There are two special forces upon the Jewish side which nourish and
exasperate the inevitable friction between the Jewish race and its
hosts. It will be well to deal with these before passing to the
corresponding forces upon our side. For to find a remedy it is necessary
to diagnose the disease.
The two main Jewish forces which exasperate and maintain the sense of
friction between the Jews and their hosts are first of all the Jewish
reliance upon secrecy, and, secondly, the Jewish expression of
superiority.
1. THE JEWISH RELIANCE UPON SECRECY
It has unfortunately now become a habit for so many generations, that it
has almost passed into an instinct throughout the Jewish body, to rely
upon the weapon of secrecy. Secret societies, a language kept as far as
possible secret, the use of false names in order to hide secret
movements, secret relations between various parts of the Jewish body:
all these and other forms of secrecy have become the national method. It
is a method to be deplored, not because its indignity and falsehood
degrade the Jew--that is not our affair--but rather on account of the
ill-effects this policy produces on our mutual relations. It feeds and
intensifies the antagonism already excited by racial contrast.
But before we go further it is essential to be just; for no one
understands anything if he attacks it unjustly.
The Jewish habit of secrecy--the assumption of false names and the
pretence of non-Jewish origin in individuals, the concealment of
relationships and the rest of it--have presumably sprung from the
experience of the race. Let a man put himself in the place of the Jew
and he will see how sound the presumption is. A race scattered,
persecuted, often despised, always suspected and nearly always hated by
those among whom it moves, is constrained by something like physical
force to the use of secret methods.
Take the particular trick of false names. It seems to us particularly
odious. We think when we show our contempt for those who use this
subterfuge that we are giving them no more than they deserve. It is a
meanness which we associate with criminals and vagabonds; a piece of
crawling and sneaking. We suspect its practisers of desiring to hide
something which would bring them into disgrace if it were known, or of
desiring to over-reach their fellows in commerce by a form of falsehood.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account