7. It is in the life of the nation that the individual first realizes that he is only a part of a greater whole. The nation to which he belongs is the mother who nourishes him with her spirit, teaches him to speak and to think, and equips him with all the means to take part in the achievements and tasks of humanity. In fact, the State, which guarantees to all its citizens safety, order and opportunity under the law, and which arranges the relations of the various groups and cla.s.ses of society that they may advance one another and thus promote the welfare and progress of all, is human society in miniature. Here the citizen first learns obedience to the law which is binding upon all alike, then respect and reverence for the authority embodied in the guardians of the law who administer justice "which is G.o.d"s," and hence also loyalty and devotion to the whole, together with reciprocal obligation and helpfulness among the separate members and cla.s.ses of society. The words of Jeremiah to his exiled brethren, "Seek ye the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace,"(1018) became the guiding maxim of Jewry when torn from its native soil. It impressed upon them, once for all, the deeply rooted virtues of loyalty and love for the country in which they dwelt. To pray for the welfare of the State and its ruler, under whose dominion all citizens were protected, and so in modern times for its legislative and administrative authorities, has become a sacred duty of the Jewish religious community. To sacrifice one"s life willingly, if need be, for the welfare of the country in which he lived, was a demand of loyalty which the Jew has never disregarded. "The law of the State is as the law of G.o.d"(1019) taught Samuel the Babylonian, and another sage of Babylon said, "The government on earth is to be regarded as an image of G.o.d"s government in heaven."(1020)
8. But, after all, the community of the State or the nation is too confined in its cultural work by its special interests and particular tasks ever to reach the universal ideal of man, that is, a perfected humanity. Where the interests of one State or nation come into conflict with those of another, far too often the result is enmity and murderous warfare. Therefore there must be a higher power to quench the brands of war whenever they flare up, to cultivate every motive leading toward peace and harmony among nations, to impel men toward a higher righteousness and to obviate all conflict of interests, because in place of selfishness it implants in the heart the self-forgetfulness of love. Religion is the power which trains peoples as well as individuals toward the conception of one humanity, in the same measure as it points to the one and only G.o.d, Ruler over all the contending motives of men, the Source and Shield of all righteousness, truth, and love, the Father of mankind as the only foundation upon which the grand edifice of human civilization must ultimately rest. Thus it teaches us to regard the common life and endeavor of peoples and societies as one household of divine goodness. Every system of belief, every religious denomination which transcends the limits of the national consciousness with a view to the broader conception of mankind, and binds the national groups and interests into a higher unity to include and influence all the depths and heights of the human spirit, paves the way toward the attainment of the mighty goal. In the same sense the united efforts of the various cla.s.ses and societies or States for the common advance of culture, prosperity, national welfare and international commerce, as well as of science and art, tend unceasingly toward that full realization of the idea of humanity which const.i.tutes the brotherhood of man.
9. Not yet has any religious body, however great and remarkable its accomplishments may have been, nor any of the religious, scientific, or national organizations, much as they have achieved, performed the sublime task which the prophets of Israel foretold as the goal of history. Each one has drawn to itself only a portion of mankind, and promised it success or redemption and bliss, while the rest have been excluded and denied both temporal and eternal happiness. Each one has singled out one side of human nature in order to link to it the entire absolute truth, but at the same time has underestimated or cast aside all other sides of human life, and thereby blocked the road to complete truth, which can never be presented in final form, nor ever be the exclusive possession of one portion of humanity. Judaism, which is neither a religious nor a national system _solely_, but aims to be a _covenant with G.o.d_ uniting all peoples, lays claim to no exclusive truth, and makes its appeal to no single group of mankind. The Messianic hope, which aims to unite all races and cla.s.ses of men into a bond of brotherhood, has become an impelling force in the history of the world, and both Christianity and Islam, in so far as they owe their existence to this hope and to the adoption of Jewish teachings, const.i.tute parts of the history of Judaism. Between these world-religions with their wide domains of civilization stands the little Jewish people as a cosmopolitan element. It points to an ideal future, with a humanity truly united in G.o.d, when, through ceaseless progress in the pursuit of ever more perfect ideals, truth, justice, and peace will triumph,-to the realization of the kingdom of G.o.d.
PART III. ISRAEL AND THE KINGDOM OF G.o.d
Chapter XLVIII. The Election of Israel
1. The central point of Jewish theology and the key to an understanding of the nature of Judaism is the doctrine, "G.o.d chose Israel as His people."
