M O S E S H E S S

by

Dr . J OS E PH H E LLE R

Fo re wo rd b y

D r . S . LE VE NBE RG

Pu bli s h e d by T H E J E W I S H A G E N C Y

" D ep art me nt fo r E d u c a tio n 62 C u lt u re

7 7 R E AT R " S S E LL ST R E ET LOND ON w.o . l G , ,

FO RE WO RD

H a b e nt s u a fa ta lib ellz

N T N LY B " b u t S O O OO S , also people have their fate . ome men have the good fortune of being appreciated b y their o ri m d contemp ra es ; some spring into pro inence after eath . Bu t there is a third category of persons whose creative genius was hardly noticed in their life- time and whose

' s r arel m e'n ti oned Ne e h accompli hments are y to day . v r t e l o ess, they have left a deep impact on the world f ideas . D ’ The purpos e o f r . Heller s pamphlet is t o draw attention o f os s s d to the personality M e He s, who playe a remarkable rOle d e - wi in the velopment of the Je sh national ideology . This is no t the first study of h is life in the E nglish lan

" r r h Bu t guage sho t biog aphies were published in t e past . — — the present p amp hlet is to our knowledge the first s serious attempt to give a comprehen ive picture, for the E i of — nglish reading publ c, the life and the work both in al t h e field— o s T the gener and Jewish i Moses He s . his is a ff b r scholarly e ort written y a trained histo ian . ’ Moses Hess s achie vement can be und erstood only in the light of the conditions of Jewish life in Western Europe o during the 19th century . This was the period f Eman i n cip at o . The price for the rights o f the Jewish individ u al was t h e abandonment of national aspirations and as G similation within the entile environment . This policy towards the Jews was form ulate d during the Fren c h " R w d e " T h e evolution hen one of its lea ers declar d Jews, o o f o f w h e c nscious the error their ays, ave felt the ne d for T a fatherland ; we have offered them ours . here was — — no question of gi ving the Jewish people as a people an Th e equal status among the nations of the world . ideas

[ 3 ] of the Emancipation period were based on the following — slog an " to the Jew as an individual equal rights ; to the — Jews as a collective entity nothing . — The resul t was that young Jews yearning fo r freedom " were abandoning the faith o f their fathers like a scuttl ed s ed ship . While Mo es Mendelssohn had advis combining with w s of o general culture the Je i h way life, his foll wers

found Judaism a heavy burden . They fell an easy prey to the ri dicule of the Jewish beliefs am ong those Christians d with whom they assimilate . They acquired an inferiority

complex towards everything connected with Jewish life . The outside world was fo r them progress and liberty ; —a i Judaism surv val of the Middle Ages and the Ghetto . ’ A h is few years after Mendelssohn s death, several of

children and grandchildren became converts to Christianity . ‘ Mos es Hess was a child of his g eneration . Together W i th many other German Jews he was a champion Of

assimilation . His ideal was to b e accepted as a p u re Aryan . He had stated in his first published work that Judaism w r as merely a prelimina y stage for Christianity . Later — as a clos e collaborator Of " arl Marx h e preached the idea that Judaism must give u p its separate existence fo r s h the sake of humanity . If Hes ad be en content with this r Bu t he would not have left behind many o ig inal ideas . T h e w his was a restless and inquiring mind . result as the

firs t modern proclamation o f the Jewish national idea . His " ” R ome and Jeru salem ( 18 62) was written before Leon ’ " ” ’ Pinsker s Auto-Emancipation ( 188 2) and Theodor H e rz l s " ” The Jewish S tate it is - from the philos ophical ’ o — o s s point f view a deeper study f the Jewi h problem . He s s book was a challenge to the ideas Of assimilation and a — — r eaffirma tion in m odern terms b f the age- Old connection ’ o f the Jewish people with the Holy Land . Hess s message can be summed up in his ow n words "

" After an estrangement of twenty ye ars I am back with o I to my pe ple . have come be one of them again , to participate in the celebration o f the holy days ; to share the

[ 4 ] r and of memo ies hop es the nation . to take part in the spiri tual and intellectual warfare going on within the House a a nd e a nd r n of Isr el, b tween our people the sur oundi g civilised nations . A t hought which I believed to be for ri d ever bu ed in my heart has been awakene in me anew . It of co n is the thought my nationality, which is inseparably ne cte d wi th the ancestral heritage and the memori es of — the Holy Land an d the Eternal C ity the birthplace of the belief in the divine unity o f life and Of the h Op e in the future brotherhoo d of man

Rome and Jeru salem is no t only a proud reaffirmation o f the Zionis t idea ; it is imbued with a social pathos rooted in the b elief of the Prop hets in a better world an d universal m peace . Moses Hess was among the first cha pions of the n a al o n d moder ide of Jewish national reviv , based the i eas o f social justice . ’ i i In Hess s time ass milation was a militant deolog y, whose champions included a number of bri lliant men wh o d T o -d a inadvertently enriched Ju aism . y assimilation is a passive trend o f drifting away from Jewish life ; a process i o f disintegration . In the 19th century assimilat on meant a

- T o - w conscious act of self a bnegation . day many leave Je ish h life often without noticing it themselves . A undred years ago there was a vigorous struggle of ideologi es within Jewry .

T o day one can hardly speak of a struggle . There are ‘ a few t o- day who fight for assimilation on the basis of a l N t o- special philosophy of Jewish ife . evertheless, day disinteg ration is a greater threat to the Jewish future than " ” d d - d in the 19th centur y . A hun re years ago self liqui ation was an ide olog y ; t o -day it is an integral part of Jewis h 19th d iaspo ra life . In the century Jewish persecution was a d eterrent to national suicide ; to -day Jewish equality is considered by some as an encouragement t o the gi ving- u p s o f o f the Jewish way of life . The establi hment Israel had a double eff ect on the diaspora " it bro ught some Jews back to their people 5 it strengthened assimilationist tend e ncies a mong ot hers . ’ — Moses Hess s life story published below is n o t only a piece o f historical research ; it is a timely pamphlet dealing with o ne of the most acute problems o f Jewish existen ce - " im to day the Jewish national idea versus ass ilation . I t e t se wh o e should be widely read , esp cially by ho are s eking an answer to the ques tion " what is the place o f the Jew in the modern world "

T his is the first study in a new seri es of Jewish Agency ” D a m Publications, issued by the ep rt ent for Education a n — d Culture I t 1s hoped that others will follow .

