hebrew history, and so maintained the condition of religious evolution. The effect of this was to drive into the consciousness of the Hebrews the belief that the basis of social success lies in social righteousness. It was this intimate connection between their religion and the whole of their material life as a nation that forced upon them as their contribution to culture, the development of an understanding of the moral basis of social life, which expresses itself formally in the development of the conception of God. Every national failure was traced to a failure to maintain that social righteousness which was the basis of God’s favor; so that the process of Hebrew development became the process of discovering the spiritual basis of human community.
80. Professor Macmurray continues: The development of the teaching of Jesus is centered from the beginning in the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven. The development has two aspects. It is, in the first place, the discovery of the real meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is, secondly, and consequently, the discovery of the condition of its establishment on earth. These two discoveries taken together form the realization of the meaning of the religious impulse in man and, therefore, constitute a program for the conscious development of human society. In trying to understand the revolution which Jesus accomplished in himself and for the world, we must bear constantly in mind the distinction between the religion of reality and the religion of illusion. The Kingdom of Heaven remains what it was for his predecessors, a Kingdom on earth, constituted from the normal, everyday elements of human life. It is in the universalization of religion that it is most apt to lose reality and become unconsciously pseudo-religion. One is through the translation of reality into the field of idea and imagination. The other is through the consequent divorce of the idea from practical action, and involves the glorification of material power as the basis of social order. These two forms of pseudo-religion are exemplified in the two great universal religions which still contest the claim of Christianity, Buddhism and Mohammedanism. Both the religions which achieved universality by a loss of reality. To achieve universality Buddhism had to represent the world of material activity as illusory, while Mohammedanism had to represent it as the field of physical force. Buddhism achieved a merely ideal spirituality, Mohammedanism merely an idealized materialism. These two tendencies may be seen at work throughout the history of Christianity itself. It is always tending to become a religion of illusion either by an approximation to Buddhism, that is to say, through a divorcing of the spiritual world from any earthly reality, or by an approximation to Mohammedanism, in which it thinks to establish the Kingdom of Heaven by the use of physical force. The supremacy of the religion of Jesus lay in its capacity to remain fully material and yet to achieve universality. Its success lies precisely in its universal concreteness. It is this above all that we have to understand.
81. Professor Macmurray endeavors to show that Jesus had in mind nothing else than what Marx had in mind, and which was all through a Jewish idea. He then tells us the following: The eternal aspect of human life is, in fact, nothing transcendental or other-worldly. It is the simple fact that the process of human development is real only as the life experience of individual human beings. The life of any human being is lived and its general form determined by a set of conditions, amongst which the social structure into which he is born holds the most important place. And the form of this process is primarily determined by the relation of man to his material environment. This is the temporal aspect of human life. But throughout all his variations of local and temporal circumstances there is something that is unchanging. The reality of human life lies in the individual experience of men and women. The human individual must relate himself to his material environment to provide for himself the necessities of his physical existence. He must also relate himself to his fellows to fulfill the social character of his nature as a human being. This is the eternal aspect of human life. The development of society is the development of this form…. Real religion is never idealist. It is never supernatural or otherworldly. This is not a matter of mere theory. The religion of Jesus was not ideal, as our study of it clearly shows. It seems to me clearly written in history that religion has often been the driving force of a social revolution which would have been impossible without it. But the plainest historical evidence for the effectiveness of religion as a positive social form lies in the history of the Jews. Scattered throughout the world under the greatest possible variety of economic, social and political conditions the Jews retained their unity as a distinct people without any common basis of territory or economic organization to support it. Marx realized that there could be no solution to the Jewish problem short of the solution of all the great social problems through the establishment of a universal human society. He did not realize that the reason for this lies in the fact that the Jews are the one actual religious community in the civilized world, and that the solution of the Jewish problem and of the problem of universal community is one and the same, the universalization of real religion as the basic expression of the eternal nature of all human fellowship in reality.
82. Professor Macmurray continues: Christianity is the source of Communism, and Communism has moved into dialectical opposition to Christianity through the process by which Christianity in its conscious form has been divorced from material reality. A Christianity which withdrew its beliefs from association with the temporal reality of earthly life must inevitably produce out of itself a temporal theory which divorces itself from the eternal and spiritual reality. The clear separation of these not merely as opposing theories but as antagonistic forces in the field of social development is the necessary prelude to their synthesis in a Christianity which has become real at the full height of its mature development. The separation of Communism and Christianity into conscious antagonism means that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. When the full nature of Christianity is realized, we recognize at once that the whole Communist theory, insofar as it is positive, falls within Christianity…. The synthesis of Communism and Christianity is only to be achieved by the reformation of Christianity through a thoroughgoing attack upon all perverted forms of Christianity itself…. The first step of all, on which everything else turns, is the total rejection of idealism. The question at issue is this What and where are the real objective facts to which our ideas and beliefs refer? Do they refer to the substantial, everyday life of the world around us, or do they refer to another life or another world which lies somehow beyond or outside this life and this world? Idealism is profoundly irreligious, because it is the perversion of religion into unreality. The real world is the world in which we act. The ideal world is the world in which we dream…. The effective renunciation of idealism is the first step towards recalling Christianity to reality. Professor Macmurray then concludes with the following: The answer which I would give to Christians who ask what they must do would be this. Attack pseudo-Christianity openly and resolutely in all its forms, in the name of real Christianity. The religious revolution is the immediate and special responsibility of the Christians. Unless we can vindicate the substantial material reality of our religion, we are powerless to do anything effective. There must be war to the death between real and unreal religion, even if it should cleave organized Christianity in two and destroy all its existing forms. That is the primary task; and it has to be achieved concretely in terms of the Christian denunciation and criticism of the existing structure of society, in its effects upon the lives of men and women. At present that criticism is either divorced from Christianity altogether or, where it is associated with Christianity it is in such general and emotional terms that it means nothing definite. It is only by making it at once definite, detailed and circumstantial, and grounding it in the clear principles of the Christian conception of true human society that we shall discover for ourselves what Christianity really means, and be able to detect and to destroy its perversions of idealism and power.
83. I regret that space does not permit me to quote still more copiously from this essay of Professor Macmurray. All that I can say is that the reader will do well to procure this and other essays of Professor Macmurray and study them carefully. They are published by Eddy and Page, 347 Madison Avenue, New York City. When we now reflect on the views of Pastor Haldeman and Professor Macmurray, we clearly see they differ fundamentally about the nature of Christianity. According to Pastor Haldeman, Christianity is not concerned about this material world and morality; while according to Professor Macmurray, Christianity is only concerned about this material world and morality. But Professor Macmurray does not speak of the Christianity that existed and exists, he speaks only of the Christianity that Jesus had in mind, but which never existed. Professor Macmurray now wants to bring into life the Christianity of Jesus, which however never existed. I shall not stop to consider the question: who of them is correct in his view about the nature of Christianity, but this is perfectly clear: Whatever idea Jesus had about the Kingdom of Heaven, the Christianity that resulted never concerned itself about this material world and morality. And according to Professor Macmurray, for this reason, Christianity was only a pseudo-religion, and not a real religion. I have yet a third witness to testify on the nature of Christianity, and this is Conrad Noel. He is a priest of the English Catholic Church, and a member of the Order of the Church Militant. He wrote a book, entitled: The Life of Jesus, which was published by Simon and Schuster, 1938, New York City.
84. Like Professor Macmurray, Conrad Noel, proves that the Christianity which existed and exists was and is a perversion of the doctrines of Jesus. The central idea of Christianity is the Kingdom of Heaven. For thousands of years the Christians were taught by the Church and priests that the Kingdom of Heaven was to be a Kingdom in heaven to be enjoyed in heaven after death. But at no time did the Christians make an attempt to find out whether this was really the idea of Jesus. And now, after two thousand years of Christianity, Conrad Noel takes up the original question, which was never asked, and therefore never answered, namely, what did Jesus actually mean by the Kingdom of Heaven? How can this be ascertained? Conrad Noel made a daring step to ascertain the truth. This is what he did. He started out with the following premise. Jesus spoke to the Jews, he spoke in their language, and expressed ideas which they understood. He spoke to the Jews of the Kingdom of Heaven, and Jesus did not tell them that his idea of the Kingdom of Heaven differed from their idea of the Kingdom of Heaven. He spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven as the Jews themselves understood it. And Jesus did not speak to non-Jews about the Kingdom of Heaven. The question, then, is: What did the Jews understand by the Kingdom of Heaven? It is this question which Conrad Noel undertook to answer. It is a revolutionary question, and therefore the answer is revolutionary. Conrad Noel shows that the Jews understood by the Kingdom of Heaven nothing else than a kingdom of God which will be realized on this earth, and which mankind will enjoy while they live. There is no doubt that this was the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven which the Jews always entertained, and which they still entertain. This being so, then when Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven he meant just what the Jews meant. In other words, Jesus actually meant the Kingdom of Heaven to be realized on this earth, and to be enjoyed by mankind while they live. Since this idea of Jesus is the soul and essence of Christianity, it clearly follows that the followers of Jesus perverted and distorted the idea of Jesus, and Christianity was and is only a perversion and distortion of the idea of Jesus. Since Jesus thought only of a Kingdom of Heaven to be realized on this earth, it follows that Christianity must identify itself with the material world, and cooperate with the revolutionary forces that work for the realization of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth for living humanity. Conrad Noel reaches the same conclusion which Professor Macmurray reached, namely, that Christianity must identify itself with Communism.
85. It is now perfectly clear that the Christianity which came down to us was divorced from the material world and from morality. Now, whether Christianity can be revolutionized and be made to concern itself about the material world and morality; and, if so, whether it will remain Christianity, this we shall see later. But this is now perfectly clear that I did not misstate the nature of the Christianity that existed and still exists. Thus the difference between Judaism and the other religions is now definitely established. Only Judaism is a historic and moral religion; all other religions are neither historic nor moral. And the reason is, as stated before, because Judaism is bound up with Jehovah, the God of History. And, because of all this, the Jews are the only people that are consciously historic and moral. And for this reason the Jewish People are eternal. And here I want to call attention to a fact universally overlooked, even by Jews themselves. It has been universally assumed that the Bible never spoke of immortality. It has also been universally assumed that the Jews acquired this idea during their Babylonian exile, presumably from the Eastern nations. There is truth in this assumption, but it is not the entire truth. W e shall presently see that the idea of immortality was with the Jews from the very beginning. Jehovah told Isaac that he was the God of Abraham; to Jacob Jehovah told that he was the God of Abraham and Isaac, and to Moses Jehovah told that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Was Jehovah the God of the dead ones? Let us see what the Bible tells us about the death of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (See Genesis: 25, 8; 35, 29; 49, 33.) You will find the 13ible using in these three cases the same expression: and he was gathered to his people. To what people? How was he gathered to his people? What does it mean that he was gathered to his people? The answer is this: Right here we are told that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are eternal. This immortality differs fundamentally from the immortality of other races and peoples. The immortality that mankind generally believes is an immortality of the soul in heaven. When a man dies, his soul goes up to heaven and unites with God. The soul comes down to the carth to exist in an embodied form, function through life, and then goes back to heaven where it remains forever. This is not the immortality of which the Bible speaks. The Bible speaks of an immortality right here on earth. In what consists this immortality? It consists in this: the soul continues to live and function through the children and grandchildren and the people descending from them. Hence, when a man dies, his soul is gathered to his people. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the rest continue to live in the Jewish people, and in due time they will live in the whole human race. This was the immortality of the Jewish people, and it was known to the Jews all the time. When, however, the Jewish people suffered a national catastrophe, and the remaining Jews were exiled to Babylonia, they seemed to have lost hope that the Jewish people would continue to exist. Hence, the Jews adopted the general idea of immortality which is of an individual nature. It was this idea that the Jews brought back from exile. But with the regeneration of the Jewish people in Palestine, the ancient idea of immortality was also regenerated. And, while most Jews believe in the general idea of immortality, the Jews that have a deeper understanding of Judaism know that the only immortality there is for the Jew is the immortality in the Jewish people. Each Jew continues to live in the Jewish people, and he will continue to live so long as the Jewish people will live. Since the destiny of mankind is to become Jews, it follows that each Jew will continue to live as long as mankind will live. This is the true Jewish idea of immortality.
86. And now I will reveal the esoteric idea of immortality as told us in the Bible. The Bible tells us: Jehovah spoke to Moses and told him: I am Jehovah, and I appeared unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Shaddai, but my name Jehovah I did not make known to them. What does the Bible tell us here? What is the meaning of the name Shaddai? God has as many names as he has attributes, each name is the name of the attribute. What attribute of God is expressed by the name Shaddai ? The word Shaddai comes from the root-word Shadd, meaning breast; and Shaddai means my breast. Shaddai is the name of the breast of God. What attribute of God does the breast symbolize? It symbolizes the flow of eternal life from parents to offspring. This was what Jehovah told Moses. Jehovah told Moses that he manifested himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by this attribute. I am the tree of eternal life that flows through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and through all of their future descendants, and by this I have established my covenant with them. (See Exodus 6, 2.) This is the eternal covenant: the tree of eternal life flows from Jehovah through the Jewish people. Now, as is well known, the Hebrew letters have numerical values. The whole Bible was written in accordance with an infinite mathematical system. Now, the numerical value of the name Shaddai (in Hebrew), is 314. And the numerical value of the expression (in Hebrew): And he was gathered to his people—is also 314. This is the meaning of the expression used by the Bible upon the death of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It means that Jehovah, as the tree of eternal life, continues to live in the Jewish people. This is the true idea of immortality. The Jewish soul is eternal, because the tree of eternal life was implanted by Jehovah in the Jewish people. This is what the Jews say: Jehovah gave us a true Torah, and by this He implanted in us eternal life. And now we can clearly understand why the Jewish soul speaks an eternal language. And thus we considered the biologico-cultural aspect of the world situation that confronts the Jews and the rest of mankind. And now we will take up for consideration the religio-historic aspect.
THE RELIGIO-HISTORIC ASPECT.
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; forasmuch as they broke my covenant, although I was a lord over them, saith Jehovah. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah; I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; and they shall teach no more everyman his neighbor, and everyman his brother, saying: Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. JEREMIAH: XXXI, 31-34.
Everything which we desire and do, of which we are the cause insofar as we possess an idea of God, or insofar as we know God, I refer to religion. The desire of doing well which is born in us, because we live according to the guidance of reason, I call piety. SPINOZA: Ethics, Part IV.
87. Men struggle, and always did struggle, for land and the material means of life. The motives of all human struggles were and are materialistic. But. as if ashamed of their materialistic motives, men always clothed their materialistic motives in ideal garments. While men struggled for land and the material means of life, they claimed that they were struggling for ideal causes; they claimed that they were struggling for God, for religion, for justice, for liberty, for humanity, for culture, for democracy, for communism, and so on indefinitely. Now, as far as concerns the motives of which men were conscious, men were hypocrites, for their motives were always materialistic. But, when we look deeper into the matter, we perceive that men were right: they always struggled for ideal causes. The essence of man is an idea of God; this idea is the soul of man. Man consists of a soul, mind and body; the body and the mind are only instruments in the hands of the soul. The body is a mode of extension and the mind is a mode of thought, and through them the soul functions. Since the essence of man is an idea of God, it follows that only an idea is of supreme concern to man. From this follows that when men agree on an idea, they will be friends, comrades, and will even love one another; but, when men are opposed in ideas, they will hate one another, they will be enemies of one another, and will even endeavor to destroy one another. This was and is the universal experience of the human race. That we may be certain of this, the consideration of the following will make it clear. By means of accumulated knowledge, understanding and skill, mankind brought out a mechanism of production and distribution which, if only used cooperatively and rationally, would supply to the whole human race an abundance of the means of life. There is no longer any need for mankind to struggle about the material means of life. Next, there is no longer any need for mankind to struggle for land, for they have more land than they need. For instance, in the United States alone there is room enough for five times the present population. And, if the whole earth should be conquered for progress and civilization, there will be room enough on this earth for a thousand times the present human population on earth. Thus we see that mankind have at their disposal infinite material wealth and room enough for at least a thousand times the present population of the human race. And yet, the whole human race is involved in a life and death struggle about land and material things. A world war and world revolutions are inevitable. Why are they struggling? Because they cannot agree on the idea of cooperation. The idea of cooperation is as old as the human race is, for cooperation is the basis of society and all human progress. Since the dawn of reason on the human mind, men of thought perceived that in cooperation lies the salvation of mankind, and since then the great prophets and thinkers dreamt of the universal cooperation of mankind. Since then, all human struggles were conscious and unconscious struggles to realize the idea of universal cooperation, and since then men struggled with one another because they could not agree on the cooperation itself. Each race, each nation and each class wanted that its idea of cooperation shall become the basis for the universal cooperation of mankind. The same was true of religion, philosophy and politics. All religions wanted universal cooperation, but each religion wanted that the cooperation shall be on its own basis. And the same was true of ideas and ideals of whatever nature. Each race, nation, people or class regarded its idea of cooperation as right, true and good, at the same time regarding the ideas of cooperation of others as wrong, false and evil. For instance, the Catholics and the communists believe in universal cooperation, and each side strives to extend that cooperation universally; yet, between the Catholics and the communists there is a life and death struggle, because the Catholics regard their idea of cooperation as being right, true and good, while the idea of cooperation of the communists the Catholics regard as wrong, false and evil; and so it is with the communists, they regard their idea of cooperation to be right, true and good, and the Catholic idea of cooperation to be wrong, false and evil. This is universal. When we view history from this viewpoint, we perceive that, no matter what the motive was of which mankind were conscious, the real cause of all struggles was and is a struggle about ideas; the difference in ideas was the cause of the struggles. When, at last, mankind will agree on the idea of universal cooperation. then all struggles will cease. Thus we see that men were right when they claimed that they were struggling for and against ideas. It was the difference in ideas that caused men to struggle against one another. Even in previous time, when mankind did not enjoy the benefits of accumulated knowledge, understanding and skill, if men agreed in the idea of cooperation, they would not struggle against one another; they would enjoy together the little that they possessed.
88. The highest and most essential idea is religion. Whatever characteristic religion may have, and no matter what men think of religion, in essence religion is an idea concerning the future destiny of mankind. Whether that destiny will realize itself in a Kingdom of Heaven after death, or it will realize itself in a Kingdom of Heaven on this earth to be enjoyed while we live, the idea of that destiny was and is the essence of all religion. The past no longer concerns us, and the present ceases to be present as soon as we think of it, but the future is the absolute reality that concerns us most vitally. Hence, the idea that concerns itself about the future is the most essential idea known to mankind, and this idea is the essence of religion. Philosophy concerns itself about the past, science concerns itself about the present, but religion concerns itself about the future. Hegel tells us that philosophy, like the owl of Minerva, takes her flight only when the sun has set. In other words, philosophy is concerned only about the past, and the moment philosophy comes to the future it draws down the curtain, declaring: no more. The same is true of science. Spencer defines science as prevision, but the prevision of science relates to only such phenomena that really are only a repetition of the past. For instance, astronomy can predict the future position of heavenly bodies, but only in cases when the future will be like the past. Eternally the planets move in the same orbits, go through the same cycles, and come back to where they were. The future is only a repetition of the past. In the heavenly bodies there is no destiny; and, if there is a destiny in the heavenly bodies, astronomy cannot perceive it. But the moment we come to cases in which destiny is involved, science has not a word to say. For instance, here is a child born. Let all the scientists in the world put their heads together and tell us what is the destiny of this child, what will it become, and what will it accomplish ? The scientists may know all about the antecedents of this child, and yet they will not be able to tell us about its destiny. And this is even more so in the case of peoples and races, and particularly so in the case of the human race. Not philosophers and scientists, but religious geniuses, perceived the ultimate destiny of mankind. Since the future destiny is what concerns mankind most, and this destiny is perceived only by religion, it follows that religion is of infinite concern to mankind. We can state definitely that, where the idea of the future is of essence, there we find religion in its true nature. Take an extreme case. The communists are against religion, and they seek to destroy religion; yet, when we look deeper into the nature of communism, we see that it is essentially nothing else than a religion. That the communists seek to destroy all existing religions is not remarkable; all new religions had first to destroy the existing religions, to clear the terrain for its own existence. This was the case of Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism, Buddhism, and all other religions. Next, when we disregard the scientific cloak of Marxism, we see that in essence it is nothing else than religion. Marx believed that he was a scientist, and he hated metaphysics; yet, he was the greatest metaphysician of modern times. And the greatness of Marx consists in just this that he was a religious metaphysician. His scientific theories may prove false, but his religious perception of the destiny of mankind will endure forever. Marx could say with Jesus: Heaven and earth shall pass, but my religious perception of the destiny of mankind will not pass.
89. Since religion concerns itself about the future destiny of mankind, it follows that this idea of religion is the most vital idea that concerns mankind. We can forget our past sufferings, failures and disappointments, we can remain indifferent to the wrongs and injustices done to us in the past by others, but we can neither forget nor remain indifferent to the sufferings, failures, disappointments, the wrongs and injustices that will be done to us and which we will suffer in the future. The future justifies the past. Since religion is the most essential idea that concerns men, it follows that men of one religion will be far more intimately identified with one another than men of other ideas; and men who are opposed in religion will be far more deeply opposed to one another than men who are opposed to one another in other ideas. This was the reason why religious struggles were always bloodier and more determined than all other struggles. Now, if men were free to choose their ideas, it would be correct to say that men struggle for and against ideas. But men are not free to choose their ideas; rather ideas choose men. Hence, it is not men that struggle for and against ideas, but the ideas struggle against one another. Since religion is the most essential idea, it follows that the struggles of religious ideas against one another are the most vital struggles in human existence. Now, communism and fascism are religious ideas, because they concern themselves about the future of mankind. State capitalism is the next social order. The question before history is this: Shall state capitalism be the prelude to socialism and communism, the human society resting on universal communism or shall state capitalism be the prelude to the supremacy of one race over the other races of mankind ? As this question concerns the future of mankind, the struggle between these ideas will be the bloodiest struggle known to history. A bloody world struggle between communism and fascism is inevitable. This is the world situation that faces mankind.
90. Marx said: The problem and the means for its solution arise simultaneously. There are numerous problems in philosophy, science, art, politics, finance, and so on; but these are problems only to such as have the means with which to solve these problems; they are problems to the philosophers, the scientists, the artists, the statesmen, the financiers, and so on; but they are not problems to the ordinary men; the former possess the knowledge, understanding, training and the experience with which to solve these problems; while the ordinary men do not possess these means with which to solve these problem. Hence, while the philosophers, the scientists, the artists, the statesmen, the financiers. and so on, struggle to solve these problems, the ordinary men do not lose a moment of their peace of mind to solve these problems. Mankind are confronted by the problem: What shall be the future social order of society? But this is not a problem to all mankind. The great mass of mankind are too ignorant and wholly unconscious of what faces them to be aware that such problem exists; they constitute the great mass of mankind that, in the impending world struggles, will be used by the contending powers one way or another way. Then there is the capitalist class and all those that economically, intellectually and spiritually are bound up with the present social order. These believe that private capitalism is ordained to exist forever, and therefore the present social order will exist forever. True enough, they are aware of what they consider as imperfections in the present social order, but they are convinced that in due time these imperfections will be removed. Hence, this class of people do not realize the nature of the problem that faces mankind, and therefore are not prepared to solve it. In the impending world struggles, this class will play a minor and temporary role; they will struggle to preserve the present social order, private capitalism and the existing institutions. Since, however, private capitalism can no longer function and exist, private capitalism, the present social order and its institutions will be destroyed in the impending world struggles. Hence, in the impending world struggles the capitalist class and all those that are bound up with the present capitalist system will occupy the historic stage for only a short time, and then they will be swept off the historic stage. The historic stage will be occupied by the communists and the fascists. Since the communists and the fascists already perceived the inevitability of a new social order, in the impending world struggles, the struggle will be between the communists and the fascists. Since, however, we saw that the struggles are not between men, hut between ideas, it follows that the struggles will be between communism and fascism. The outcome of this struggle will determine the next social order. Who will be victorious, the communists or the fascists? This we shall presently see.