The election of Israel as the chosen people of G.o.d, or, what amounts to the same, as the nation whose special task and historic mission it is to be the bearer of the most lofty truths of religion among mankind, forms the basis and the chief condition of revelation. Before G.o.d proclaimed the Ten Words of the Covenant on Sinai, He addressed the people through His chosen messenger, Moses, saying: "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles" wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will hearken unto My voice, indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation."(1021)
2. The fact of Israel"s election by G.o.d as His peculiar nation is repeated in Deuteronomy, with the special declaration that G.o.d had found delight in them as the smallest of the peoples, on account of the love and the faith He had sworn to the Patriarchs.(1022) It is accentuated in the Synagogal liturgy, especially in the prayer for holy days which begins with the words: "Thou hast chosen us from all peoples; Thou hast loved us and found pleasure in us and hast exalted us above all tongues; Thou hast sanctified us by Thy commandments and brought us near unto Thy service, O King, and hast called us by Thy great and holy name."(1023) Inasmuch as the election of Israel is connected with the deliverance of the people from Egypt, the whole relation of the Jewish nation to its G.o.d a.s.sumes from the outset an essentially different character from that of other nations to their deities. The G.o.d of Israel is not inseparably connected with His people by mere natural bonds, as is the case with every other ancient divinity. He is not a national G.o.d in the ordinary sense. He has chosen Israel freely of His own accord. "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son," says G.o.d through Hosea,(1024) and thus prefers to call Himself "thy G.o.d from the land of Egypt." This election from love is echoed also in Jeremiah, who said, "Israel is the Lord"s hallowed portion, His first-fruits of the increase."(1025) The moral relation between G.o.d and Israel is most clearly characterized, however, by Amos, in the words: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities."(1026) Here is stated in explicit terms that the G.o.d of history selected Israel as an instrument for His plan of salvation, in the expectation that he would remain faithful to His will.
3. The real purpose of the election and mission of Israel was announced by the great prophet of the Exile when he called Israel the "servant of the Lord," who has been formed from his mother"s bosom and delivered from every other bondage, in order that he may declare the praise of G.o.d among the peoples, and be a harbinger of light and a bond of union among the nations, the witness of G.o.d, the proclaimer of His truth and righteousness throughout the world.(1027) The entire history of Israel as far back as the Patriarchs was reconstructed in this light, and we find the election of Abraham also similarly described in the Psalms(1028) and in the liturgy. Indeed, in every morning prayer for the past two thousand years the Jewish people have offered thanks to G.o.d for the divine teaching that has been intrusted to their care, and praised Him "who has chosen Israel in love."(1029)
4. The belief in the election of Israel rests on the conviction that the Jewish people has a certain superiority over other peoples in being especially qualified to be the messenger and champion of religious truth.
In one sense this prerogative takes into account every people which has contributed something unique to any department of human power or knowledge, and therein has served others as pattern and guide. From the broader standpoint, all great historic peoples appear as though appointed by divine providence for their special cultural tasks, in which others can at most emulate them without achieving their greatness. Yet we cannot speak in quite the same way of the election of the Greeks or Romans or of the nations of remote antiquity for mastery in art and science, or for skill in jurisprudence and statecraft. The fact is that these nations were never fully conscious that they had a historic or providential destiny to influence mankind in this special direction. Israel alone was self-conscious, realizing its task as harbinger and defender of its religious truth as soon as it had entered into its possession. Its election, therefore, does not imply presumption, but rather a grave duty and responsibility. As the great seer of the Captivity had already declared, to be the servant of the Lord is to undergo the destiny of suffering, to be "the man of sorrow," from whose bruises comes healing unto all mankind.(1030)
5. Accordingly the election of Israel cannot be regarded as a single divine act, concluded at one moment of revelation, or even during the Biblical period. It must instead be considered a divine call persisting through all ages and encompa.s.sing all lands, a continuous activity of the spirit which has ever summoned for itself new heralds and heroes to testify to truth, justice, and sublime faith, with an unparalleled scorn for death, and to work for their dissemination by words and deeds and by their whole life. Judaism differs from all other religions in that it is neither the creation of one great moral teacher and preacher of truth, nor seeks to typify the moral and spiritual sublimity which it aims to develop in a single person, who is then lifted up into the realm of the superhuman. Judaism counts its prophets, its sages, and its martyrs by generations; it is still demonstrating its power to reshape and regenerate religion as a vital force. Moreover, Judaism does not separate religion from life, so as to regard only a segment of the common life and the national existence as holy. The entire people, the entire life, must bear the stamp of holiness and be filled with priestly consecration. Whether this lofty aim can ever be completely attained is a question not to be decided by short-sighted humanity, but only by G.o.d, the Ruler of history.
It is sufficient that the life of the individual as well as that of the people should aspire toward this ideal.
