Afikoman /// Old Texts for New Times Anti-Semitism and Jewish Money

A Diatribe from the Father of

etold in various biographies of Theodor Herzl is Ran episode from October 1894, when, as a Paris- based correspondent for the Viennese paper Neue Freie Presse, he posed for a bust by a sculptor named Samuel Friedrich Beer, a fellow Hungarian-born Jew. As Herzl later wrote it down, his conversation with Beer produced a demoralizing insight: “It does a Jew no good to become an artist and free himself from the taint of money. The curse still clings. We cannot get out of the ghetto.”

{By STUART SCHOFFMAN

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Why should money be tainted per se? Is not on a remedy for the problem. Since Jewish wealth a good thing? Herzl is saying that success in the Diaspora inevitably leads to Jews in Western Europe cannot win. They Jewish assimilation, anxiety, alienation, and can make plenty of money, which is surely so forth – and not to mention the Dreyfus better than being poor, but their wealth case in France, and pogroms and poverty is resented by non-Jews. They remain in Eastern Europe – the only way out was in a ghetto of otherness, of hopeless Zionism. inassimilability. The anti-Semitic image His blueprints for modern , the of Jew as unethical money-grubber, too electrifying pamphlet The (1896) often buttressed by the actions of Jewish and the utopian novel Altneuland (1902), scoundrels, stains even Jewish artists, envisioned a prosperous, enlightened, among whom Herzl counted himself. One capitalist democracy, which is the model has no trouble imagining what Herzl, as we have ended up with, more or less. Herzl journalist or playwright, would have made thought that economic autonomy in a of Madoff. sovereign polity would normalize the Jewish Following his session with Beer, Herzl people and preclude anti-Semitism. Alas, it went into a three-week writing frenzy that didn’t turn out that way. resulted in a rather clunky melodrama called The New Ghetto, the most memorable of his * dozen produced plays, and the only one that deals with the Jewish Question. (Freud in The The Jew as economic wizard is often a figure Interpretation of Dreams describes at length a we are rightly proud of. Joseph in the book dream he had after seeing the play.) of Genesis, the Pharaoh’s CEO, rescues his The Jewish hero, Jacob Samuel, is an Jewish relatives from famine. He is a brilliant assimilated lawyer in Vienna (Herzl had a law manager, a wise and generous man. He is also degree), who rejects his rich Jewish brother- an arrogant chap (see his teenage dreams of in-law, a crafty stock-market manipulator, superiority in Genesis 37), which is why the and takes up the cause of exploited miners; Talmud says (BT Sotah 13b) he died before he is snubbed by a close Christian friend all his brothers, even though he was second- with political ambitions, and dies in a youngest of the twelve. Still, for Jews, he’s a duel with Count von Schramm, a German hero. aristocrat (Herzl, the would-be aristocrat, For Herzl’s contemporary Mark Twain, had belonged to a student dueling society.) he was something else. In his spare time, the greatest of all American humorists One has no trouble undertook to understand anti-Semitism. In an essay called “Concerning the Jews,” imagining what Herzl, as published in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in September 1899, he wrote of the Jews journalist or playwright, with a mixture of admiration, wariness and a would have made of pinch of veiled hostility. He argued that anti- Semitism – which he claimed to deplore – Madoff. was not theological in nature, but was driven by economic resentment dating back to the Bible. It took more than three years for The New “The Jew is a money-getter,” he wrote, Ghetto to reach the stage. In the meantime, “and in getting his money he is a very serious Herzl, still in his mid-thirties, set to work obstruction to less capable neighbors who

HAVRUTA | 75 human liberty – a corner whereby he took a nation’s money all away, to the last penny . . . a corner so stupendous that by comparison with it, the most stupendous corners in subsequent history are but baby things . . . Was Joseph establishing a character for his race which would survive long in Egypt? And in time, would his name come to be familiarly used to express that character – like Shylock’s? It is hardly to be doubted. Let us remember that this was centuries before the Crucifixion. What would Mark Twain say today about the “racial character” of Wall Street? His little midrash reinforces Herzl’s message: something must be done. As it happens, the two writers knew one another: they first met in Paris in 1894, and later in Vienna, where Twain (who spoke German) attended a performance of The New Ghetto in January 1898. Herzl penned an amusing essay in the Neue Freie Presse about their first encounter, noting “the bushy protruding eyebrows that twirl upwards and which indicate at once both the good and the stinging nature in Mark Twain.” In Concerning the Jews, Twain returned the favor: Have you heard of his plan? He wishes to gather the Jews of the world together in Palestine, with a government of their own – under the suzerainty of the Sultan, I suppose . . . I am not the Sultan, and I am not objecting; but if that concentration of the cunningest brains in the world are on the same quest.” He cited Genesis 47, were going to be made in a free country where Joseph, acting as Pharaoh’s agent, . . . I think it would be politic to stop it. garners the wealth of Egypt by selling off It will not be well to let the race find out stores of food to the famished population. its strength. If the horses knew theirs, we Wrote Twain: should not ride any more.