91. Fascism is the child of Bolshevism. To understand the historic function of fascism, we must first consider the Russian revolution. The Russian revolution was the work of history, and the soul of the revolution was communism. We saw that communism is the foundation of society, it is the basis of all human progress, it is the hope of the working class, and it is the destiny of mankind. Communism is nothing else than the soul of mankind that speaks yet an implicit language, but which realizes through the process of history the destiny of mankind. But this soul can proceed in its work as fast as the development of mankind and their conditions of existence permit. In Russia, this soul accomplished a most monumental revolution; but due to the fact that the Russian people and the conditions of existence in Russia were yet in a backward state, the communist soul could not go further. The Russian revolution made a great step in progress, but could not make the next step in progress. When the old communists in Soviet Russia were destroyed and Soviet Russia settled down upon the basis of state capitalism, what became of the soul of communism? It was banished from Soviet Russia. If in any other country there were revolutionary proletarians, the communist soul would continue its work in the other countries; it would embody itself in the revolutionary proletarians of the other countries and continue the revolutionary work. But in no other country were there revolutionary proletarians. The great mass of the proletariat were yet unconscious and reactionary. And the few proletarians that were revolutionary were so bound up with Soviet Russia that the communist soul could not function through them. Like the dove sent out by Noah from the ark, the communist soul could find no revolutionary resting place. There was left for the communist soul only this: to embody itself in the nations that were most hampered in their development by the present social order, and these nations became fascists. Thus fascism was born. History speaks a metaphysical language. To understand history, we must understand the metaphysical language it speaks.
92. The Kabbalah tells us: When a man dies, who during his lifetime was not strong enough to resist temptations and degenerated, his soul cannot return to her source and unite with God. The soul is then compelled to remain, in a disembodied state, in the material world. This is an unbearable disgrace and suffering to the soul. The soul then tries to embody herself in a living human being, but the soul of that human being would not let the vagabond soul to share the same human body. The soul is then compelled to embody herself in an animal, and the spirit of the animal is not strong enough to prevent the vagabond soul from sharing the animal body. Thus the human soul escapes from one disgrace and suffering only to fall into another disgrace and suffering; the human soul is compelled to dwell together with the animal spirit and to function with that spirit through the animal body. Notwithstanding this, the human soul does not lose her identity; and, though very much hampered by the animal body and the animal spirit, yet the human soul endeavors to function as a human soul. A time comes when the human soul is permitted to embody herself in a newly born human body. Having gone through great humiliation and suffering, and having been purged of her previous sins, the human soul regenerates, and now through the human body works out her salvation. The Kabbalah reveals a profound truth of history. The Russian people could not continue the revolutionary struggle for socialism and communism, the old communists were destroyed, and the communist soul was banished from Soviet Russia. The only place where the communist soul could find an embodiment and function was among the fascists. Fascism is the communist soul functioning through an animal body. Until men attain to reason, they are only animals, animals with the potentiality of becoming human beings. The fascists have not yet attained to reason, and therefore they are still animals. The communist soul suffers in fascism, because it has to live in an animal body and function together with the animal spirit. Notwithstanding this, the communist soul does not lose her identity, and she continues her revolutionary work. This will continue until a revolutionary proletariat will come into existence, when the communist soul will leave the fascists and embody herself in the revolutionary proletariat, and then she will function as a human soul altogether. And so we have this situation. The communists, who were revolutionaries and in whom dwelled the communist soul, were destroyed; their place was taken by reactionaries in whom dwells the soul of capitalism. To cover up their shame of betrayal and reaction, they array themselves with the figleaves of a communist ideology. On the other hand, the fascists are still animals, yet the communist soul dwells in them and does revolutionary work. Not the so-called communists are now revolutionaries, but the so-called fascists are revolutionaries, that is, the fascists are communists, though they are not conscious of this
93. Now, if the so-called communists could perceive this truth, if they could recognize the communist soul in the fascists, and if they could regenerate their revolutionary spirit and become revolutionary, then they would unite with the fascists and cooperate with them. By this they would help the fascists attain to reason, cast off the animal body and the animal spirit, and become rational human beings. Then together with the fascists the communists could prepare the ground for universal communism, so that mankind would reach it in a much shorter time and with less suffering. But the so-called communists do not perceive this historic truth, they cannot recognize the communist soul in the fascists, and they cannot regenerate their own revolutionary spirit, and for this reason they barricade themselves against the fascists. Hence, between the fascists and the communists a life and death struggle is inevitable. What will be the outcome of the struggle? Since the so-called communists are reactionaries and bound up with reactionary Soviet Russia, while the fascists are revolutionary, in the impending struggle the communists will be defeated and the fascists will be victorious. Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany will eventually make peace, but it will be the peace dictated by fascism. To the communists this will appear to be the triumph of reaction, historically it will be the triumph of progress and the revolution. Not the communists will destroy private capitalism and the present social order, but the fascists will destroy them; not the communists will force the spread of state capitalism, but the fascists will force this social transformation. The triumph of fascism will be the triumph of the communist soul. But the communist soul is the soul of Judaism. Hence it follows that, just as in the Russian revolution the triumph of communism was the triumph of Judaism, so also in the triumph of fascism will triumph Judaism. The fascists believe that they are struggling against Judaism, in truth and in fact they are struggling for Judaism. But the triumph of Judaism will necessitate on the part of the Jews a change of attitude towards Judaism itself. In what will consist this change of attitude ? To understand this, we must consider the course of human progress.
94. All human progress is from the periphery to the centre; and, when the centre is reached, all further progress is from the centre back to the periphery, and then the periphery reveals itself to be infinitely more wonderful than it appeared at first. A few illustrations are necessary. Man began his acquaintance with himself at the periphery. He first acquired a knowledge of the surface of his body, its form and its movements; then he proceeded to study the inner organs, their structures and functions; finally, he attained to a knowledge of the cell, the most central reality of the body. When man attained to the knowledge of the cell, all further progress in biology, psychology and sociology proceeded from the study of the cell of the body to the periphery; and, when the periphery is now reached, man finds his body to be infinitely more wonderful than it appeared to him at first. This was also the order of progress in self-consciousness. Man begins with the senses, the most peripheral aspect of consciousness; then he brings out successively the understanding, the judgment, the imagination, intuition, reason, and finally he brings out the intellect. The intellect is the soul wholly and universally explicit, and the soul is the most central essence of our being. And now that man attains to the intellect, the mind and the body reveal themselves to be infinitely more wonderful than they appeared at first. This was also the order of progress of mankind. Self-consciousness at first dawned at the periphery of society, manifesting itself among thinkers, prophets and philosophers. Later, self-consciousness penetrated deeper, manifesting itself among artists, poets and scientists; finally self-consciousness began to manifest itself in the proletariat, the most central reality in society. And now that self-consciousness already penetrated the proletariat, all further progress of society proceeds from the proleariat back to the periphery of society. It is the historic function of the proletariat to revolutionize and reconstruct human society from the centre to the periphery; it is the task of the proletariat to emerge from the superincumbent mountain of oppression, exploitation and degradation, to rise to the periphery as the self-conscious ruling class, use its supremacy for the purpose of reconstructing society upon the foundation of universal communism. When the proletariat will have accomplished this historic task, then human society and mankind will reveal themselves to be infinitely richer and more wonderful than they appeared at first.
95. This was also the order of progress in the realm of thought and spirit. All human knowledge started with the abstract, the absolute, the infinite, the remote and the ultimate, and only slowly proceeded to the concrete, the proximate, the relative and the limited. Mankind started out with religious beliefs, then proceeded to metaphysical contemplations, then to philosophic speculations, finally to scientific investigations. At first, mankind concerned themselves about God, the universe, the soul, the beginning and end of things, and the purpose of existence; then they began to concern themselves about the material world, the stars, the earth, the land and water, the laws and processes of nature; and, finally, they began to concern themselves about man himself. Mankind started with God and ended with man; man was the last concern of man himself. Mankind plunged into religious problems, before they sought to solve the real problems of life; they speculated about metaphysical realities, before they sought to understand the physical realities; they studied the horoscopic relations of the constellations to man, before they directed their gaze heavenward for the purposes of astronomy; they concerned themselves about the psychology of God, before they took up the study of the psychology of man. And so it was in all other directions. For thousands of years mankind spent their best intellectual and spiritual endeavors to solve religious, metaphysical, philosophic and political problems, at the same time neglecting their material needs of life. Economics and human psychology have just begun. Now, it is not necessary here to consider the deep reason for this order of human progress. The foregoing illustrations show that this is the order of human progress: it begins at the periphery, proceeds to the centre; and, when the centre is reached, all further progress is back to the periphery. This is also the order of progress in religion. Since religion, as we saw before, is the most vital idea to mankind, we must consider the progress in religion itself, so that we should be able to adjust our life in accordance with this order of progress.
96. Like all other aspects of human progress, religion started at the periphery. The sole concern of religion was the relation of man to God. God dwelled high in heaven, and from his height he issued commandments to man. Man was required to obey these commandments, otherwise God would punish him. Religion was peripheral. It was peripheral, first, because it emanated from God who was at the periphery; secondly because it concerned itself only about the relations of man to God. But gradually religion descended ever more and more towards man, the centre of all existence. To the extent that religion descended to man, to that extent it began to concern itself ever more about man, and ever less about God. A time must come when religion will concern itself only about man. Throughout the past, God dwelled in the heavens, in due time God will dwell in man; throughout the past, God commanded from above, in due time God will legislate to man through man himself. Man will become morally autonomous; of his own accord he will legislate for himself what is right, just and good. This is the profound significance of the prophecy of Jeremiah. Jehovah will write his laws in the heart and in the inward part of man, so that man will no longer stand in need of being told what is right, just and good, for man will know this from his own being. Then the supreme concern of man will be man himself and his relations to his fellow men. It is as Spinoza tells us: Everything which we desire and do, of which we are the cause in so far as we possess an idea of God, or in so far as we know God, is religion; and the desire of doing well which is born in us, because we live according to the guidance of reason, is piety. What Jeremiah and Spinoza tell us is the destiny of mankind, and this destiny should be our guiding star in all our endeavors. We should strive to become morally autonomous. And this, also, gives us a criterion by which to judge a religion. A religion that still concerns itself primarily about God and man’s relation to God, such religion is still at the periphery; on the other hand, a religion that concerns itself primarily about man and man’s relations to his fellow men, this religion has reached the centre. From all that we learned about Judaism, Christianity, and other religions, we can now readily see that Judaism is nearest to the centre. We saw that, when progress has reached the centre, all further progress is from the centre hack to the periphery; it follows that all further progress must begin with Judaism back to God. We must begin with man and the relations of man to man. This must be the starting point of all further progress. Mankind served God long enough, it is high time that man begins to serve himself and his fellow men. As in the past, so now the Jews must be pioneers; they must be pioneers in a change of attitude towards Judaism. Until now the Jews put the emphasis on their relation to Jehovah, from now on they must put the emphasis on their relations to one another and to the rest of mankind. This requires amplification.
97. Judaism consists of two parts: one relating to man’s relations to Jehovah; the other relating to the relations between man and man. It is not necessary to go into a lengthy examination of the commandments, laws and ordinances constituting Judaism; it will be enough for our purpose to consider only the Ten Commandments. Right here we see both aspects of Judaism. The first five commandments relate to Jehovah. I am Jehovah thy God; thou shalt have no other god before Me; thou shalt not take the name Jehovah in vain; remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy; honor thy father and thy mother. The other five commandments relate to men. Thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness, and thou shalt not covet what thy neighbor possesses. Now, until now the Jews were more vitally concerned about the first five commandments than they were concerned about the second five commandments. It is now high time that the Jews begin to concern themselves more about the second five commandments than about the first five commandments. This is the change of attitude towards Judaism that is now imperative. We are now entering into a new social order resting on state capitalism. State capitalism will demand and exact honesty, justice, integrity and pro-sociality far more than private capitalism could demand and exact; state capitalism is nearer to the centre of human progress than private capitalism was. This must be recognized. If the Jews want to remain loyal to Judaism, if they want to preserve themselves as Jews, if they want to fit in the new social order, then they must make up their minds that they must be honest, just, right and pro-social; in this lies their salvation and preservation. This is true, not only of the Jews, but also of the rest of the human race. We already saw that a great revolution is taking place in the Christian world. Thinking Christians fully realize that, if Christianity is to continue to exist and function, it must come down to this earth, it must begin to concern itself about man, it must concern itself more about morality than about immortality, it must seek the Kingdom of Heaven right here on this earth, and to be enjoyed by men while they live right here. This means the abolition of exploitation, oppression, degradation and inhumanity. The Jews should welcome this revolution in the Christian world, and the Jews should show an example. It is not an accident that Judaism gave birth to Marxism, and it is not an accident that the Jews readily took up Marxism; all this was in perfect accord with the progress of Judaism and the Jews. The Jews should realize that Jehovah no longer dwells in heaven, but he dwells in us right here on earth; we must no longer look up to Jehovah as above us and outside of us, but we must see him right within us. The voice of Jehovah, which until now was still the small still voice, which was drowned in the noise of the passions, ambitions and vanities, must become the only voice to be heard and to be obeyed. This will require a complete change of attitude towards life and mankind. The Jews should give up their vain ambitions that find expression in the vain strivings after intellectual and worldly achievements, but the Jews should strive to live a rational, sober and honest life. Until now the Jews were hanging in the air, from now on they must strive to come back to the soil and identify themselves with mother earth. The Jews must recognize the dignity of labor, and especially manual and physical labor. The Jews must learn to eat their bread in the sweat of their brows. Infinitely great are the obstacles and difficulties that face the Jews, but the Jews can overcome them. Whatever be the nature of a problem, it must first be solved in thought, and the solution is an idea; and, whatever be the task that presents itself to us, it must first be solved in thought, and the solution is an idea how to perform the task. The Jews must first determine to realize this idea, and this idea will show them the way and the means for the realization of that idea. The Jews need not fear that manual and physical labor will lessen their intellectual and spiritual capacities. On the contrary, only through manual and physical labor will they attain to the highest intellectual and spiritual capacity. As Spinoza shows that, in proportion as the body is capable of doing various kinds of work, in that proportion is the mind capable to think in many ways. It should be the ambition of every Jew to work by hand and by brain. A Jewish farmer who can read and understand Marx’s Capital is worth a thousand Jewish rabbis who do not work. “And it shall come to pass that the prophet shall say: I am no prophet, I am tiller of the ground.” Zechariah: 13, 5. It is high time that the Jews begin to realize this prophecy. What the Jews already accomplished in Palestine, they can and should accomplish everywhere on the face of the earth. The Jews must go still further; they must change their attitude towards the working class, towards mankind generally, and towards Christianity. What this change shall be we shall presently see.
Noblesse Oblige.
“The whole world was created only for the sake of the Zaddik.” TALMUD.
It is natural to believe in great men. Nature seems to exist for the excellent; they make our earth wholesome. The search after the great men is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood. EMEERSON
98. Hitler is determined to destroy Judaism and the Jews, because according to Hitler, Judaism and the Jews are against the principle of natural aristocracy; and, instead of the eternal privilege of strength and power. Judaism and the Jews place the mass of numbers. By this, Judaism and the Jews according to Hitler, deny the dignity of personality and the significance of nationality and race. According to Hitler, a superior race has a natural right to dominate over an inferior race. Since the Germans are the superior nation of the superior race, the Germans have a natural right to dominate over the inferior races. And, since Judaism and the Jews are in the way of the Germans, the Germans have a natural right to destroy Judaism and the Jews. As usual, Hitler speaks in abstractions and generalities, for this requires no proof. What is to be understood by natural aristocracy, what is to be understood by the privilege of strength and power ? Are we to understand by these expressions the aristocracy of physical strength and power ? Indeed, we are justified in this, for the whole philosophy of Hitler and the nazis rests upon physical strength and power. They disregard reason, defy justice, and trample under foot morality and humanity. They are determined to become the world power and the masters over the rest of mankind by physical strength and power. For this purpose, they bleed the Germans to death, in order to create the strongest military machine in the world. Since Hitler and the nazis recognize only one kind of aristocracy, the aristocracy of physical strength and power, it is natural that they should believe that Judaism and the Jews are against the principle of natural aristocracy. Indeed, Judaism and the Jews are against the principle of aristocracy of physical strength and power, and this for the reason that Judaism and the Jews recognize the principle of intellectual and spiritual aristocracy. Now, since Hitler and the nazis are determined to destroy by physical strength and power Judaism and the Jews, it remains to be seen whether their physical strength and power will be able to destroy the intellectual and spiritual power of the Jews; it remains to be seen whether the intellectual and spiritual power of Jews will not rather destroy the strength and power of the nazis. We already saw that the Jews, though always a small people and never possessing great physical strength and power, nevertheless survived all their mighty enemies. And we shall presently see that, as in the past, so in the future the Jews will overcome and survive their mighty enemies, and only because they possess great intellectual and spiritual power. We must consider this adequately.
99. Spinoza tell us: self-preservation is the universal law of existence; it is the first commandment of reason; and it is the highest virtue: All other virtues flow from the virtue of self-preservation. Hitler himself admits that the Jews possess the virtue of self-preservation in the highest degree. But Hitler does not know the cause or source of the high degree of self-preservation which the Jews possess. Self-preservation implies a struggle for self-preservation. Existence rests on the law of equivalents: there must be a quid pro quo; for everything we get from existence we must pay an equivalent. The equivalent is paid in coins of work, struggle and suffering. We must work for the material means of life, wc must struggle for intellectual attainments, and we must suffer for spiritual excellence. To struggle for self-preservation, a living being must possess the means with which to struggle. There are three kinds of means: physical, intellectual and spiritual. On the lowest plane of life, the means for struggle are physical: consciousness is yet implicit. Higher in the plane of life, the means for struggle become also intellectual: consciousness, perception, understanding and judgment manifest themselves in ever higher degrees of explicitness. Highest in the plane of life, the means for struggle become also spiritual: intuition, reason and the intellect become ever more explicit. These three kinds of means differ from one another in their effectiveness and in their achievements. The intellectual means for struggle are more effective than the physical means for struggle, and the achievements of the intellectual means are far more enduring than the achievements of the physical means. This is the reason why mankind conquered the earth and became the masters over the rest of the living world. The spiritual means for struggle are far more effective than the intellectual means for struggle, and the achievements of the spiritual means are far more enduring than the achievements of the intellectual means. What are armies and navies against the spiritual powers of a Moses, an Isaiah and a Jesus; and how short-lived are the achievements of the mighty rulers and great conquerors in comparison with the eternally-enduring achievements of a Moses, an Isaiah or a Jesus? Existence is infinitely bountiful, yet at the same time it is infinitely economical. With one hand existence pours out infinite power and values, with the other hand it limits power and value to the extent that it is necessary. Hence, existence does not endow a being with a superior power, without at the same time also diminishing the inferior powers. This is the reason why men have not the physical strength and power of animals, and this is the reason why men possessing spiritual power do not possess the intellectual power of the philosopher or the scientist. Yet, what are the achievements of the philosophers and the scientists compared with the achievements of a Moses, an Isaiah or a Jesus ? Now, the Jews never possessed great physical power, but for this they were compensated with great intellectual power and still greater spiritual power. These intellectual and spiritual powers enabled the Jews to preserve themselves in a hostile world for six thousand years, and at the same time preserving their pristine youth, vigor and progressiveness; so that, though they are the oldest people on earth, yet they are younger, more vigorous and more progressive than the youngest nation on earth. Will the nazis with their physical power destroy the Jews with their intellectual and spiritual powers? Mightier powers than the nazis tried this and failed, and so will the nazis fail.
100. Hitler himself tells us that a world philosophy cannot be destroyed with physical force unless the physical force is used in the services of another world philosophy. According to Hitler, Judaism is a world philosophy, and with physical force alone Judaism cannot be destroyed. To destroy Judaism it is necessary that physical force shall serve another world philosophy. And for this purpose Hitler projected a world philosophy, the philosophy of nazism. Hence, Hitler is convinced that physical force in the services of nazism will destroy Judaism and the Jews. Hitler overlooks two important aspects of the matter. First, in all cases in the past, in which mighty enemies rose to destroy Judaism and the Jews, those enemies also had a world philosophy, and yet they failed. They failed, because, like Hitler, they did not realize that it is not enough to have a world philosophy to destroy Judaism and the Jews, but one must have a philosophy that is superior to Judaism to be able to destroy it. But thus far, no philosophy of the enemies of the Jews had a philosophy that was superior to Judaism. Is nazism superior to Judaism? Let us see. According to Hitler, Judaism is communism, internationalism, democracy, the universal brotherhood of man, and the emancipation of the working class. On the other hand, nazism is state capitalism, nationalism, the superiority of the Aryans, and the enslavement of the working class. Is state capitalism superior to communism, is nationalism superior to internationalism, is the Aryan race superior to the human race, and is the rule of the exploiters superior to the emancipation of the working class? Let the enemies of the Jews judge. Secondly, Hitler and the nazis believe that superior physical force is on their side: what an illusion ! We already saw that the Jews now are more than a thousand million human beings. And with the ever-increasing class-consciousness of the working class all over the world, the number of Jews will increase, so that in the near future there will be at least fifteen hundred million Jews in the world. What in comparison with fifteen hundred million Jews will two hundred million nazis and fascists amount to? Thus we see that, not only is Judaism superior to nazism, but also that on the side of Judaism there is a force fifteen times as great as the force on the side of the nazis. Can there be any doubt as to the outcome of the struggle? But we are concerned about the main question, namely: Is it true, as Hitler says, that Judaism and the Jews deny the principle of aristocracy and the dignity of personality? We shall presently see that no race, nation or people ever recognized the principle of aristocracy and the dignity of personality as highly as the Jews always did. In truth, we can say with Nietsche that the Jews are the highest aristocrats in the world, but this is an aristocracy of an entirely different order than the natural, physical aristocracy of which Hitler speaks and dreams.
101. What is aristocracy ? Aristocracy is the recognition of personality. What, then, is personality ? Personality is the attribute of a person. Who, then, is a person? A person is he who attained to reason, and lives, acts and thinks in accordance with the light and guidance of reason. One who has not yet attained to reason is not yet a person, and therefore cannot be an aristocrat. An aristocrat will not do anything which is contrary to reason, which is unworthy of a rational person. Reason does not conquer minds by brute force, but by light, knowledge and understanding. This was the reason why all through history Judaism and the Jews did not use force to convert mankind to Judaism. And now let us cast a look at Nazi Germany, how do the nazis conquer minds ? By brute force. Who are the true aristocrats, the Jews or the nazis ? Who recognize the dignity of personality, the Jews or the nazis? Deeds speak louder than words. The nazis have not yet uttered the last word; let us wait a while, and posterity and history will judge differently. But this is not all. Existence rests on the law of equivalents; noblesse oblige; aristocracy carries the duty to earn this exalted privilege. The Talmud tells us that the whole world was created only for the sake of the Zaddik; the Zaddik is the spiritual aristocrat, the excellent man. It is true, the whole world was created for the sake of the Zaddik, but the Zaddik was created for the sake of the world. All progress, as we saw before, is from the apex of the pyramid of existence to the base. The Zaddik is at the apex of the pyramid; he is the first to receive divine light and knowledge from above, but he receives them, not for his own sake, but for the sake of mankind below. This idea was already expressed in the Bible. The Bible tells us that Elohim created the great luminaries that they should shine on the earth: in heaven their illumination is not necessary. The Bible tells us that Jacob saw in a dream that a ladder was standing on the ground and its top reached the heaven, and Jehovah was there; and the angels of Elohim were ascending and descending by this ladder. The ladder is the destiny of mankind, and the angels of Elohim, these are the intellectual and spiritual aristocrats. These aristocrats go up by the ladder to Jehovah, from whom they receive divine light and knowledge, and then go down to mankind to impart to them this divine light and knowledge, and thus mankind are enriched with knowledge and understanding, and thus they are raised ever higher and higher towards their destiny—the perception and the understanding of Jehovah. For the exalted privilege of being an aristocrat, he must serve mankind, and only in this manner does he earn his exceptional privilege, and only in this manner does he serve the purpose of God. Because the Jews were true aristocrats, they always went down to the masses to bring to them divine light knowledge and understanding, and because of this the Jews always concerned themselves about the downtrodden and degraded masses. And this is the reason why the Jews, more than all others, now concern themselves about the proletariat. The tragedy of mankind always was this: the intellectual and spiritual aristocrats, once they reached the heights of the ladder, they remained there, and refused to go down to the masses. Still more, they built towers of Babel, declaring, we shall not go down to the masses. By religious, intellectual and cultural towers they isolated themselves from the rest of mankind; and, while enjoying the fruit of the labor of the masses, they withheld from the masses their due reward in light, knowledge and understanding. Thus the masses were kept in ignorance, misery and degradation. It is this aristocracy which Hitler wants to perpetuate. This is not aristocracy, this is an abomination, and this abomination the Jews are determined to destroy. And the Jews will destroy this abomination. Hear how Judaism speaks: As philosophy finds in the proletariat its material weapon, so the proletariat finds in philosophy its spiritual weapon; and as soon as the lighting of thought strikes fundamentally into the naive popular mind, the emancipation of man will be consummated. The head of this emancipation is philosophy, its heart is the proletariat. Philosophy cannot be realized without the rising of the proletariat, and the proletariat cannot rise without the realization of philosophy. Marx.