6. Of course, the election of Israel presupposes an inner calling, a special capacity of soul and tendency of intellect which fit it for the divine task. The people which has given mankind its greatest prophets and psalmists, its boldest thinkers and its n.o.blest martyrs, which has brought to fruition the three great world-religions, the Church, the Mosque, and-mother of them both-the Synagogue, must be the religious people _par excellence_. It must have within itself enough of the heavenly spark of truth and of the impetus of the religious genius as to be able and eager, whenever and wherever the opportunity is favorable, to direct the spiritual flight of humanity toward the highest and holiest. In fact, the soul of the Jewish people reveals a peculiar mingling of characteristics, a union of contrasts, which makes it especially fit for its providential mission in history. Together with the marked individuality of each person we find a common spirit highly sensitive to every encroachment. Here there is a tenacious adherence to what is old and traditional, and there an eager a.s.similation of what is new and strange. On the one hand, a materialistic self-interest; on the other, an idealism soaring to the stars.(1031) The sages of the Tannaitic period already remarked that Israel has been intrusted with the law which it is to defend and to disseminate, just because it is the boldest and most obstinate of nations.(1032) On the other hand, the three special characteristics of the Jewish people according to the Talmud are its chast.i.ty and purity of life, its benevolence and its active love for humanity.(1033) A heathen scoffer calls Israel "a people of generous impulses which promised at Sinai to do what G.o.d would command, even before it had hearkened to the commandments."(1034) "Gentle and shy as a dove, it is also willing like the dove to stretch out its neck for the sacrifice, for love of its heavenly Father," says the Haggadist.(1035) And yet R. Johanan remarks that Israel, called to be the bearer of light to the world, must be pressed like the olive before it will yield its precious oil.(1036) Every individual in Israel possesses the requisite qualities for a holy priest-people, according to a Midrash of the Tannaitic period, and hence we read in Deuteronomy, "The Lord hath chosen thee to be His own treasure out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth."(1037)
7. All these and similar sayings disprove completely the idea that the election of Israel was an arbitrary act of G.o.d. It is due rather to hereditary virtues and to tendencies of mind and spirit which equip Israel for his calling. To this must be added the important fact that G.o.d educated the people for its task through the Law, which was to make it conscious of its priestly sanct.i.ty and keep it ever active in mind and heart. The election of Israel is emphasized in Deuteronomy especially in connection with the prohibition of marriage with idolaters and with the prohibition of unclean animals, which also originated in the priestly laws.(1038) The underlying idea is that the mission of Israel to battle for the Most High imperatively demands separation from the heathen peoples, and on the other hand, that its priestly calling necessitates an especial abstinence. And as has the law in its development and realization for thousands of years, so has also G.o.d"s wise guidance trained Israel in the course of history so as to render him at times the unyielding preserver and defender and at other times the bold champion and protagonist of the highest truth and justice, according as the outlook and the mental horizon of the period were narrow or broad.
8. It is true that the thought of Israel"s calling and mission in world-history first became clear when its prophets and sages attained a view of great world-movements from the lofty watch-tower of the centuries, so that they could take cognizance of the varying relations of Judaism to the civilized peoples around. The summons of the Jewish people to be heralds of truth and workers for peace is first mentioned in Isaiah and Micah,(1039) while only in the great movement of nations under Cyrus did the seer of the Exile recognize the peculiar mission of Israel in the history of the world. If in gloomy periods the outlook became dark, still the hope for the fulfillment of this mission was never entirely lost. In fact, the contact of the Jewish people with Greek culture after Alexander the Great gave new power and fresh impetus to the conception of Israel"s mission,(1040) as the rich h.e.l.lenistic literature and the vision of Daniel in chapter VII testify. In fact, Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish people, became for the earliest Haggadists a wandering missionary and a great preacher of the unity of G.o.d, and his picture was the pattern for both Paul and Mohammed.(1041) The election of Israel is clearly and unequivocally expressed by Rabbi Eleazar ben Pedath in the words, "G.o.d sent Israel among the heathen nations that they may win a rich harvest of proselytes, for, as G.o.d said through Hosea, "I will sow her unto Me in the land," so He wishes from this seed to reap a bountiful and world-wide harvest."(1042)
9. In the Middle Ages, when the historical viewpoint and the idea of human progress were both lacking, the belief in the mission of Israel was confined to the Messianic hope. Both Jehuda ha Levi and Maimonides, however, regard Christianity and Islam as preparatory steps for the Messiah, who is to unify the world through the knowledge of G.o.d.(1043) "The work of the Messiah is the fruit, of which Israel will be universally acknowledged as the root," says the Jewish sage in the Cuzari. Therefore he rightly accepts the election of Israel as a fundamental doctrine of belief. Modern times, however, with their awakened historical sense and their idea of progress, have again placed in the foreground the belief in the election and mission of Israel. The founders of reform Judaism have cast this ancient doctrine in a new form. On the one hand, they have reinterpreted the Messianic hope in the prophetic spirit, as the realization of the highest ideals of a united humanity. On the other, they have rejected the entire theory that Israel was exiled from his ancient land because of his sins, and that he is eventually to return there and to restore the sacrificial cult in the Temple at Jerusalem. Therefore the whole view concerning Israel"s future had to undergo a transformation.(1044) The historic mission of Israel as priest of humanity and champion of truth a.s.sumed a higher meaning, and his peculiar position in history and in the Law necessarily received a different interpretation from that of Talmudic Judaism or that of the Church. As individuals, indeed, many Jews have taken part in the achievements and efforts of all civilized peoples; the Jewish people as such has accomplished great things in only one field, the field of religion. The following chapters will consider more closely how Judaism has taken up and carried out this sacred mission.
