The Jews and secular democracy
This is a summary of the fourth and last lecture in the excellent series on Jewish history by Robert Wolfe PhD (Harvard), former lecturer at SUNY, based in part on his book, "The origins of the Messianic Ideal."
In the 19th and 20th century, what we have witnessed among Jews is the "secularization" of the messianic ideal. The messianic ideal has roots deep within ancient Judaism. In Rabbinic literature, this ideal included both "the ingathering of the exiles," and "the redemption of the Jewish people" usually taken to mean the refounding of the Jewish State, and a more general reign of worldwide peace and prosperity.
There developed two distinct forms of the messianic ideal, the established form of Jews doing mitzvot to bring it about, and the more activist form of acting to improve the conditions of the Jews. In fact there were many messianic movements of Jews in both Christian and Muslim regions, e.g. in the area of Iraq there were several Jewish uprisings that were defeated.
The Kabbala took up the mystical messianic ideal and many Jews moved to the Land of Israel in the hope of advancing the messianic age. Then there were many individuals who turned out to be false Messiahs, such as Shabbtai Zvi. These usually appeared during periods of extreme religious persecution. This situation recurred from the 16 - 19th centuries and was always expressed in religious terms, i.e. bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth.
However, in the late 19th century things changed, and that was clearly due to the rise of secular democracies adopted by non-Jews in the West, i.e. USA, France, Britain, Holland, Switzerland. This was due to the development of a middle class in those countries, that lead to liberal ideals allowing universal suffrage, freedom of expression, of demonstration and of the press, which became a powerful influence. These ideals were tremendously attractive to the Jews, seeking as they were for a messianic age on earth (not in heaven) although democracy itself was of Greek not Jewish origin. These developments lead to a gradual change in western and central Europe, allowing Jewish emancipation and minority rights, although these were often extended in theory more than in practice (as in late 19th century Germany). The Jews adapted easily to this more egalitarian type of society, since unlike the other peoples around them they had no landed aristocracy.
However, the problem was that the liberal democracies were in the West and most of the Jews were in the East, governed by totalitarian Empires, such as the Austro-Hungarian, German, Russian and Turkish Empires, that were hostile to social democracy. These were eventually replaced after WWI by totalitarian regimes, such as dictatorships and socialist/communist regimes, that were all totalitarian. In these areas, the middle class was weak, and attempts at social revolutions, such as 1848, failed. The people of Eastern Europe preferred a powerful ruler (of whatever form) and the ideal of conquest over those of liberal democracy. Also, much of the middle class in East and Central Europe was Jewish, which put them in direct competition with the rising indigenous middle class. So the Jews were trapped in a hostile anti-Semitic world, while the messianic ideal of liberal democracy was developing elsewhere, mostly without them. So there were only two solutions, either liberalize Eastern Europe (a hopeless task then) or move to the West, as millions of Jews did.
By the late 19th century there was a large Jewish working class in East Europe to which the ideals of socialism appealed. There was an explosion of radical ideas among E. European Jews, that took three forms.
1. Socialism: Karl Marx himself was a Jewish, anti-Semitic Messianist. In 1897 (the same year as Herzl founded the Zionist Movement), the Jewish Socialist Bund was founded. This spread to Jewish workers in Germany and the USA. But, the Bund was based on the ideals of democratic socialism, not communism, and they believed in the nationalization of essential industries and were against unnecessary competition. One of the few places in the world where this ideal was implemented was Israel, where in 1948 40% of industry was Govt. owned.
2. Territorialism: In E. Europe and Russia Jews could not own land, so they tended to become increasingly urbanized. But, a movement developed that said this weakened the Jewish people and they must return to working the land. This lead to the formation of agricultural collectives, and hundreds of thousands of Jews moved to where they could own land, such as Western Canada, south New Jersey and Argentina. These endevors were supported by Baron de Hirsch. In the 1920's many Jews re-settled the Pale of Settlement in Ukraine, and an independent "state" was even declared there, but it didn't last long.