Le en e v b r . S . g

[ 5 ] MOSE S H E S S

TH I . E HISTORI C BAC" GRO" ND

Political S c ene

I N T H E FI T AL F o f 19 c d d RS H the th entury Germany, divi e s e N into many small tat s , weakened by the apoleonic wars and m deeply stirred by the i pact of the French revolution , went through a process o f soc ial transformation and po litical reorgan isation which could no t but aff ect the a s Th e civil st tu and the way of li fe of German Jewry . o u t o f t Jewish community was thrown its state of isola ion, and the spiri tual basis of its unity was shaken by the o a whirlwind f revolution ry ideas . The medieval pattern r h a d for d of co porate life , which secured the Jews a kin - r of communal self gove nment and a religious autonomy, was incongru ent with the emergent mod ern form o f a " ” t Th e national Sta e . fences of the Law which, through o f many centuries , had safeguarded the continuity the no t r u e s Jewish tradition , could withstand the dis ptive eff ct D i r w of social assimilation . issatisfied w th the na ro ness o f Ghetto-existence and exasperated by legal disabilities which in the a g e of Enlightenment appeared to be an of anachronistic relic a barbarous past, many Jews found " in baptism an easy way to get rid o f the misfortune o f ” Judaism (Heine) and to enter European society as equals . O s thers, inspired by the idea of the Enlightenment, pinned their hopes o n the power of reason and believed in the mm r u i inent victory of humanita ianism , which wo ld bring

b of . a out liberty, equality and brotherhood men The protagonists of relig ious reform strove to do away with

[ 7 ] u al u s a the partic laristic nation feat re of Jud ism , to adapt the teachings o f the Synagogue to the principles o f liberalism and to conform th e req u irements of the religious One o law to the conditions of the mo dern age . f the main motives of this movement was the desir e to ass imilate as fully a s pos sible with the German nation in order to prove worthy of the benefits of emancipation . The desire to attain emancipation also animated the " neo—orthodox”

" opponents of reform, who tried to combine adherence to the Law (Torah) with full p art icip a tion in modern

z se cu lar cultu re (D erekh E retz th e general way of life) . Ye t s o f 19th u u m , in the fir t half the cent ry f ll e ancipation Th e S l N was still far Off . pe l o f freedom which the apoleonic wars brought to the German Jews was of short duration . ’ N for With apoleon s defeat a reaction set in , which lasted more than thirty years .

In 1840 a blood libel against Jews in D amascus (th e D a mas cus Afia ir) de eply stirred p u blic Op inion in Western Eu rope and America and marked the beginning Th e sa o f a new er a in modern Jewish history . accu tion came as a painful shock to those Jews who be lieved the pernicious prej u dices o f the D ark Ages to have passed for ever . I t reawaken ed the feeling of Jewish solidarity and a r u w a I ts prep red the g o nd for the Je ish nation l idea . effect was enhanced by the general course Of events in

Europ e . The seed of democratic nationalism , sown by i the French revolution, bore fruit in the nat onal uprisings which followed the Napo leonic era and reached their a 1848 clim x in the upheavals o f the year . The struggle of small oppressed nations for their independence could not but arous e the sympathy of thos e Jews wh o had joined s the ranks of the fighter for freedom and equality . S imilar was the influ ence o f modern Jewish scholarship which applied the principles of scientific resear ch to the history of Judaism and its literatu re (th e S cie n ce u dais m of j ) . The Jewi sh pioneers in t his field of study intended to prove to the gentile world the value

[ 3 ] of the Jewish contribution to civilisation and the nobility and d of the Jewish religious ethical ideas . They hope " that by fur thering the emancipation of the mind they " ” Z u nz . would bring nearer civil emancipation ( ) However, while it is doubtful whether their achievements in the field of Jewish studies had played an essentia l part in paving fo r is the way Jewish emancipation , it certain that their work revealed to the Jews themselves the greatness and the spiritual wealth Of the Jewish past and thus created conditions whi ch favoured the strengthening of the Jewish nationa l consciousnes s .

Int ellec tual Climate A T H E TIM E w i T when Hess was gro ing and maturing, ntel lectual life in Ge rma ny was dominated by the conflicting o R t trends f Enlightenment and oman icism . As against the t l Of in el ectualism the Enlightenment, the romantics as i t u es emph ised the emotional, inst nc ive and organic feat r e m in th development of the individual and of society . Ger an e s in a id alistic philo ophy, its various forms, while b sing itself on the fundamental concepts of the rationalistic u i s m d spec lat ve sy tems Of the past, assi ilated and ma e use of the leading ideas of the romantic movement . This tendency reached its climax in Hegel’ s system of " absolute ” ed b dia lec ti cal idealism . Hegel tri , y means Of the me t h od t o f , reconcile the intellectualism o the Enlighten d ment with the emotionalism of the romantics . He consi ered the appa rent Oppos ites to be part ial and mut ually complemen tary expressions of the self- development o f the ’ - hi s al l . ghe t, embracing rational Idea Hegel s system failed w to l ho ever, provide a solution for the spiritual and socia ’ - problems of pos t Napoleo nic Europe . After Hegel s death ( 18 3 1) the incompatible elements of his political and religious phi losophy broke up h is schoo l into a right and

- . D d S o f a left wing avi trauss , the leader the Left Hegelians, as s .who interpreted the Christian dogmas pure myth , ’ turned Hegel s philos ophy into a kind o f naturalistic

[ 9 1 ’ d pantheism . Another disciple of Hegel s; Lu wig Feuerbach , " rejected the philosop hy o f his master as disguised theology considered religion to be a ‘delusive projection of a human ideal and fathered a type of militant

o o . materialism , which so n became pred minant in Germany ’ " e s At the same time, arl Marx, while repudiating Heg l id i do l e o f o f eal sm , a pted essentia el ments his philosophy di th e d od d history, vested ialectical meth of its i ealistic garb ” e ri h tside and turn d it g up . He claimed to have done away with the romantic ideal ism of the e arly socialist t d i i hinkers , to have purifie the soc al st idea of the illusions of " topianism and to have es ta blished a s cie ntific bas is fo r c a so ialist mass movement, by adapting the main

' - motives of the Enlightenment rationalism , utilitarianism — and humanitarianism to the requirements of the cla ss ru st ggle o f the proletaria t .