Chapter XLIX. The Kingdom of G.o.d and the Mission of Israel
1. The hope of Judaism for the future is comprised in the phrase, "the kingdom of G.o.d,"-_malkuth shaddai_ or _malkuth Shamayim_,-which means the sovereign rule of G.o.d. From ancient times the liturgy of the Synagogue concludes regularly with the solemn _Alenu_, in which G.o.d is addressed as the "King of kings of kings"-king of kings being the Persian t.i.tle for the ruler of the whole Empire-and directly after this the hope is expressed that "we may speedily behold the glory of Thy might, when Thou wilt remove the abominations from the earth, and the idols will be utterly cut off; when the world will be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty, and all the children of flesh will call upon Thy name; when Thou wilt turn unto Thyself all the wicked of the earth. Let all the inhabitants of the earth perceive and know that unto Thee every knee must bend, and every tongue give homage. Let them all accept the yoke of Thy kingdom, and do Thou reign over them speedily, and forever and ever."(1045) At the close of the Torah lesson in the house of learning the a.s.sembly regularly recited the blessing, "Praised be Thy name! May Thy kingdom soon come!"-afterwards known as the _Kaddish_,(1046) and reechoed in the so-called "Lord"s Prayer" of the Church. The words of the prophet, "The Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall the Lord be One, and His name One,"(1047) voiced for all ages this ideal of the future, and thus gave a goal and a purpose to the history of the world and at the same time centered it in Israel, the chosen people of G.o.d.
2. The establishment of the kingdom of the One and Only G.o.d throughput the entire world const.i.tutes the divine plan of salvation toward which, according to Jewish teaching, the efforts of all the ages are tending.
This "Kingdom of G.o.d" is not, however, a kingdom of heaven in the world to come, which men are to enter only after death, and then only if redeemed from sin by accepting the belief in a supernatural Savior as their Messiah, as is taught by the Church. Judaism points to G.o.d"s Kingdom on _earth_ as the goal and hope of mankind, to a world in which all men and nations shall turn away from idolatry and wickedness, falsehood and violence, and become united in their recognition of the sovereignty of G.o.d, the Holy One, as proclaimed by Israel, His servant and herald, the Messiah of the nations. It is not the hope of bliss in a future life (which is the leading motive of Christianity), but the building up of the divine kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among men by Israel"s teaching and practice.(1048) In this sense G.o.d speaks through the mouth of the prophet, "I will also give thee for a light of the nations, that My salvation may be unto the end of the earth."(1049) "All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our G.o.d."(1050) "The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as dew from the Lord, as showers upon the gra.s.s."(1051)
3. Clearly, the idea of a world-kingdom of G.o.d arose only as the result of the gradual development of the Jewish G.o.d-consciousness. It was necessary at first that the prophetic idea of G.o.d"s kingship, the theocracy in Israel, should triumph over the monarchical view and absorb it. The patriarchal life of the shepherd was certainly not favorable to a monarchical rule. "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, the Lord shall rule over you," said Gideon in refusing the t.i.tle of king which the people had offered him.(1052) According to one tradition Samuel blamed the people for desiring a king and thereby rejecting the divine kingship.(1053) "I give thee a king in Mine anger," says G.o.d through Hosea.(1054) The more the monarchy, with its exclusively worldly and materialistic aims, came into conflict with the demands of the prophets and their religious truth, the higher rose the prophetic hope for the dawning of a day when G.o.d alone would rule in absolute sovereignty over the entire world. Now, in the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, with its frequently changing dynasties, the old patriarchal conception was dominant, while in the kingdom of Judah, which remained loyal to the house of David, the monarchical idea developed. Isaiah, living in Jerusalem and favorably disposed towards the monarchy, prophesied that a shoot from the house of David, endowed with marvelous spiritual powers, should come forth, occupying the throne in the place of G.o.d, and through his victories would plant righteousness and the knowledge of G.o.d everywhere upon earth, and establish throughout the world a wonderful reign of peace.(1055) Upon this royal "shoot" of David(1056) rested the Messianic hope during the Exile, and amidst the disappointments of the time this vision became all the more idealized. In contrast to this the great prophet of the Exile announced the establishment of the absolute dominion of G.o.d as the true "King of Israel"(1057) over all the earth by the nucleus of Israel, "the servant of G.o.d," who would become conscious of his great historic mission in the world and be willing to offer his very life in its cause. In all this the prophet makes no reference to the royal house of David, but makes bold to confer the t.i.tle of the "anointed of G.o.d"-that is, Messiah-upon Cyrus, the king of Persia, as the one who was to usher in the new era.(1058) Subsequently these two divergent hopes for the future run parallel in the Psalms and the liturgy as well as in the apocryphal and rabbinic literature.