102. Hitler tells us that the superior race has a natural right to dominate over the inferior races and to use them to serve the conveniences of the superior race. According to this philosophy, the inferior races are only like animals to serve the superior race. Two questions arise: first, is not the superior race under the obligation to serve the inferior races? Secondly, are the inferior races forever to remain inferior races? Is there no hope for them to attain to salvation ? Let us hear what Professor Sombart, the spokesman for nazism, tells us: There is no perfect happiness on earth for mankind, and there should be none: the wandering in this vale of tears is a testing and purifying period for man. We do not believe in the purification of man; we do not believe in the natural goodness of man; we believe rather that man will persist in sin till the end of time. For that reason we do not believe in the self-redemption of man through socialism, with its claim to bring about a Kingdom of God on earth, a classless society. The promise: to erect heaven here on earth, seems to us blasphemy. There is no salvation in this sinful world. Thus speaks a luminary of the nazi camp. People deny resurrection. Here we see the clearest proof of resurrection: an ancient superstition which seemed to have been dead for a few centuries came to life again. And Nazi Germany has the credit for resurrecting this ancient superstition. No hope, no salvation, no redemption for the inferior races and the working class. But for the ruling aristocracy—why there is hope, there is salvation, there is redemption, and there is the Kingdom of God right here on this earth and now while they live. This is the nazi idea of aristocracy ! This is not the Jewish idea of aristocracy. The Jewish people were chosen by Jehovah, to be an aristocratic people, but not for their sake; for this exalted privilege the Jew must serve the rest of mankind. So long as the Jews were yet immature, they had to concentrate all effort upon their own intellectual and spiritual growth and development; but, as soon as they attained to maturity, Jehovah required them to go to the rest of mankind and bring to them divine light, knowledge and understanding. And in performing this historic function, the Jews were required to go down to the backward children of history, merge with them, become part of them, struggle with them, and help them rise. This is the Jewish aristocracy. That the Jews may perform their historic function, their national existence was destroyed, and they were spread all over the world. The Bible tells us that the Levites were not allowed to own part of the land, because they had to devote themselves to serve the Jewish people in an intellectual and spiritual manner. This became the fate of the Jews. They were torn out from the soil, scattered over the face of the earth, and nowheres were they permitted to regain root in the soil, that they should be free to serve mankind in an intellectual and spiritual manner. And the Jews will remain in this state until all of mankind will be raised and redeemed. Only then will the Jews be like the other races, because the other races will become like the Jews. Let us briefly touch on this aspect of Jewish history.
103. Jonah was the first prophet upon whom Jehovah called to go to Nineveh to preach to them to repent of their wicked ways. But Jonah did not want to go to them; and, instead, betook himself to Tarshish. The result was that he was shipwrecked and was swallowed by a fish. After Jehovah delivered him from the fish, Jonah did go to Nineveh and preach repentance, and the Ninevites did repent. Jonah was exceedingly displeased. He went out of the city, and there made a booth for himself, and Jehovah prepared a gourd to shield him against the sun. The next day the gourd was destroyed and Jonah wished that he had died. Then Jehovah told Jonah: Art thou angry for the gourd ? Thou hast had pity on the gourd for which thou hast not labored, neither madest it to grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and much cattle ? Jonah symbolizes the Jewish people. The Jews, having attained to intellectual and spiritual maturity, did not want to go to the nations to raise them intellectually and spiritually. The Jews were shipwrecked, they were swallowed by a fish—that was their exile in Babylonia. At last Jehovah delivered them from exile, they returned to Palestine, and began to prepare themselves for the historic function among the nations. The Jews betook themselves to this task in earnest, and long before Jesus the Jews succeeded to convert many nations and peoples. At last came Jesus. Whatever Jesus was, the outstanding greatness of Jesus was his true Jewish aristocracy. Jesus was the first Jew who deliberately and consciously went down to the backward children of history, became a part of them, tore himself away from his people, his family, his world, and his connection, and merged into the world of the backward children, there he died and was buried, and forgotten by his own. But all this he did with full consciousness of the fact that he did this in order to raise these backward children of history. And, behold, the miracle was accomplished ! The backward children of history became the foremost nations in the world! Hear what Jesus said: Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Matthew: 20. Whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. Mark: 10. After the Last Supper, Jesus took a basin with water and a towel, he washed the feet of his disciples and wiped them with the towel, and said to them: Ye call me Lord and Master if, then, I your Lord and Master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. John: 1 3. This is true aristocracy, and this is the Jewish idea of Aristocracy. Thanks to this Jewish aristocracy, the Germans came out from the process of history a cultured people. If Hitler’s aristocracy had realized itself, the Germans would still be the barbarians they were in the time of Jesus. But now the nazis want to destroy this Jewish aristocracy, and in its place to put the aristocracy of the jungle. But in vain, the work of two thousand years of Christianity cannot and will not be destroyed by even a thousand years of Hitler’s aristocracy. The Jewish aristocracy is an intellectual and spiritual aristocracy, while the nazi aristocracy is a physical aristocracy; and what is a physical aristocracy against an intellectual and spiritual aristocracy ? The inferior races and the degraded proletariat must be redeemed and they will be redeemed. Judaism recognizes neither race, nor color, nor blood nor class; Judaism recognizes only one human race, all children of Jehovah. That the Jews were the first chosen does not give them any preeminence over the last ones of the races or classes. It is the historic function of Judaism and the Jews to raise all races and classes to the same level. The supremacy of race, nation or class must be and will be abolished. This is the destiny of mankind, and against this destiny the nazis, the fascists and all reactionaries will struggle in vain. Any one who accepts the Jewish world philosophy, in the whole or in the part, becomes a Jew to all intents and purposes. For this reason, men and women that embraced the world philosophy of Judaism may and should freely intermarry. The biologic law that is against such intermarriage applies only to animals. If the nazis believe that this law applies to them, they are welcome to live by this law, but by this they only show that they are animals still.
l04. There is a still deeper aspect of aristocracy which we must consider. Jewish aristocracy demands that the Jews should live, struggle and suffer for the sake of Judaism. It is said that, not the Jews exist for the sake of Judaism, but that Judaism exists for the sake of the Jews. This is apparently true. Whatever be the nature of an ideal, it exists only for the sake of men. And we already met the statements of Spinoza and Kant that man is an aim in himself, and he does not exist for the sake of anything else. All this is absolutely true, yet it is not the whole truth. Let us begin with the consideration of a more concrete case. The communist movement aims to realize universal communism, and universal communism itself is not yet the aim; the aim is the human race. Communism as an ideal has reason for existence only for the sake of mankind. It is therefore right to say that communism as an ideal and the communist movement exist solely for the sake of mankind. And yet, what do we find? We find that the communists exist solely for the sake of the communist movement and the communist ideal. Not only must the communists live and struggle for the sake of the communist movement and the communist ideal, but also, if necessary, to die for them. The question is: are not the communists irrational and inconsistent? The answer is: they are both rational and consistent. It is true that the communist movement and the communist ideal exist for the sake of the communists and mankind. If the communist ideal had already been realized, then it would serve mankind. But the communist ideal is yet far from realization. The great mass of mankind are still opposed to communism, and the ruling powers seek to destroy the communists, what are the communists to do? If the communists will not live, work, struggle and even die for the cause of communism, communism will never be realized. Should the communists settle down and accept the present social order ? Now it is perfectly natural for those who still live in darkness and ignorance to accept the present social order and endeavor to make the best of it. These will surely not sacrifice themselves for the sake of communism. But what shall the communist do who already saw the light, who cannot hear the present social order, and who cannot adjust himself to it? For him it is by far easier to work, struggle and even to die for the cause of communism than to negate that which to him is the essence of his existence. Hence, until communism is realized, the communist must work, live, struggle and suffer for the sake of communism. And, though the communists do not believe in God, immortality and a hereafter, yet they act, and they must act, as if they verily believed in God, immortality and a hereafter. As Jehudah Halevi said: Suppose that I was sick with a fatal disease; suppose the physician told me that there is a remedy, but this would transform me into a lower being, what would my answer be ? This would be my answer: I want to live and enjoy life, but as a human being; if, however, I cannot live as a human being, I will rather die than live as an animal. This is the language of true aristocracy. And this is the answer to the question before us. Do the Jews live for the sake of Judaism or does Judaism exist for the sake of the Jews? When Judaism will be realized, of course, then Judaism will exist for the sake of mankind. But, until Judaism is realized, the Jews must live, work, struggle and even die for the sake of Judaism. The Jews cannot act otherwise. Can the Jews give up the ideal of Judaism and find rest and comfort in the world as it is ? This is impossible. The Jews want to live and to enjoy life. Indeed, the Jews have a far stronger hold on life and life on them than it is the case with all other races and peoples. But the Jews want to live as Jews and identified with Judaism. If, however, the Jews cannot live as Jews, they will rather die. This is the attitude of the true Jew, and this is the highest aristocracy. Now, I often stated that Judaism transcends race, color and blood. Judaism is an ideal begotten of the intellect—it is the highest ideal. To be a Jew means to be identified with this highest ideal. Since Judaism transcends race, color and blood, it also transcends racial and blood descent. Not he is necessarily a Jew who was born to Jewish parents, received a Jewish education and lived in a Jewish environment; but he is a Jew who identifies himself with Judaism. If a Jew ceases to identify himself with Judaism, he ceases to be a Jew. On the other hand, a non-Jew who identifies himself with Judaism, no matter what his race, color, blood and descent may he, he is a Jew to all intents and purposes. If all existing Jews should give up Judaism, they will cease to be Jews. On the other hand, if other peoples should accept Judaism and identify themselves with it, they will become the Jewish people, and they will be the true descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the Prophets, and so on. The same is true of other ideals and ideas. For instance, if all existing communists should become reactionaries, they will cease to be communists. On the other hand, if other people should become communists and identify themselves with communism and the communist movement, they will be the true descendants of Marx, Lenin and the others. Thus we see that the Jewish question is not a question of the Jews, but it is a question of Judaism. One cannot assert a right to exist as a Jew simply because he was born to Jewish parents; but one can assert a right to exist as a Jew only to the extent that he identifies himself with Judaism. And this identification means to live, work, struggle and even to die for Judaism. We saw before that the Jews are the highest cultured people, and now we see that the Jews are the highest aristocrats. But noblesse oblige: this nobility of function devolves upon the Jews a nobility of duty. The Jew cannot excuse himself with the argument that the non-Jews are no better. The Jew, because he is a Jew, must be better than the non-Jews are, for this is the reason why he is a Jew. If Judaism is a burden upon him, and he does not want to be better than the non-Jews, then he is free to cast off the burden and become one of the non-Jews. But he cannot be a Jew and act as a non-Jew. A teacher or a leader must not compare himself with his pupils or followers: he is above them, and he has a higher standard of ethics. It is hard to be a Jew, but the reward is equally great. To live in this world with open eyes, to know whence we came, whither we go, and what our historic function is; to emancipate ourselves from the superstitions and the passions that hold the rest of mankind in bondage and slavery— for all this it is worth to live, to work, to struggle and even to die. The new social order that faces us will demand and exact an honesty, integrity and self-discipline which the present passing social order could not even dream. The Jews will find in Judaism the intellectual and spiritual strength and discipline which will enable them to meet the requirements of the new social order. And, as in the past, so also in the future, by means of Judaism, will prove themselves to be the fittest to survive. Judaism is the highest ideal, it devolves upon the Jews the most exacting duties, and it demands that the Jews should go down to the very bottom of life to raise the rest of mankind to the ideal of Judaism. The proletariat is the lowest and most backward class in society. It is therefore the supreme duty of the Jews to identify themselves with the proletariat. All other classes will disappear, but the working class will endure forever, for all of mankind will become workers. For identifying themselves with the working class the Jews will incur the displeasure and hatred of the ruling classes, but the Jews must not fear the ruling classes: their rule will be only for a while. Let the Hitlers and the anti-Semites look down with contempt upon the working class, but the Jews must look upon the working class as upon their own brothers and equals. Let the Hitlers and the parasites look down with contempt upon the colored and inferior races, but the Jews must identify themselves with these races and help them rise to the level of the Jews. Only thus will the Jews earn the right to continue to exist and to realize their destiny. Salvation is of the Jews, but the Jews will attain to salvation only through the salvation of the whole human race. The Jews will serve themselves by serving mankind. This is the demand of the highest aristocracy which has been conferred on them. And now we come to a very difficult question: What should be the relation of the Jews to Christianity ? Nearly two thousand years passed, during which time between Christianity and Judaism there was a struggle—a struggle which brought upon the Jews infinite suffering and humiliation. Must this continue forever ? It is high time that we consider this question boldly, honestly and openly. In considering this question, we are not to blame the past, but we must seek a solution that shall make a repetition of the past impossible. This is our next task.
At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. Deuteronomy: XIX, 15.
105. I write this on March 14, 1939. I just finished reading a book by Professor Macmurray, entitled: The Clue to History; which book was just published by Harper Brothers, New York and London. I already referred to an essay written by Professor Macmurray, also to an essay written by Pastor Haldeman and a book written by Conrad Noel, a Catholic priest. At the time that I wrote the foregoing I had no idea that a great surprise was in store for me. The book of Professor Macmurray, just mentioned, contained that surprise. I was overwhelmed to find that Professor Macmurray has crystallized an idea of religion and history, and an idea of Judaism and Christianity, that entirely agree with the ideas concerning them which I expressed before. This is not an accident. Thoughts, ideas and systems of philosophy are not the voluntary creations of men, but they are the manifestations through the minds of men of the eternal and infinite process of thought. In other words, not men create ideas and systems of philosophy, but God thinks through the mind of men. When a new aspect of human existence is coming to the fore, this new aspect is announced by God through the thoughts of the foremost thinkers. And so it comes to pass that men unknown to one another will bring to the fore the same ideas. That Professor Macmurray, to whom I am unknown, and who probably never read a line written by me, should come to the same conclusions is absolute proof that through both of us speaks the eternal and infinite process of thought of God, announcing a new aspect of human existence. In this book, Professor Macmurray reveals the truth that the Christians never understood Christianity, and that Christianity is essentially Jewish. If the Christians are to survive the world crisis that faces them, they must endeavor to understand Christianity in terms of Judaism and the Jewish mind. This book reveals the fact that a great revolution takes place in the Christian world, and this book itself will revolutionize the ideas of the Christians concerning religion, philosophy and history. It is essential that every intelligent Jew and every intelligent Christian should make a study of this work. And this understanding will enable them the better to understand this program. Later I will consider this book at length.
Judaism and Christianity
Have we not all one Father ? Hath not one God created us ? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers ? Malachi: II, 10. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. I Cor: III, 2. Whatever is, is in God, and nothing can either be or he conceived without God. God is the immanent and not the transitive cause of all things. Things could have been produced by God in no other manner and in no other order than that in which they have been produced. The human mind possesses an adequate knowledge of the eternal and infinite essence of God. He who clearly and distinctly understands himself and his affects Loves God, and loves him better the better he understands himself and his affects. Spinoza: Ethics.
Saladin: Die Ringe ! Spiele nicht mit mir ! Ich dächte
Das die Religionen, die ich dir
Genant, doch wohl zu unterscheiden wären,
Bis auf die Kleidung, bis auf Speise und Trank!
Nathan: Und nur von seiten ihrer Grunde nicht !
Lessing: Nathan der Weise.
106. For nearly two thousand years between Christians and Jews there was an antagonism arising from the antagonism between Christianity and Judaism. We already saw that a religious antagonism is the deepest, because it concerns the most vital idea of human existence. For this reason, the antagonism between the Christians and the Jews was the deepest. The Christians maintained that Judaism was only a preparation for Christianity, that Christianity was superior to Judaism, and therefore demanded that the Jews should embrace Christianity. On the other hand, the Jews maintained that Christianity was only a preparation for Judaism, that Judaism was superior to Christianity, and therefore hoped that the Christians would embrace Judaism. Which of these views is correct ? We shall presently see that both views were correct. The fact that between the Christians and the Jews was an antagonism shows that the Christians never understood Christianity and Judaism, and that the Jews never understood Judaism and Christianity. W e shall also see that, when Judaism and Christianity are adequately understood, there is no longer any antagonism between Judaism and Christianity, and therefore there should be no antagonism between the Jews and the Christians. It would seem that the mere belief in God ought to convince men that religions are not man-made nor determined by men, but religions are determined by God. If the Jews really believed in God, they ought to have looked upon Christianity as the work of God. On the other hand, if the Christians really believed in God, they ought to have regarded it the will of God that the Jews should not embrace Christianity, but remain loyal to Judaism. But the truth is that neither the Jews nor the Christians really believed in God, though they sincerely endeavored to do so. The antagonism between the Christians and the Jews was a manifestation of the fact that they did not believe in God. If, indeed, they believed in God, there would have been no antagonism between them. But this, too, was in accordance with the will of God.
107. And, first, who is God? The Bible tells us that Elohim made man in the likeness of Elohim. Modern scientists tell us that man made God in the likeness of man. Both statements are correct. Man by destiny is like God, but God reveals himself to man according to man’s own development. We saw that all progress is from the periphery to the centre; and, when the centre is reached, all further progress is from the centre back to the periphery, and then the periphery reveals itself to be infinitely more wonderful than it appeared at first. This was also the progress of mankind in their understanding of God. At first, God appeared to be a Being outside and above the world. Gradually men of thought began to perceive that God is identified with the world. Then deeper thinkers perceived that God is the world. Finally, the deepest thinkers perceived that God is also man. Not only man lives, moves and has his being in God, but also God lives, moves and has his being in man. Once men of thought reached the centre, then further progress was from the centre back to the periphery, and then God revealed himself to be infinitely more wonderful than he appeared at first. We saw that whatever is absolute, infinite and eternal is absolute infinite and eternal in every part thereof, for the absolute, infinite and eternal cannot be composed of relative, finite and temporary parts, nor can it resolve itself into relative, finite and temporary parts. Hence, God is absolute, infinite and eternal in every part of his being and in every reality of existence. In a grain of sand God is as absolute, infinite and eternal as in the whole infinite and eternal existence. But the realities of existence are implicit, that is, they are not conscious of God. Only man is destined to attain to explicitness, that is, the consciousness of God. Man attains to this consciousness of God when he attains to the intellect. The intellect is the soul wholly explicit. The soul becomes conscious of God, the soul perceives that she is part of God. The soul then identifies herself with God, and then attains to what Spinoza calls the intellectual love of God. When man attains to the intellect, he then perceives that he is the I am I of God; that is, God sees himself in man as the I am I, and man sees himself in God as the I am I of God. Then man and God are one, not only in essence, but also in consciousness and understanding. This is the highest state that man can attain. This profound idea was expressed in the Shemah—the holiest sentence in the Bible and in Judaism. The Shemah tells us: Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God Jehovah is one? Here the name Jehovah is mentioned twice. What does this mean ? This expresses the profound truth. The second Jehovah is man—the man that attained to the intellect and who perceives that he is the I am I of Jehovah. This sentence tells us that Jehovah our God and Jehovah the man of intellect is one. This is the deepest and highest truth that mankind attained and will ever attain. Thus we see that Moses and the Prophets already attained to the deepest and the highest idea—there will never be a deeper and higher idea revealed to man.
108. When man attains to this deepest and highest truth he becomes morally autonomous. Then he no longer needs an external authority to tell him what is right or wrong, for he knows it from within himself and his true nature. Then, also, he no longer sees God outside and above him, but he sees God within himself; he sees himself and God as one. To understand this concretely, let us consider the following. When a boy learns mathematics, he finds it a very difficult subject and the task of learning a burden, from which he would gladly free himself, if he was permitted; but he is not permitted, and so he must study this difficult science. But assume that this boy grew into manhood and spent ten or more years on the study of mathematics until he mastered it as a Newton or an Einstein. By this time his mind became so moulded to the mathematical method of reasoning that now his mind, of its own accord, thinks according to the nature of mathematics. And now, suppose that all text books on mathematics were destroyed, and all the mathematical laws were expunged from infinite existence, what then? Then, he would now legislate the mathematical laws for infinite existence. This is the morally autonomous person. He no longer needs laws either from God or from the king or from the legislator or from the texts on morality to determine his conduct, but his own true nature will now dictate his conduct in accordance with the highest and deepest laws of God. This was already expressed by Jeremiah, as we saw before; and this idea was also expressed by Paul. He tells us (Galatians: III, 13): Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written: Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. Thus we see that the idea crystallized by Moses and the Prophets found a concrete expression in Jesus and Paul. The Christians are therefore right when they said that Judaism was a preparation for Christianity, for Judaism itself anticipated this state of moral autonomy.
l09. This, again, is seen in the manner of speech. The boy is constantly compelled to speak in the name of authorities, in the name of his parents, in the names of his teachers, in the names of the great authorities in science, art, and so on indefinitely. This is so, because he cannot yet speak in his own name. But when the boy himself becomes an authority, especially when he attains to the intellect, then he no longer speaks in the name of any one, but he speaks in his own name. Consider Spinoza’s Ethics. In the whole of this monumental work, Spinoza never speaks in the name of any one; he always speaks in his own name; he speaks with the full consciousness that he speaks the language of God. And now consider the way Moses and the Prophets spoke, and the way Jesus spoke. Moses and the Prophets spoke in the name of Jehovah, while Jesus spoke in his own name. This was regarded by the Jews as blasphemy, but there was no blasphemy about it. The truth is this. When Moses and the Prophets spoke in the name of Jehovah, they in truth spoke in their own name, being fully conscious that Jehovah spoke through them. At this time of the development of the Jews it was yet impossible for Moses and the Prophets to speak in their own names to the Jews, for the Jews were not yet prepared to understand such language. But in the time of Jesus the Jews were already prepared to understand such language. Hence Jesus no longer found necessary to speak in the name of Jehovah, because he knew that Jehovah spoke through him. And, while there were many Jews who understood this language, the ruling classes could not bear it. They could not bear it for the same reason that centuries before they could not bear the language of Isaiah and Jeremiah, though they spoke in the name of Jehovah, because what they spoke was against the interests of the ruling classes. The same was the case with Jesus. They could not bear the language of Jesus, because he spoke against the ruling classes. And, just as today, when the communist speaks against the ruling classes, the latter declare the communist an enemy of society, of religion and morality; so the ruling classes declared that Jesus was an enemy of society, of religion and morality. In the days of Jesus, Moses and the Prophets would also speak in their own names, for the time passed to speak in the name of Jehovah, as if Jehovah was sitting in heaven and giving orders to men on earth. Thus, again, we see that the Christians are right when they say that Jesus was the highest development of Judaism. And, since the Christians identify Christianity with Jesus, they are right to say that Judaism was a preparation for Christianity, and that Christianity is superior to Judaism.