Front page of Die Welt, We have all thoughtfully – or un- It can’t have been easy, being a Jewish Vienna, October 1897. thoughtfully – read the pathetic story lawyer or financier in Herzl’s day. The of the years of plenty and the years of Jewish haute bourgeoisie endured the lash of famine in Egypt; and how Joseph, with anti-Semitism, subtle and ambivalent like that opportunity, made a corner in broken Twain’s, or, more often, overt and malicious. hearts, and the crusts of the poor, and They strove vainly to assimilate, but shunned

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Zionism like the plague: What? Now that stand. Self-criticism enjoys a rich Jewish we’re finally emancipated, he wants to ship tradition going back to Moses, but it’s a the Jews out to some Ottoman backwater? risky genre. Now and again, a prophet would Herzl would have none of this. In October get stoned or imprisoned: an occupational 1897, he published in his Zionist journal Die hazard. Could some of Herzl’s friends Welt, under the pen name “Benjamin Seff,” an and colleagues and relatives think he was article called “Mauschel,” a polemic so intense talking about them? Not a bad idea to use a that some scholars have categorized it as a pseudonym in Die Welt – his Hebrew name: canonical text of Jewish anti-Semitism, also Binyamin Ze’ev, “Benjamin Seff.” known as Jewish self-hatred. If so, the man put his anger to good use. How can the author be Mauschel is a derogatory word akin to “kike,” derived from the name Moshe. The called an anti-Semite, article, most of which appears below, speaks loudly for itself. Herzl kills two birds with one when he loves and stone, conflating and blasting shady Jewish admires genuine Jews? businessmen and anti-Zionist cowards. It was published just a few weeks after the First It’s the ersatz Jew Zionist Congress in Basel in late August, when Herzl was in a heady frame of mind. Mauschel he can’t stand. (Following the Congress, he famously bragged in his diary: “I have founded the Jewish In this context, it may be interesting to State.”) “Mauschel” is an outrageous piece of note another intriguing Jewish text: Shevet political theater in the form of a dialectical Yehuda, a strange historical work from the essay, building to a shocking finish. A (fairly 16th century that aims to explain, among tame) sample: other things, why the Jews were hated in Spain and ultimately expelled. The book was The Jew endures poverty with dignity and published posthumously in 1553 by the son trust in God; in wealth his heart opens of its late author Solomon Ibn Verga, who wide to all who labor and are heavy laden, was exiled from Spain in 1492. The name on and he voluntarily imposes a tax on his the title page, however, is Yehuda Ibn Verga, prosperity by means of large donations. In another family member. What makes this poverty Mauschel is a despicable schnorrer; old and disturbing book more complicated is in wealth he is an even more despicable the evasive author’s interpolation, amid the show-off. The Jew loves art and scholarly historical narrative, of fictional dialogues pursuits; often and for long periods of time between a Spanish king and his Catholic these were his sole comfort in the isolation confessor, named Thomas. Let us close with forced upon him by a hostile society. a cautionary excerpt that may be read with Mauschel, on the other hand, pursues even profit alongside Herzl’s caustic “Mauschel” – the arts and sciences only for the sake of and the wily Mark Twain. Remember: this vulgar profit. * was written in Hebrew by a devoted Jew, for How can the author be called an anti- a Jewish audience. Semite, when he loves and admires genuine The answer of Thomas: I have never seen Jews? It’s the ersatz Jew Mauschel he can’t an intelligent person who hates the Jews. They are hated only by the masses – and * “Mauschel,” from Theodor Herzl: Essays and Addresses (1973), edited and for good reason. First, the Jews are proud translated by Harry Zohn, reprinted with the kind permission of the Herzl Press, New York. and are always seeking to domineer . . .

