The Maccabaean

will make at least partial demands. The Jews of Russia will have an opportunity to show themselves worthy of the moment and obtain permanent benefits for themselves. It would be a misfortune if after their vast experiences they should let themselves be moved by ostensibly practical considerations to demand only civil equality for the moment, in the fear of jeopardizing their advancement by more comprehensive pretentions. There are certainly a number of Jews in Russia who cannot realize that it is the opposite which is true. Civil equality without national rights, especially in a state composed of different peoples is not only built on sand as far as the future is concerned, but a priori signifies an anomalous position for the Jews.

The example of the Jewish situation in Western Europe taught us that the disavowal of national existence during the struggle for emancipation forged the most powerful weapons for the opponents of Jewry, and robbed the Jews themselves of spiritual liberty. For, in spite of assurances and endeavors, even in those countries the Jews were not in a position to lay off their national individuality completely, although assimilation was their spiritual dictator. The neighbors cared not one whit for the theoretic standpoint of the Jews; for them every manifestation of a living Judaism, even the purely religious, was alien and nationalistic. How indefatigably the German Jews strove for decades to eradicate every trace of nationalism from their midst, to become wholly German and thus to assure the permanence of their emancipation! And yet in the eyes of their fellow-citizens they did not.meet the obligations which they themselves had assumed. It was a logical consequence that such Jewish sympathizers as Theodor Mommsen asserted after the outbreak of virulent anti-Semitism in the eighties, that complete assimilation could be effected only by a “formal” conversion to Christianity. Only then would Jews cease from individual efforts, only then would the problem be solved.

It must therefore be generally conceded, even by those who incline to the assimilationist point of view, that failure to emphasize national existence would endanger the civil emancipation of the Jews. The cautious spirits would prove themselves to be most incautious and unpractical. An incomplete emancipation carries the germ of its own destruction with it.

Moreover, there are certain advantages resulting from national recognition which the Russian Jews will have to utilize in the near future in order to maintain their emancipation. It would be absurdly naive to believe that national distinctions will be eliminated from the collective life of Russia. The Russian Jews will therefore need the organization on a national basis guaranteed them by the state in order to assure their cultural and economic existence.

Mr. Leo Motzkin is a member of the Zionist Actions Comite, and a well-known authority on Russian Jewish affairs. He is the author of the volume on “The Pogroms in Russia”—prepared for the Zionist organization. In the Zionist Congresses, Mr. Motzkin has been an influential factor in bringing about a recognition of the democratic fraction. Some time after the beginning of the war, Mr. Motzkin arrived in the United States, where he has been engaged in research work and lecturing on Jewish topics. This is the first of a series of articles which Mr. Motzkin is writing for THe Maccaspagan. In his next article Mr. Motzkin will discuss the various factions in Russian Jewry.

There is no cause to aver that in my last utterances I am combating windmills. Who in Russia can think otherwise? The question is not whether the axioms of nationalism are recognized, but with what intensity the struggle in their behalf is conducted. It is here that I fear surprises consequent on the vacillations of the assimilated and entirely de-Judaized elements among the powerful few of Russia.

----- = I purposely refrained from touching on the spiritual aspects of the Jewish question, for I do not want to deal with it superficially and I am limited as to space. In former years the Jewish parties of Russia asseverated that the Jews could not continue to exist spiritually without being recognized as a distinct nation. Now that the critical moment has come many of them will bring their assimilationist tendencies into play and insist in the first flush of excitement that they do not require national rights. We do not want to enter into theoretic combat with them here; in fact we shall, for the nonce, accept their standpoint, namely, that only part of the Jewish neonle desires continued existence as such.

What, according to their conception, is to become of these elements of Jewry with national aspirations? They are a nation, we say, smaller in number than all Jewry, but nevertheless in an era of freedom their will should be respected. Should not the possibility of working out their own destiny be accorded them? How can this be done if not by recognizing Jewish nationality so that all reason for conflict may be obviated.

But we are convinced that the great majority of Russian Jewry will take a loftier stand. Schooled as it is in the conception of national being, of national dignity, and national longing, it will surely be uplifted by historic idealism at a time when all values are being transmuted, and not be content with the abolishment of those external restrictions which made their life a hell. Let us hope that in looking both backward and forward it will understand that it is now assuming a tremendous responsibility for itself, for the whole Jewish nation, and for posterity. Whatever the end of the war may bring, Russian Jewry will continue to represent the greatest Jewish centre by sheer force of numbers. If it is conscious of its duty it cannot desire at this moment to wave off these great perspectives. To-day, when all hearts are so large and spirits so expansive, Russian Jewry can come forward with its most comprehensive plans. That which is not understood and not appreciated in daily life, the highest thing in man, his individual ego, is taken for granted in revolutionary times, is looked upon as a moral law. Surely the struggle of the Jewish people for national rehabilitation, for complete restoration of its national unity is in its way a spiritual revolution. For this reason it is most likely to come into its own at a revolutionary period. For true freedom must acknowledge the true nature of Jewry.