110. But, in turn, the Jews were right when they maintained that Christianity was a preparation for Judaism, and that Judaism is superior to Christianity. To understand this, an illustration is necessary. Suppose that I attained to the intellect and the perception that Jehovah and I are one. I have thus attained to the highest state that is possible for man to attain. Suppose that, while at the age of, say, forty I attained to this highest state, I gave birth to a son. Now, my son may be destined to attain to a still higher state, since he will find in me the ground already prepared for his higher state; yet how does he start out in life ? He starts out from the beginning in a state of almost complete unconsciousness. It will surely take him at least thirty years before he will attain to my intellectual and spiritual development which I attained when he was born. Suppose that as soon as my son can speak I teach him to recite the Shemah and similar profound statements. Suppose that my son learns to recite them from memory, will he understand what he is reciting? He will begin to understand them when he will be at least thirty years old. Now, while he is yet young I impart to him the doctrines of Judaism. He learns them, but he does not understand them; he is following Judaism yet he does not understand it. Judaism in him is immature and implicit. And now, compare his Judaism with mine, is not my Judaism superior to his Judaism ? Is not his Judaism a preparation to my Judaism ? And now turn to the case of the Christians and the Jews. It took the Jews nearly four thousand years to reach the height and depth of the Judaism which found the most explicit expression in Jesus. And now this Judaism was handed over to the Christians. Who were those Christians that adopted the Judaism of Jesus ? They were the backward children of history, they were just born, they just attained to some glimmer of self-consciousness. Could they understand the Judaism of Jesus? Professor Macmurray rightly says: Historical continuity is not spiritual continuity. My son is a historic continuation of me, but he is not a spiritual continuation, because he has to start from the very beginning. It was so with the Christians. The Christians were a historical continuation of the Jews, but the Christians were not a spiritual continuation of the Jews, for the Christians had to begin from the very beginning. Hence, while it is true that Judaism found the highest and deepest expression in Jesus, Christianity was a regression from Judaism. By the fruit ye shall know. Instead of embracing the deep and sublime truth that God and man are one, and living from the inner law of divine nature in man, the Christians at once forgot this truth and brought out a Christianity which was nothing else than paganism with a label that did not belong to it. It is now no longer necessary to spend time to show that the Christianity that came down to us, and which we have known for the last two thousand years as bound up with the name of Jesus had just as little to do with the Judaism of Jesus as the pagan religions of the ancient Greeks and Romans. But there was progress among the Christians. And the progress was also from the periphery to the centre. At first, Jesus sat on his throne high in heaven; he was outside and above men. Poor man could not directly communicate with Jesus. Between Jesus and man there was the Holy Mother, the Catholic Church; between the Catholic Church and man there were the intermediaries: the Pope, the cardinals, the bishops, the priests and the saints. And so there were numerous intermediaries between man and Jesus. As for God himself—why he was completely retired into the infinite background. What Christian could dare communicate with God ? This continued for fifteen centuries. Now the Christian children attained to some degree of self-consciousness, and the result was the Reformation This marked the first step in the growing maturity of the Christians. The Catholic Church and all other intermediaries were removed, and the Christians came directly into communication with Jesus.. But still Jesus remained high in heaven. And now a great revolution is taking place in the Christian world. This revolution marks the approach of the Christian to the centre. They now begin to perceive that Jesus is right within them. And who is Jesus? Jesus is nothing else than their own soul, the I am I of God. When the Christians will at last attain to this perception, then they will discover that which the Jews discovered nearly three thousand years ago, namely: all are the sons of God. Then the Christians will no longer have to pray to Jesus, they will no longer imagine a Jesus sitting in heaven, but they will perceive that salvation lies within themselves. Thus we see that Christianity is only a preparation for Judaism. The translation of the Bible into the vernaculars of the Christians brought the Christians nearer to the Old Testament, and this resulted in the Reformation. And now the foremost thinkers in the Christian world turn back to Judaism. They call it the Judaism of Jesus, but it is Judaism pure and simple. And this will result in a great revolution in the Christian world. The Christians will reach the centre. Only then will they reach the height and depth of the Jews at the time of Jesus.
111. There is another aspect which we must consider, as showing that Christianity was only a preparation for Judaism. We saw before that Judaism rests on work, while Christianity rests on faith. According to Judaism, man is justified by deeds; while, according to Christianity, man is justified by faith. If we examine the Old Testament, we see that Judaism among the Jews also began with faith and culminated in deeds. The Bible tells us that Abraham believed in Jehovah, and He regarded it in Abraham as a virtue. Later the Bible tells us that Jehovah told Moses that he never revealed himself by the name Jehovah to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But, after Jehovah revealed himself to the Jews and gave them the Torah, the Jews were commanded to know Jehovah. Judaism is the only religion that commands to know God, because the Jews are the most mature people in the world. Faith alone is no longer enough, that faith must be bound up with knowledge of God and work. But this cannot be required of the immature. This brings us to the consideration of an important aspect of the matter. We already learned that existence rests on the law of equivalents: for everything we get from existence we must pay an equivalent in work, struggle and suffering. This is the eternal and infinite law of existence, but this law does not apply to infants, because they cannot pay an equivalent for what they get. In the case of infants, the law of equivalents is suspended. The infant must he given gratis according to its needs. The parents must exert themselves to provide the means for the existence of the infants and their bringing up, they must deprive themselves of peace, leisure and comfort to serve the infant. Later the parents, teachers and society must continue to give to the infant the means for life, an education and a preparation for mature life, and all this without requiring from the infant an equivalent. This must continue until the infant becomes a mature person, when he becomes subject to the law of equivalents. From then on he must pay an equivalent for what he gets. During infancy the law of equivalents is suspended, but not abrogated. This means that the infant, though it cannot and does not pay an equivalent, yet must do something to deserve what is given to it, and that something is faith and obedience. The infant must have faith in the parents, the teachers and society, and must obey the parents, the teachers and society. The infant must obey and ask no questions. Once the infant has faith in the parents, teachers and society and obeys them, the infant deserved what it gets from them. But faith and obedience will no longer suffice the moment the infant becomes a mature person, then in addition to faith and obedience, also work is essential.
112. And we shall understand the difference between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism was given to mature persons, and therefore required them to justify themselves by deeds. But Christianity was given to immature children of history, and from them could be required only faith and obedience. Once the Christians had faith in Jesus and obeyed the Mother Church, they deserved the good which Christianity gave them. But in proportion as the Christians attained to maturity, in that proportion they became subject to the law of equivalents. The Reformation was the beginning of some of the Christians attaining to maturity, and therefore since then the mature Christians came nearer to Judaism, they began to recognize the law of equivalents, and began to justify themselves by deeds. And now we see another great revolution is taking place in the Christian world. This revolution shows that the Christians are becoming still more mature, they come still nearer to Judaism, and assume still more the law of equivalents. The time will come when all Christians will become mature, they will all embrace Judaism, and they will all justify themselves by deeds. Then the Christians will become Jews. The Bible tells us that God created the world for work. The first commandment given to man was that he should take possession of the earth, conquer it and become the lord over it, and this by work. God is himself a worker, he works eternally and infinitely. It was a false doctrine taught to the infant Christians that God once created the world, retired from the world, and since then rested. Judaism teaches an entirely different doctrine; it teaches that God renews the works of creation every day and constantly. If God should for an instant cease to work, and the whole world will instantly disappear. And, just as God eternally and infinitely works, so must man always work to earn the privilege to exist and to enjoy the means for life. The great revolution that now takes place in the Christian world is the most inspiring assurance that the hope of the Jews is coming to a realization: The Christians will become Jews. And now the question arises: How should the Jews meet the Christians in this great revolution ? This brings us to a profound problem. 113. The answer to this question was already given by Jesus. Indeed, no other man could give this answer, for he was responsible for Christianity and the Christians. His answer is so profound and concealed that the Christians never understood it. The answer which Jesus gave is long; but because it was never understood by the Christians, and because the answer is of transcendent significance, I will give the answer of Jesus in full. Then I will reveal the deep meaning of the answer. The answer of Jesus is contained in Luke: chapter 15. This is the answer:— A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said: How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger ! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee. And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants: Bring forth the best robe and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant? And he said unto him: Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering said to his father: Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandments: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him: Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
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114. What did Jesus mean by this parable ? Who was the father. who was the elder son, and who was the younger son? This remained a mystery until now, and now the mystery will be resolved. Know, then, the father is Jehovah, the elder son is the Jewish people, and the younger son are the Christians. From Jehovah the Christians received great treasures, but the Christians left Palestine, the abode of Jehovah, went to distant countries, and there wasted the treasures on harlots and riotous living, and threw overboard Judaism and all its virtues. This went so far until the Christians became intellectually and spiritually so poor that they had to hire themselves out to take care of swine. At last, the Christians came to themselves, and decided to return to Jehovah, their father. Jehovah was glad to receive them, but the Jews were angry that Jehovah never made such feast for their sake, as he now makes for the sake of the Christians who had wasted the treasures with harlots. But Jehovah assured the Jews: You have always been with me, and all that I have is yours. It is proper that we should rejoice and be glad: because the Christians, the brothers of the Jews, were dead, and now are alive; they were lost, and now are found. This is the meaning of the parable. With deep insight into history Jesus foresaw what would happen to the Christians, that they would waste the treasures with harlots, but in due time the Christians will come back to Jehovah, and Jehovah will be glad to receive them. And this is the answer to the question before us: How should the Jews meet the Christians in their present revolutionary reawakening? Since the Christians are coming to life again, since they return to Jehovah, the Jews should meet them with joy and embrace them as the brother who came to life again. The Jews have always been with Jehovah, and all that Jehovah has belongs to the Jews. And now that the Christians are becoming Jews, the Jews should rejoice to share together with the Christians the bounties and treasures of Jehovah. The bounties and treasures of Jehovah are infinite and eternal, and they will suffice for the whole human race for an eternity. Let not the Jews be jealous of the Christians, let not the Jews clothe themselves with self-righteousness and look with condescension upon the Christians. The Jews must remember that they did not make themselves, they did not choose Jehovah, they did not determine themselves to remain with Jehovah: all this was done and determined by Jehovah. And the same Jehovah also made the Christians, he determined them to go unto distant countries and to waste the treasures with harlots, that they should suffer, and then repent. And now that the Christians are repenting, they are just as much entitled to the bounties and treasures of Jehovah as the Jews are. And the Jews must never forget that they were not better than the Christians. The Jews, too, wasted the bounties and treasures of Jehovah with harlots. And only thanks to the sufferings which Jehovah inflicted upon them for their sins and transgressions; and only because of this suffering that the Jews were preserved by Jehovah. The Talmud says: Suffering becomes the Jews as red reins becomes a white horse. The white horse—this is the Jewish people; and the red reins are the bloody whips which their enemies use upon the Jews. The law of equivalents cannot be overcome. For the privilege of enjoying the bounties and treasures of Jehovah, the Jews must suffer. All was determined by Jehovah, and the Jews must accept the will and purpose of Jehovah.
115. The Jews and the Christians must fully realize that all which came to pass was determined by God. and in due time it w ill become manifest to all that the ways of God are just and right. The Jews must bear no grudge against the Christians for all the suffering that the Christians inflicted upon the Jews, for it was the will of Jehovah. In turn, the Christians must give up their false and inconsistent notions. For nearly two thousand years the Christians hated the Jews because they rejected Jesus and because they demanded the crucifixion of Jesus. How naive and how inconsistent ? The absolute foundation of Christianity is the crucifixion of Jesus. He came to this world to be crucified, that the nations may be redeemed. If Jesus had not been crucified, there would have been no Christianity, and there would have been no redemption for the Christians. It was also necessary that the Jews should reject Jesus, and this also for the good of the nations. If Jesus had not been rejected by the Jews, he would remain within the folds of Judaism and the Jews. Like Isaiah, Jesus would have been counted as another prophet, and this would be the end. The nations could not and would not accept Jesus, for they would have to accept him together with Judaism and the Jews; and this was impossible, because the nations were then mere infants. Hence, the rejection of Jesus by the Jews freed Jesus, and thus made it possible for the nations to accept Jesus. Let not the Christians clothe themselves in self-righteousness and imagine that they would not crucify Jesus. The Christians have all along crucified Jesus. Let the Christians begin to understand and realize that Jesus only symbolizes the Jewish people, and the Christians always crucified the Jewish people. Again, did not the Christians crucify their own Jesuses? Let there be an end of recriminations and reproaches. All was determined by God, and we must accept the will and purposes of God. Before history all are equally guilty; but, because all are equally guilty, it does not lie in the mouth of any one to accuse others. Why beholdest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? It is high time that the Jews should accept Jesus, as soul of their soul, blood of their blood, and flesh of their flesh. Now that the Christians themselves are emancipating themselves from what was regarded as Christianity, and they come nearer to Judaism, the acceptance by the Jews of Jesus does not mean the acceptance of Christianity. Only now, when the Jews will reconcile themselves with Jesus, only now will Judaism really attain its highest destiny. In Jesus the Jews and the Christians can unite as brothers and sons of Jehovah. The Jews and the Christians must now begin to write a new chapter of history. And in this, the Jews must be honest, sincere and open, so that the Christians should believe and trust the Jews.
116. And now a serious question presents itself. If the Jews will accept Jesus, w ill not by this Judaism itself suffer ? The answer is this: What passed among Jews as Judaism will unquestionably suffer, but Judaism itself will be emancipated from the infinite burdens that do not belong to it. Reflect on the present world situation. As stated before, mankind can now live in peace, enjoy an abundance of the good of life and be happy. Yet, because of their stupidity, they are constantly at war with one another. The nations are bled to death in order to create war machines for the destruction of life, property, progress and civilization. A world struggle is impending which will decimate the human race and throw mankind back to barbarism. Under the present conditions, the nations need huge armies, powerful navies, forts and machines, and a military and despotic dictatorship. But suppose mankind came to understanding and ceased to regard themselves as enemies of one another, in that case mankind would be relieved of an infinite burden and would be freed from suffering. This is the case with Judaism and Christianity. So long as Judaism and Christianity were enemies of each other, each religion had to arm itself with forts, armies and means of struggle. Thus thousands of laws, ordinances and rites were piled up one on the top of the other, making life nothing else than the life of a soldier on the battle field. The Jews and the Christians considered all these laws, ordinances and rites as essential to Judaism and Christianity, just as the nations regard armies, navies, forts and militarism and dictatorship as essential to their existence. But let there be peace between Judaism and Christianity; or, better to say, let there be peace between the Jews and the Christians, then thousands of laws, ordinances and rites, which until now were regarded as essential to Judaism and Christianity, will become unnecessary. They will be abolished, but then Judaism will emerge in its pure nature. The Jews did away with many laws and ordinances, such as sacrifices, and the like, and Judaism gained by this in purity and height. Must a Jew pray three times a day, and pray for hours each time ? Why must a man pray to God altogether ? Does not God know what we need ? Do we expect God to give us something for nothing? There is only one absolute prayer which God accepts, and that is work. Once we work, and our reward is coming as a matter of right. A self-respecting person should never pray to God, but work to earn the reward. A truly religious person should never pray; but always endeavor to act in accordance with the light and guidance of reason, and accept the will of God. A truly religious person regards prayer itself as a most irreligious act. And so it is with numerous laws and ordinances which the Jews regarded as Judaism, but which were not Judaism at all. We already saw that the progress of Judaism was from Jehovah to man. True Judaism is concerned about the relations of man to man. These relations and the requirements arising from them cannot and will not be abolished. All through the eternal future, men will have to be honest, honorable, just and right, and they will always prosper by love of one another. Let the Jews concentrate all Judaism upon the human relations, and Judaism will reveal itself to be the purest and sublimest religion. Next, the Jews must bear this in mind. The future generations of Jews will throw overboard many of the laws, ordinances of Judaism just the same; as, indeed, they have already thrown overboard many of them. Why, then, pretend ? Let the Jews face the reality courageously and with open eyes. Begin with the first chapter of Isaiah and read the Bible to the end, you will find that the prophets concern themselves only about the relations of men to men in society; they speak only of justice, honesty, integrity, freedom, equality, mercy and love: but they do not concern themselves about the relations of man to Jehovah; they never speak of sacrifices, prayers, and the like. True Judaism is entirely concerned about the relations of men to men in society. Of course, these relations depend upon an identification with Jehovah. But Jehovah can very well take care of himself; he does not stand in need of human services, and he does not need the praise and flattery of men. But men do stand in need of cooperation, justice, righteousness, honor, mercy, love, and the like. The relations of men to men—this is the soul and essence of Judaism. Many of the commandments and laws contained in the five books of Moses were abrogated, and yet Judaism did not suffer on account of it; but Judaism suffers grievously when the Jews disregard the human relations. Since the destruction of the national existence of the Jews by the Romans, and their dispersion among hostile nations, the Jews were compelled to protect themselves by building fences around themselves. Thus necessarily grew up an enormous body of laws and ordinances whose sole function was to protect the Jews against a hostile world. Thanks to these protective laws the Jews preserved themselves to this day. What was done by the Jews in the past was necessary and proper. It is necessary and proper in a cold winter to protect ourselves with warm clothes and warmth in the house. But when the spring comes, we discard the warm clothes and w e no longer heat the house. There is a time for everything, and everything is proper in its time. And now, let us assume that the Christians will begin to turn to Jehovah; let us assume that Christianity, instead of concerning itself about the kingdom of God in heaven after death, will begin to concern itself about the kingdom of God on earth and while we live, in that case the Christians will have to concern themselves about that which is the soul and essence of Judaism, namely, justice, righteousness, honesty, honor, love, freedom, equality, and the like. In that case the cause of antagonism between the Jews and the Christians will disappear, and with it will also disappear the necessity for the protective measures and practices. And experience showed this. In the revolutionary movements, the Jews and the Christians worked together for the common good of all mankind, and neither Judaism nor Christianity were in their way. Nay more, to the extent that they w ere true revolutionaries, to that extent they were true Jews and true Christians. When Isaiah and the other prophets speak of the time that the nations will tum to Jehovah, the prophets do not tell us that the nations will build temples in honor of Jehovah and will bring sacrifices to him; but the prophets tell us that the nations will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they will live in peace and enjoy happiness. Hence there is absolutely nothing which the Jews must give up of true Judaism by accepting Jesus. Through Jesus the Jews and the Christians can truly unite. As this is a matter of most vital concern, and to both Jews and Christians this will be a hard problem to solve, it is essential that I go into this matter fundamentally. For this purpose I can do nothing better than by presenting the philosophy which Professor Macmurray embodied in his recent work: The Clue to History. I shall go into the matter at length, because it is most essential to our purpose.
Salvation is of the Jews
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. John: IV, 22.
117. Says Professor Macmurray: “The traditional habits of life, upon which our civilization is based, give rise to habits of thought and reflection which prevent us from understanding Christianity. Yet Christianity is the driving force behind the development of our civilization. So long as we do not understand Christianity we cannot understand ourselves or what is happening to us. Christianity itself is the product of the Jewish mind, which is the reflective aspect of the Jewish habits of life, which are very different from ours. Europe is beginning to realize that its central problem is the Jewish problem. This new realization links up the crisis of our civilization with the understanding of Christianity.
What is Christianity ? To understand Christianity we have to create in ourselves a religious comprehension of reality, which is the historic achievement of the Hebrew race, and which reached its mature expression in Jesus. Christianity is a continuity of intentional action through history. One of the main dangers which faced the early Church, in its efforts to interpret Jesus to the Gentiles, lay in the prevalence of Greek modes of thought. It is still the influence of the Greek thought-forms in our own traditions that is one of the main obstacles in the way of understanding Christianity. Greek thought is dualistic; it is thought that sees existence in two opposing aspects: ideal and material, transcendental and phenomenal, mind and body, thought and action, and so on. Christianity w as crystallized by the Jewish mind, and the Jewish mind thinks integrally, monistically. When Christianity was interpreted in terms of the dualistic thought of the Greeks, Christianity itself became dualistic, and so lost its original and true significance. Greek thought divides between thought and action, while Jewish thought regards them as one. This dualism of Greek thought was the reason for the failure of the western minds to understand the nature of Christianity.
To understand what is involved, we must notice the following. Religion is concerned with the reality of life, and it is not concerned with ideas, except in so far as the ideas embody themselves in life. The reality of human life is history. It is in the world of life, which is the world of action, and not in the ideal world of thought, that all real significance must be discovered. But to act, man must think; human action means thoughtful action, but the thought is only for the sake of action. Thoughtful human action. The teaching of Jesus is important, not because it defines a set of ideas about the world, but because it defines a purpose; it is important because it defines a way of life. Human action is intentional activity. Intentional activity has two moments: an ideal moment which we call an intention, and a material moment which we call an activity. These two moments are not to be looked upon as two distinct things or events which are to be joined together. The intention is not the cause of the activity, the activity is not the effect of the intention; an intentional activity is a single unit of human behavior. In reflection w e can separate them, but then we cease to act. Action includes thought, and yet it is not distinct from thought. This is why ideas are true or real only through their reference to reality, and not in their own right. Reality is to be found only in action. Real things are things we deal with in action; and therefore the whole life of thought has meaning only with relation to the full reality of intentional action upon the world. It is only when thought is related to the world of action as a means to an end, and the intention in thought is to use its results in action, that thought is significant. This means we must define Christianity in terms of intention, and not in terms of an ideal. Intention is something that I am in fact, trying to realize in action; and is not a conception of something that I might or ought to realize. It is only by keeping out of action, and limiting ourselves to the field of ideas, that an idea can exist. Consequently, ideals are not the test of action; action is the test of ideals. If Christianity were an ideal, it would have been obsolete long ago. To define Christianity, then, is to define the historic continuity of intention. Christianity is essentially Jewish. This is the point from which we must start. The continuity of intention can be defined only with relation to the starting point. The intention which defines it has its source completely within the experience of the Hebrew people. We are inclined to consider the Jewish origin of Christianity as merely an historical fact, without any special religious and spiritual significance, as if Christianity might have originated in Europe or elsewhere. The tendency to do so is evidence of our failure to understand Christianity and, indeed, religion. It is because we are dualist by tradition and temperament that we tend to imagine that the spiritual aspect of reality is essentially independent of time, and so unrelated to the actual process of historical development. The fact that Christianity is Jewish means that Christianity is in the form in which the influence of Jewish experience penetrated into Europe and became one of the major factors determining European history, civilization and culture. Two questions present themselves: first, what is the unique contribution of the ancient Hebrews to human experience; and, second, why is Western civilization so shy of it ? The answer to both questions is this: The Jews are religious, while we are not. The fact that it is religious presents an insuperable barrier to our normal habits of mind. W e cannot apply our standards of literary appreciation to Jewish literature, nor of history to Jewish history, nor of philosophy to Jewish philosophy. The ancient Hebrews present us with the only example in history of a specifically religious civilization. The reason for our inability to understand Hebrew culture lies in the general habit of thought which characterizes Western civilization. It is non-religious, it is dualistic, and therefore it is impersonal. The Western mind is incapable of thinking religiously.
There are three forms of consciousness: the pragmatic, the contemplative, and the religious. The pragmatic consciousness expresses itself in science; the contemplative expresses itself in art; and the religious expresses itself in religion. The religious consciousness has its only effective expression in the ancient Hebrews. The Greek consciousness is contemplative, while the Roman consciousness is pragmatic. The Greek mind is contemplative, the Roman mind is practical; but in neither of them was thought united with action, and for this reason neither the Greeks nor the Romans were religious; only the Hebrews have a religious mind. For this reason among the Hebrews religion developed together with the development of the Hebrews themselves. In consequence, the Jewish culture is integral, monistic, in a sense that no other culture has been. The Hebrew form of thought rebels against the very idea of a distinction between the secular and the religious aspect of life. It demands a synthesis of action and reflection. For the religious consciousness, religion is a way of life; it is a way of living the whole life; and, consequently, it is a way of thinking and understanding of the world. And for this reason, the religious consciousness is primarily practical.