T h e theory Of Marxism , designed to justify the s truggle fo r i o f c e am the creat on an egalitarian classless so iety, b c e l a powerful ferment in the ife of modern Europe . Soon , o u h wever, it fo nd a rival in the emergent democratic 1 t nationalism . In the 9 h century the motives and the ideals of socialism an d nationalism se emed to contradict on a c " e another . While Marxi n so ialism became in Western r e u Europe a revolutiona y movement , inspir d by a p rely a — o f r tional , social and international ideal akin to that a — the e rly Enlightenment, nationalism remained closely rela ted to the ideas Of the romantics . Socialism strove for a social order, which transcends geographical and racial divisions ; it paid little attention to historic tradition and und erestimated the import ance of the national problem . o t 19th The dem cratic national movemen s in the century, d on the other hand , rew their strength from emotional ties with part icular ethnic communities and rested on an historic tradition " they shared with socialism a faith in t h e c R o th e principles of the Fren h ev lution , but main i s e o f t i spr ng of their power were the fe ling e hnic kinsh p, the consciousness o f a common destiny and the romantic id li ea sation of—a common past . D emoc ratic nationalism by its na tu re w ou ld reconcile itself neither with crude l a natura istic materi lism, which ig nores the importance of the national spirit a nd culture as an independe nt factor r o d l n histo y, nor with the Marxian variety f ia ectical i materialism, which regards economic cond tions as the only decisive factor in social life . The conflict between idealism — and materialism refle c t ed in the antagonistic theories of — soc ialism and of democ ratic nationalism bec ame the ’ fulcrum of Hess s intellectual endeavour . It was his desire to do justice bo th to the spiritual and the material aspects o f reali ty and to combine social j us tice with freedom of a e the individu l and the nation , which led H ss to the rediscovery of the social meaning of Jud aism and to the elucidation of the idea of Jewish nationalism .

l l . LI FE A ND WOR"

Ch ildh oo d and Yo uth

HE W A S B N B 18 12 r SS OR in onn (Prussia) in , four yea s after the conquest of the town by Napoleon ’ s army and the a - t o -do abolition of its Jewish Ghetto . His f ther, a well a was m merch nt, an esteemed ember of the Jewish com d d s Ra munity . His mother was escende from Poli h bbis and scholars . In accordance with the then new usage, z the boy was given a German name, Morit , which he himself later changed into Moses . At the age of nine he went, together with his parents, to Cologne . There he wa s brou ght up in the house of his maternal grandfather —a and pious and scholarly Jew , whose saintliness nobility of mind stron gly impressed the bo y " many years later o s e M ses H e s , the veteran fighter for socialism , rememb red with deep em otion the stories and legend s of th e " ” d ru of Te m le n old est ction the p , which the ster man used to d s rea to his grandchildren . In his fourteenth year He s

[ 11 ] lost his mother . Four years later he entered the " niversity C to of ologne, but did not apply himself study for any i " o pract cal purpose he assiduously read b oks on history , philosophy and religion and enthusiastically imbibed the spirit of radical libe ralism and the romantic ideas which were in vogue in German literature . Estrangement from

Judaism led to a clash betw een him and his father . Trying to achieve financial independence, he left his native country h is e for England . Having failed to attain aim th re, he fo r went to Paris , where he lived some time in great

to . exigency, and finally returned on foot Germany As a result o f a reconciliation with his father he found ’ employment a s a cler k in his father s business in C olog ne . o o to s This ccupation p r ved , however, contrary his intere ts " ” and ambitions " he despised the shopkeeper spirit which — — as he felt s tifled his mind . Another conflict with his father brought his business caree r to an end . After that he devoted himself to journalistic and poli tical work . In spite Of hard ships a nd privat ions he found time to acquaint himself with the main currents Of political thought l i o and the leading phi osop h cal schools f his time . In Spinoz ism he d iscovered a philosophy congenial t o his m " u o f s ind the tr e monistic point view, which overcome the dualism of matt er and spirit without degrading any of these two aspects of reality and which could be use d as fo a basis r the solution o f the moral and social problems .

" Th e S acred Histo ry of M anki nd I N EIGHTEEN -THIRTY - SE V EN Hess publishe d his first book " — The Sacred History of Mankind b y a disciple of ”

S z . pino a The work is permeated by a messianic spirit . The author su rveys the history of mankind from a point o f an d . view which blends together theology, ethics politics — — Assuming with Spinoz a the fundamental unity and o of S c ordination matter and pirit, he views history as a proc ess in which materi al causes and moral ideas work in concord towards a common aim " as a continuous striving

[ 12 ] of mankind towards the realis ation o f unity in all spheres o i f . life Th s ideal manifests itself in economic harmony, l ri d o e social equa ity and spi tual free om f the individual . Th bo nd of ultim ate unity o f mankind will be a universal o n religion of love and brotherhood, based the knowledge On o f the unity o f God . the way to its ult imate goal um ai c h H anity p asses through three m n epo s, which Hess ri d " God desc bes under the symbolic hea ings the Father,

Go d the S o n and God the Ho ly Spirit . He divides the c ri o f three epo hs into fourteen pe ods, each them character d ised by the spiritual lea ership o f a great personality . The founder of Christianity is the predominant personali ty of s " o f o n i the fir t epoch the basic idea Christianity , wh ch c o f Nat u e medieval ivilisation was founded, is the unity r

a nd S i it . z son o f p r Spino a , the other great the Jewish people, ushers in the second epoch, that of modern i Of God civ lisation , which emphasised the idea the unity of e o e to a n d Nat u r . The third ep ch b longs the future " it a e o f Go d a nd t h e is the messianic g , in which the unity

S pirit will manifest itself in the life of mankind .

