The Decadence of French Jewry
One to Lack of Jewish National Consciousness
Dr. Max Nordau contributes a trenchant letter to the London Jewish Chronicle on the decadence of Judaism in France, in which he expresses the opinion that French Judaism can be rescued only by means of a reawakening of Jewish national consciousness. We quote the letter in full:
“Sır:—The letter of your Paris correspondent on the decadence of Judaism in France only describes facts which are known to every observer. The law for the Separation of Church and State has discosed a situation which hitherto had been hidden from most people by a deceptive cloak. The official organization of French Judaism formed a facade which was very imposing, but which had nothing behind it. It furnished a superstructure of Consistoires wth a Central Consistoire, and a Rothschild as President; it furnished a hierarchy of clergymen with Rab- bins and a Grand Rabbin at their head; it furnished a budget of public worship of French Judaisnı, guaranteed by the State. This Judaism was a State establishment, a wheel in the mechanism of the French Government, an imposing structure which appeared to be strong, and to stand on a firm foundation. The Jews, however, who could give substance and life to this structure, became long ago more indifferent to it, and for many years past interested themselves in its working only if they were ambitious to become members of the Consistoire.
"Now that the State has separated itself from the Synagogue, as it has done from the Church, the official facade of French Judaism has collapsed, and it is disclosed in all its pitiful weakness and decrepitude.
“I but express what so many know, but carefully conceal. French Judaism hitherto has lived on the Rothschild family. For the past eighty years the Rothschilds have been accustomed to cover the deficit of Jewish public worship, remaining after the subvention from the State had been taken into account. Now that this subvention is withdrawn, the
French Jews will undoubtedly expect the Rothschilds to defray the entire expenses of Jewish public worship in France. Jews themselves have not been accustomed to exert themselves, and they will not learn to do so now.
"The question is frequently asked: What will be the future of French Judaism? Let us put the future aside. Suffice to speak of the present.
“The present situation of French Judaism! It is a sad state of affairs. If French Judaism had not been assured by an extensive immigration, it is probable that it would not be in existence at the present moment. Of the descendants of the French members of Napoleon’s Synhedrion, not half are now Jews; and even those who have not abjured Judaism have many Christians in their families. There is not a single Jewish house of more than half a century’s standing which has not become related by marriage to Christians. Yet another generation, and not one of these old families of French Jews will any longer adhere to Judaism.
"The poor, the young and the uneducated have remained true to Judaism, but no sooner had a Jewish family attained wealth and culture, entered into higher careers, and been seized with ambition, than it was at once, or in the next generation, lost to Judaism.
“Immigration from Alsace and South Germany put a check on these defections. These German Jews brought with them piety, respect for tradition, Jewish sentiment, and often Jewish science. It was these immigrants whom one met chiefly, if not exclusively, in the synagogue, who in their homes celebrated the beautiful Jewish ceremonies of the Seder, the Sukkah, and Chanuka, who insisted that their children should learn some Hebrew, and be instructed in Jewish religion. Their zeal preserved the first, and often the second, generation. In the third generation they were mostly swallowed up. The grandchildren, of the immigrant German Jews are no longer to be distinguished, from the old French Jews; they are alienated from Judaism and everything that is Jewish to as great an extent as the others.
"The past quarter of a century has wit-