To understand this, it is enough to see the fact that this only religious culture that history produced shows no need of a doctrine of immortality, or of a belief in another world. The belief in immortality and in another world expresses an inability to think of the world of common experience religiously. If the world is thought of contemplatively or pragmatically, there is no room in it for the satisfaction of the religious impulse. In that case, the religious demands of human nature, and the religious assertions to which they give rise, reacquire another world for their realization. The achievement of the Hebrews lies in the fact that they retained, through the process of their development, the capacity to think of this world religiously. Tn consequence, they feel no need to look beyond this world for a meaning and significance which is not contained in it. Immortality signifies, not a belief in God, but an incapacity to believe in God and of this world at the same time. If this world is conceived in a way that excludes religion, God must be conceived as belonging to another world, and that the satisfaction of our religious nature must be conceived as postponed to another life. It is significant that there is hardly a trace in the Old Testament even of anything that could be construed as a hope of immortality; while the realization of the Kingdom of God in this world, in a thoroughly this-worldly sense, is looked for in its place. The Old Testament religion is clearly about this world, and about nothing else. What is characteristic of the conception of God by the Hebrew is that God is primarily a worker. In the dualist forms of consciousness God always appears as an aristocrat. As Creator, Jehovah works six days in the making of the world, and rests on the seventh. He constructs Adam out of the dust of the earth, like a potter. He puts man he has finished in a garden to till it. Consequently, the relation between God and Man is that of fellow-workers. We find God walking in the Garden, calling Adam to talk to him; Enoch walked with God; Abraham was the friend of God; and so all through. Nothing could express more succinctly the essence of the Hebrew conception of God in its full religious integrity than the statement of Jesus: My Father worketh, and I work. John: V, 17. There is an inherent connexion between a people’s conception of God and their conception of man. The way they conceive the relation between God and man determines the way they conceive the relation between men in society. The Jewish law is summed up: Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. This dictates a society which is equalitarian and democratic. The Jewish laws aimed at a classless society, a society of equals, and who sustain to one another the relationship of fellow-workers and brothers. The Jews always refer to themselves as the Children of Israel. The idea of the brotherhood of men is a Jewish idea. In insisting upon this idea, Jesus was only reminding the Jews of this fundamental principle of their own culture.
The Hebrew consciousness escaped dualism and attained to monism. This monism, this integrity is complete rationality. By escaping the tendency to dualism, the history of the Hebrews became a history of the development of religion. In this historic process, reflection remains integrated with social experience; it enables us to think of the whole of experience as a unity. The world which is thought of religiously is the actual world of social history. This means that Jewish reflection thinks of history as the act of God. The result is the deepening of the consciousness of God’s purpose in history. In this way, religious reflection becomes a continuous interpretation of history, and historic experience becomes a progressive revelation of the nature and purpose of God. The Christian theologians, who insist that the Christian revelation offers no clue to the interpretation of history, show themselves by this to be irreligious. It was in Jesus that the development of Jewish culture was completed, and it was through Jesus that the whole development of Hebrew experience became a universal force in human history. The continuity between Christianity and the history of the Hebrews is unbroken. By completing the process of the prophetic development, Jesus made it a movement for the salvation, not of the Jews, but of the world through the Jews. For this reason it is essential to insist that Christianity is Jewish, and that Jesus was a Jew. We must understand Jesus as the fully mature expression of the Jewish consciousness. The main difficulty in understanding this lies in the fact that our own consciousness is not religious. In Jewish consciousness there is no distinction between the ideal and the material; it is an integral consciousness, for which social experience is the content of religious experience, and social behavior is the criterion of religious reality. Like the Hebrew prophets, Jesus could not make a religious assertion without making a demand upon social behavior; he could not make a religious judgment without judging contemporary social life. Jesus is not an idealist, for the same reason that he is not a materialist: because the distinction between the ideal and the material does not exist for him. For the Jewish consciousness, the intention of God is the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth, and this is possible through the overcoming of man s opposition to the will of God. The problem for man is to accept the divine purpose as his own purpose and thus to cooperate with God. The teaching of Jesus is the answer to the question: How is the kingdom of God to be established in the world ? Because this postulate is the fundamental postulate of all Hebrew thought, it was impossible for Jesus to affirm it without reaffirming that the Jews are God’s chosen people. For the religious consciousness this is not a boastful claim to superiority, it is a mere statement of historical fact. It means that it was through the Jewish people that the significance of the world has been and is being revealed. Jesus marks the point in history at which it becomes possible for man to adopt consciously as his own the purpose which is already inherent in his own nature. The mission of Jesus to his own people was to reveal to them what had been implicit in their cultural history from the beginning. The discovery which Jesus made was the discovery that human life is personal. Personality distinguishes human life from all other forms of life. What Jesus discovered was already implicit in the Old Testament. This discovery means self-discovery; it is a self-realization which becomes a self-transformation. Our knowledge of ourselves is of a unique character. It does not require and it does not admit of proof, for it is not a knowledge of something external to ourselves, and independent of ourselves. Its truth is self-evident. This self-discovery is for the religious consciousness a discovery of the nature of God. Now it is a postulate of religious rationality that the purpose of God must inevitably be achieved. Thus the discovery of the essence of humanity is the discovery of what human life will be when the work of God in history is complete. It is the discovery of what God is working at and will achieve in human history. It explains past history, and it defines the end to which present history is in fact moving. The intention of God for man, which is the end of the process of history, is the kingdom of heaven which is to be established on earth. And thus the end of history becomes known. But the achievement of that inevitably depends upon its acceptance by man. This means that man must and will cooperate with God. In this way Jesus defined the law of future history. This discovery also shows man what he truly and really wants, and this provides man with a sufficient motive to make his intention agree with the intention of God. It is the discovery by the self of its own reality, created by God to cooperate with God in the creation of the kingdom of God in the world. The dualistic Christian will say that he does the will of God, because God commanded it; but the religious consciousness will say: I do the will of God, because I want to, because the real impulse of my nature, the real desire of my proper self, is precisely to fulfill the will of God. The will of God is my real nature. The world is one; human nature is one. For the religious consciousness, the problem that arises is not, why do not men do what they ought to do, but why do not men do what they truly want to do. The answer is: because we are afraid. Fear inhibits our natural impulse to be ourselves. This is what Jesus often asked: What are ye so fearful; how is it that ye have no faith ? We must now consider the way Jesus defined this discovery. Individualism is bound up with dualism. It is only when we are in a reflective attitude that we withdraw into ourselves and are alone with ourselves. And, when we define human nature in terms of its reflective moments we define it as an isolated selfhood. But the religious consciousness defines in terms of reality of action, and so cannot be individualistic. For the religious consciousness, the reality lies in community, and any religious statement about human life is a statement about human community. This means that human community is not based upon blood-relationship. This implies an attack upon the family, upon race, upon nationality, upon the all so-called natural relationships, as the basis of human relationship. The reason why the animal ties of blood-relation cannot form the basis of human community is that human community is a community of persons, and the unity of persons depends upon human purposes determining human behavior. Blood-relationships are mere matter of fact, which have no relation to that freedom of choice which is the defining characteristic of human life. A family is not a human unity, unless its members make it so. And a group of human beings who have no blood-relationship to one another can be a human unity if its members make it so. The presence or absence of blood-relationship is, in principle, totally irrelevant. This does away with individualism. This is the negative aspect of the discovery. But there is also a positive aspect. The positive aspect is love. This is summed up in the commandment: Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy strength; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love is the basis of all human community. It is not the fact of common birth that makes unity of the natural family, it is the natural love which tends to develop between members of the family, because of their common experience and common interests. Since it is true that we tend to love those that love us, it follows that, if we love our enemies, that will tend to make them love us. To the question: Why should I love people who do not love me? Jesus would answer: because that is the way to establish a human relation between you and them. To the further question: Why should I try to establish a human relation between myself and them ? Jesus would answer: because that is what God is doing in history, that is what you are made for, and that is what your human nature really wants. Now, if we think of the structural principle of a society which is created and maintained by mutual affection raised to the level of intention, we find that they are principles of equality and freedom. These principles have their origin in the Jewish culture. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. One of the remarkable differences between the Jewish culture and the Greek culture is that the Jew can think of the relation of truth and freedom as a relation between means and end; while the Greek cannot think of this relation. Because there is no dualism for the Jew between theory and practice, he concludes that falsity begets bondage in action, and truth begets freedom. Freedom can be realized only when our intention is in harmony with the nature of the reality of which we form a part; that is to say, when our will coincides with the will of God. But our own nature can be defined or expressed only in our relations to one another; but these relations must be right; otherwise, we shall not be free. The denial of equality is inherently self-negating. Masters must always depend on their servants. An upper class must always depend on its working class. A wife who is subordinated to her husband is always mistress of the situation. To secure the acceptance of the idea that you are superior, you must in practice become dependent. The motive for power is always a compensation for a sense of inferiority; the claim to superiority is in fact a confession of weakness. These two principles—of freedom and equality— describe the intentional structure of a truly human society. They are the immediate corollaries of the fundamental law—that love is possible only upon the basis of human unity, that love is the only possible basis of human unity. For Jesus, as for every religious thinker, the reality of experience is action, and therefore the world is conceived as an Act. God is the ultimate agent, and the world is His creation. History is the continued act of God, and it is in His working in history that God is known. God is known as a worker, in His work, and His work is history. The knowledge of God and the knowledge of history are inseparable. Dualism is a denial of action. Action is the embodiment of thought in the material world, the unity of body and spirit. Since action is the realization of intention, to think of history as the action of God is to think of it as the realization of the intention of God. Since God is Absolute, it is nonsensical to think that his intention in history will not be realized. For this reason, any statement of what the intention of God in history is, is also a statement of what will in fact be realized in the future. Thus the spiritual understanding of the will of God for man is an understanding of what will happen to man in the future. History is the action of God, but it is also the action of men. History is to be thought both as the act of God and the act of man in the world. Now, an act is the realization of intention. But the intentions of man, not only do not coincide with the intention of God, but are often in active opposition to it. They achieve something which they did not intend. When men set out to realize an intention which is contrary to the divine intention, they do not achieve it. If the intention is the opposite of the divine intention, then they necessarily achieve, not what they intended but its opposite. To act in defiance of the will of God is to intend the impossible. But that does not mean that we have achieved nothing. On the contrary, we have achieved something which we did not intend. Thus, whether our intention conforms to the purpose of God or opposes it, we cannot achieve anything but the purpose of God. The purpose of God is the creation of Man, as a personal community of free and equal persons. What is thus necessitated is human freedom, or the realization by Man of his true nature in the world. There is no antinomy between freedom and necessity, because what is necessitated is freedom. The will to power is self-defeating. It is not the use of power to achieve our ends that is self-defeating, but our will to power for the sake of power. It is only by using power that any end can be achieved. But the will to power is the intention to use power as a means to achieving power. The will to power is necessarily self-defeating, it is self-contradictory. Power should be used as a means, but it should not be used as an end. But we parade the means as the end, in order to avoid having any end in consciousness, in order to achieve the means of doing something without knowing what it is that we mean to do. The will to community is the real will of Man; its rejection is unreal. The whole world is to be redeemed through the Jews. Their history is the story of the revelation of the intention of God and the laws of his action in human history. With the completion of this intention comes the call to the Jewish people to accept the will of God as their own, and to act the “light to lighten the nations.” Their own salvation lies through the salvation of the world. The meek shall inherit the earth. Caesarism with all its will to power must destroy itself, yet in destroying itself it will achieve, against its own will, the purpose of God: a universal community embracing the world, based on equality and freedom. And this—which Rome would achieve in spite of itself—would be the realization of the Jewish intention. And so the meek shall inherit the earth.
And now we come to the idea of progress. The notion of progress is totally foreign to the Greek mind and to the Roman mind. For both, the ideal life is stability and permanence, and the idea of perfection is inseparable from the idea of changelessness. The good is that which does not change. The world is infected with unreality and evil, because it is in process of change. For the Greek thinkers, the very idea of change is excluded from the essence of the divine; and the life of God is a life of eternal changeless contemplation of the eternally changeless. In this we see the apotheosis of leisure—the ideal of aristocracy. God is the opposite of the worker. Greek reflection cannot even think of progress. And the same is true of the Roman mind. Over against both stands the inherent purpose of the Hebrew mind—the effort to achieve a universal family, which becomes fully explicit in Jesus. It is precisely the absence of dualism in the Hebrew mind which necessitates the unity of the two elements, which Greece and Rome separate. And in this Jewish conception of the universal family there is immanent the notion of progress. One makes progress towards the realization of an intention, and not otherwise. It is only from the Jewish or religious standpoint that the course of history can be seen as a progress toward a goal. Those who so become co-workers with God can then see history as the realization of a human intention, and themselves as making progress towards its realization. Thus it is clear that the idea of progress can have no other origin than the Jewish one, and that it is essentially a Christian conception which can have no rational basis save in a religious consciousness of the world.”
To understand the significance of what Professor Macmurray tells us about progress, it is necessary to consider progress itself. We speak of progress, yet we do not have a clear idea about progress. What is progress ? As the term implies, progress is a movement forward. Movement implies something that moves. Therefore, progress indicates the movement of something forward. How are we to determine whether something moves forward or backward ? The answer is: by the aim of the movement. If something moves towards the intended aim, it progresses; it moves forward; on the other hand, if it moves away from the intended aim, it regresses, it moves backward. But even when we know the intended aim, we do not yet know whether the movement is progressive or regressive; for, though the movement may be towards the aim, yet the aim itself may be regressive. In that case, the progressive movement towards the aim is really a regressive movement. Therefore, to know whether a movement is progressive or regressive, we must first know whether the aim itself is progressive. How, then, can we determine whether the aim is progressive? The answer is: by the destiny of history. If the aim is towards the destiny of history, then the aim is progressive, and so also is the movement towards that aim. And in the opposite case, the aim and the movement will be regressive. But to know whether an aim is progressive or not, we must first know what the destiny of history is. Now, as stated before, only the Jews knew what the destiny of history is, and this destiny is the kingdom of God on earth, that is, a human society resting on universal communism. And only the Jews sought to realize this destiny of history. Since only the Jews knew of the destiny of history, and since only they endeavored to realize it, it necessarily follows that only the Jews knew of progress. Thus salvation is of the Jews. This is what Professor Macmurray means. We thus see the following. Only the Jews attained to an integral, monistic view of existence; only they abolished all dualism; only they united thought and action, God and man, and man with man; only the Jews attained to an idea of history, as being the realization of the intention of God; only the Jews discovered the basis of human community, namely, personality, equality, freedom and truth. For this reason, the Jews were and are in truth and in fact the chosen children of God, and for this reason salvation is only through them. And all this Jesus made universally explicit. Professor Macmurray now considers the history of Christianity and Christendom from the time of Jesus to the present time. He tells us that the Church denied the Christian intention by yielding to the will to power. The alliance with the Roman Empire created a dualism between the spiritual and temporal powers, which gave form to Mediaeval society. The contemplative dualism expressed itself in a hatred of the body and in the desire to rid oneself of the body and of the necessity of action. God then became the complete aristocrat, who expresses in his existence the complete escape from action. God is then a pure spirit—the opposite and antagonist of matter. His activity is a purely spiritual activity. Christian theology is the product of an alliance with the Stoic philosophy. Stoicism corrupted Christianity and side-tracked it into dualism. The emergence of Christian theology proves that the Christian Church had fallen a victim to dualism. From the time that Christianity accepted the position of the official religion of the Roman Empire, it ceased to be possible to identify Christianity with the Church. In the modern world, the dualistic structure of society remains, but the dominant will to power is secular. The State has taken the place of the Church. The form of modern consciousness is individualist, but individualism is incompatible with action, because action requires us to enter into relations with other persons and with the material world, and this is a negation of individualism. One can remain an individualist only in thought, but in action he must cooperate with others and with the material world. Hence individual self-realization is impossible. The concentration upon the self negates the basis of action. Thus the modern world is in contradiction with itself. Individualism is a negation of community, and expresses the fear of community. But community is the condition of human freedom. Man is free only in proportion as he identifies himself with community. Hence, individualism enslaves, and thus frustrates the aim of individualism. The will to power in modern society has been universalized as a competitive struggle for the means of individual freedom. As all struggle for individual freedom, they must all struggle against one another. In this way the effort to achieve individual freedom is made self-frustrating. It necessarily achieves the opposite; and the more intense the effort is made, the more complete is its frustration. The more men endeavor to achieve individual freedom, the more enslaved they become. Thus men fall under bondage, and their effort to attain freedom is an effort to escape from themselves. A self that has become its own end is in bondage to itself, and cannot escape from itself. In its effort to save its own life of freedom it loses it. Egocentric freedom is self-negating. The individualist struggle for freedom is a struggle to escape from work. The demand that every man should be free means to the individualist that every man should be free to escape from the necessity to work. But as the ideal of freedom is more and more realized in the European mind, the more does its practical life become a bondage to material necessity. Thus arose a mode of production and distribution which stands outside and above us and rules us with an iron necessity, and to which we must submit. And, while in thought the modern men become ideally free, materially they became ever more enslaved; and, while in thought they upheld the ideal of individualism, in practice they bring out just the opposite, namely, communism. The mode of production becomes ever more communistic. And so the modern individualism created the negation of its own egocentricity. With the development of the mode of production also comes into existence organized labor, which in practice negates individualism. This, in turn, forces the capitalists also to organize themselves; and so, while in thought upholding ideal freedom, in practice they promote cooperation and communism. And so modern individualism brings out its exact opposite, communism. But all this is unintentional. Neither the working class nor the capitalist class intends communism. The working class movement tends toward communism in practice, but rejects the intention of it; while the capitalist class tends equally in the direction of fascism against its intention. These movements are necessitated and compulsory in both cases. In intention both classes seek to preserve ideal democracy in opposition to the material substance. In the modern period, the egocentric will to power and freedom of the self achieve their own destruction and establish its direct opposite—-a collectivism and the collective mind which tends freedom of action and equality in the material field. Thus the accomplishment of the Christian intention of universal community of freedom and equality is inevitable. Christianity leads to liberalism, liberalism to ideal socialism, and ideal socialism to communism. And now the question arises: How is it that fascism, and not socialism, is the product of this process ? How came it that the self-destruction of individualist society and the creation of collectivism resulted in the production of a society which is consciously anti-communist, anti-progressive, anti-equalitarian, and which persecutes the Jews? The answer is this: there was an almost complete inhibition of action in the German working class. The means to action—theoretical and practical—were completely developed in Germany, but the effective motive which would have provided the driving force was wanting. The form of Western individualism produced the dualism of intellect and emotion. The emotions were suppressed. Now, suppressed emotions do not disappear, except from consciousness; the suppressed emotions are then driven into the unconscious. In the unconscious, the suppressed emotions are cut off from intentional human development, and remain primitive. Suppressed emotions then act as a negative force, determining action in opposition to consciousness and expressing themselves in the negation of the intellect. The suppression of the emotions for the sake of the intellect generates anti-intellectualism. Since the ideals of the intellect are freedom, equality and progress, the impulse of the suppressed emotions will be anti-libertarian, anti-equalitarian and anti-progressive; in a word, the unconscious, in which the motives to action are buried, will be blindly reactionary. This is the simple explanation of the character of fascism. The suppression of emotion and the inhibition of action which it involves, broke down, and the unconscious provided the driving force for action. Its social collectivism is impelled to destructive, and not to constructive, ends. It must destroy freedom, democracy, equality and all the rational forms of society, and in particular its ethical forms. But a purely negative movement is impossible. It has meaning only in relation to its corresponding positive and exists through it. Fascism is directed against communism, and yet fascism is possible only through the existence of communism. Its negative character makes it inherently and clearly self-contradictory. Fascism must achieve the unification of Europe and the destruction of the sovereign, independent State. Fascism is the extreme and violent organized opposition to Christianity, and for this very reason it will force the adoption of the intention of Christianity, not merely in idea, but also in practice. This will mean the disappearance of dualism, the end of class society, and the beginning of the planned and practical progress towards the achievement of a universal community of humanity on the only basis on which in fact it can be realized, namely, the Christian basis of freedom and equality. Fascist policy must ideally be directed against Russia, but in practice it will be directed against the non-socialist nations which are industrially developed—against France and England in particular. The ideal anti-communism of the fascist powers can only have as its practical result the opposite of its intention—the creation of universal communism.
(What Professor Macmurray says here confirms what I stated before. Fascism is the communist soul functioning through an animal body and in cooperation with the animal spirit. But the communist soul does not lose its identity and functions according to its nature. Hence while the fascist animal body and animal spirit intend to destroy all that the communist soul builds, yet the animal body and the animal spirit will, against their intention, realize what the communist soul aims to realize).
Now fascism is fully aware of its inherent contradiction and its frustration. While fascism in its negative and destructive function aims to destroy democracy, freedom and equality, at the same time it is aware that within itself are the seeds of its own destruction, and the seeds of its destruction are embodied in the Jews. Thus fascism discovers that the source of all pressure toward progress, equality, freedom and common humanity is— the Jew. Hence the mortal dread of the Jew, and hence the determination of the fascists to destroy the Jews. This new anti-Semitism of Germany looks completely irrational to us. From a purely intellectual point of view the problem seems, to say the least of it, absurdly exaggerated, and the practical reasons advanced to prove that the Jews are a real menace to Germany, the source of all her misfortunes and defeats, and the organizers and creators of all internationalism, and of Bolshevism in particular, are clearly nothing but “rationalizations” of an emotional impulse. Yet we have to face the fact that the leader of the German people has no doubt in his mind that the Jewish problem is the centre of all problems, not merely in Germany, but in the world. It is useless to dismiss this as an illusion, because if it is, it demands explanation. But it is no illusion. It is the truth. Hitler’s declaration that the Jewish consciousness is poison to the Aryan races is the deepest insight that the Western world has yet achieved in its own nature; and his capacity to realize this is the proof of his genius as well as the secret of his power and of the curious fascination which his personality exerts. One has only to attend to the form of the statement to see that it is not the practical power or wealth of the Jews that he fears, but the character of the Jewish mind. It is the Jewish consciousness which is the enemy, not an organized Jewish army, not even an insurrection of the Jews in Germany. It is the hidden penetration of the Jewish spirit into the Gentile mind that is the danger; and it is a danger because the “Aryan” mind cannot resist it, but must succumb. The task is to extirpate the influence of the Jewish consciousness upon the world. At all costs the leaven must be got out of the lump, or very soon the whole will be leavened, and the result will be the final end of the “Aryan” pagan tradition. Europe will be false to itself that it will create a universal communism, which will destroy blood and race as the basis of civilization, destroy the beauties and the heroisms of the struggle for power, deny the natural superiority of the white race, and of German in particular, and produce universal equality and brotherhood. The Jewish spirit is not merely under the illusion of these ideas; it is the force, in the world, which creates them in idea and compels the rest of humanity to achieve them in practice. I need ask for no greater testimony to the truth of the whole thesis of this book than Hitler’s. His inspiration corroborates my own pedestrian reflection. The only difference between us is that his will and mind respond to the truth in different ways. The thought of the triumph of the Jewish consciousness fills me with joyous exhilaration, while it casts Hitler into the depths of despair. For Hitler the Jewish consciousness is a poison. I have learned from the greatest genius of the Jewish race to recognize it as the Water of Life. My own conclusions are of little account. I claim no real originality in them. I have merely held on to the essence of Christianity as the process of the world destroyed its official trappings of theology and Church organization. What fills me with excitement is to find that the leader and symbol of one of the greatest peoples of Europe corroborates the prophecies of Jesus in his passionate opposition to their fulfilment.
What, after all, in plain fact, is the influence of the Jewish consciousness upon the Aryan races? The answer is—Christianity. Christianity is, as a matter of history, the Jewish contribution to the Western tradition. Germany is part of the effect of the Jewish consciousness upon the world. In trying to destroy the Jewish consciousness, it can only negate its own unconscious, and its unconscious is the source of its power. Where, after all, did Hitler discover the Jewish consciousness if not in his own unconscious ? The Jews have become, against their will, a universal community, immanent in the nations of the earth. The community of the Jews has been maintained by religion alone. This in itself proves that human community is not created or maintained by common attachment to the soil, nor by common devotion to a leader, nor by economic or political organization, nor a complex of cultural traditions of a secular kind. The Jews have proved the truth of Jesus’ understanding of the nature of Man. No dualist religion has succeeded in this; only the Jewish religion; and, in part, the Christian religion in virtue of its Jewish origin and substance. The Jews cannot be a part of a real national unity. Hitler is right when he claims that he had to suppress the Jews if he was to unify Germany. The only real community in which the Jewish problem could be solved would be the community in which race was no longer a principle of unity.