T h e of w Christian terminolog y, hich Hess makes u frequent use, cannot disg ise the Jewish idea which is the central motive Of the work . Like many writers of the t e od i a roman ic p ri , Hess toyed w th Christian theologic l a ri —e concepts , pplying them in an alleg o cal thical and — p hilosophical sense, without accepting their dogmatic essence . At the same time he repudiated the authority of the Jewish religious Law and denied any future for e Judaism as a living religion . When he wro te th e S a c r d — H is t o ry Judaism seemed to him as he later regretfully — " ” h im mentions bu ried for ever in his heart . I t was to at that time nothing but a prelude to Christianity ; yet Christianity itself was to him a preliminary to the futu re t e universal religion of a pan heistic typ , which was to revive b as ic idea of t o the Judaism in a new form , acceptable all men .

t Hess thought hat Israel , having played a vital part in r of d i the histo y Man , had cease to exist as a liv ng nation in order tha t its legacy might become a fertilising force in " ne w God the spiritual life Of a Humanity . The people Of its t was dissolved in order that out of death ano her, higher s n type of life might emerge . The Law of Mo es contai ed an eternal e lement of truth " it united the inner life o f

Man with the outward form Of his life . This law did a n s not make y difference between religion and politic , b etween the duties towards God and the du ties towards Caesar " it was the seed and the prototyp e of the future ” " s acred constitution of mankind . Hess speaks of that ’ o ld was a o b u t , holy people s State that destroyed long g , lives no w in the heart o f its scatter ed members . That people was called upon from the be ginning to conqu er the R w arm world not like pagan ome by the po er of its , but n by the internal virtue of its spirit . I t has wa dered like a all e ghost over the world which it conquer d , and its to e enemies have been unable destroy it, b cause the spirit h . as rm is unassailable This spirit pe eated the world , and m law the world is yearning for the birth of a funda ental , — which would be worthy Of its mother the ancient Law . A new sacred constitution is bou nd to emerge the ancient ” a — Law wi ll come to life ag in transform ed .

’ H es s s S oc ialis t Fai th

’ H ESS S EA RL IER W OR" was a confession of an ardent faith " the s a cr e d social order will give equal justice to so a nd of ciety the individual, to the ideal freedom and the ideal o f equality ; abolit ion of pri vate property will V o f harmonise the apparently conflicting ideals . ag ueness the basic concepts is a common feature o f the works of s a wh o no t He s and other early soci list thinkers, did clearly see the difficulties in bridging the gap b etween individual

u . h is ism and collectivism, anarchism and comm nism In book Hess d escribe s his vision o f the ideal future without o n defining his fundamental point f view . He doe s o t draw a sharp dividing line be tween socialism and commu nism "

[ 14 1 — he doe s no t eve n use these terms perhaps for reasons Of

o l . e o p litica security Inst ad, he speaks f the new s a c red ’ co nstitu tion as the basis o f a s a c re d peo ple s S tate unconsciously revealing the religious emo tion which d stimulate his thou ght . He wrote his book impelled b y a kind of prophetic urge and did no t se e in his work d i any personal merit , but regarde it as a manifestat on " ‘ T o f the grace o f Go d . He says h e spirit o f the Lord o u t it d o u t o n a n was poured upon me , as can be poure y ” thinking human being . He was convinced that he h a d rediscovered the forgotten true meaning o f religion " " R God d o f eligion , the knowledge Of , the highest goo ” " d mankind was l os t to men he exclaims . Shoul the ‘ ’ finder be ashamed to proclaim joyfully Here it is again " u t o i t o i o f Tr ly, my conscience refuses subm t this k nd humility . We do not hesitate to declare Openly, that in so far as it was granted to us to reveal a nd proclaim

the idea elucidated in this book , we consider ourselves to be an insignificant tool Of the eternal Providence that has always made use of men living in Obscurity a nd ” lowliness .

T hree years after the publication of Th e S a c re d H is t o ry - o f Hess married a non Jewish German girl bad repute, F in and Sybille resch by name, with whom he lived love

T e n happiness until his death . his op n defiance Of co vention al mor ality and Of the Jewish religious la w widened and perpetuated the breach between Hess and his father '

they ne ver saw o ne another again .

" T h e E ur o p ea n Tria rc h y

Th e S a c re d H is t o ry of M a nkind was the first attempt in Germany to interp ret history from a socialist point o f view and to outline the ideal soc ial order of the distant ic d 184 1 d future . In a second volume, wh h appeare in un er Th e E u o e an T ia c h the title r p r r y, Hess deals with contem

p o rary political reality . He was the first champion of the

[ 15 ] idea of th e unificatio n o f Europe as a means fo r the A s salvation of Western civilisation . the first step towards this goal he propos ed an alliance between the three mos t m E s s " and l . civilised uropean tate Ger any , France Eng and Rom e a n d This idea , which he later took up ag ain in his e us a lem a j r , Hess maintained for historical, psychologic l - fo r S s . and philo ophical rea ons He thought that, the sake

r s s e cula tive. Of o f human prog es , the p genius the Germans must c o-Operate with the mo ra l sp irit of the French and oc the s o ci al instinct Of the English people . The ass iation Of these three leading nations would prom ot e the ca u se Of fre e do m a nd p ea ce " Germany would help to attain freedom of the spiri t ; France would work for tru e freedom — " in the sphere Of mo ra lity and England the light hous e ”— o f the future would secure the fou ndations of political o f r l freedom , while the very existence this powe fu

an a . alli ce would enhance the idea of eternal pe ce Here , " too k om , Hess sounds a messianic note the visualised ingd ” " ” c th e of Go d a Of pea e, is to him future kingdom , bec use — religion means to him love in the widest sense of the I R word . n retrospect he sees in the collapse of the oman Empire and in the French Revolution two decisive events in the advance Of mankind towards uni ty and universal T h e reconciliation through love . universal religion Of love implies abolition Of denominational differences o u r which are only Of temporary importance . In present " ” pre- messianic epoch the institu tions Of the Church have d outlive themselves and men do not need them any more . Bu t although the modern State cannot have anything to d o no t of with the Church, this does mean separation the " s State from religion on the contrary, Hess think that the n s wh ole — State, having to concer it elf with the man as — a soc ial as well as a political being must be bound up with religion by a bond o f unity .