4. While the Messianic aspirations as such bore rather a political and national character in Judaism (as will be explained in Chapter LIII), yet the religious hope for a universal kingdom of G.o.d took root even more deeply in the heart of the Jewish people. It created the conception of Israel"s mission and also the literature and activity of the h.e.l.lenistic propaganda, and it gave a new impetus to the making of proselytes among the heathen, to which both Christianity and Islam owe their existence. The words of Isaiah, repeated later by Habakkuk, "The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,"(1059) became now an article of faith. While in earlier times the rule of Israel"s G.o.d, JHVH, was attached to Zion, from whose holy mount He ruled as invisible King,(1060) later on we find Zechariah proclaiming Him who was enthroned in heaven as having dominion over the entire earth,(1061) and the Psalter summons all nations to acknowledge, adore, and extol Him as King of the world.(1062) Nay, at the very time when Judah lay humbled to the ground, the prophet exclaimed, "Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations?
for it befitteth Thee; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royalty there is none like unto Thee."(1063) Israel"s great hope for the future is expressed most completely and in most sublime language in the New Year liturgy: "O Lord our G.o.d, impose Thine awe upon all Thy works, and let Thy dread be upon all that Thou hast created, that they may all form one single band to do Thy will with a perfect heart....
Our G.o.d and G.o.d of our fathers, reveal Thyself in Thy splendor as King over all the inhabitants of the world, that every handiwork of Thine may know that Thou hast made it, and every creature may acknowledge that Thou hast created it, and whatsoever hath breath in its nostrils may say: the Lord G.o.d of Israel is King, and His dominion ruleth over all."(1064)
5. In the earlier period, then, the rule of JHVH seems to have been confined to Israel as the people of His covenant. During the Second Temple Jerusalem was called the "city of the great King"(1065) and the const.i.tution was considered by Josephus to have been a theocracy, that is, a government by G.o.d.(1066) Indeed, the entire Mosaic code has as its main purpose to make Israel a "kingdom of priests," over which JHVH, the G.o.d of the covenant, was alone to rule as King. The chief object of the strict nationalists, in opposition to the cosmopolitanism of the h.e.l.lenists, was that this government of G.o.d, in its intimate a.s.sociation with the Holy Land and the Holy People, should be maintained unchanged for all the future. Thus the book of Daniel predicts the speedy downfall of the fourth world-kingdom and the establishment of the kingdom of G.o.d through Israel, "the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom is an everlasting kingdom."(1067) Naturally, such a purely nationalistic conception of the rulership of G.o.d does not admit the thought of a mission or its corollary, the conversion of the heathen.(1068) These appear among the liberal school of Hillel in their opposition to the more rigorous Shammaites and the party of the Zealots.(1069) It is, therefore, quite consistent that the modern nationalists should again dispute the mission of Israel.
6. As soon as Jewish monotheism had once been conceived by the Jewish mind as the universal truth, the idea of the mission of Israel as a bearer of light and a witness of G.o.d for the nations, as enunciated by Deutero-Isaiah, became ever more firmly established. Many Psalms exhort the people to make known the wondrous doings of G.o.d among the nations, so that the heathen world might at last acknowledge the One and Only G.o.d.(1070) Nay, Israel is even called G.o.d"s anointed and prophet,(1071) and in one Psalm we find Zion, the city of G.o.d, elevated to be the religious metropolis of the world.(1072) The book of Jonah is simply a refutation of the narrow nationalistic conception of Judaism; it holds forth the hope of the conversion of the heathen to the true knowledge of G.o.d. In the same spirit Ruth the Moabitess became the type of the heathen who are eager to "take refuge under the wings of G.o.d"s majesty."(1073) The author of the book of Job no longer knows of a national G.o.d; to him G.o.d is the highest ideal of morality as it lives and grows in the human heart.
The wisdom literature also teaches a G.o.d of humanity. Under His wings Shem and j.a.pheth, the teaching of the Jew and the wisdom of the Greek, can join hands; the religious truth of the one and the philosophic truth of the other may harmoniously blend.
7. Thus a new impulse was given to Jewish proselytism in Alexandria, and the earlier history of Israel, especially the pre-Israelite epoch with its simple human types, was read in a new light. Enoch(1074) and Noah(1075) became preachers of penitence, heralds of the pure monotheism from which the heathen world had departed. Abraham especially, the progenitor of Israel, was looked upon as a prototype of the wandering missionary people, converting the heathen.(1076) Wherever he journeyed, his teaching and his example of true benevolence won souls for the Lord proclaimed by him as the "G.o.d of the heaven and the earth."(1077) In this sense of missionary activity were now interpreted the words, "Be thou a blessing ... and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."(1078) This was no longer understood in the original sense, that Abraham by his prosperity should be an example of a blessed man, to be pointed out in blessing others; the words were given the higher meaning that Abraham with his descendants should become a source of blessing for mankind through his teachings and his conduct, so that all the families of men should attain blessing and salvation by following his doctrine and example. Thus the idea of the Jewish mission was connected with Abraham, the "father of a mult.i.tude of nations,"(1079) and this was later on adopted by Paul and Mohammed in establishing the Church and the Mosque.
8. In contradistinction, then, to the political concept of the kingdom of G.o.d, which Ezekiel still hoped to see established by the exercise of external power,(1080) the idea a.s.sumed now a purely spiritual meaning.