Professor Macmurray here shows that the determination of the fascists to destroy Judaism and the Jews will have the effect that the fascists will absorb Judaism, and thus become in essence Jews. Fascism will destroy Western civilization, but fascism cannot triumph. It can only destroy itself and create its opposite. Fascism depends upon the Jewish consciousness which it opposes, and it develops in the world, through its own negativity, the negative form of the Jewish consciousness, in its rejection of its own Christian substance. But by securing the triumph of the Jewish consciousness it universalizes it, and in its development it must negate the negation and achieve in the world as a whole the triumph of the positive reality of the Jewish consciousness, which is Christianity. It is the inevitable destiny of fascism to create what it intends to prevent—the socialist commonwealth of the world. The fundamental law of human nature cannot be broken. He that saveth his life shall lose it. The will to power is self-frustrating. It is the meek who shall inherit the earth.
118. The foregoing gives a good idea of the philosophy of Professor Macmurray, as he presents it in the book: The Clue to History. I repeat my advice to every intelligent Jew and every intelligent Christian to read this book carefully and thoughtfully; for the book itself contains far more than what I conveyed in the foregoing. It now is clear that the philosophy of Professor Macmurray is in entire accord with my philosophy, which is the basis of this program. By the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses shall a matter be established. To me it is a great comfort and assurance that I am not alone in my philosophy. A great revolutionary transformation of society takes place all over the world, it is an economic, political, intellectual and spiritual transformation. All things testify to the fact that the eternal intention of Jehovah is coming to realization. And the Jews should be the first ones to identify themselves with this revolutionary transformation of human society. For historic reasons, the Jews never made a serious endeavor to understand Jesus and his doctrines. And thus it came to pass that the Jews remained ignorant of one of the most important events in their own history. On the other hand, the Christians could not understand Jesus and his doctrines. The result was a Christianity which was not that of Jesus. The Jews were right in rejecting this Christianity and the Jesus that the Christians created. But now that the real Jesus has come to life again, now that his true doctrines have been revealed, the Jews should be the first to accept the real Jesus and his true doctrines; for Jesus is blood of their blood, and his doctrines are soul of the soul of Judaism. Jehovah, the father, had two sons: the older brother—the Jews; and the younger brother—the Christians. The Christians received their share from Jehovah at once, while the Jews wait to receive their share in the end of days, when the kingdom of God will be established on earth. The Christians wasted the treasures which they received from Jehovah on harlots, they became so poor intellectually and spiritually that they were compelled to take care of swine. But now that the Christians attained to self-consciousness and return to Jehovah, the Jews should embrace them as their brothers, and together with Jehovah rejoice that the Christians came to life again. This is the intention of Jehovah, and the Jews must conform with his intention. If the Jews honestly, sincerely and openly accept Jesus and his doctrines, they will do their share in removing the antagonism between themselves and the Christians, and this will give moral strength to the Christians to meet the Jews as brothers. By this both will be regenerated and both will benefit. But the question arises: Will the Jews and the Christians now willingly identify themselves with the will and intention of Jehovah? This brings us to the problem of problems, and this problem I shall now consider.
119. Before I take up the problem for solution, I must answer a few relevant questions. First, was Jesus a Jew? For nearly two thousand years the anti-Semites hated the Jews because Jesus was a Jew. And now the anti-Semites are endeavoring to prove that Jesus was an Aryan. Now, the Jews would gladly make of Jesus a present to the Aryans, if the Aryans would atone to the Jews for the two thousand years of suffering which the Aryans inflicted upon the Jews because Jesus was a Jew. But the anti-Semitic Aryans now seek to adopt Jesus as their own, in order to have a good reason for inflicting upon the Jews even greater suffering. Since, however, my program calls for the acceptance of Jesus by the Jews as their own brother, it is necessary to establish the fact that Jesus was a Jew. Jesus with his life, his doctrines, his struggles and his crucifixion symbolizes the Jews. Not only Jesus was crucified by the Aryan Romans, but also the Jews were crucified by the Aryan Romans; not only Jesus was resurrected, but also the Jews were and will he resurrected, not only Jesus rose to the right hand of power, but also the Jews will rise to the right hand of power. This alone is enough to establish the fact that Jesus was a Jew. But we have more concrete proof of the fact that Jesus was a Jew.
120. What is necessary to be a Jew ? All that is necessary is that one should identify himself with Judaism. We already saw that Judaism transcends race, color, blood and birth. No matter what may be the race, color, blood or birth of a man, once he embraces Judaism and identifies himself with it, he is a Jew to all intents and purposes On the other hand, one may be the son of Moses or David, if he renounces Judaism, he ceases to be a Jew. Hence, the question whether Jesus was a Jew depends upon the answer to the question: Did Jesus identify himself with Judaism ? But before I give the answer to this question, I want to call attention to the facts which prove that Jesus was a Jew by race, color, blood and birth. First, the New Testament tells us most explicitly that Jesus was a Jew by race, color, blood and birth. The New Testament tells us that his parents were Jews; then the New Testament traces the genealogy of Jesus to David and Abraham. Now, the authors of the New Testament were unfriendly to the Jews and Judaism, and some of these authors were even enemies of the Jews and Judaism. Hence, it was not the intention of these authors to flatter the Jews and Judaism, but their intention was to tell the truth. Next, the New Testament represents Jesus as being thoroughly Jewish. His language, his behavior, his associates, his struggles and his aim—all were organically and indissolubly bound up with the Jews and Judaism. Then we have this important fact. For nearly two thousand years, countless millions of Christians believed that Jesus was a Jew, and this belief continued from the beginning down to this day. Finally, we have this most important fact, namely, Christianity is absolutely impossible unless upon the basis of the fact that Jesus was a Jew. Christianity is rooted deep in the past history of the Jews and Judaism. If ever the Christians convince themselves that Jesus was not a Jew, then Christianity will entirely disappear. These facts, individually and collectively, absolutely prove that Jesus was a Jew. May there come a billion scholars and write billions of books to prove that Jesus was not a Jew, all their efforts will be absolutely futile, for they will never prove that Jesus was not a Jew. But all these facts only relate to the physical Jesus, which is not very essential. Essential is the Spiritual Jesus. The question of real and decisive importance is this: Was Jesus identified with Judaism ? This, then, brings us to the consideration of the nature of Judaism.
121. What is Judaism? It is strange that after thousands of years of the existence of Jews and Judaism this should be asked now; and stranger still it is that thus far no attempt was yet made to define Judaism. Here is the definition of Judaism. Judaism is the perception of the destiny of mankind, which destiny realizes itself upon the basis of the eternal and infinite law of equivalents in accordance with the law of dialectics. From this will follow that one who identifies himself with the destiny of mankind and endeavors to realize it is a Jew. Now, the realization of an aim implies means and methods. Now, while the means and the methods are essential to the realization of an aim, they do not form part of the essence of the aim itself. And so, while the aim cannot be changed, the means and the methods for the realization of the aim may be changed, and often must be changed, to meet the changing requirements and conditions of life. All commandments, laws, ordinances, rituals and practices that are associated with Judaism are only the means and the methods for the realization of Judaism. Hence while Judaism itself cannot and will not change, the commandments, laws, ordinances, rituals and practices, which are only means and methods for its realization, Judaism can change, and often must change, to meet the changing requirements and conditions of life. When the changed conditions of life require a change in the means and the methods for the realization of Judaism, and the means and the methods are not changed, then the aim of Judaism will be frustrated. Now, the aim of Judaism is to realize the destiny of mankind. This aim cannot and will not be changed, for the destiny of mankind was predetermined by God from eternity unto eternity. And no matter what may come to pass, races, nations, states and empires may come and go, the predetermined destiny of mankind will inevitably be realized. What is the predetermined destiny of mankind ? This is the kingdom of God on earth. What is this kingdom of God on earth ? It is a human society resting on universal communism. A human society means a society of morally autonomous free persons; it means persons who have attained to explicit reason, and who then act in accordance with the guidance and dictates of reason. Such persons are morally autonomous and free. But such society can arise only on a foundation of universal communism. Since such society never yet existed, it follows that until now there were and still is only a materialistic society, and not a human society. The aim of Judaism is to realize this inevitable human society resting on universal communism.
122. Now, open the Bible and begin to read from beginning to end, you will see that the realization of the kingdom of God on earth is the soul and essence of Judaism. As soon as Abraham perceived Jehovah, Jehovah told Abraham that he will make of him and of his seeds a blessing to all the nations and peoples on earth. This promise becomes ever more explicit as we follow up the Prophets. The Jews three times a day end their prayers with the expression of the hope that soon Jehovah will establish his kingdom on earth, and all men will recognize him and live according to the will of Jehovah. This idea is so fundamental and essential in Judaism, that we do not need to go into details to prove. So much for the kingdom of God on earth. And now we must consider the law of equivalents and the law of dialectics. I already spoke of the law of equivalents, and therefore will briefly restate this law. Existence rests on the eternal and infinite law of equivalents: there must be a quid pro quo; for everything we get from existence or for everything we want to realize in existence we must pay an equivalent. This equivalent must be paid in coins of work, struggle and suffering. The law of equivalents involves the method of payment, and this method is the law of dialectics. The law of dialectics tells us that conduct changes into consequences of an opposite nature. This arises from the very law of equivalents. As stated before, the law of equivalents requires payment in coins of work, struggle and suffering; when we pay in these coins, we get as rewards the means of life, joy and happiness. All these are correlatives; this means that neither can exist without the other. It is only a question of the order of their existence. If we begin with conduct that at once gives us pleasure, then in the consequences the correlative of pleasure, namely, pain, will inevitably follow. If we begin with conduct that at once gives us joy, it will inevitably be followed by consequences that will give us sorrow. If we begin with conduct that at once gives us happiness, the consequences will inevitably be suffering. On the other hand, if we begin with conduct that is painful, the consequences will inevitably give us pleasure; if we begin with conduct that gives us sorrow, the consequences will inevitably bring us joy; and, finally, when we begin with conduct that causes us to suffer, the consequences will inevitably brings us consequences of happiness. Nothing in existence can change this relation, because this relation rests on the eternal and infinite law of equivalents, which is the eternal and infinite nature of the Absolute. From this follows that the predetermined destiny of mankind presupposes the prior work, struggle and suffering of mankind. The kingdom of God on earth mankind will earn with infinite work, struggle and suffering. Knowing this, we already know the whole history of mankind—past, present and future.
123. The Bible from beginning to end teaches nothing else than this law of equivalents as it works out through the method of dialectics, and the aim of the Bible is the kingdom of God on earth. Let us briefly point out the way the Bible teaches this eternal and infinite truth. We will begin with the story of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Jehovah-Elohim commanded Adam not to eat from this tree, for the day that he will eat from this tree he will die. Adam, however, disobeyed Jehovah-Elohim, and for this he and Eve were cursed and condemned to suffering and they were chased out from the Garden of Eden to till the earth. Hundreds of thousands of scholars and theologians wrote about this story, and the result of all their infinite labor was that they declared this story to be only a myth. How tragic ! Here mankind were revealed the eternal and infinite law of dialectics and its basis the law of equivalents, and yet mankind did not understand it. What does the Bible tell us here? This we shall presently see. The tree of knowledge of good and evil is reason, for it is only reason that distinguishes between good and evil, between right and wrong. Reason is the faculty that raises man above the animal. Until man attains to explicit reason, he is still an animal. But man cannot attain to his human nature, without at the same time the animal dying in him. As soon as reason dawns upon human consciousness, as soon as man becomes conscious of reason, so soon the animal in him dies. This is what the Bible tells us. Bear this in mind. The term, Adam, means yet an animal-man. When man attains to explicit reason, this animal-man dies, and he becomes an Ish. Bear this distinctly in mind. All through the Bible, whenever it refers to a man that already attained to explicit reason, he is referred to as Ish. For instance, Moses is spoken of as the Ish Moses. And so all through. Now, who was the serpent? And why did Jehovah-Elohim create the serpent ? Did Jehovah-Elohim intend that man should remain an animal, so that he should not he able to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong ? The answer is this: Jehovah-Elohim only declared the law of human progress and evolution. Man will be determined to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and he will die as often as he has to make a higher step in progress. This will continue until he will attain to the intellect and bring out the human society resting on universal communism. But who will induce man to eat from reason and perpetually die that he may perpetually be reborn and rise higher and ever higher. This will be induced by the intellect. I already stated that the intellect is our soul that has become wholly explicit. It is the intellect that induces, that is, the soul of man induces him to eat from the tree of knowledge and die, that he may be born again a higher being. Why is the soul called the serpent? First, because the primordial form of the soul in an embodied form is the spermatozoon, which is in bodily form and function like the serpent. Like the serpent, the spermatozoon penetrates the ovum and effects a revolution; the process begins with the death of the spermatozoon and the ovum, and out of death life begins the process of creation. Next, the serpent symbolizes the beginning of death, pain, sorrow and suffering, which end in consequences just the opposite. Then the serpent symbolizes the revolutionary, the one that destroys the old forms of life that new and higher forms of life may be brought out. The revolutionary was always regarded by his contemporaries as the serpent, the enemy of society. But, when the revolutionary accomplished his historic function, and the good that he has accomplished begin to manifest themselves, then society extols the past revolutionary to the sky, society makes of him a hero, and even a god, and then builds temples and institutions in his honor. This is in accordance with the law of dialectics. And here I want to point out a significant fact. As I already stated before, the Bible rests on a mathematical systems of an infinite order. Every letter, word, sentence, and so on, has many numerical values. For our present purpose I will point out only this. The numerical value of the Hebrew word for serpent is 358. And the numerical value of the Hebrew word for Messiah is also 358. The Messiah, the redeemer, is the serpent: he is the soul of the race, the nation or the people. The Messiah, always begins as a serpent, he is hated by his contemporaries, he is poisoned, he is stoned, he is crucified, he is burned, and so on. But later he is raised to a hero, to a god. And now what happened to Adam ? Adam became a rational person; his eyes were opened, and he knew to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong. Then Jehovah-Elohim said: Now that Adam became like one of them, namely, Adam became like Elohim—and Elohim is Binah, reason: now Adam will go a step further and attain also the intellect—the intellect being Jehovah; and then he will live forever. But that he may earn this, he must be chased out of the Garden of Eden, so that he should take the earth in hand and prepare it for the kingdom of God. Since then the history of mankind was the history of man eating ever more of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, constantly dying, and constantly rising higher and higher. This will continue until man attains to the intellect, then he will live forever; that is, he will then continue to make further progress without revolutions, without wars, without struggles. Natural dialectics will be transformed into rational dialectics. This gives you an idea of how the Bible rests entirely on the law of dialectics based on the law of equivalents.
124. I will refer to a few facts to illustrate the foregoing. When Jehovah entered with Abraham into the covenant, Jehovah promised that his children will inherit the Promised Land. But, before his children will be entitled to enjoy the Promised Land—which is really the kingdom of God—they will have to be slaves in Egypt for four hundred years. Egypt means oppression. The Bible has reference not to the country that is called Egypt, but it refers to the whole world of mankind still living under the oppression of material necessity. Only after the children of Abraham will have been enslaved and oppressed during all the time of the reign of material necessity, only then will they enter into the Promised Land, and enjoy it forever. After that, the whole history of the Jews was a history of frequent dying, that they might be reborn again and again, and thus rise higher and ever higher. It was this frequent dying of the Jewish people that preserved the Jews and their pristined youth, vigor and progressiveness. If the Jews had not frequently died, they would have become petrified, fossilized and mummified as the Sudras and the Falaheen or the Coolies. And now I will refer to a few sentences—out of the tens of thousands that abound in the Bible—showing the recognition of the law of dialectics. To the meek the earth shall belong. To become the owner and master over the earth, one must become first meek: the proud and the haughty cannot and will not inherit the earth. Those that sow with tears reap with song. This is another recognition of the law of dialectics. I thank Thee that Thou hast afflicted me, for that was my salvation. The stone that the builders despised became the chief corner stone. Again, as soon as the Jew is born, he is made to bleed, and he is told that in bleeding thou shalt live. The Jew must constantly bleed that he may live forever. The foregoing—which could be multiplied indefinitely—show the true nature of Judaism. Judaism has only one aim: to bring mankind to the kingdom of God on earth. But this aim can be realized only in conformity with the law of dialectics which is the method of the law of equivalents. Since the kingdom of God on earth will be a kingdom for men, it follows that the supreme concern of Judaism is the relation of man to man. For this reason, Judaism always insisted ever more and more, and will forever insist upon justice, honesty, righteousness, equality, freedom, love, and the like. We now can understand the definition of Judaism. Judaism is the perception of the destiny of mankind, which realizes itself in accordance with the law of dialectics upon the basis of the law of equivalents. And he is a Jew who identifies himself with Judaism, that is, one who endeavors to realize the kingdom of God on earth. Why do I state: Judaism is the perception ? Why do I not say that Judaism is the commandment of Jehovah? Do I separate Judaism from Jehovah? These questions I will answer a little later. And now the question presents itself: Did Jesus identify himself with Judaism as thus defined and explained? This we shall presently see.
125. The teachings of Jesus begin and end with the kingdom of God on earth, and all through the kingdom of God on earth is the aim and purpose of the New Testament. It is not necessary that I should support this statement with citations from the New Testament. And now we come to the law of dialectics and the law of equivalents. Jesus, more than his predecessors, expressed these laws most explicitly and most definitely. I will refer to a few statements of Jesus. Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. Unless a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but, if it dieth, it will bring forth an abundance of fruit. The first shall be the last, and the last shall be the first. If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all. Seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. The kingdom of God— this is the human society resting on universal communism. To live in the material world, we need the material means of life we must have food, clothing, shelter and many other material things. Yet we may be in possession of a mechanism of production capable of supplying to the human race a superabundance of the material things, yet we shall destroy ourselves and the things, be miserable and suffer. But let mankind strive after the kingdom of God on earth, and they will enjoy an abundance of the material things of life. And so, by striving after the kingdom of God, which is an ideal to be realized in the future, mankind will already in the present enjoy the material things. Resist not evil, whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Considered from the social viewpoint, this is an immoral rule, for it encourages crime. But there is a deeper view, which view concerned then the Jews most vitally. The Jews were then exploited and oppressed by the Romans. It was very hard to bear the exploitation and oppression. The Jews were in a state of revolt. What were the Jews to do, should they bear the exploitation and oppression, or should they rise against the Romans ? Jesus advised the Jews to bear patiently, for the misuse and abuse of power is self-destroying; the Romans were bound to destroy themselves by the misuse and abuse of power, and the Jews would in the end triumph over the Romans. This was what Jesus meant: he did not lay down this as a rule of social life, but as a rule for those that are exploited and oppressed by a superior power, to rise against which would mean only self-destruction; as, indeed, it proved in the case of the Jews soon after the death of Jesus. Next, Jesus tells us: Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. This is a severe test. One can bear exploitation and oppression, one can bear to be tortured in body and mind, but it is almost impossible to love an enemy, or pray for them that persecute us. And yet, the law of dialectics tells us that this is the only way that we can overcome an enemy or a persecutor. Suppose we consider the present situation that confronts the Jews. Suppose we tell the Jews that they should apply this rule in their attitude towards the German nazis. It will be far easier for the Jews to suffer and die, than love the nazis and pray for them. And yet, when we look into the matter deeply, we perceive that this is the only rule that the Jews can and should apply to the nazis. The Jews are physically so helpless that they can do absolutely nothing against the nazis. The Jews want that the nazis should cease to hate and persecute the Jews, but how can this be achieved ? There is only one way, and the way is that as stated by Jesus. If I want that an enemy should stop hating me, I must first love him. It is very hard and painful for me to do, bot this is the only way that I can make of my enemy a person who at least should not hate me. But why pray for him that persecutes me ? This is a deep insight into the law of dialectics. Let us again consider the nazis. The nazis brought upon the Jews infinite suffering. Viewed from this aspect, the nazis should be hated and detested as monsters and fiends. Yet there is another aspect to the matter. The nazis brought upon the Jews infinite misery and suffering, but they also, and against their intentions, brought to the Jews infinite good. The nazis regenerated the spirit of the Jews; they aroused in the Jews their Jewish consciousness, and awakened in them the love and loyalty to Judaism which in most cases was fast asleep, and in many cases was almost entirely dead. Prior to the advent of nazism in Germany, the Jews in Germany were on the verge of extinction. If that situation had continued for a century, the Jews in Germany would have been completely lost. And the same, to a lesser extent, was also true in all other countries. But nazism put a stop to this suicide of the Jewish people; the Jewish people resurrected and is becoming stronger from day to day. Out of their present tribulations, travails and sufferings the Jews will emerge stronger and more thoroughly Jewish. For this infinite benefit which the Nazis, against their intentions, are bringing to the Jewish people, the Jews should pray for the nazis. Praying for the nazis is a very hard and painful thing, but the Jews must pay this price for the mental and spiritual good which the nazis do for them. Thus we see that the doctrines of Jesus are entirely in accord with Judaism. Jesus himself tells us that he did not come to destroy the law of Moses or of the Prophets, rather he came to fulfil them. For verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till it shall be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men to do so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall he called great in the kingdom of heaven. Thus we see that Jesus was a Jew both by race, color, blood and birth, also by his absolute identification with Judaism. That after his death Paul and Peter threw Judaism overboard and completely changed the character of the teachings of Jesus—this has nothing to do with Jesus, Jesus was not responsible for the subsequent acts of his followers, no more than Marx is responsible for the distortions of his doctrines by the Stalins.
126. Judaism grew and developed together with the Jews. At first, Judaism was as tribal as the Jews were. Later, Judaism became nationalistic as the Jews became a nation. But in the time of Jesus, Judaism already became universal as the Jews themselves became international. We must bear distinctly in mind this: in the days of Jesus, more Jews lived outside of Palestine than lived in Palestine, and that the Jews outside of Palestine passed out of the narrow shell of nationalism. It was therefore inevitable that in the hand of Jesus Judaism should manifest its universal nature far more explicitly than it manifested in the hands of the Prophets that preceded him by centuries. On the other hand, in Palestine itself Judaism not only remained still in the shell of nationalism, but it also became rigorously legalistic, formalistic and ritualistic. The soul of Judaism was stifled, and the letter threatened to kill the spirit. This was also the case in the days of Isaiah and the other Prophets. It was therefore natural that Jesus, like the Prophets, should rise against the elements that threatened to destroy the soul of Judaism. And, just as Isaiah and Jeremiah and the other Prophets uttered very hard words against the priests, the rulers and the leaders of the Jews, so also Jesus uttered very hard words against the priests, the rulers and the leaders of the Jews. And it could not and should not have been otherwise. Can we conceive a Marx who should not utter condemnation of the priests, the rulers and leaders? Hence, the hard and bitter words of condemnation uttered by Jesus against the exploiters and oppressors of the Jews were the very words that he should have uttered. He would not have been worth the salt that he consumed, if he did not utter those words, and in this respect he was thoroughly Jewish.
127. But it is asked: Moses and the Prophets spoke in the name of Jehovah, while Jesus spoke in his own name; can Judaism be conceived without Jehovah ? This is impossible; without Jehovah, Judaism is absolutely impossible. Why, then, did Jesus speak only in his own name? Does not this show that Jehovah did not send Jesus to be a prophet among Israel? This brings us to a deeper aspect of the matter. At the outset, we must discard an illusion entertained by the Jews and the Christians that Jehovah ever revealed himself to Abraham, Moses and the Prophets as the Bible seems to tell us. Who is Jehovah? Jews and Christians imagined that Jehovah is the God who, by word of his mouth, created the world. Having created the world in six days, he then retired from the world, and since then dwells in his divine isolation and looks on at what is taking place in the world, and especially the human world. This is an illusion: there never was such a God and there never will be such a God. Jehovah is the world, he is man. Not only we live, move and have our being in Jehovah, but also Jehovah lives, moves and has his being in man and in the world. There is no God outside of and above the world; but God is the world. Jehovah never revealed himself to any man or spoke to any man as it seems from what the Bible tells us, but Jehovah always revealed himself to man and spoke to man in the same manner that he reveals himself to man and speaks to man today. How does Jehovah reveal himself and speak to man today? Through the soul of man, through the faculties of the soul. God reveals himself and speaks through every human being according to his development; the more highly developed man is, the nearer he rises to the intellect, the clearer and the more distinct is the language of Jehovah; and, when, finally, man attains to the intellect, then he verily speaks to Jehovah face to face. This is w hat the Bible actually teaches. Hence, Jehovah never spoke to man as naive Jews and naive Christians imagined, but men perceived Jehovah, they perceived the destiny of mankind, they perceived the moral order of existence, they perceived the nature and ways of Jehovah, and these perceptions in due time crystallized themselves in what is the soul and essence of Judaism. This is the reason why I define Judaism as a perception, and not a commandment of Jehovah. All this is clearly and distinctly told in the Bible. Let us consider a few facts.