In The E u rop e an T ri a rchy Hes s vigorously opposes the metaphysical idealism of the Hegelians an d sets against it " ” his principle o f practical id ealism or philosophy of

[ 16 1

o f a hand, Max Stirner, the preacher egoistic individu lism " r h im and ana chism , helped to define more sharply the diff erence be tween true freedom Of the individual and e amorality , as well as betwe n socialism and anarchism . Hess remai ned firm in his conviction that soc ial ethics are the foundation of social action and the real object o f philo 1845 S ophy . In a pamphlet published in under the title Th e Lat es t Philos op h e rs Hess repudiates the ethical O B u B M ax n nihilism f r no auer and Stir er , accusing them of having adopted the dualistic point Of view Of

Christianity and of metaphysical idealism, divorcing the d s i ea from reality, theory from practice, ociety from the a l o f individu l . The abstract, purely theoretica idea freedom , o f hi m divested its social meaning, was to nothing but a g lori fication o f the animal instincts of egoism a nd ” e -om e greed . True fr ed Of th individual and his socia l func tion are correlated " freedom means absence Of violence o f and limitations from without, but it implies moral self s own limitation , which a social being must impo e on its

i e d no r activ ties . Fre dom is neither in etermination of the will moral irresponsibility but determination o f the will of the individual in accordance with his own nature , as a member " ” o n n Of human society . An essay the philosophy of actio and an expos ition o f the fundamentals Of socialist faith ” (a socialist catechism ) e stablished in Germany his 184 1 reputation as a socialist thinker . After he was one

Of Rh enis h ou rn al Of the collaborators the f , which, owing t o Of " his contributions and to those arl Marx , became 1 4 the main organ Of the liberals in Germany . In 8 2 he

.a o f went to Paris as correspondent this paper, but a year later the Prussian Government prohibited the publication

Rhe ni o r n s h u al. Of the f Having returned to Cologne, Hess continued to work fo r the cause Of soc ialism as a jour nalist u and a prop agandist, and the fervo r of his preach

" T h e au th o of t h e boo k Th e E o a nd h is Ow n 18 45 in r g ( ; Ge rm an ) .

[ 18 ] ing earned him among his fellow-workers the name Of R the communist abbi .

Hes s and M arx

- IN EIGHTEEN FORTY -FI V E Hess collaborated with Marx o n " ” the German Ideology, and two . years later we find him B a i in russels working together with M rx , contribut ng to o i a nd s cialist publ cations organising communist societies . It seemed that Hess played a notable part in influencing ’ Mar x s mind in the critical pe ri o d o f his transition from liberal radicalism to socialism . Soon Hess himself fell " und er the spell Of the found er of scientific soc ia lism d o Y and move nearer to his point f view . e t the friendship e two wh o d f d id l b tween the men , if ere w e y from each i o r other in temperament and soc al Outlook, was of sh t

. r e l duration Ma x dislik d the enthusiastic idea ism Of Hess , his essentially ethical approach to the problems of social a d n S n e d d . life the peculative , visio ary tr n Of his min In " ” ’ the Communist Manifesto ( 1848 ) he describe s Hess s " " ” ideas o f p hilo sophy o f action and true soc ialism as philos ophical nonsense and a robe of speculative co b ” W T h e f . O ebs, embroidered with flowers of rhetoric fault e Hess was, according to Marx, that he did not repr sent " r the inte est of the proletariat as a class, but the interests " m of wh o of hu an nature, Man in general, exists only ” in the misty realm o f philosophical phantasy .

Th e Ret urn to Judais m

W HEN E V L " TI N 18 48 o u t d THE R O O of broke , Hess hastene back to Germany to take an active part in the struggle fo o f o r freedom . After the failure the revoluti n he was s ed to d in entenc death , but succee ed escaping from Ger an E l many d wandered through urope for severa years , under the permanent threat of extradition to the Prussian 18 53 e h e Government . In he finally s ttled in Paris , where

[ 19 ] devoted himself to the study of natural science and o f

Juda ism . In the last years Of his life Hess wen t through a S pirit s o t s et ual crisi . The p litical reac ion which in with the suppression Of the revolutionary movement s in Germany revo lu and France, the rift between the liberals and the tionary socialists and the W iden ing diff erences between the Marxian and the non -Marxian trends within the soc ialist movement itself were causes of frustratio n and ’ reasons for r e- examining the basic po stul a tes of Hess s " ” philosophy Of action . Convinced that neither the abstract speculations Of German idealism nor one-sided Ma rxian economi c materi alism o f c were the right ways so ial thought, and that Man is neither merely a spiritual being no r the product Of s material cause and economic forces, Hess hoped to find in the study Of the physical and biological natu re Of Man the explanation o f his existence as an indissoluble unity o o H e e f ma tter and spirit . He turned away fr m g ll and — e Marx back to his old master Spinoz a . The exist nce Of —and no t living nation—s only of economic group s and social classes s ee med to him to point ou t the way to a r k of social theo y which would ta e account all, material m o f . t h e s i as well as spiritual , factors life At ame t e half forgotten impressions Of his childhood were revived in e — his mind . The bitter fe ling of agony which as he him e — o u s lf says had been ar sed in his heart , as early as in 1840 D m s , by the a ascu affair, enhanced the feeling Of fru stration caused by the failure Of t h e revolu tionary a struggle . In the midst o f his soci listic activities it had to dawned upon him that he belonged an unfortunate, d m slandere , despised and dispersed people . For some ti e " his intention to give expres sion to his feeling in a cry of ” " ang u ish had been stifled in his heart by the greater pain which the suffering of the European proletariat ” . Now Of a u evoked in him the fate his n tion , the nique s o f l an d s s ne s his faith, the nationa univer al ig nificance of the Jewish messianic hope appeared t o him in a n ew

[ 20 ] light " he saw the Jewis h problem as one o f the crucial Of A problems human history . fter an estra ngement o f " ” twenty y ears he was again with his people . In 18 62

d o Rome a nd e r us al e m appeare the bo k 7 , an attempt to h " ” so lve t e last nation al problem and to S how the i s gnificance of the redemption of Israel for the future o f mankind . This b ook bec ame the basis fo r many theories of mod ern Jewish nationalism a nd a classic o f Zionist literature .