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The Sage has said that the hatred which is caused by envy can never be overcome . . . There can thus be no question that as long Mauschel as they gave no cause for envy, they were By “Benjamin Seff” (Theodor Herzl) beloved. But now the Jew is ostentatious. Mauschel is an anti-Zionist. We have known If he has two hundred pieces of gold, he him for a long time, and our gorge has risen immediately dresses himself in silk and whenever we looked at him, whenever life his children in embroidered clothing. This brought us near or in contact with him. But is something that not even nobles who until now, along with the disgust we felt, possess an annual income of a thousand there had always been pity; we kept looking doubloons would do . . . for charitable historical explanations for the And, of course, the old medieval chestnut: fact that he is so spineless, repressed and shabby a chap. After all, he is a fellow Jew – A second reason for the hatred is that even though there is not the slightest reason when the Jews came to my lord’s kingdom to be proud of this kinship. We told ourselves they were poor and the Christians were that we would have to tolerate him; indeed, rich. Now it is the opposite, since the Jews that it was our lofty task to refine him, that are clever and achieve their purposes with all of us would develop through this task, cunning. Moreover, they became very rich and with a kind of romantic tenderness or by lending at interest. My lord will note weakness we took an interest in him because that three-quarters of all the land and he was a scoundrel. When Mauschel did estates of Spain are all in the hands of something shabby, we tried to hush it up. the Jews – and this on account of heavy When Mauschel was really vile, we reminded interest. ** the world of the great men of our people. The author of Shevet Yehuda knows very When Mauschel compromised all of us, we well that nowhere near three-quarters of were ashamed, or we fumed in secret – but Spain was in Jewish hands. Like Herzl, he we kept silent. traffics in hyperbole to score his urgent But now Mauschel has finally done points. Jews obviously aren’t all crafty and something that deserves praise, that does us rapacious, but it can look that way to others honor and compensates us for many things who are inclined to believe it, and there the that we had to endure on his account. He has danger lies. “Strong nations are judged by broken with us. Mauschel, that was nice of their best sons; the weak, by their worst,” you! writes Herzl in “Mauschel.” By that yardstick, But we have spoken of Mauschel without Jews today are honored by the fearless having properly introduced him. Who is this example of Theodor Herzl, who labored until Mauschel, anyway? A type, my dear friends, his untimely death in 1904 to elevate the a figure that keeps reappearing over the ethical prestige, and national health, of his ages, the hideous companion of the Jew embattled people. and so inseparable from him that the two have always been confused with each other. A Jew is a human being like any other – no better and no worse, possibly intimidated ** Translation by Michael A. Meyer from his anthology, Ideas of Jewish History and embittered by persecution, and very (Detroit, 1987). The full Shevet Yehuda has yet to appear in English, but was steadfast in suffering.Mauschel, on the other published in Yiddish translation as early as 1591. In that edition, the self- hand, is a distortion of human character, criticism was toned down, and the bit about usury was excised from this passage. See Michael Stanislawski’s article, “The Yiddish Shevet Yehuda: A something unspeakably low and repugnant. Study in the ‘Ashkenization’ of a Spanish-Jewish Classic” (1998). Where the Jew feels pain or pride, Mauschel’s

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face shows only miserable fright or a mocking two, who at all times have been separated grin. In hard times, the Jew stands tall, but by a profound antipathy, have always been Mauschel cringes even more ignominiously. confused with one another. Is this not a When times get better, the Jew regards this horrible misunderstanding? as an admonition to be gentle, to be tolerant toward others, to work for the general welfare; Mauschel, on the other hand, becomes Strong nations are insolent and arrogant. In his much-tormented judged by their best sons; heart the Jew bears an unquenchable longing to attain higher levels of culture; but Mauschel the weak, by their worst. carries on his own dirty deals behind the masks of progress and of reaction alike. The These irreconcilable, inexplicable Jew endures poverty with dignity and trust antitheses make it seem as though at some in God; in wealth his heart opens wide to dark moment in our history some inferior all who labor and are heavy laden, and he human material got into our unfortunate voluntarily imposes a tax on his prosperity people and blended with it. Because within by means of large donations. In poverty human memory we have always been the Mauschel is a despicable schnorrer; in wealth weakest of the weak, it is Mauschel, rather he is an even more despicable show-off. The than the Jew, who has been regarded as the Jew loves art and scholarly pursuits; often representative of our national character. and for long periods of time these were his Strong nations are judged by their best sons; sole comfort in the isolation forced upon him the weak, by their worst. The Germans are a by a hostile society. Mauschel, on the other nation of poets and thinkers, because they hand, pursues even the arts and sciences have produced Goethe, Schiller, and Kant. only for the sake of vulgar profit. In every The French are brave and brilliant, because period merchants and artisans of profound they brought forth [the soldiers] Bayard yet modestly concealed culture could be seen and DuGuesclin, [and the philosophers] among our people; in such guises did the Montaigne, Voltaire, and Rousseau. We, Jew appear. One of them, Baruch Spinoza, on the other hand, are viewed as a nation ground lenses and viewed the world sub specie of hagglers and crooks, because Mauschel aeternitatis [from the aspect of eternity.] On practices usury and speculates on the stock the other hand, one could, and still can, see exchange. Mauschel has always supplied the rabbis, writers, lawyers, and doctors who are pretexts under which we were attacked. only crafty profit-seekers; that is the mark of Mauschel is the curse of the Jews. The Jews Mauschel. have always felt this instinctively; often The Jew is capable either of offering good Jews may have abandoned their people determined and honest resistance to the and the faith of their fathers because they government of his country as a matter of were unable to endure this association any conviction, or declaring his support of it. But longer. Thus Mauschel has weakened Jewry when Mauschel does not like those in power, from both within and without . . . he cravenly hides behind the opposition most [T]o the anti-Semites, Jew and Mauschel inimical to the state and secretly incites it; on have always seemed to be permanently, the other hand, when he fears the revolution, indissolubly, and irremediably linked . . . And he hurries to get police protection, and acts now, now for the first time, Mauschel has as an informer. That is why the Jew has done the Jews a moral service of unexpected always despised Mauschel, and Mauschel, magnitude. Mauschel is leaving the fold; in return, has called him a fool. Yet these Mauschel is an anti-Zionist! . . . Mauschel

