Return to the Promised Land.. Jacek Surzyn

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СКАЧАТЬ social life order, but also by the new approach to the world and a human. The only tendency Hess evaluates critically is the dramatic attempt to save the faith by protecting its naïve traditional “old” form. According to the author, it is simply an unreflective attempt to turn back the history and a dramatic response to negative tendencies of the contemporary world, first of all involving highlighted the issue of nihilism and alienation as the consequence of the changes.⁵⁹ Hess strongly criticizes this approach, claiming it is very dangerous and not only fails to perform the historical ←43 | 44→role of Judaism but also prevents it.⁶⁰ It has triggered the response of opponents, whom the author identifies with the second tendency associated with reform attempts occurring in contemporary Judaism. Those reforms are usually made as a negative response to the opposite view, and thus, as Hess stresses, reformers go the wrong way, because practically each of them proposes his own way of reform, which means extensive fragmentation, not to say chaos, with no consistent vision that could convince Jews and change the life of the Jewish Diaspora. Hess argues that all reforms made in this spirit are ineffective, because they basically prove to be not very relevant in the context of quick social changes. They lack the vision of historical dynamism in identifying the core of the Jewish religion and culture, which would ensure the desired effects of the reform.⁶¹

      A reformative tendency similar to the one Hess observed in the German Jewry is also visible in the circle of French Jews, although the French Diaspora functions in a different reality. For the author, a classic example of reformative utopia in the French community is the mission of Joseph Salvador. Salvador states (and Hess agrees with him) that despite some distinct behaviors, French Judaism involves some inclinations to combine various historical cults and incorporate them as a part of reform by the old orthodox faith. Salvador himself is an excellent example of the consequences of such a view. Hess writes skeptically that Salvador arouses in Jews the desire to return to Jerusalem, he promotes the slogan of establishing the Jewish state (or something resembling one) with the new Jerusalem, but the means he proposes to use in order to achieve this are insufficient and may even be deadly for the Jewry. In conclusion, he makes the following comments on Salvador’s concept: “If I understand the author correctly, he expects his New ←44 | 45→Jerusalem to become the world capital of the fusionists. Salvador, furthermore, seems to cherish the curious idea that the Jews ought first to turn Christians, so that they may be the better able to convert the Christians afterward to Judaism. This work is, in reality, not as new as Salvador thinks; it began eighteen hundred years ago. It seems, however, that the Judaism of which Salvador is thinking is as new as his Christianity.”⁶² So, Hess evaluates Salvador’s concept negatively, arguing the author is not very knowledgeable, either about Judaism or about Christianity. All this reeks of a completely utopian vision of reform, not only of Judaism, but through it, also of whole mankind (or at least Christianity) and stands no chance of success.

      According to Hess, Judaism should approach itself otherwise than the abovementioned reform proposals and concepts do. He argues that the reform should by no means relate Judaism with any other religion (especially Christianity), even if it has the same roots as Judaism. Judaism finds many arguments for preserving its tradition and dogmas without any conversion to Christianity, just like Christianity finds many arguments for remaining Christian. Hess is sure that the reform and confrontation of the two religions shows the advantage of Judaism, and centuries of existence of the two religions have proved that Christianity should learn tolerance and harmonious coexistence of different denominations from the Jewish faith. Judaism is a religion of tolerance and respect for human dignity, whereas in the case of Christianity, it has never been so obvious.⁶³

      Hess can see positive strength in the Jewish religion, allowing Judaism to avoid the mistakes of Christianity. In addition, the change in Jews’ position resulting from socio-political transformations creates a new situation for them and for their religion. By appreciating industrialization and the mercantile content of the transformations characteristic of the peoples and nations surrounding Jews, Judaism is able to achieve its goals of spiritual revival and preach the ideals of humanity and humanism, thus highlighting in the Indo-Germanic race (type) all ←45 | 46→that is the best in it.⁶⁴ So, Judaism has a philosophical mission to carry out. But what does the mission involve in Hess’ view?

      First of all, he stresses that for Jews the force governing their lives and activities in the past has ended. The new mission of the Jewish nation will be to save the world from fanaticism and negative superstitions, also concerning Jews themselves. To perform this mission, the great idea of Judaism must be fulfilled: Jews must return to Zion and restore the Jewish state. All the effort of the Diaspora should focus on this goal in two aspects: religious (from the beginning connected with the tradition of Judaism) but also sociophilosophical. The fact that Hess set such a goal actually makes him one of the precursors of modern Zionism.⁶⁵

      Hess acknowledges that Judaism, as the “elder brother,” has a kind of obligation with respect to Christianity to direct it toward reform and enlightenment of faith, which in its proper form should be based on tolerance and the rejection of any fanaticism.⁶⁶ At the same time, he is convinced that such reform is the only way to achieve the goal of enlightened Jewry. Any other orthodoxy and the lack ←46 | 47→of openness to new postulates dooms Jews to serious confrontation, first of all with Christianity: confrontation which can have only negative consequences for Jews, because they are a minority in the ocean of Christian majority, which – as the history has shown many times – can act ruthlessly and brutally against Jews. For Hess, the danger of such a deadly confrontation also occurs now, which can be proved e.g. by the new type of anti-Semitism. For Judaism, it most generally means spiritual death, complete conversion, and ultimately, total annihilation of the Diaspora, which symptoms are assimilation and emancipation. Hess reminds the readers that the assimilation of the Jewry is practically infeasible, and a Jew will always remain a Jew, whatever he does and whatever steps he takes to change it.⁶⁷

I. 5 The Basis of the Jewish Reform

      As has already been mentioned, Hess criticizes all previous reform attempts within Judaism, both internal and external. The criticism has different intensity with regard to different concepts of reforms. The author absolutely rejects reforms going beyond the area of Judaism (for example Salvador’s concept) or ones that blur Judaism in the universal idea of humanity, basically proposing complete rejection of faith in favor of an obscure idea of humanism as part of the great human family. All this leads to the destruction of Jewish life and Jewish identity.⁶⁸ Hess doubts the honesty and meaningfulness of this, because he suspects it is related too much with the appeal (popular in some circles) to “convert” Jews to the only truth and as a result redeem the sin committed against the Savior. In Christianity, the blind synagogue should regain eyesight and believe in the Messiah: the mission of Judaism was fulfilled at the moment of coming of Christ, and by rejecting the Savior, Jews keep sinning and need to be saved from the sin, even if against their will. In Hess’ opinion, the idea of universal humanity is grist for the mill of such radical views.⁶⁹

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      But the reform proposed by the author was to be completely different. The essence of his proposal seems to be the combination of the universal idea of humanity and the precise national concept. According to Hess, nation is an indispensable part of the society and humanism, to the extent that without a nation and national awareness it is impossible to build proper and fair interpersonal relationships based on the universal principle of equality and human dignity, that is, all that is included in the essence of humanism. The author believes that humanism approached this way is also the essence of Judaism: “I believe that not only does the national essence of Judaism not exclude civilization and humanitarianism, but that the latter really follow from it, as necessarily as the result follows from the cause. If, in spite of this, I emphasize the national side of Judaism, which is the root, rather than the humanitarian aspect, which is the bloom and flower, it is because in pour time, people are prone to decorate themselves with the flowers of culture rather than cultivate them again in the soil on which they grew. СКАЧАТЬ