Last Years

T H E RE T" RN T O H I S P EOPLE and to its ancient faith did not ’ weaken Hess s adherence to the ideal Of international unity i and social solidarity . He d d not ceas e to be an active i 1863 to membe r Of the social st movement . In he went

Germany to work together with Ferdinand Lassalle , the a -D Ye t founder of th e German Soci l emocratic Pa rty . before n c s rm the end of the year he we t ba k to Pari , fi ly resolved e u h e o t t o never to see G rmany again, altho g h c n inued contribu te to German periodical s and was associated with in 18 67 the Socialist International . He was disgusted by the anti - Semitic leanings and the racial prejudices o f d d w e ucated Germans . and isappointed ith the self humiliation of the assimilated German Jews . He believed — — in France the country Of the Great Revolution a nd " hoped that the French nation would extend its work o f ” redempt ion also to the Jew ish people . At the outbreak of the Franco-Germa n war he was exiled from Paris and o B f und temporary refuge in russels, but he did not bear d France a grudge . Her efeat grieved him deeply and in ” " ne d" D d a pamphlet nation chue (A efeate Nation) , e d— I n Th e written after the war, he again pl ade as E u ro e a n T ia rc h — p r y for a European alliance, this time

no t R r d . against ussia , but against P ussianise Germany

In the last period Of his life Hess set himself the task Of supp lementing his social philosophy b y a philosophy Of

[ 2 1 ] ’ nature " he sou ght to re - interpret Spinoz a s monism in

‘ n ifi r ress h 1 th accordance with the s cie t c p og in t e 9 century . T h e fruits of his endeavour in this field are contained in D na mic M a tt e Of the book y r, which the first volume was published pos thumously b y his wife His scientifi c pursuits did no t aba te his z ealous interest in Judaism and i l i in Jew sh earn ng, which found an outlet in various d contributions to Jewish perio icals, in French and Ger c o f h man , and in the Fren h translation the third and sixt ’ " ” volumes o f Gr a e tz s History o f the Jews (Sinai at Go l ’ 1867 d E s - gatha , ; Les Juifs p agne, T h e restless life Of the man who was o ne of the firs t pioneers of modern socialism and o f Jewish nationalism came to an end on the 6th April 18 75 . He was bu ried o wn i th e according to his w sh, in burial ground of his mi z fa l D . l v at eut on the Rhine (near Co ogne) .

Pers o na lity

’ THE M O S T C ONS P IC" O" S trait in Hess s personality is his Of T d e a n passionate love truth and justice . h e esire to l r was as strong and permanent in him as the urge to a ct for i o f inse a r the realisat on his ideas . Thinking was to him p and able from action , theory barren meaningless without

" to p ractice . His faithful adherence the principle of " ” monism and to the philosophy Of action reflected

Of own . the basic features his character He was , in fact, — neither a philoso her nor a politician in the strict p — meaning Of these words but rather a preacher and a wh o s a fighter . He was an idealist, despi ed a purely abstr ct, d l s p hilosophical i ea i m , and a revolutionary socialist, who saw the only justification of socialism in the idea-l of l love and freedom . A man with a fiery , revo utionary tem eram en t d wh o p and a kin loving heart, believed in his " ” o wn d prophetic mission , he coul neither reconcile him self to the quietism of the right-wing Hegelians nor agree

with the militant materialism of Marx and his disciples . He ha d neither th e analytical acumen a nd the critical

[ 22 ] r a i i pe spic city of Marx , nor the creat ve speculat ve power of l — h is i a great phi osop her like Hegel, yet was an mpres i d l sive, versat le and inquisitive min which ceaseless y searched fo r the highest truth and strove for the ultimate ’ i issues Of man s l fe . He eagerly and easily assimilated new d l own d i eas, but always remained faithfu to his fun a m to h u m anit ar i ental beliefs . His devotion the cause of a nism and international socialism could no t suppress in

d f eo x le his heart the eep a fection for his own p p , and his love Of the Jews was itself a part Of his love o f mankind " he saw in every Jew the stu ff of a Messiah of Righteous ness and in every Jewess the suff eri ng mother o f the

Messiah .

” R M E A ND E " S LEM " TH E M D E S III . O J R A AIN I A

" ” Th e Ge neti c Princ iple of Judai sm

THE W HOLE P HIL OSOP HY of Hess wa s bas ed on the e ne tic rin ci le t o g p p , which appeared to him be the common ground Of the monism of Spinoz a and o f Jewish o l monotheism . Having gone through the sch o of Hegel, ’ Hes s was able to mo dify Spinoz a s concept Of the absolute T h im no t substance into a dynamic principle . O it did

. mean mainly a changeless, perfect and supreme being, — firs — a n o ri but t and foremost everlasting, active and " i i f o f g nat ve power " the source o infinite life, continuous ” T h e God creation and inspiration . Jewish is, according

- z to Hess, the all embracing unity which Spino a had in ' w Go d o f vie . He is the Nature as well as of Humanity, He is the primar y cause and the ultimate aim o f the develop ment of the cosmos and of the S piri tual and social p ro s a gress of Man . His highe t m nifestation , however, is in t the inspired spirit of Man , and History is herefore the