3. Zionism: In the late 19th century political Zionism developed, a Jewish nationalist movement inspired by the nationalism sweeping Europe. In 1897 Theodor Herzl founded the Zionist Movement, but in fact Zionism had earlier roots. In the early 19th century there was a movement called Haskalah, or enlightenment, that tried to secularize the Hebrew language; books and novels were published and the Hovavei Zion (Lovers of Zion) established agricultural colonies in Eretz Yisrael. There was a secret society called Bnai Moshe that intended to establish a Jewish State in Israel, and for this purpose established Hebrew speaking schools. Ahad Ha'am, ("one of the people") the pen name of Asher Ginzburg (1856-1927), was a wealthy educated Jew who spoke and wrote in Hebrew (note that Herzl could not speak Hebrew) and believed in "cultural Zionism." In the then Turkish province of Southern Syria or Palestine, the Ashkenazi and Sephardi immigrants could communicate only in Hebrew, it became their lingua franca (with the "Sephardi accent"), long before Yehuda ben Eliezer began compiling the first modern Hebrew dictionary in 1910.
This secular Zionist movement split into Labor Zionism that was socialist and established the kibbutzim, and was the origin of the Israeli Labor Party, and General Zionism that was non (or anti) -socialist and that produced the Revisionist Party, today's Likud. Note that religion and religious Zionists played a very small part in the founding of the State of Israel.
The Jewish Bund played a significant role in the foundation of Communism, although they were against it! In 1903, at the founding conference of the Russian Social Democratic Party, held in the East End of London, there was a split between the majority (Bolsheviks) and the minority (Mensheviks) over the issue of whether or not there should be a "dictatorship of the proletariat" or "democratic socialism." The Mensheviks, made up of the Bund members present, were overwhelmingly Jewish, and with their leader Leon Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronstein), they were expelled from the Party. At first, including during the 1905 revolution in St. Petersburg that Trotsky led, the Menshevisks were more popular. But, democracy was not popular and the Bolsheviks eventually took over the revolution in 1917. Their opponents fighting for control of Russia were the Whites, made up of former Czarist military and government officials. They were extremely anti-Semitic and during this war they massacred many tens of thousands of Jews. The Mensheviks then split, between those who wanted to remain democratic socialists, and those who saw victory for Bolshevism as the first step in the right direction.
In the early 1920's there was a significant Jewish element in the Communist Party. But, they were anti-religious and anti-Zionist. Since the Zionists preferred Hebrew and the Bund Yiddish, these Communists preferred Yiddish and they persuaded the Communist Party to support the Bund preferences. But, in the late 1920's as Stalin took over and strengthened his hand as the dictator of the USSR, he opposed the influence of these Jewish Communists. He was hostile towards anything Jewish (probably anti-Semitism he learnt at the seminary in Georgia), and in 1927, as a kind of joke, gave the Jews Birobidzhan, a mosquito infested swamp on the Russo-Chinese border, as their "national home." Although Yiddish was allowed there, luckily few Jews were persuaded to move there, thousands of miles from Europe.
In the 1930's, when Stalin purged the Communist Party, this was aimed largely at Jewish Communists, Mensheviks and Bundists. He had Trotsky murdered in Mexico and also murdered all his former followers in Russia. He de-Judaized the Party and suppressed Yiddish language and culture, and murdered most leading actors and writers of Yiddish. However, surprisingly he left ordinary (non-political) Jews alone and they managed to survive in the USSR, many with good jobs within the system, and when the Germans invaded in 1939, many of these Jews were able to move east and survive. Many of their descendents now live in Israel. Also, many Jews fought in the Red Army. Once again they chose the Communists as the lesser of two evils.
At the end of WWII, the only organized Jewish party that survived was the Zionist Movement. After 1947, with American and Western influence, liberal democratic movements thrived in the former Nazi and Communist Empires, but without the Jews. Under the influence of the tragedy of the Holocaust the UN gave the Jews their own sovereign State, Israel, a culmination of the Messianic ideal!