This kingdom of G.o.d is accepted by the pious Jew every morning through his confession of the divine Unity in the Shema. Abraham had antic.i.p.ated this, say the rabbis, when he swore by the G.o.d of heaven and earth, and so also had Israel in accepting the Torah at Sinai and at the Red Sea.(1081) In fact, the kingdom of G.o.d began, we are told, with the first man, since, when he adored G.o.d freely as King of the world, every living creature acknowledged Him also. But only when Israel as a people proclaimed G.o.d"s dominion at the Red Sea, was the throne of G.o.d and His kingdom on earth established for eternity.(1082) And when Ezekiel says: "With a mighty hand will I be King over you," they explain this to mean that the people chosen as the servant of G.o.d will be continually constrained anew by the prophets to recognize His kingdom.(1083) Yea, the closing words of the Song at the Red Sea, "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever" were taken to imply that all the nations would in the end recognize only Israel"s One G.o.d as King of the world.(1084) As a matter of fact, the rabbinical view is that every proselyte, in "taking upon himself the yoke of the sovereignty of G.o.d,"
enters that divine Kingdom which at the end of time will embrace all men and nations.(1085) In the book of Tobit and the Sibylline Oracles also we find this universalistic conception of the Messianic age expressed.(1086)
9. Accordingly, proselytism found open and solemn recognition both before and after the time of the Maccabees, as we see in the Psalms,-especially those which speak of proselytes in the term, "they that fear the Lord,"(1087) and also in the ancient synagogal liturgy, where the "proselytes of righteousness" are especially mentioned.(1088) The school of Hillel followed precisely this course. Matters changed, however, under the Roman dominion, which was contrasted to the dominion of G.o.d especially from the time of Herod, when the belief became current that "only when the one is destroyed, will the other arise."(1089) Particularly after the Christian Church had become identified with Rome, all missionary endeavors by the Jews were considered dangerous and were therefore discouraged as much as possible. In their place arose the hope for a miraculous intervention of G.o.d. In h.e.l.lenistic circles the Messiah was believed to be the future founder of the kingdom of G.o.d,(1090) which a.s.sumed more and more of an other-worldly nature, such as the Church developed for it later on.
10. The more the harsh oppression of the times forced the Jew to isolate himself and to spend his life in studying and practicing the law,-which was tantamount to "placing himself under the kingdom of G.o.d,"(1091) the more he lost sight of his sublime mission for the world at large. Only individual thinkers, such as Jehuda ha Levi and Maimonides, kept a vision of the world-mission of Israel, when they called Jesus and Mohammed, as founders of Christianity and Islam, messengers of G.o.d to the idolatrous nations, divinely appointed to bring them nearer to Israel"s truth,(1092) or when they pointed forward to the time when all peoples will recognize in the truth their common mother and in G.o.d the Father of all mankind.(1093) A most instructive Midrash on Zechariah IX, 9 gives the keynote of this belief. "At that time G.o.d as the King of Zion will speak to the righteous of all times, and say to them, "Dear as the words of My teaching are to Me, yet have ye erred in that ye have followed only My Torah, and have not waited for My world-kingdom. I swear to you that I shall remember for good him who has waited for My kingdom, as it is said, Wait ye for Me until the day that I rise up as a witness." "(1094)
On the other hand, it was owing to the sad consequences of the missionary endeavors of the Church that the idea of the mission of Judaism was given a different direction. Not conversion, but conviction by teaching and example, is the historic task of Judaism, whose maxim is expressed in the verse of Zechariah, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."(1095) It is not the creed, but the deed, which tells.
Not the confession, but conduct, with the moral principles which govern it, counts. Such a view is implied in the well-known teaching of Joshua ben Hananiah, "The righteous of all nations will have a share in the world of eternal bliss."(1096) Judaism does not deny salvation to those professing other religions, which would tend to undermine the foundation of their spiritual life. Standing upon the high watchtower of time, it rather strives ever to clarify and strengthen the universal longing for truth and righteousness which lies at the heart of all religion, and is thus to become a bond of union, an all-illuminating light for the world.
To quote the beautiful words of Leopold Stein in his _Schrift des Lebens_:(1097) "Judaism, while recognizing the historic justification of all systems of thought and faith, does not cherish the ambition to become the Church Universal in the usual sense of the term, but aims rather to be the focus, or mirror, of religious unity for all the rest. "The people from of old," as the prophet called them, are to accompany mankind in its progress through the ages and the continents, until it reaches the goal of the kingdom of G.o.d on earth, the "new heaven and new earth" of the prophetic vision."(1098) The thought of the Jewish mission is most adequately expressed in the Neilah service of the Union Prayer Book, based upon the Einhorn Prayerbook, which reads as follows:(1099) "Endow us, our Guardian, with strength and patience for our holy mission. Grant that all the children of Thy people may recognize the goal of our changeful career, so that they may exemplify by their zeal and love for mankind the truth of Israel"s watchword: One humanity on earth, even as there is but One G.o.d in heaven. Enlighten all that call themselves by Thy name with the knowledge that the sanctuary of wood and stone, which erst crowned Zion"s hill, was but a gate through which Israel should step out into the world, to reconcile all mankind unto Thee!"