128. Jehovah commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that is, from reason. And straightway Adam went and did eat from reason. If Jehovah spoke to Adam, Adam certainly understood what Jehovah told him; Adam must have been a perfect being to be worthy that Jehovah should speak to him. Is it conceivable that Adam would disobey Jehovah ? This is absolutely inconceivable. If Jehovah spoke to a horse or to a dog, the horse or the dog would certainly understand what Jehovah said, would the horse or the dog ever disobey the commandment of Jehovah? This is absolutely impossible. What then, does the Bible tell us? The Bible tells us, first, that man already attained to reason, for Jehovah breathed into the nostrils of man the spirit of reason, and man became a rational being. Then man perceived the nature of reason, namely, that it destroys the animal in man, and raises man ever higher. For this reason man did eat from reason, he did destroy the animal in himself, and he rose ever higher. Next, the Bible tells us that Jehovah came down on Mount Sinai, and from there he spoke to the Jews and gave them the Ten Commandments and the Torah. A few days later, the same Jews that heard Jehovah speak to them, and some even saw Jehovah, went and made a golden calf, and declared this god brought you out of Egypt. One must be absolutely insane to believe this. What, then, is the truth? This is the truth. Mount Sinai symbolizes the ladder of Jacob, which stands on the ground and its top reaches the intellect, which is part of Jehovah. Moses who reached the top and perceived the Infinite Intellect, Jehovah, and his nature and laws, revealed to the Jews those laws. But the Jews had not attained the height of Moses; they could not perceive Jehovah, therefore they asked Moses that he should speak to them. It was then with the Jews as it is today with mankind, and as it always was. A Moses, a Jesus, a Marx comes and speaks to mankind from the top of Mount Sinai; some believe, but most do not believe. And so it was then. Some Jews believed Moses, but most Jews did not believe. All the time that the Jews wandered in the desert, Moses constantly argues with the Jews and asks them, did not you hear Jehovah speak to you from Mount Sinai, did you not see the miracles, and yet the Jews are not convinced. And now come to the Prophets. The Prophets spoke in the name of Jehovah, and yet the Jews never believed the Prophets, and they never listened to them. Why ? Because the Jews understood in what sense the Prophets said: Thus saith Jehovah. They understood it in the same sense in which men understood such statement: This is what Marxism, evolution, dialectics, history, and the like tell us. Some believe and accept, but most do not believe and reject such statements. There never was a time when any Jew believed that Jehovah spoke to Moses or to the Prophets in any other sense than we believe today that God—that is, existence— reveals himself through the minds of a Spinoza, a Hegel, a Marx, an Einstein, and the like. Hence the expression: Thus saith Jehovah was only a form of speech, just as we use the expressions, according to Marxism, dialectics, relativity, and the like. And the most striking fact is this. That throughout their existence, the Jews never believed that Jehovah ever spoke to Moses or the Prophets as they pretend to believe. Reflect on this. Jehovah is the Creator of the world. He is infinite, eternal almighty, and so on indefinitely. Jehovah knows everything that passes in our mind and soul. If the Jews really believed this, then they would have been absolutely honest, absolutely just, absolutely righteous, and would actually serve Jehovah with all their heart, with all their mind, with all their soul and even with all their life, and would be absolutely honest, just, righteous, and would love their fellow men as themselves. But, with some exceptions, the Jews always acted in a way which conclusively shows that they never believed a word of what they professed to believe. And as to those exceptions they were exceptions not only with relation to Judaism, but they were exceptions with relation to all truths and ideas perceived by men. Take a modern case. The Marxian revolutionary movement is a materialistic and atheistic movement, and yet how many noble martyrs it counts ! Men that did not believe in God and did not believe in a hereafter and yet for the sake of their ideal or for the sake of truth embraced torture, martyrdom and death. The same was true of the great and noble Jews who verily believed in the truths of Judaism, not because they believed that Jehovah actually revealed them as it is commonly supposed, but because these great and noble men themselves perceived these truths, and therefore were ready, able and determined to serve those truths of Judaism with all their heart, with all their mind, with all their soul, and even with their life. Thus we see that Judaism is only a perception of the nature and the laws of Jehovah, but it is not a commandment of Jehovah. Yes, we can say, indeed, Judaism is a commandment of Jehovah, but only in the same sense that we can say that evolution, dialectics, relativity, and the like are a commandment of Jehovah, as all laws and processes and the moral order in existence—all are commandments of Jehovah. This prepared us to understand why Jesus spoke in his own name.
129. When we read reflectively the whole Bible from beginning to end, we see the following. At first, Jehovah actually comes down to men, partakes in their affairs, speaks to men, and advises them what to do or what not to do. Later, Jehovah no longer comes down to men, but sends his angels. Still later, Jehovah remains in heaven and speaks through his messengers the Prophets. Still later, as in the case of Daniel, Ezra and the rest, they no longer speak in the name of Jehovah, but remind the Jews of what Jehovah said and did for them in the past. When the Jews returned from Babylon, the rabbis no longer speak of Jehovah, but they speak of the Bible. It is no longer what Jehovah said, but what is written in the Bible.
Still later, the rabbis begin to speak in their own name. And the Talmud tells us of cases in which some rabbis even overruled Jehovah. This process went so far that some rabbis declared, that the Zaddick—the righteous man—can order and Jehovah must comply with the order. Thus we see a complete turn of the table. At first man was entirely dependent upon Jehovah, and now Jehovah became a mere servant of man. What does this show ? It shows the ordinary process of intellectual and spiritual evolution. The boy who is still immature, depends entirely upon parents and teachers. He can speak only upon the authority of parents and teachers. Father or Mother or Teacher said so, and that settled it. Later, the boy begins to speak in the name of great authorities: this philosopher, that scientist, this leader, and so on, said so and so, and this settled the matter. But, when the boy becomes mature, he then begins to speak in his own name. He speaks in his own name, because he is now competent to perceive the truths of existence and to stand upon his own perceptions. He no longer recognizes any authorities, for he must now rely entirely upon his own perceptions and understanding. His own reason will tell him that existence is inherently moral, and that murder, stealing, and the like, must bring upon the murderer, thief, and the like criminal, great suffering and degradation. In this case, he will refrain from killing and stealing, not because this is prohibited by the Ten Commandments, or by his parents, teachers, philosophers, or moralists, but because he sees himself that this is the requirements of the moral orders of existence. He knows that he cannot violate this order with impunity. Now, even if his parents, teachers, philosophers and moralists had never uttered a word against murder and stealing, he would himself legislate for himself and others this law. This w as the position of Jesus. The Jews themselves had already outgrown the state of moral dependence, they were mature enough to perceive the moral order of existence. Since Jesus attained to the intellect, he could legislate for himself and others that which Moses and the Prophets legislated for the Jews. Even if Moses and the Prophets had never existed, and the Bible had never been written, Jesus could now write the Bible and legislate just as Moses and the Prophets legislated. Hence, for Jesus to have spoken in the name of Jehovah, Moses, the Prophets or the Bible would have been just as absurd as it would be for me to speak in their names. I have unbounded admiration for Moses and the Prophets. I regard the Bible infinitely more important than all the other books in existence, yet when I speak to people and endeavor to convince them of a truth, I rely on my own perceptions and understanding. I do refer to the Bible, Moses, the Prophets, as I refer to Spinoza, Marx and numerous other luminaries, and their works, only to confirm what I say, or to enable my listeners to understand what I say. It is so with every mature person. Thus we see that it was most proper for Jesus to speak in his own name. Now, some Jews were offended, but other Jews were not. And this, too, is not remarkable. Even today this is a common experience. People do not like to hear a man speak in his own name. The question at once is raised: Who are you, who gave you authority to speak in your own name ? Well, who should give authority ? Is truth resting on authority ? If I perceive a truth, what greater authority do I need than the truth itself ? All I have to do is to make others perceive the truth, and the truth will be their authority. Hence, the objection against Jesus for speaking in his own name shows the immaturity of the mind of those that raise this objection.
130. And now we come to a serious question. We saw that Jesus lived at a time when the Jews were confronted by the same problem that confronted them in the time of Jeremiah. Like Jeremiah, Jesus advised the Jews to bear patiently until a more favorable opportunity. In both cases, the Jews did not listen to the advice, and in both cases the Jews paid a terrible penalty. Jeremiah was killed and Jesus was crucified. And yet, the Jews accepted Jeremiah as their prophet, and embodied his prophecies in the Bible, while the Jews rejected Jesus and rejected his doctrines. Why was this so ? We shall presently see the reason for this. By the time of Jeremiah, Judaism was still shut up in its national shell: outside of the Jews Judaism was not known. Hence, though during his lifetime the Jews did not listen to Jeremiah, yet Jeremiah remained within the national folds of the Jews and Judaism. After the Jews came back from Babylon and recovered from their national catastrophe, they could well afford to accept Jeremiah and his prophecies, for Jeremiah always remained within the folds of the nationalism of the Jews and Judaism. Since the Jews recovered from their national catastrophe, they could gratefully accept Jeremiah and treasure his prophecies. But a far different situation faced the Jews with relation to Jesus. Before the birth of Jesus, Judaism spread among the nations. This was due to the following. First, more Jews lived outside of Palestine than within Palestine, and the outside Jews were not so closed up in nationalism as the Jews within Palestine. Next, Rome made the civilized world international. The ground was prepared for Judaism to emerge from its national shell and become universal. Just then the Jews became involved in the life and death struggle with Rome. This struggle continued almost for a century, until the last flicker of hope was completely extinguished. It took a long time for the Jews to find themselves and more or less reconcile themselves with their lot under the Roman yoke. The Romans remained the bitter enemies of the Jews. The Jews did not return to Palestine, and they did not recover from their national catastrophe. Judaism, therefore, could no longer spread. Instead, however, Christianity spread. The spread of it was made possible by Paul and Peter, who threw Judaism completely overboard, and made for the backward children of history easy to attain salvation. By the time the Jews again found themselves, Jesus and his doctrines were accepted by the Romans and Jesus was made a God and his doctrines were made the state religion. Thus Jesus and his doctrines were completely alienated from the Jews and Judaism. Could the Jews accept Jesus whom their enemies accepted and made a God of him ? Could the Jews accept his doctrines which the enemies distorted and sublimated into an ideal illusion ? This was impossible Thus Jesus and his doctrines were completely alienated from the Jews and Judaism, and were turned into the enemies of the Jews and Judaism. This continued until about a century ago. When the Christians became somewhat mature and sobered up and began to treat the Jews more humanely, the Jews were only too glad to change their attitude towards Jesus and his doctrines. If, indeed, this continued long enough, the Jews would accept Jesus and his doctrines. But then Jesus would reveal himself the true Jew that he was, and his doctrines would reveal themselves as the most explicit expression of Judaism. But this process did not continue long. It was interrupted by a new revival of anti-Semitism which became ever more irrational and ever more oppressive for the Jews. Hence as a result of the recent beastly manifestation of anti-Semitism, the Jews cannot think of Jesus and his doctrines. This is perfectly natural. Yet, it is not rational.
131. We saw before that a great revolution takes place within Christendom. The Christians are becoming mature, and they perceive that if Christianity is to endure, it must come down from heaven and dwell on this earth; it must begin to concern itself about this material world and the kingdom of heaven on this earth. It must identify itself with the working class, with the communist movement, and with the improvement of the social conditions of human existence. All this means that Christianity must cast off its illusions and foreign elements and become Judaism. This is inevitable. In the face of the impending revolution, the Jews must identify themselves with the Christians who want to become Jews, who want to reidentify the doctrines of Jesus with Judaism. For this purpose, the Jews must accept Jesus and his doctrines. In doing this, the Jews must bear distinctly in mind the following. First, it is not for the Jews to become Christians, but it is for the Christians to become Jews; it is not for the Jews to go up to heaven and wait to enjoy it when they are dead, but it is for the Christians to come down from heaven, and endeavor to make heaven right here on earth, to be enjoyed while they live. Not Judaism is a preparation for Christianity, but Christianity is a preparation for Judaism. It is not for man to take care of God, it is for man to take care of himself and of his fellow men. Secondly, the Jews must bear distinctly in mind this. Jesus and his doctrines are not responsible for what his so-called followers made of him and of his doctrines. The Jews have nothing to do with so-called Christianity, and they have nothing to do with the illusion that Jesus was the Son of God. Yes, Jesus was the Son of God, but so is every man the son of God. Finally, the Jews must bear in mind this: they are Jews only because they are identified with Judaism and Jehovah. Judaism is the tree of eternal life that Jehovah implanted in the Jews and in all that will identify themselves with Judaism. Hence, the Jews must remain loyal to Judaism, for their life and continued existence depend entirely upon Judaism. It is only by being loyal to Judaism that they will serve their own interests and the interests of the whole human race. Not prayer, but work: not rituals and ceremonials, but justice, honesty, righteousness and love. In accepting Jesus and his doctrines, the Jews must be honest, sincere and open. When the Jews will accept Jesus and his doctrine, they will then perceive that, indeed, Jesus was the crowning achievement of the Jews, and that his doctrines are the most explicit expression of the soul and essence of Judaism. The Jews will thus enrich themselves spiritually, and they will indeed become a holy people, a model people, a people of prophets and teachers. In doing this, the Jews will only perform their historic function, for it was for this purpose that Jehovah chose them from the rest of mankind. Jehovah chose them, not for their own purpose, but for the purpose of the whole human race. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the land with utter destruction. MALACHI iii, 23-24.
Fata Volentem Ducunt, Nolentem Trahunt
Then said I: Jehovah, how long ? And He answered: Until cities be wasted without inhabitants, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste, and Jehovah have removed men far away, and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land. And if there be yet a tenth in it, it shall again be eaten up: As a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they cast their leaves, so the holy seed shall be the stock thereof. —Isaiah: vi, 11-13.
And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am Jehovah their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Jehovah. —LEVITICUS: xxvi, 44-55.
As I live, saith Adonai Jehovah, surely with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I be king over you; and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I plead with you face to face. —EZEKIEL: xx, 33-35.
132. Will the Jews reconcile themselves with fascism, and will the fascists reconcile themselves with the Jews; will the Jews accept Jesus and his doctrine, and will the Christians give up their illusions about Jesus and his doctrines; will the nations beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and will mankind give up their animal individualism and become pro-social and rational? The answer to these questions is: No! Voluntarily they will not do all these things, yet all these things will be realized. All these things will be realized because this is the intention of God. The Jews and the non-Jews will struggle against the intention of God, yet the intention of God will be realized. But because mankind will struggle against the intention of God, mankind will suffer infinitely. It is the historic function of the working class to bring out universal communism, and it is the historic function of the Jews to bring out the human society; it is the historic function of both to realize the intention of God—-the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. Men may plan, scheme, plot and conspire to frustrate the intention of God, yet his intention will be realized. His intention will be realized through bloody struggles, wars and revolutions; the present social order will be destroyed together with all institutions that are bound up with the present social order. State capitalism and fascism will take the place of the present social order. The new social order will subject mankind to a hard and painful discipline, until mankind will purge themselves from their irrational individualism, they will become pro-social, they will bring out socialism, and upon the basis of socialism will rise the human society resting on universal communism.
133. Mankind are yet a race of naive and immature children; they do not understand history, they do not know the intention of God, they have not yet perceived the law of equivalents, and they cannot yet reconcile themselves with the law of dialectics. God realizes his intention through dialectics and in accordance with the law of equivalents. Every step in further progress implies the negation of previous steps in progress. The negation may be peaceful, if men are intelligent enough to accept the negation; or the negation is bloody, if men are stupid enough to resist the negation. That society may advance a step further than private capitalism, state capitalism must be and will be established, and the political form of state capitalism is fascism. Since mankind are not yet prepared for socialism and democracy, they must go through a period of discipline under state capitalism and fascism. Hence, state capitalism and fascism are inevitable. And because they are inevitable, history is entirely on the side of state capitalism and fascism. History speaks a language so clear and distinct that only the intellectually blind and the morally degenerate can fail to see the signs of the times. On December 14, 1937—more than two years and three months ago—I delivered a lecture. In that lecture, among others, I said the following: According to President Roosevelt, ninety per cent of the human race are for peace, law, order, justice, humanity and progress; ten per cent of the human race are for war, aggression, conquest, injustice, brutality and regress. The ten per cent are the fascists. The fascists, therefore, are a menace to society, humanity and progress. It should have been a very easy task for the ninety per cent of the human race to suppress and exterminate the evil that threatens society, humanity and progress. And yet, from day to day, the fascists become stronger, bolder, more aggressive and more victorious; while the ninety per cent of the human race, from day to day, become weaker, more timid, more submissive and more helpless. How can this be explained ? Long ago Moses asked and answered this question:
How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight;
Except that God had given them over,
And Jehovah had delivered them up?
—DEUTERONOMY: 32, 30.
Here we have the answer. The ninety per cent of the human race want to preserve and perpetuate the present social order, which rests on private capitalism. But private capitalism can no longer function, and the present social order can no longer exist. Therefore, the ninety per cent that want to preserve and perpetuate the present social order, which is doomed to disappear, are also doomed to defeat, and their defeat is inevitable. And so it comes to pass that, while the fascists become ever more united, the ninety per cent of the human race become ever more divided. Union is the condition to strength and victory, but disunion is the condition to weakness and defeat. Can the ninety per cent unite ? This is impossible, for history is against them. The fascists are bound to be victorious, because they are the harbingers of the new social order that is inevitable. State capitalism is inevitable, and the political form of state capitalism can be no other than fascism; or, what is worse, it will be a dictatorship in the name of the proletariat. Mankind are confronted by this alternative: either to have a form of government like that which exists in Soviet Russia, or like that which exists in Nazi Germany: the so-called democracy of the capitalist countries is doomed to disappear together with the present social order. There is no other choice. If the ninety per cent of the human race should become serious about the impending world struggle, they, too, will have to become fascists. Fascism can be fought only with fascism, and state capitalism can be fought only with state capitalism. And so, willingly and unwillingly, the ninety per cent of the human race will necessarily become fascists. This is the situation that confronts the human race.
134. The foregoing I said December 14, 1937. I write this March 28, 1939. Since then my prophecy was fulfilled. Since then Austria was annexed to Germany, Czecho-Slovakia was swallowed by Germany, Memel was reabsorbed by Germany, Rumania was caught by the stranglehold of Germany, Nazi Germany now threatens to become the master over Central and Eastern Europe. Soviet Russia is in imminent danger of a war with Nazi Germany, Spain is lost to the Fascists, and Japan forges ahead in her conquest of China. All over the world the fascists are gaining ground. And yet the mighty non-fascist powers, the democratic countries together with Soviet Russia are paralyzed and can do nothing to stop the progress of fascism. How can all this be explained? There is only one explanation: All this is determined by God, it is the will and intention of God that the fascist powers shall conquer and destroy all opposing powers, that the present social order shall be destroyed and a new social order shall take its place. But men are blind and stupid, they do not see what is taking place and they do not understand. And so, just as the bull rushes into the fire and there it is destroyed, so mankind rush into a suicidal struggle against the revolutionary transformation of society, only to be destroyed in the struggle. And just as we cannot reason with the bull, so it is futile to reason with blind and stupid humanity. If men were enlightened enough and understood what faces them, they would accept the transformation of society, and thus they would remove the necessity for struggle, violence and cruelty. Fascism does not necessarily have to be violent, cruel and anti-Semitic; it can be rational, peaceful and humane. It is the irrational opposition to fascism that forces it to become violent, cruel and irrational. The tragedy of the human race always arose from the fact that they barricaded themselves against the understanding of the social changes that were inevitable. The history of the human race is only a history of terrible punishments suffered by mankind for barricading themselves against the understanding of historic situations that presented themselves. The historic sphinx destroyed them that failed to solve the historic riddle. And, as in the past, so also now. Mankind refuses to understand the social transformation that takes place and its historic inevitability, and for this mankind will pay a terrible penalty. Great as will be the suffering of the rest of the human race, still greater will be the suffering of the Jews. The Jews will have to go through a severe and bloody ordeal. This is inevitable. But also it is inevitable that the Jews will survive the ordeal. They will survive, because Jehovah made with them an eternal covenant, and no powers in existence can frustrate the intention of Jehovah.
135. History repeats itself. What is taking place now already took place before. The nazis and the fascists are only the instruments in the hands of Jehovah; Jehovah uses them as a scourge against the nations. But the nazis and the fascists think that it is their planning and their achievements and they think that they will become the masters over the world, and will exterminate the Jews. Let the nazis and the fascists be forewarned, and let them hear the warning of Isaiah: O Asshur, the rod of Mine anger, in whose hand as a staff is Mine indignation ! I do send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath do I give him charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so: but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. For he saith: Are not my princes all of them kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad ? Is not Samaria as Damascus ? As my hand hath reached the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images did exceed them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? Wherefore it shall come to pass that, when Jehovah hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks. For he hath said: By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; in that I have removed the bonds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and have brought down as one mighty the inhabitants; and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathereth eggs, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped. Should the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? As if a rod should move them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood. Therefore will Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones, leanness, and under His glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire. And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. And the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, He will consume both soul and body; and it shall be as when a sick man wasteth away. And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them down.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto God the Mighty. For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them shall return. An extermination is determined, overflowing with righteousness. For an extermination wholly determined shall Jehovah, the God of hosts, make in the midst of all the earth Isaiah: x, 5-32.
136. My program is complete; what I had to say I said. My program will be rejected, yet it will realize itself. Since my program will be rejected, why do I present this program? For the same reason that the prophets prophesied, although they knew that their prophecies would be rejected. A time will come when this program will be read by men, and they will derive from it spiritual comfort and strength. The prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and of the other Prophets, were rejected by the Jews; yet, in the end, the Jews treasured them and still treasure them to this day. In presenting this program, I am doing the will of God. God determined me to write this program, and I leave it to God to determine the consequences. In the dark night of reaction that is coming upon us, this program will be a light to the righteous, but to the wicked it will be a stumbling block. Yet, I am not without the hope that this program will be accepted by the masses. The Bible tells us that Jehovah told Moses to go to the elders of Israel and the Jewish people and tell them that Jehovah will take them out of the land of bondage and suffering. Moses did go to the elders and the Jewish people, but only the people believed Moses. This is significant. The Bible tells us here a universal experience of mankind. When a Moses, a Jesus or a Marx came with a new message, a new program, only the masses accepted the message or program; the elders and the leaders rejected it. It will be so with this program. I do not expect the leaders, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, will accept this program; rather I expect them to condemn this program; but I am certain that of the masses there will be many that will accept this program. Many will be called, but few will be chosen. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhoring unto all flesh.
—Isaiah: LXVI, 24.
Dixi et salvavi animan meam.
[The Transcriber’s Assessment, and Further Information.1. The movement for World Government has a number of versions, some being Jewish. The Jewish versions range from the atheistic to the religious fundamentalist, with Waton in the middle. The fundamentalist one aims to build the Third Temple, and make it the spiritual capital of the world. There is a connection between Zionism and Jewish finance: the Balfour Declaration was addressed to Lord Rothschild as the representative of world Jewry, not to a rabbi. Trotsky seems to represent another faction: later in life, he supported those wanting a separate Jewish homeland, but earlier he promoted the pulling down of not only churches but synagogues too, in the Soviet Union, and the suppression of the religious side of Judaism there.