In the 19th and 20th century, what we have witnessed among Jews is the "secularization" of the messianic ideal. The messianic ideal has roots deep within ancient Judaism. In Rabbinic literature, this ideal included both "the ingathering of the exiles," and "the redemption of the Jewish people" usually taken to mean the refounding of the Jewish State, and a more general reign of worldwide peace and prosperity.
There developed two distinct forms of the messianic ideal, the established form of Jews doing mitzvot to bring it about, and the more activist form of acting to improve the conditions of the Jews. In fact there were many messianic movements of Jews in both Christian and Muslim regions, e.g. in the area of Iraq there were several Jewish uprisings that were defeated.
The Kabbala took up the mystical messianic ideal and many Jews moved to the Land of Israel in the hope of advancing the messianic age. Then there were many individuals who turned out to be false Messiahs, such as Shabbtai Zvi. These usually appeared during periods of extreme religious persecution. This situation recurred from the 16 - 19th centuries and was always expressed in religious terms, i.e. bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth.
However, in the late 19th century things changed, and that was clearly due to the rise of secular democracies adopted by non-Jews in the West, i.e. USA, France, Britain, Holland, Switzerland. This was due to the development of a middle class in those countries, that lead to liberal ideals allowing universal suffrage, freedom of expression, of demonstration and of the press, which became a powerful influence. These ideals were tremendously attractive to the Jews, seeking as they were for a messianic age on earth (not in heaven) although democracy itself was of Greek not Jewish origin. These developments lead to a gradual change in western and central Europe, allowing Jewish emancipation and minority rights, although these were often extended in theory more than in practice (as in late 19th century Germany). The Jews adapted easily to this more egalitarian type of society, since unlike the other peoples around them they had no landed aristocracy.
However, the problem was that the liberal democracies were in the West and most of the Jews were in the East, governed by totalitarian Empires, such as the Austro-Hungarian, German, Russian and Turkish Empires, that were hostile to social democracy. These were eventually replaced after WWI by totalitarian regimes, such as dictatorships and socialist/communist regimes, that were all totalitarian. In these areas, the middle class was weak, and attempts at social revolutions, such as 1848, failed. The people of Eastern Europe preferred a powerful ruler (of whatever form) and the ideal of conquest over those of liberal democracy. Also, much of the middle class in East and Central Europe was Jewish, which put them in direct competition with the rising indigenous middle class. So the Jews were trapped in a hostile anti-Semitic world, while the messianic ideal of liberal democracy was developing elsewhere, mostly without them. So there were only two solutions, either liberalize Eastern Europe (a hopeless task then) or move to the West, as millions of Jews did.
By the late 19th century there was a large Jewish working class in East Europe to which the ideals of socialism appealed. There was an explosion of radical ideas among E. European Jews, that took three forms.
1. Socialism: Karl Marx himself was a Jewish, anti-Semitic Messianist. In 1897 (the same year as Herzl founded the Zionist Movement), the Jewish Socialist Bund was founded. This spread to Jewish workers in Germany and the USA. But, the Bund was based on the ideals of democratic socialism, not communism, and they believed in the nationalization of essential industries and were against unnecessary competition. One of the few places in the world where this ideal was implemented was Israel, where in 1948 40% of industry was Govt. owned.
2. Territorialism: In E. Europe and Russia Jews could not own land, so they tended to become increasingly urbanized. But, a movement developed that said this weakened the Jewish people and they must return to working the land. This lead to the formation of agricultural collectives, and hundreds of thousands of Jews moved to where they could own land, such as Western Canada, south New Jersey and Argentina. These endevors were supported by Baron de Hirsch. In the 1920's many Jews re-settled the Pale of Settlement in Ukraine, and an independent "state" was even declared there, but it didn't last long.