- pre eminent Sphere of divine revelation . Whereas the

e sa nc tified Na t u re . Gr eks , , , as a static , harmonious self

[ 23 ] Go d contained entity, the Jews worship as the eternal God o f m o f history, as the origin all becoming , whose na e (in " ” t . T Hebrew) expresses past, presen and future here is therefore no contradiction bet ween the Jewish idea Of God u a is th e a nd the scienti fic conception of nature . J d ism religious expression of the genetic principle, which is ’ also a necessary postulate Of modern science " God s crea one law tive power re veals itself in the absolute . which governs life in the domains o f Nature a nd History alike . " Jewish monot heism discove red the unity Of the creative

S pirit in contradistinction to the multiplicity of forces . The law o f God is not to be sought fo r in Heaven or far — away in Space " He reveals himself within u s in

o u r S i . God wh o p rit and heart An otherworldly , does not manifest himself immediately as the ever-pres ent creator God Of ri and lawgiver, is not the the Jews, Ch stians and and Mohammedans , he can no more provide the reli gion s basis for the regenerated nations tha n atomism a nd i e Of mater alism , which are only the mod rn forms poly ”

. u theism and pantheism The creative nity, which per t - m vades reali y in all its ever changing for s, is neither a e pure id a nor the material cause Of a blind, mechanical c wit hin pro es s . Judaism believes in the rule of the Spirit

e o a l . the world . I t b lieves in the m r purpos e Of the universe i mes ian i ea e . T s c c i . e h s ultimate purpose is the p , the unity of mankind through which a ll antagonistic forc es l d r wil be reconciled in an i eal ha mony , bearing testimony t d o the unity Of Go .

Nature a nd Histo ry C O S M IC LA W o-r— THE is that of genesis and evolution , to e — use th common expression th e law Of progress . The complete knowledge of this law is no t pos sible yet because o ne part o f the process Of evolution is not yet finish ed so t l that Of cial evolution . The ways of Providence are s i l

O t o . o o bscure us We kn w, h wever . that there is no infinite,

[ 24 ]

e th e spiritual link . b tween the creator and the creature ; i d nfinite threa , the end of which returns to its beginning ; th e o ne to bridge which leads from creation another, from ” li fe to death a nd from death to life . As an essentially r Of social and histo ic religion , based on the idea genetic monism which is the tru e principle of science and philo for sophy, Judaism is suited to serve as the g round a

universal faith .

Judaism and Chri stia nity

I I S E W I S H C ONC E P T I ON T THE J of monotheism, not the s i S Chri t an one, which contains the germ of the future pirit God u e ual life . The word of will go forth from Jer sal m a s no t from Rome . Judaism neither regards man a mere pro — — duct of Nature as does Helleni sm nor d eifies a single — s personality as doe Christianity , but it views the life of o f the individual as an element social and spiritual history, " which reveals a hi gher unity and a divine plan . The e s tend ncy to view God in Hi tory, not only in the history of of mankind . but also in the history the cosmos and the Of organic world, is an essential expression the Jewish ” Spirit . The Christian apotheosis of a single personality h a d a historic justification " in order to vindicate the rights of the individual it was neces sary to conceive th e idea of Man in an abstract way—without - any connection W mi a e . owe ith fa ly, n tion and fatherland Judaism, h v r, has been free from this erroneous conception " it sees th e t r individual man in his full reali y, in his natural histo ic " N to and social context . othing is therefore more alien Judaism than the egoistic hap piness of the isolated indi vidual which a ccording to modern views is the focal point O f religion .

Judais m and Natio nali sm ANOTH E R E S S E NTI AL C HARAC TERI S TIC of Judaism is its i intrinsic connection w th the idea of nationality . Judaism S ri is a piritual power Of universal histo c significance , em o i d l b d e in the ife of a national community . Judaism gives true expression to the deeper meaning Of the ‘ national idea " it transforms nationali ty into a m eans for d a higher spiritual and social purpose . Ju aism doe s not ignore the importance of racial d ifferences as vital factors in o f a the evolution Man , which c use the emergence Of na tions on the stage of history a nd enhan ce the variety and many -S idednes s of human emotional and intellectual s e no t life . Judai m, however, do s glorify race as such and does no t extol it at the expense Of the idea l unity Of man kind and Of the equality o f all men as moral and social beings . Races and nations are not e nds in themselves " they are the roots and the stems which bear spiritual frui t — o f various kinds and thus contribute each in its own w ay — i to the polyphonic d versity Of civilisations .

e o d u c ts o H is t o Ethnic types are , according to H ss, pr f ry, just as types of plants and animals are products o f Nature . " Th e u nity of t h e h u ma n g e nu s is no t a prima ry nat u ra l a ct b u t t h e r es u lt o his t o ical a cti vit " d f , f r y the iversity of the primary ethnic tribes is the backg round, their struggle i co- its is the condition, and their harmon ous Operation " to now l goal . p the whole o f history was fil ed with stru ggles of races and classes " the race struggle was the ”

r . T h e primary , the class struggle the seconda y one unity — — Of the human genus as the goal of evolu tion p res u p Now—in poses a pla n in human history . the last stage of — world history this unifyi ng divine plan has become s manifest . It was first revealed in the Holy Scripture of m not Israel, which proclai ed only the ideal of the unity of i t t o mank nd , but also the idea of the essen ial uni y f the Th e S whole cosmic , organic and social life . Holy crip — tures of Israel as sert the unity o f God in spite o f the t h e d diversity within world , and the unity Of mankin in spite Of the diversity o f human races . The Jewish people has played a pioneering part in the advance Of Man towards the messianic future . Through

[ 2 7 ] Judaism the history of mankind has be come a holy his r " a i e to y _ unify ng process of development which b gan with f amilv love and will not be finished before the whole of i " o ne . humanity will be fam ly Thus , the national essence of Judaism is not only compatible with humanitaria nism os m and civilisation , but necessarily presupp es the . The Jewish people h as become a truly creative organ of

. l Of mankind I t is a holy people, the too a living creator Of th e th e a in the history world , organ Of unifying holy ” i n love . In Judaism nat onalism and huma itarianism have " T h e been reconciled . Jews are something more than " a n e u followers of a religion they are thnic comm nity, a

a . t o f people, a historic n tion The spiri Judaism is the S " o of — in pirit of the Jews the ro ts its creation the past, — n th e the present and the future lie not in Heave , but in ” o Spirit and the heart f the people .