Chapter L. The Priest-people and its Law of Holiness
1. The checkered, stormy, and yet triumphant march of the Jewish people through the ages remains the great enigma of history for all those who do not believe in a divine plan of salvation to be consummated through Israel. The idea of Israel"s mission alone throws light on its law and its destiny. Even before G.o.d had revealed to the people at Mt. Sinai the Ten Commandments, the foundation of all religion and morality, and there concluded with them a covenant for all time, He spoke: "Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," thus consecrating them to be a priest-people among the nations, and enjoining them to a life of especial holiness. Possessing as a heritage from the Patriarchs the germ of a higher religious consciousness, in distinction from all other peoples, they were to make the cultivation, development, and promotion of the highest religious truth their life-task, and thus to become the people of G.o.d. At first they were to establish in the Holy Land a theocratic government, a State in which G.o.d alone was the Ruler, while they lived in priestly isolation from all the nations around. Thus they prepared themselves for the time when, scattered over all the earth, they might again work as the priest-people through the ages for the upbuilding of the universal kingdom of G.o.d. This was Israel"s destiny from the very first, as expressed by the great seer of the Exile when he beheld Israel wandering forth among the nations, "Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our G.o.d."(1100)
2. Among all religions the priest is considered especially holy as the mediator between G.o.d and man, and in his appearance as well as in his mode of life he must observe special forms of purity and holiness. He alone may approach the G.o.dhead, ascertain its will, and administer the sacrificial cult in the sanctuary. He must represent the Divinity in its relation to the people, embody it in his outward life, enjoy nothing which it abhors, and touch nothing which could render him impure. These priestly rules exist among all the nations of antiquity in striking similarity, and indicate a common origin in the prehistoric period, during which the entire cult developed through a priestly caste, beginning with simple, primitive conceptions and transmitted in ever more elaborate form from father to son. It goes without saying that the priests of the original Hebrew race, which migrated from Babylonia, retained the ancient customs and rules. They must also have adopted many other things from neighboring peoples. During the entire period of the first temple, the priests-despite all prophetic warnings-preferred the heathen cult with its vainglorious pomp to the simple worship of the patriarchal times. As everywhere else, the priesthood of Israel, and later of Judaea as well, thought only of its own interests, of the retention of its ancient prerogatives, unmindful of the higher calling to which it had been chosen, to serve the G.o.d of truth and justice, to exemplify true holiness, to stand for moral rather than ceremonial purity. Yet the sacerdotal inst.i.tutions were indispensable so long as the people required a sanctuary where the Deity should dwell, and where the sacrificial cult should be administered. Every trespa.s.s by a layman on the sanctuary reserved for the priests was considered sacrilege and called for divine punishment. It was thus necessary to deepen the popular notion of holiness and of the reverence due the sanctuary, before these could be elevated into the realm of spirituality and morality. The priesthood had to be won for the service of the loftier religious ideas, so that it might gradually educate the people in general for its sublime priestly mission. This conception underlies both the Mosaic law and its rabbinical interpretation.
3. Through Biblical and post-Biblical literature and history there runs a twofold tendency, one anti-sacerdotal,-emanating from the prophets and later the Hasideans or Pharisees,-the other a mediating tendency, favorable to the priesthood. The ritualistic piety of the priests was bitterly a.s.sailed by the prophets as being subversive of all morality, and later on the Sadducean hierarchy also const.i.tuted a threat to the moral and spiritual welfare of the people. Before even the revelation at Sinai was to take place, we read that warning was given to the priests "not to break through" and stand above the people.(1101)
On the other hand, the law demands of the Aaronites a peculiar degree of holiness, since "they offer the bread of their G.o.d upon the altar."(1102) Their blood must be kept pure by the avoidance of improper marriages.
Everything unclean or polluting must be kept far from them.(1103) The law, following a tradition which probably arose in ancient Babylon, prescribed minutely their mode of admission into the divine service, their vestments and their conditions of life, the ritual of sacrifice and of purity; and every violation of these laws, every trespa.s.s by a layman, was declared to be punishable with death.(1104) The sanctuary contains no room for the _nation_ of _priests_; no layman durst venture to cross its threshold.
Even in the legal system of the rabbis the ancient rights and privileges of the priesthood, dating from the time when they possessed no property, remained inviolate, and their precedence in everything was undisputed.(1105)
The glaring contrast between the idea of a universal priesthood of the people and the inst.i.tution of the Aaronites is explained by a deeper insight into history. The success of the reformation under Josiah on the basis of the Deuteronomic code rested in the last a.n.a.lysis on the fact that the priests of the house of Zadok at Jerusalem were placed in the service of the higher prophetic teaching by being rendered the guardians, executors, and later, in conjunction with the Levites, the teachers of the Law, as it was presented in the book of the law of Moses, soon afterward completed. The priesthood, deprived of everything that might remind one of the former idolatry and heathenish practices, was, in its purer and holier character, to lead the priest-people to true moral holiness through its connection with the sanctuary and its ancient cult. Still the impulse for the moral rebirth of the nation, for the establishment of a priest-people, did not emanate from the Temple priesthood, nor even from the sacred soil of Palestine; but from the Synagogue, which began in the Exile, under the influence of the prophetic word and the Levitical song, in the form of public worship by the congregation of the pious. Here arose a generation of G.o.dly men, a cla.s.s of singularly devout ones, living in priestly holiness, who consecrated their lives to the practice of the law, and whom the exile seer had designated as the true Israel, the servant of the Lord, and these formed the nucleus of the renewed Israel.
