Diplomats -- United States -- Biography; Morgenthau, Henry, 1856-1946; United States -- Foreign relations -- 20th century
Does he seek a field for business talent? The evidence of opportunity in
this direction is so overwhelming that it need not here be wearyingly
recapitulated. The progress of Adolph S. Ochs from a printer’s devil in
Knoxville, Tenn., fifty years ago, to owner of the greatest newspaper in
the greatest city in the world, is characteristic of dozens of like
successful Jewish careers in this country; and it is emblematic of
hundreds of thousands of Jewish careers less spectacular but equally
momentous in their own degree.
Does he seek social position? Here, indeed, his path is made more
difficult. But the social barriers are not insurmountable. Where they
seem so, calm judgment will reveal that the social environment where
this irrational prejudice exists is not worthy of the entrance of the
Jew. Leave the intolerant to associate with their own kind. The Jew who
has raised himself to the highest level will have put himself beyond the
reach of prejudice, and he will find himself welcomed in the highest
Christian circles.
The enlightened Jews of America have found the true road to Zion. To
them Zion is no mere political mechanism existing by the political
sufferance of the greater Powers. It is not defined by geographical
boundaries, circumscribing an arid plot of ground which their ancestors
of two thousand years ago conquered from its aboriginal inhabitants and
occupied for a brief, though glorious, period before they, in turn, were
driven onward by a new conqueror. To them, Zion is a region of the soul.
To them, it is an inner light, set upon the hill of personal
consciousness, inspiring them as individuals to fight, each for himself,
the battle of life where he meets it; demanding in virtue of his own
worth the respect of those about him; winning through to the dignity and
position to which his native gifts and his self-developed character
entitle him. This is the only true Zion. All other definitions of it are
unreal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account