A ss imilatio n and Religio us Ref orm

H A V I NG C OM E B A C" z to his people, Hess became a ealous and ff and acute critic of assimilationism of its O spring, R a the efor m movement . He castig tes the faithlessness and " cowardice of those wh o are ready to g ive up vital parts of their Jewish inheritance fo r t h e benefits Of emancipa t tion , and deny their Jewish national dis inctiveness, lacking the courage to acknowledge their solidarit y with ” N t th e . o an unhappy, persecuted and divided people " - o u d r e w is Old fashi ned pio s Jew , but the mo e n liberal J to be d espised " the Jew who throws about bea u tiful phrases on h u manitari anism and enlightenment in order ” to disguise his disloyalty to his brethren . The modern " as similationist is no t only a renegade- with regard to his b u t — to relig ion, also a traitor with regard his people " h se O e for and his family . T o f our br thren who, the o f i purpose Obta ning emancipation , endeavour to persuade themse lves t hat modern Jews pos sess no national" feeling

r l a . any mo e, have rea ly lost their he ds Emancipation Of n cannot be the price natio al betrayal , and if it were

[ 28 ] true that Jewish emancipation is incompatible with to attachment the Jewish nation , a Jew should sacrifice ” r the fo mer for the sake of the latter .

’ was The radical fault Of the reformers , in Hess s view, not their d esire to adjust some particulars Of the religi o us t to tradi ion the needs of the age of emancipation , but their vain attempt to emancipate themselves from Jewish a B n tionality . y doing away with the national fe atures Of Judaism the reformers eliminated from the Jewish reli gion its very esse nce . The reformers had only a negative r s l s pu po e " to abo i h the national bas is Of Judaism . They ignored the historic continui ty of the Jewish tradition " " They have sucked the marrow out Of Judaism ; from this most magni ficent phenomenon of world history they have o r d left nothing but the shadow Of a skeleton . They b r owe n o f from an alien denomi ation the idea a relig ious reform , which h as no b asis either in the conditions o f the modern nor world, in the essentially national character of Juda R m to ism . efor tended convert Judaism into a second —a t m Christianity , cut after a rationalistic pattern a ti e when Christiani ty itself was already in a state o f dis ” t ri i in tegration . Imi ating Ch stian reformers Of an earl er e t o age, the J wish reformers tried separate the Holy h e n a Scriptures from t later developme t of Jud ism, by S etting up the Prophetic Judaism of the Bible again s t " h V the Rabbinic Judaism Of the Talmud t is iew is, in o f fact a narrower view than that orthodox Judaism , which regards the oral Law as comple mentary to the

written Law , and it is in complete disagreement with s t o and history . I t is al o wrong assume that Judaism Christianity can be fused together in order to b ecome the

foundation o f a purely rationalistic, lifeless creed , of which the philosophers Of the 18 th century an d the ir followers " Th e of i dreamed . future religion —mankind w ll find its expressio n in many national cults each people will create wn rm o f its o religious fo life , and each people will become — ” like the Jewish pe ople a people o f Go d .

[ 29 ] Histo ric Juda is m a nd O rt ho d o xy RE P " L S E D B Y THE BARRENNE S S a nd the assimilationist ' s R s s di s tendencie of the eform movement, Hes was al o satisfie d with the rigid dog matism and int olerance of th e German -Jewish NCO- Ort hodoxy led by Rab bi Samson h is o n o Rap hael Hirs ch . He pinned hopes those parts f the — Jewish people esp ecially of t h e Jewi sh masses in Eastern e — d i Europ who remaine faithful to the Jewish way Of l fe . s w d He wanted a living Judai m , hich would give free om to d r th e S the min , while prese ving pirit and the tradition of S u the Old ynagog e, which is, fortunately, still in existence — — and will as he hoped exi st until the national regenera S tion Of world Jewry is accomplished . In pite of his hetero m s o f doxy with regard to the dog atic a pect religion , he was prepared not only to join a pious Jewish congreg a o ti n, but would also Observe in his house all festivals and fast days in order to keep a live in h is own hea rt and in the heart Of h is children the traditions Of the Jewish was r people . He thought that Western Jewry su rounded s s e s s by a hard crust, which consi t of the d ad re idue of the u byg one pro ducts o f a d ecaying rationalism . This cr st — canno t b e melted by the fire of Jew ish nationalism it o On th e can be broken only by pressure fr m without . other hand, the rigid crust of orthodoxy, which stunts the o E r e S a pr gress of astern Jew y, will melt away wh n the p rks of s c u s Jewish nationali m, whi h smoulder nder this cru t, s d d kindle it into a acre fire , heral ing the coming of the spring and the resu rrection of o u r ~ nation to a new ” life .

Th e Las t Catas tro p h e and th e Reb irth of Is rael HE S S C ONC L" D E S his des cription Of the Spiritual situation Of the Jewish people and the modern world with a pro h e ti H e p c vision Of the future . foresees a struggle for reac racial domination , which will be initiated by the tio nary rulers o f Germany and will prec ede the birt h of a

[ 30 ] d n new worl . We are entering a period o f final racial a d " ” social conflicts leading to the last catastrop he o n the eve " h r o f t e Sabbath Of histo y. Along with other nurses Of ” progress the Jewish assimilationists will have to recognise

their failure . After the last catastrophe , the approach Of hi d a e w ch is heralde by unmist kabl sig ns of Our times , Rome will have to yield its sceptre to Jerusalem " the spiritual o f i hegemony of the eternal , holy city Christian civil sation as o f to t h will p s over to the eternal , holy city Israel , birthplace Of both Judaism and Christianity which will i al so become the birthplace of a new religio us civi l sation . T h e w ll o s Je ish peop le wi find , together with other pe p le , f its legitimate place in universal history . As a result O ’ Israel s na-tion-al rebirth in its ancient homeland the u e o f th e w r religio s g nius Jews ill , like the legenda y giant , d t and raw new strength through touching Mother Ear h,

will again be animated by the holy Spirit o f the Prophets .

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