Tolstoy and the Jews
Tolstoy will be greatly remembered by Jews for his spirited protest against the Kishineff massacres in 1903. Together with Maxim Gorky and Father John Kronstadt he raised his voice against the inhuman barbarities committed by his Christian fellow-countrymen on defenceless Jews.: His conception of Christianity gianed for him excommunication by the Holy Synod of the Russian Church; and the standpoint from which he regardea Judaism as a religion is interesting. The following passage in his book, “My Religion,” gives his ideas on Judaism and Christianity and their relations to each nthar
"Some time ago I was reading in Hebrew the fifth chapter of Matthew with a Jewish Rabbi. At nearly ever verse the Rabbi said, 'This is in the Bible,' or 'This is in the Talmud,' and he showed me in the Bible and in the Talmud sentences very like the declarations of the Sermon on the Mount. When we reached the words, 'Resist not evil,' the Rabbi did not say, 'This is in the Talmud,' but he asked with a smile, 'Do the Christians obey this command? Do they turn the other cheek?' I had nothing to say in reply, especially as at that particular time Christians, far from turning the other cheek, were smiting the Jews upon both cheeks. I asked him if there were any thing similar in the Bible or in the Talmud. 'No,' he replied, 'there is nothing like it, but tell me, do the Christians obey this law? It was only another way of saying that the presence in the Christian doctrine of a commandment which no one observed, and which Christians themselves regarded as impracticable, is simply an avowal of the foolishness and nullity of that law. I could say nothing in reply to the Rabbi.'"
It was stated not long ago that he was engaged in translating passages from the Talmud, and quite recently he wrote to a correspondent in praise of Zionism.
The following is the translation of a letter from Count Tolstoy to a Jew who had asked his opinion concerning the outrages in Kishineff :—
"I have received your letter. I had already received several similar letters
All the writers request me, as you do, to express my opinion on the events at Kishineff. It seems to me that these appeals are based on a misunderstanding. My correspondents supposed that my words carried weight, and I am therefore begged to express my opinion on an event so important and so complicated in its origins as the crime committed at Kıshineff. The misunderstanding consists in demanding from me the work of a publicist, whereas I occupy myself exclusively with a single definite question, having nothing in common with contemporary events—viz., the question of religion and its application to life. To request from me the public expression of my opinion on contemporary events is as ıillogical as it would be to demand such expression from any other specialist who makes use of contemporary events to illustrate his views. I] cannot, like a publicist, even if 1 thought it would be useful, express my opinion on everything that occurs, no matter how important it may be If I dia so I should have to speak hurriedly and without reflection, repeating what has been saıd by others, and then my opinions would cease to have the importance for the sake of which their expression is sought.
"As regards my views on the Jews and on the horrible doings at Kishineff, they ought, it would seem, to be clear to all who interest themselves in my conception of life. I cannot regard the Jews other than as brothers whom I love, not because they are Jews, but because, like ourselves and everybody else, they are sons of the one God, the Father. Such love needs no effort on my part, for I have met and known many excellent people among the Jews. My attitude towards the Kishineff outrage is likewise defined by my religion and my conception of life. When I read the first accounts in the newspapers, even before I knew of the horrible details which afterwards came to light, I realized the full horror of what had occurred and was filled with a profound feeling of pity for the innocent victims of the barbarity of the mobs mingled with astonishment at the bestial ferocities of these pretended Christians and disgust and loathing towards the so-called educated people who stirred up the mob and sympathized with its doings. But what I