3. Zionism: In the late 19th century political Zionism developed, a Jewish nationalist movement inspired by the nationalism sweeping Europe. In 1897 Theodor Herzl founded the Zionist Movement, but in fact Zionism had earlier roots. In the early 19th century there was a movement called Haskalah, or enlightenment, that tried to secularize the Hebrew language; books and novels were published and the Hovavei Zion (Lovers of Zion) established agricultural colonies in Eretz Yisrael. There was a secret society called Bnai Moshe that intended to establish a Jewish State in Israel, and for this purpose established Hebrew speaking schools. Ahad Ha'am, ("one of the people") the pen name of Asher Ginzburg (1856-1927), was a wealthy educated Jew who spoke and wrote in Hebrew (note that Herzl could not speak Hebrew) and believed in "cultural Zionism." In the then Turkish province of Southern Syria or Palestine, the Ashkenazi and Sephardi immigrants could communicate only in Hebrew, it became their lingua franca (with the "Sephardi accent"), long before Yehuda ben Eliezer began compiling the first modern Hebrew dictionary in 1910.
This secular Zionist movement split into Labor Zionism that was socialist and established the kibbutzim, and was the origin of the Israeli Labor Party, and General Zionism that was non (or anti) -socialist and that produced the Revisionist Party, today's Likud. Note that religion and religious Zionists played a very small part in the founding of the State of Israel.
The Jewish Bund played a significant role in the foundation of Communism, although they were against it! In 1903, at the founding conference of the Russian Social Democratic Party, held in the East End of London, there was a split between the majority (Bolsheviks) and the minority (Mensheviks) over the issue of whether or not there should be a "dictatorship of the proletariat" or "democratic socialism." The Mensheviks, made up of the Bund members present, were overwhelmingly Jewish, and with their leader Leon Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronstein), they were expelled from the Party. At first, including during the 1905 revolution in St. Petersburg that Trotsky led, the Menshevisks were more popular. But, democracy was not popular and the Bolsheviks eventually took over the revolution in 1917. Their opponents fighting for control of Russia were the Whites, made up of former Czarist military and government officials. They were extremely anti-Semitic and during this war they massacred many tens of thousands of Jews. The Mensheviks then split, between those who wanted to remain democratic socialists, and those who saw victory for Bolshevism as the first step in the right direction.
In the early 1920's there was a significant Jewish element in the Communist Party. But, they were anti-religious and anti-Zionist. Since the Zionists preferred Hebrew and the Bund Yiddish, these Communists preferred Yiddish and they persuaded the Communist Party to support the Bund preferences. But, in the late 1920's as Stalin took over and strengthened his hand as the dictator of the USSR, he opposed the influence of these Jewish Communists. He was hostile towards anything Jewish (probably anti-Semitism he learnt at the seminary in Georgia), and in 1927, as a kind of joke, gave the Jews Birobidzhan, a mosquito infested swamp on the Russo-Chinese border, as their "national home." Although Yiddish was allowed there, luckily few Jews were persuaded to move there, thousands of miles from Europe.
In the 1930's, when Stalin purged the Communist Party, this was aimed largely at Jewish Communists, Mensheviks and Bundists. He had Trotsky murdered in Mexico and also murdered all his former followers in Russia. He de-Judaized the Party and suppressed Yiddish language and culture, and murdered most leading actors and writers of Yiddish. However, surprisingly he left ordinary (non-political) Jews alone and they managed to survive in the USSR, many with good jobs within the system, and when the Germans invaded in 1939, many of these Jews were able to move east and survive. Many of their descendents now live in Israel. Also, many Jews fought in the Red Army. Once again they chose the Communists as the lesser of two evils.
At the end of WWII, the only organized Jewish party that survived was the Zionist Movement. After 1947, with American and Western influence, liberal democratic movements thrived in the former Nazi and Communist Empires, but without the Jews. Under the influence of the tragedy of the Holocaust the UN gave the Jews their own sovereign State, Israel, a culmination of the Messianic ideal!
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:14 PM
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