2. The main non-Jewish version looks to the Hellenism of the Roman Empire for inspiration. It was put by leading Anglo-Saxon intellectuals such as Bertrand Russell and H. G. Wells, who pointed out that in that Empire, one could travel from one end to the other, without borders. All peoples, races, cultures and religions of the empire mingled, and from this melting pot a common culture emerged, spread from one end to the other, containing bits of all the separate components. They contrasted this with the proliferation of national borders, parochialism, racial separatism and cultural chauvinism in nation-states today. H.G. Wells put the case in After Democracy (1932), The Open Conspiracy (1933), & The Shape of Things to Come (1933). The Bildebergers, the CFR & Trilateral Commission have adopted this Hellenistic version. Wells & Russell felt that neither Aryanism nor Zionism could be the basis of the New World Order. Their Hellenistic version includes some Marxist ideas, but is anti-Stalinist. Russell argued for collective ownership of the earth’s resources; Wells advocated free trade, central planning, & massive population re-distribution around the world. The Hellenism we have at present (Multiculturalism, New Age syncretism) is mixed with International Socialism (abolition of the nation-State and the Family, a single set of “human rights” norms for all humanity).
3. The Jewish and non-Jewish versions at times co-operated. In 1946, just after the last world war, a proposal for World Government was put in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists over several months in 1946. In his book promoting world government, Has Man a Future?, Bertrand Russell describes how it evolved, first crafted by David Lilienthal, then further developed by Bernard Baruch (p. 25 & p. 97). This “Baruch Plan” was canvassed in the issues of 1946 and put to Stalin. Lilienthal and Baruch were Jews, linked to Jewish financiers. By the end of that year, Stalin had rejected it, because it implied submission to Washington, and the Cold War had begun. In the issue of October 1, 1946, Bertrand Russell wrote “The American and British governments… should make it clear that genuine international cooperation is what they most desire. But although peace should be their goal, they should not let it appear that they are for peace at any price. At a certain stage, when their plan [sic] for an international government are ripe, they should offer them to the world… If Russia acquiesced willingly, all would be well. If not, it would be necessary to bring pressure to bear, even to the extent of risking war”. An article in the September 1, 1946 issue, written by William T. R. Fox, is headed “Debate on World Government or Discussion of Atomic Energy Control”. It begins, “The Lilienthal report of March 16 and the Baruch proposals of June 14 have succeeded in evoking support from an extraordinary broad spectrum of American opinion. Opponents and proponents of world government… the great debate on world government …”. A report on the front page of the July 1, 1946 issue reads, ‘In the first meeting, on June 13, the program for world-wide control of atomic energy through an International Atomic Development Authority (which was received with widespread approval as a bold and constructive plan ehen it was first suggested in the Acheson-Lilienthal report) and of its enforcement by the elimination of veto power, was presented to the world by Bernard Baruch as the official proposal of the American government…. [but] opposed by Gromyko on behalf of the USSR, and has since been criticised in the Russian press as an attempt to establish an American “atomic world domination”‘. For comparison, H. G. Wells, the leading advocate of World Government, depicted an international authority as the back door to World Government. In his futuristic 1933 book The Shape of Things to Come, he presents a scenario where, ‘After the chaos of the war (1949-50) and the subsequent pestilence and “social fragmentation” (1950-60) there arose, among other attempts to again reconstitute a larger society, a combine of the surviving aviators and the men employed upon the ground plant of their trade and transport. This combine was called The Transport Union… It initiated various conferences of technicians and at last one in 1965, when it was reorganized as The Air and Sea Control… It was this Air and Sea Control which ultimately gave rise in 1978 at the Second Conference of Basra to the World Council. This was the first declared and formal supreme government of the world’ (Corgi edition, Book 3, chapters 5 to 8; emphasis added). Wells states his opposition to Marx but his support for Lenin: “In his time Lenin had to pose as the disciple and exponent of Marx” (p. 55).
4. After the Cold War ended, U.S. (Jewish) Secretary of State Madeline Albright announced, “No nation in the world need be left out of the system we are constructing…. We must take advantage of this historic opportunity that now exists to bring the world together in an international system based on democracy, open markets, law and a committment to peace” (Sydney Morning Herald, June 6, 1997). She conceded that “not every nation is yet ready to play its full part in this system”, but said the world had no despot like the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, who at the time of the Marshall Plan prevented Eastern Europe from joining in.
5. Stalin’s wresting of power from the Jewish Bolsheviks is described by Benjamin Ginsberg (The Fatal Embrace, pp. 53-6); and attested by Solzhenitsyn in his book The First Circle, through the character Adam Roitman:
“Perhaps his memory deceived him, but hadn’t he been right in thinking that during the Revolution, and for a long time afterwards, Jews were regarded as more reliable than Russians? In those days, the authorities always probed more deeply into the antecedents of a Russian, demanding to know who his parents were and what the source of his income was prior to 1917. No such checks had been made on Jews; they had all been on the side of the Revolution which delivered them from pogroms and the Pale of settlement.
“But now this…. surreptitiously, hiding behind minor figures, Joseph Stalin was taking it upon himself to be the new scourge of the Israelites” (The First Circle, Fontana paperback, p. 511; see also pp. 510, 515-6, 547-8, 559).
Stalin was the most enigmatic figure of the twentieth century. It was he who thwarted the Jewish attempt to control the USSR, and the 1946 plan for World Government. The media downplays the harshness of Communism, fearing that this information might justify Hitler. Even Viktor Suvorov’s book Icebreaker, which uses Russian source-material to show that Stalin was about to attack Hitler, when Hitler found out and got in first, even this book is barely known, presumably because it might cause the public to question the standard line about the origin of the war. Stalin’s main advantage in the contest for the leadership, was that he was not Jewish; this does not attest to racism among the Russians, but to a consistent Jewish preference, as a minority feeling vulnerable, for cloaking their power. How different would the century have been, if Stalin had been unable to wrest control from them? Unlike Hitler, who opposed the Revolution, Stalin operated within it. Whereas in the “Trotskyist” years up to 1928, marriage had been abolished, and homosexuality legalised, Stalin reversed these policies, restoring the structural features (the family and the state) destroyed in the anarchic “Trotskyist” period. It was he who got the economy moving. The victims of the new Russia now see a good side in Stalin, but the memory of the Ukraine famine undid the USSR in 1991 (see www.infoukes.com/history/famine/).
6. An earlier plan for World Government was put at the Conference of Versailles; articles 10 to 16 of the League of Rights Covenant provide for a World Army. Fearful of losing its independence, the U.S. Senate vetoed these parts; Wilson however refused to modify the Covenant, and so the U.S. did not join. E. J. Dillon in his book The Peace Conference (Hutchinson & Co., London, 1919) noted that, despite all the talk of international participation and co-operation, the Conference was dominated by the Anglo-Saxon powers, and the Anglo-Saxon delegations were dominated by their Jewish members: ‘Of all the collectivities whose interests were furthered at the Conference, the Jews had perhaps the most resourceful and certainly the most influential exponents. There were Jews from Palestine, form Poland, Russia, the Ukraine, Roumania, Greece, Britain, Holland and Belgium; but the largest and most brilliant contingent was sent by the United States’ (p. 10). ‘ This adverse vote on Mr. Wilson’s pet scheme to have religious inequality proclaimed as a means of hindering
sanguinary wars brought to its climax the reaction of the Conference against what it regarded as a systematic endeavour to establish the overlordship of the Anglo-Saxon peoples in the world…. Most of them believed that a pretext was being sought to enable the leading Powers to intervene in the domestic concerns of all the other States… other Delegates… feared that a religious – some would call it racial – bias lay at the root of Mr. Wilson’s policy. It may seem amazing to some readers, but it is none the less a fact that a considerable number of Delegates believed that the real influences behind the Anglo-Saxon peoples were Semitic’ (p. 422). ‘They confronted the President’s proposal on the subject of religious inequality, and, in particular, the odd motive alleged for it, with the measures for the protection of minorities which he subsequently imposed on the lesser States, and which had for their keynote to satisfy the Jewish elements in Eastern Europe. And they concluded that the sequence of expedients framed and enforced in this direction were inspired by the Jews, assembled in Paris for the purpose of realizing their carefully thought-out programme, which they succeeded in having substantially executed. The formula into which this policy was thrown… was this: “Henceforth the world will be governed by the Anglo-Saxon peoples, who, in turn, are swayed by their Jewish elements”. It is difficult to convey an adequate notion of the warmth of feeling – one might almost call it the heat of passion – which this supposed discovery generated. The applications of the theory to many of the puzzles of the past were countless and ingenious. The illustrations of the manner in which the policy was pursued, and the cajolery and threats which were said to have been employed in order to ensure its success, covered the whole history of the Conference, and presented it through a new and possibly distorted medium. The morbid suspicions aroused may have been the natural vein of men who had passed a great part of their lives in petty racial struggles; but according to common account, it was abundantly nurtured at the Conference by the lack of reserve and moderation displayed by some of the promoters of the minority clauses who were deficient in the sense of measure’ (pp. 422-3). Dillon says that the delegates noted that, at that very time, Communist revolutions were breaking out in Central and East European countries, led by Communist Jews for whom the religious Jews felt “disgust” (p. 69). If the religious Jews distanced themselves from the Communist Jews, why did they defend the latter, instead of repudiating them, when governments cracked down on them? Why did religious Jews like financier Jacob Schiff want to bring down the Czar’s government, on account of its pogroms against revolutionary Jews, if Schiff was repudiating those revolutionary Jews? In his letters (Cyrus Alder, Jacob H Schiff: His Life and Letters, 1928), Schiff reveals an obsession with bringing down the Russian government. He admits to loaning money to Japan for the 1904-5 war, for a political purpose: ‘I further said, that as a friend of Japan, who had rendered important services in financing her war loans, in order to enable her to defend herself and become victorious over Russia, ” the enemy of mankind,”…’ (vol I, p. 255). He admits, “The claim that among the ranks of those who in Russia are seeking to undermine governmental authority there are a considerable number of Jews may be true” (vol II, p. 131), then goes on to blame and attack the Czar, rather than repudiate those revolutionary Jews. Trotsky wrote in his autobiography, “After the October revolution, an enterprising New York publisher brought out my German pamphlet as an imposing American book. According to his own statement, President Wilson asked him, by telephone from the White House, to send the proofs of the book to him; at that time, the President was composing his Fourteen Points, and, according to reports from people who were informed, could not get over the fact that a Bolshevik had forestalled him in his best formulae” (My Life: The Rise and Fall of a Dictator, p. 208). The 14 Points were issued on January 8, 1918; point 3 provides for Free Trade, point 6 welcomes the USSR.
7. Soon after the Conference, Lenin wrote, in September 1920, “… somewhere in the proximity of Warsaw lies the center of the entire current system of international imperialism… because Poland, as a buffer between Russia and Germany… is the linchpin of the whole Treaty of Versailles. The modern imperialist world rests on the Treaty of Versailles… Poland is such a powerful element in this Versailles peace that by extracting this element we break up the entire Versailles peace. We had tasked ourselves with occupying Warsaw; the task changed and it turned out that what was being decided was not the fate of Warsaw but the fate of the Treaty of Versailles” (in Richard Pipes, ed., The Unknown Lenin: From the Secret Archive, pp. 100-101). Lenin’s opposition shows that the Internationalist forces were in two opposed camps, whereas The Protocols of Zion implies that they are all in one camp. It would appear, then, that the divide between the Capitalist, Zionist Jews, and the Communist ones, was deep indeed, contrary to much anti-Semitic literature. Whereas The Protocols of Zion is often used by anti-Communist groups promoting low taxation, small government and national autonomy, the leading Zionist intellectual J. L. Talmon wrote in his 1970 book Israel Among the Nations, that the Soviet Union itself, in co-operation with Gamel Nasser, issued an updated version of the Protocols: “Particularly horrifying is the Soviet-Arab sponsorship of an updated version of the Protocols of Zion: the Zionist-American-Imperialist world plot, operating not only against Arabs, Asians and Africans, but also against all the Socialist regimes…” (p. 188).
8. Pavel Sudoplatov, Stalin’s spymaster, made startling disclosures in his 1994 memoirs, Special Tasks. He notes the importance of Jewish support for the USSR during World War II: “During World War II, more than ninety percent of the lonely soldiers spread throughout Western Europe who sent us crucial information that enabled us to beat back the German invasion were Jews whose hatred of Hitler spurred them to risk their lives and families” (p. 4). He says that the Soviet atomic program depended on assistance from Western scientists such as Robert Oppenheimer and Neils Bohr (both Jewish), and backed this up with further information in a later edition of the book. But since Baruch and Lilienthal were Jews on the American side, pushing for World Government on American terms before the USSR got the bomb, it looks as if Jews were divided over that too.
9. Sudoplatov says that during WWII, co-operation between Soviet and American Jews was so close that a plan to create a Jewish Republic in the Crimea, within the USSR, was being promoted. He devotes a whole chapter to this topic, titled California in the Crimea, and at one point notes, “Gregory Kheifetz, our operative who had been successful in atomic espionage, told me that the letter was a proposal with details for a plan to make the Crimean Socialist Republic a homeland for Jewish people from all over the world” (Special Tasks, p. 286). When did Stalin change his mind? “It was in the second half of 1946, when Stalin had become disenchanted with Jewish alliances abroard and Jewish demands at home and was feeling isolated by the British-American joint stand in Palestine, that he began to stimulate an anti-Semitic campaign which culminated in a purge of Jews from the party machinery, diplomatic service, military apparatus, and intelligence services” (pp. 293-4, emphasis added). Sudoplatov may not have been aware of the 1946 proposal for World Government – he makes no reference to it – but the timing suggests that it caused Stalin, once again, to turn against the Jews. Edvard Radzinsky’s biography Stalin documents harsh measures against Soviet Jews from 1950, developing into the Doctors’ Plot: “the sinister Jewish organisation Joint was bent on destroying the Russian people. It had probably begun operations in the days of Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev… ubiquitous cosmopolitans were poisoning the country’s ideology… Traitorous doctors were killing statesmen…. Zionists had infiltrated even the highest levels of the political elite” (p. 535). A number of eminent Jewish doctors were arrested; on January 13, 1953, Tass announced the discovery of a terrorist group of poisoning doctors (p. 539). On February 8, Pravda published the names of Jewish saboteurs etc.; “At the end of February rumors went around Moscow that the Jews were to be deported to Siberia” (p. 542). Radzinsky claims that Stalin was inviting war with America, the home of Zionism and world finance, over this issue (p. 543). On February 11, 1953, the USSR severed diplomatic relations with Israel (Yosef Govrin, Israeli-Soviet Relations 1953-1967, pp. 3-4). On March 5, before he could take any action against those accused of Zionist conspiracy, Stalin was murdered (Radzinsky, pp. 547-556). The Jewish view on the Doctors’ Plot is further elaborated in Louis Rapaport, Stalin’s War Against the Jews.
10. The struggle between Moscow and Jerusalem was over which would be the centre of Socialism. In a sense, this struggle was a Cold War we could not see, but as real as the one we could. Stalin jealously observed the loyalty of Soviet Jews to the newly created state of Israel, and the 1967 and 1973 Middle-East wars pitting Moscow against Jerusalem caused many Jews to rediscover their religious roots, turned many from Bolshevism to Zionism, and led to the campaign for Jewish emigration from the USSR. Sudoplatov observed, “The acceptance within the leadership of anti-Semitic policies finally stripped the government of an entire population of public servants who had supported the Revolution and worked for the establishment of Soviet power. When the country came upon hard times and disintegrated, the flower of this educated leadership and their children had emigrated to Israel and the West” (Special Tasks: Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, p. 309). Sudoplatov himself had a Jewish wife, and sided with Beria, a Jew, against Kruschev, for the succession.
11. The Trotskyists say, “we are no longer Trotskyists now”, meaning that they no longer regard Trotsky as superior to Lenin. In the struggle with Stalin, they are still Trotskyists: International Socialists, for whom the socialism of the 1950s was National Socialism, to be destroyed. They battled agsinst the old nationalist Left to promote free trade (against fair trade), gay rights and radical feminism (against family stability), chaos in schools (against the interest of poor children), and the rule of UN committees infiltrated by their NGOs, over national governments. They support Globalisation, co-operating with international bankers to promote free trade and free movement of capital, weaken the nation-state system, getting nearly every country in debt to tax havens (the Bahamas, the City of London, Singapore etc.). Then they engage in violent clashes against those same bankers. For example, see www.wsws.org, or the book Socialism or Nationalism?: Which Road for the Australian Labor Movement? (SWP, 1979), by Jon West, Dave Holmes and Gordon Adler, which opposes Protection (pp. 27-9) and supports Foreign Investment: “The left-nationalists have proposed a variety of arguments to demonstrate that foreign-owned corporations are more damaging to the interests of Australian working people than corporations owned in Australia…. It is often argued that foreign investment slows Australia’s econoomic growth because foreign companies ship home their profits instead of plowing them back into the Australian economy. Two replies are possible to this argument. Firstly, there is no evidence to suggest that Australian companies re-invest a higher proportion of their profits than foreign corporations… Another argument is that foreign corporations tend to shut down, to lay off workers more frequently because large multinationals can transfer their operations to other countries if Australian wages are too high. However, Australian companies are just as susceptible to shifts on the international and domestic markets as multinationals… A further argument is that foreign corporations are tending to invest in raw materials, primarily mining industries, and are thus turning Australia into a quarry for US imperialism…. This argument has been advanced by the [Stalinist-ed.] Communist Party of Australia, among others. It ignores the fact that Australian workers are being thrown out of work primarily due to the international recession and its effects on Australian industry” (p. 67). Trotskyism subverts the socialist movement, causing the Stalinist and Nazi attempts to cauterise it. The Trotskyist line is, “We can’t have Socialism until the world is one country, with all races mixed. So we promote Capitalism, only to overthrow it once it has destroyed all nation-States.” Wolves in sheep’s clothing, they promote policies that cause poverty, then claim to lead the poor against the oppressors.
12. The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin hints at a struggle between two rival Internationalisms, the Hellenist and Socialist one of Wells and Russell, and the religious Zionist one, with Rabin’s secular Zionists caught in the middle. Israel’s Religious Right is determined to build their Temple, not next to the Dome of the Rock, but on the exact site, even if that means war with the entire Islamic world. The Protestant Religious Right would drag the U.S. in on the Zionist side; and given their constant condemnation of China, if such a conflagration breaks out, China and the Islamic block would be forced together, despite having no natural affinities. Samuel Huntington’s vision (in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order) of a future war against China and the Islamic block, is not far-fetched, but Huntington does not see that it would have a religious basis, being the battle for Greater Zion. If the Zionists were content merely to have a small homeland in Palestine, there would be no need for a war; but the Religious Right in Israel is advocating demolition of the Dome of the Rock, at //www.kahane.org, and also at //www.templemountfaithful.org/. If they killed Rabin, they will stop at nothing. Zion has waited 1900 years for this moment; will Islam be allowed to stand in the way? The key to understanding the barrier between Jews and Christians is provided by Hyam Maccoby, Jewish author of The Sacred Executioner: this is a book about human sacrifice. In the Ancient World, it was common to dedicate great buildings to a god by burying a sacrificial victim in their foundations: the Great Wall of China would have many. Maccoby’s insights relate to those of Rene Girard (in Violence and the Sacred) about the linkage between violence and the sacred. Certain epic acts in the past – “heroic” acts – have “sacramental” value for us as we relive them. The Catholic mass is the sacrifice of the mass, in which Jesus is a human sacrifice. Jesus’ body is recreated on the altar (a place of sacrifice, a sacred barbecue) by the priest and communally eaten by the community. This act goes back thousands of years: Jesus himself was a figure in the mould of Osiris, and James Frazer showed in The Golden Bough that other annual gods symbolising the vegetative cycle of spring and harvest, died, were ritually eaten by their devotees, and were reborn next spring. For Jews, the chief sacrifice was Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac, commemorated at the Rock of Ages, the main sacred site of Judaism, the site of the First and Second Temples, although non-Jewish ones may have preceded them. Maccoby points out that in the Bible story, Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac to Yahweh, when an angel appears giving him a lamb as a substitute. But it looks as if Isaac was saved by an editor rather than an angel: a later scribe, re-copying the manuscript, changed the story: the site is sacred because Isaac is buried there. So now we have two human sacrifices: that of Isaac, inaugurating the Jewish Covenant with Yahweh; and that of Jesus, inaugurating, from the Christian point of view, the New Covenant, i.e. ending the Old one. And according to the New Testament, the sacrifice of Jesus was done by the Jews, symbolised by Judas, the mob choosing to free Barabbas rather than Jesus, and the High Priest. So there is a fundamental contradiction between Judaism and Christianity, in terms of their foundation sacrifices. No amount of apologising by the Pope can overcome this contradiction, because every crucifix points to it; every cross is offensive. The only way would be to abandon the New Testament and the notion of a New Covenant breaking the Old: to end Christianity. But there is a third sacrifice. The Nazi genocide of the Jews, symbolised by Auschwitz, is also a human sacrifice, that human sacrifice which has been made the foundation of the modern state of Israel. That is why the Israelis can never get over it or forget it: it has sacramental value for them. They must forever mark the Nazis and the Germans as sacred executioners, just as Christians themselves mark the Jews in this way.
The First (Solomon’s) Temple was destroyed by Babylon (Iraq) in 586BC, the Second by Rome in 70AD, but the raised platform built by Herod, the Temple Mount, remains, and upon it are the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, a shrine marking the site whence Mohammad ascended to Heaven. The holiest site of Judaism is the third-holiest site of Islam, after Mecca and Medina. Rebuilding the Temple is the major goal of the Zionist movement, and quite possibly of Freemasonry. Roger Kamenetz, in The Jew in the Lotus (a book about a coming-together betwen Judaism and Tibetan Buddhism), writes “Both Muslims and Jews consider the same site, the Temple Mount, to be sacred ground, just as now Muslims and Hindus were claiming the same temple site in Ayodha” (p. 163). The demolition of the mosque and Dome would be a terrible loss of face for Islam – a threat to its very existence. After Carthage fell to Rome, Jerusalem became the main Semitic city, and many Phoenicians, scattered around the Mediterranean, appear to have converted to Judaism (Lionel Curtis, Civitas Dei, Book 1, pp. 96-103); a wholesale conversion from Islam (if defeated in war) to Judaism cannot be ruled out, given time. An expansion of its borders is openly canvassed in Israel, according to Israel Shahak (Jewish History, Jewish Religion, pp. 8-13); this would fulfil Genesis 15:18: ‘On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates”‘. As for relations with Arabs, they are indicated by the story of Ishmael, born to Abram’s Egyptian slave.
Judaism was once a major proselytsing religion in the Roman Empire; it was only the schism caused by Christianity, and the loss of many of the converts to it, which put an end to such missionary activity. The fall of Jerusalem to the Roman army in 70AD, and the destruction of the Second Temple, had a devastating effect on the early Christians (see S.G.F. Brandon, The Fall of Jerusalem and the Christian Church). It enabled the “Hellenistic” faction, associated with Paul and Rome, to triumph over the “Jewish” faction, associated with James and Jerusalem (Robert Eisenmann, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians and James the Brother of Jesus). It facilitated the momentous shift of religious centre from Jerusalem to Rome. Prior to the destruction, Christians worshipped in the Temple, and both Jewish and Gentile Christians venerated it as their chief shrine. Now, with Rome in disarray, a rebuilt Third Temple could similarly become the chief shrine, not only for Jews but for Christians too. It would test a basic teaching of Christianity, that the Old Covenant ended 2000 years ago. Christianity might split into its “Jewish” and “Buddhist” streams: one part becoming Jews again, another severing the link with the Jewish past, and reformulating Christianity without a Chosen People or a Covenant. The Temple would challenge the West to move from Hellenism and International Socialism, back to a triumphant, vindicated (and vindictive?) Hebraism (theocracy, rule by a Jewish messiah-king and high priest). Waton envisaged that a triumphant Judaism might dissolve the ritualistic legalisms that separate Jews from non-Jews; that these rules would be redundant, once everyone had become Jews. Would animal sacrifice be restored in the temple, as the ultra-Orthodox want? Depending on such choices, the revival of Judaism might even lead to the severance of sympathy and the strengthening of Hellenism. The confirmed discovery of civilisations much older than Egypt, and ancient trans-oceanic travel connecting the ancient civilisations, would free us from both the Aryan (“civilisation is White”) and Jewish (“only the Jews bear the truth”) myths. Until then, each extreme helps to keep the other in check.
Source:https://archive.org/stream/harry-waton-a-program-for-the-jews-and-humanity
Source:https://mailstar.net/waton-program.html