4. That which the prophet Ezekiel had attempted in his proposed const.i.tution(1106) was accomplished in a far more thorough manner by the Holiness Code, which emanated from his school and became the central portion of the Mosaic books, and by the so-called Priestly Code, which followed later. The object was to bring about the sanctification of the entire people upon the holy soil of the national land, through inst.i.tutions embodying the ideal of the holiness of G.o.d in the life and cult of the people. Circ.u.mcision, idealized by the prophetic author of Deuteronomy,(1107) was to be made the sign of the covenant to mark as holy the progeny of Abraham;(1108) strict laws of marriage were to put an end to all heathenish unchast.i.ty; the Sabbath rest was to consecrate the labors of the week, the Sabbatical month and year the produce of the soil.(1109) The prohibition of unclean foods, heretofore reserved, as among other nations, for the priests and other consecrated persons, was now applied to the whole community in order that Israel should learn "to set itself apart from all other nations as a holy people."(1110) Even their apparel was to proclaim the priestly holiness of the people by a blue fringe at the border of the garments.(1111)
Whereas from the time of Ezra to Simon the Just priestly rulers endeavored to promote the work of educating the people for holiness, the pious men from among the people made still greater efforts to a.s.sert the claim of holiness for the entire Jewish people as a priest-nation.(1112) The repasts of these pious fellowships should be in no way inferior in sanct.i.ty to those of the priests in the Temple. New ceremonies of sanctification were to open and close the Sabbaths and festivals. Symbols of priestly consecration should adorn forehead and arm in the form of the phylacteries (_tefillin_), and should be placed at the entrance of every house in the so-called _mezuzzah_. "G.o.d has given unto all an heritage (the Torah), the kingdom, the priesthood, and the sanctuary"(1113)-this became the _leitmotif_ for the Pharisaic school, who constantly enlarged the domain of piety so that it should include the whole of life. Whoever did not belong to this circle of the pious was regarded with scorn as one of the lower cla.s.s (_am ha-aretz_).
5. The chief effort of the pious, the founders of the Judaism of the Synagogue, was to keep the Jewish people from the demoralizing influences of pagan nature-worship, represented first by Semitic and later by Greek culture. The leaders of the Pharisees "built a fence about the law"(1114) extending the prohibition of mingling with the heathen nations so as also to prohibit eating with them and partic.i.p.ating in their feasts and social gatherings,-not for the preservation of the Jewish race merely, as Christian theologians maintain, but for the sake of keeping its inner life intact and pure.(1115) "G.o.d surrounded us with brazen walls, hedged us in with laws of purity in regard to food and drink and physical contact, yea, even to that which we see and hear, in order that we should be pure in body and soul, free from absurd beliefs, not polluted by contact with others or through a.s.sociation with the wicked; for most of the peoples defile themselves with their s.e.xual practices, and whole lands pride themselves upon it. But we hold ourselves aloof from all this"-so spoke Eleazar the priest to King Ptolemy Philadelphus, according to the Letter of Aristeas, thus giving expression to the sentiment most deeply rooted in the souls of the pious of that period.(1116) They strove to build up a nation of whom the Tannaim could say, "Whoever possesses no sense of shame and chast.i.ty, of him it is certain that his ancestors did not stand at Sinai."(1117)
Naturally enough, the Greek and Roman people took offense at this aloofness and separation from every contact with the outer world, and explained it as due to a spirit of hostility to mankind. Even up to the present it has been the lot of Jewry and Judaism to be misunderstood by the world at large, to be the object of either its hate or its pity. The world disregards the magnificence of the plan by which an entire people were to be reared as a priest-nation, as citizens of a kingdom of G.o.d, among whom, in the course of centuries, the seed of prophetic truth was to germinate and sprout forth for the salvation of humanity. If, in complete contrast to heathen immorality, the Jew in his life, his thinking, and his will was governed by the strictest moral discipline; if, in spite of the most cruel persecutions and the most insidious temptations, the Jewish people remained steadfast to its pure belief in G.o.d and its traditional standards of chast.i.ty, exhibiting a loyalty which amazed the nations and the religious sects about, but was neither understood nor followed by them, this was mainly due to the hallowing influences of the priestly laws. They steeled the people for the fulfillment of their duty and shielded them against all hostile powers both within and without. The very _burden_ of the law, so bitterly denounced by Christianity since the time of Paul, lent Judaism its dignity at all times, protecting it from the a.s.saults of the tempter; and that which seemed to the outsider a heavy load was to the Jew a source of pride in the consciousness of his divine election.(1118)