Jews and Power (review)

Historicism is the theory that general, unalterable rules determine history. A well-known example is the saying that "history always repeats itself." According to this historical rule, we could predict that Israel's existence is only a temporary episode. This gloomy prediction is based on the trans-historical observation that the history of the Jewish people constantly shifts from one exile to another.

The great philosopher Karl Popper, who coined the term historicism, dedicated much of his work to attacking this theory. Popper claimed that history is not subject to discoverable rules. Moreover, he emphasized that it is almost impossible to make specific predictions and forecast definite future developments. Popper and the enemies of historicism agree, however, that in the social sciences it is possible to identify general patterns that are likely to appear under certain constraints and conditions. Recognizing such patterns, Ruth Wisse argues in Jews and Power that the future of the Jewish people in general and the future of Israel, as a Jewish state, in particular, depend heavily on the political behavior of the Jews.

Jews and Power is an interesting journey into the history of the Jewish people. It begins with the destruction of the Second Temple and ends in our time, as the state of Israel, a new phenomenon in the modern Jewish experience, still fights for its existence. It is a story of a small nation that tries to preserve its uniqueness under extremely difficult circumstances. The Jews' efforts during two thousand years in exile were to become full, loyal members in foreign societies, even as they preserved their uniqueness and tradition. The goal was integration and segregation at the same time. One paradoxical climax of this project was that Jews, who kept their tradition, had to kill one another on the battlefield while serving as loyal soldiers in rival armies. Nevertheless, no matter how much the Jews tried, these efforts to acculturate failed.

The Jews were always a convenient target to blame for causing social failures and misery. Anti-Semitism, Wisse points out, was always an efficient instrument for politicians who needed simple explanations and excuses for social dissatisfaction. Even the Enlightenment, which promised "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" helped bring about Romanticism and Nazism. The Jews again were blamed with the failure of the new hope (enlightenment) to bring a better world. Paradoxically, Wisse points out, the Jews' high expectations to finally experience a true emancipation ended with, probably, their biggest disaster – the Holocaust.

Ironically, a major part of Jewish folklore is based on a traumatic motif: "they tried to exterminate us but we survived." More precisely, the legends recount how God saved the Jewish people from their enemies. Indeed, many Jewish prayers and celebrations circle around stories and myths of the miracles that God performed to save his chosen people. Unfortunately, these miracles are very few compared to the disasters and calamities that Jews have experienced. Perhaps, as Wisse notes, the greatest miracle of all times is the survival of the Jewish nation in such impossible catastrophic circumstances.

One cause of this continuing tragedy is that the Jewish people in exile never developed political power as a nation. However, this pattern inheres Judaism's very essence. In contrast to Christianity and Islam, Judaism is not a missionary religion. Therefore, while Christianity and Islam grew, spread and expanded, the Jews dreamed and prayed to live peacefully in their small state – the Holy Land. The strength of the Jewish tradition is not its political power but rather its morality, scholarliness, and tolerance. The irony is that in our modern time, after the establishment of Israel, Jews need to use those skills for their political survival, perhaps more than ever.

The turning point in the ambivalent relationship between Jews and political power was the establishment of the state of Israel as a Jewish state. It was the first time, in two thousand years, that Jews became a majority in their homeland. However, Israel, this tiny place, is surrounded by a hostile environment. Most of the Arab...