Speech: On Jews and Nationalism

Are we always and in all circumstances united with our surroundings, so that only the synagogue, rather than society, attests to separation?

Do not believe that in such unity and cooperation I mean the drab background, in which neither light nor brown is clearly distinguishable.

Colors and hues must remain, as the light casts them on the prism: the individual must be himself, diversity of shades provides inspiration.

[Petrus Augustus de] Génestet’s word:

May this be far from true for our coreligionists.

But that individualism as a religious persuasion should not cross the threshold of the synagogue.

The wish we pronounce at the start of Pesach:

remains the poetic expression of the religious ideal, but in reality everybody shall feel at home in the land that once welcomed him and included him as a citizen in the community.

Free citizens in the free state.

While hearing the word foreigner spoken by certain religious parties hurts and aggrieves us, we also take care to avoid giving the impression that we are foreigners.

In synagogue we are Jews; outside we must be fellow citizens in the full, indivisible sense of the word.

Our homeland is not on the banks of the Jordan, it is where our parents and our children were born, where common, moral, and material interests bring us together; where we cherish and despise, fight and are disputed, provide and receive support, where we are people in the full sense of the word, and where nothing that is human should remain unknown to us.

And if we understand that co-citizenship well, if we acknowledge and appreciate that solidarity, then we should dedicate all our energies and abilities to it as well.

I demand from our coreligionists that they show unselfish dedication to the public cause, strict righteousness in all walks of life, moral virtue in public and special life, dedication to home life, tolerance toward those who think differently, seriously searching for what is true and good, love for fellow humans, detachment of judgment, a desire to forgive the failures of others, and uncompromising rigidity with respect to one’s own deficiencies, pride without arrogance, humbleness without servility, a sense of self-value with respect to superiors, friendly overtures toward equals, elevating willingness toward those lower down in the hierarchy; perpetuation of the ideal within us, but also the sense of responsibility in the face of reality.

Or more simply: awareness of duties, enforcement of rights, and zealous devotion to the superior.

It is not said that I assign our coreligionists an excessively onerous task. I demand from them that they remain faithful to their heritage, their history. I demand that the chalice of endurance, from which they have drunk and still drink, contain a medication that may invigorate and elevate them, and that might lead them to a cathartic disregard.

Encouraging and nurturing this remains the duty of the Union in which we are joined. Thus shall resound the sense of unity envisaged by the [Dutch Jewish] League. Thus shall resound the password that all those sentinels call out to each other all over the world to incite each other to be vigilant, the password that millions of individuals, dispersed throughout all corners of the earth, hear, and which unites them in a single religious idea.

Aside from that, we remain Dutch in the Netherlands, French in France, Germans in Germany, and even Russians in Russia.

Then comes antisemitism, with its calumnies and fallacies, with its defamation and disregard, attacking and accusing us.

When we have reconsidered ourselves, we await with the dignity of fulfilling our duty and the awareness of our innocence.

Still, there will be sacrifices here and there; still, the poison will penetrate where resilience is lacking to combat it.

Such need! Centuries of struggle have toughened us, and we uphold a sacred mission: that of truth and justice.

And as true as the barrenness of winter augurs spring blossoms, and daybreak glows through the mist of the night, so truly shall the sacred mission of humanity and justice prevail over racial hatred and prejudice, and once again, according to the words of the Jewish poets:

As long as that ideal has not been achieved, the amalgamation shall persist as a dedication to the past, as a duty of the present, and a preparation for the future.

And as a sign of the union, as a symbol of the religious unity amidst the diversity in society, as an expression of unshaken and unwavering faith, it shall resound morning and night from the mouths of those who believe, respect and cherish:

Hear O Israel! The Eternal, Your God, Is a Unique, Eternal Being.