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mocks, scolds, slanders, and denounces, for pray on behalf of the poor. Mauschel, get he senses that at last his goose is cooked. out of all posts in which you represent the He guessed this immediately and most Jewish people . . . And if it is true that only ingeniously, even before Zionism brought all the downtrodden and not the mighty cling its guns into action. Mauschel was quick to put to Zionism, then let the combined strength forward an insidious catchword against the of the unfortunates be mustered. We will Zionists: namely, that they are Jewish anti- see how things will turn out when we call a Semites. We? We, who acknowledge before boycott on Mauschel in every sphere. all the world, without consideration for our acquired positions and our advancement, Stuart Schoffman, that we are Semites; we, who, cherish the The arrow of Zionism is editor of Havruta and cultivation of our national heritage, who a senior fellow at the meant for Mauschel’s Shalom Hartman stand by our unfortunate brethren? But Institute, began his Mauschel figured out the lightning speed chest. journalism career as what we are: we are anti-Mauschel. a business reporter Mauschel has as good as come to terms When we formally slough off all those at Fortune magazine with anti-Semitism. After all, in civilized who oppose our national community, these in New York, and countries only the honor of the Jews is being rejects will be recognized as a motley crew. served for many attacked. Mauschel shrugs his shoulders. There is the financier who has so many years as a columnist What is honor? Who needs honor? If business skeletons in his closet that he is afraid of an and book critic at is all right and one’s health is good, one can equally suspicious Mauschel, the blackmailing the Report. live with the rest. If worst comes to worst, journalist, and pays him off. There is the His translations from Mauschel has his eye on distant places – not lawyer with a clientele that moves on the Hebrew include on , but on some country where he might periphery of the law . . . There are the shady Friendly Fire by A.B. Yehoshua and Lion’s slip in with some other nation . . . No true businessmen, the falsely respectable persons, Honey by David Jew can be an anti-Zionist; only Mauschel is the pious hypocrites, the mendacious men of Grossman. one. honor, the resourceful exploiters . . . All right, let him be one. This way we get Watch out, Mauschel! Here is a movement rid of him. This is one of the first and most which, even the anti-Semites admit, is not salutary results of our [Zionist] movement. contemptible. An emigration of unhappy We shall breathe a sigh of relief when we people under serious economic and political are completely rid of these people whom we threat to a permanent homeland is to be have had to view with secret embarrassment initiated under legal guarantees. Is that what as members of our own people. They do not you oppose, Mauschel? Is this what you seek belong to us – but we do not belong to them perfidiously to prevent because you see in it either! Is it not gradually becoming clear no immediate advantage for yourself? What what a sound people’s movement Zionism have you ever done for your “brethren?” is and that we shall reach the point where You have dishonored and harmed them, we shall purge ourselves of these shameful and now that they want to help themselves, elements? . . . No, we are not crazy enough to you try to stop them. Mauschel, watch out! take responsibility for Mauschel any longer. Zionism could act as [William] Tell did in More than that, an enemy should be treated the legend. When Tell prepared to shoot the like an enemy. Mauschel, get off that pulpit apple from his son’s head, he had a second which you have been misusing as a Protest arrow in readiness. If the first shot missed, Rabbi! We shall not attend services again the second was to serve for revenge. Friends, until the synagogues have been cleansed the second arrow of Zionism is meant for and rabbis who are good Jews may also Mauschel’s chest!

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