The Lonely Nation of Faith

There are certain times, where as a Jew, I sense a deep existential loneliness that I have yet to have found a remedy to cure. Times, where it feels as if I have been destined to wander the world alone with no one to offer comfort for my afflictions, with no one to offer a hand to help. Perhaps this is the punishment that Adolf Hitler referred to when he said of the Jews, “You have surpassed all nations in impertinent fables, in bad conduct and in barbarism. You deserve to be punished, for this is your destiny.” A destiny of eternal loneliness, regardless of where we might be, for our destiny will always follow as an inescapable punishment.

I must confess. The sentence I quoted above was not said by Hitler, but rather by Voltaire. It was not uttered by a sadistic politician, but rather by one of the greatest philosophers and intellectuals of the Victorian period. It could have similarly been stated by Henry Ford, Charles Dickens, and various other prominent Jew-haters who walked the earth not too long ago. The fact is that it seems as if history indicates that antisemitism is the inescapable inheritance of the gentile. One could be rich beyond comprehension to the likes of Henry Ford yet still hate the Jew. One could be extremely talented and intellectually gifted like Charles Dickens or Shakespeare yet still despise the Jew. One could even claim to pursue loving kindness like Martin Luther or the Catholic Church yet still disdain the Jew. No matter how wise, educated, or materialistically gifted, the nations of the world cannot help but be consumed by their hatred of the Jewish people. That is exactly the reason why I feel so lonely. For I am the oldest oppressed man in the history of humanity. Oppressed not only by Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, but rather by the entirety of the human race.

I could write for days describing the extensive history of antisemitism among the nations of the world, spanning from biblical times to the modern age. How under the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Europeans, the Mongols, the Arabs, and all the other nations of the world we have been repeatedly oppressed and repressed, massacred and forcibly converted. I could write for days describing the gas chambers of my ancestors, the forced expulsions of my forefathers, or the endless rivers of blood and tears of those who came before me. 

After all, the Jews throughout history have been hated by all. The capitalists have accused the Jews of being socialists and Bolsheviks. The socialists have charged the Jews with being greedy capitalists. It is true, many of the Bolsheviks were Jewish. It is true, many of the great financial holders of history have been Jewish. The Jews throughout history have been despised for clinging onto their ancient beliefs, yet also for being too progressive, too willing to abandon the conservative order. It is true, many Jews still hold on to their ancient traditions. It is true, many Jews have eagerly thrown aside the causes of their forefathers in exchange for progressivism’s newest promises of salvation. The Jews have been historically hated by many because they kept too much to themselves. The Jews have been historically hated by many because they infiltrated everything, always quick to assimilate into their new environments. It is true, many Jews have valued seclusion. It is true, many Jews have valued integration and assimilation.

Of course, there is a reason for all of this. It is the same reason why the Jewish people are the most influential nation to have ever walked the earth. It is because ideologies, knowledge, religion, and culture are the only portable goods for a nation that has no home; for a nation that has almost always been physically and spiritually in exile. That is why Jesus, Spinoza, Marx, Freud, and Einstein were all Jews. That is why Jews have always been so influential as economists, scientists, ideologues, theologists, and even chess players. For we are a wandering nation alone in a world that hates us. Therefore the Jewish nation has invested all of its capital in the realms of intellect, philosophy, and metaphysics; for only those fields would never be dependent upon the goodwill of hostile landlords. That is why I am so lonely. For I am a member of a nation that for the majority of its history has existed solely within the confines of the mind. For no matter how well foreign nations may have treated their Jewish inhabitants, history has proven that such good fortune was merely temporary. Just as the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry came to an end, all such examples of positive treatment were merely exceptions that inevitably came to prove the rule. That is why even in the best and most prosperous of times, the Jewish people never diversified into fields within the physical world. For despite any tolerance directed at the Jews, inevitably with enough time, prejudice would soon arise again. Thus, even in eras of tolerance, the Jewish people could never overlook the fact that ultimately they would once again remain alone.

There is another element to the incurable feeling of loneliness that I so often feel. There is a certain loneliness that comes with being chosen and sanctified. A certain loneliness that comes with so many constraints and obligations. After all, when a Jew is born, he is given one full week to come to terms with the tragedy of his existence, and to brace himself for the heavy yoke soon to follow. On the eighth day, the most sensitive piece of flesh on the Jew’s body is cut off while onlookers feast in celebration of his first encounter with the Jewish experience. Of course, from that point forward the Jew will go on to be introduced to the many more obligations and responsibilities which he must carry with him at all times: forever differentiating and isolating him from any of his gentile peers. There is a heavy price of extreme loneliness for such intense moral obligations. Obligations such as to always insist that there is a moral drive to this world and that might does not necessarily equal right. Obligations such as to become partners with God in the making of a moral and just world to the likes of the visions of our prophets. And most of all, obligations such as to wrestle with God and with man no matter the cost. We are therefore more lonely than any other nation to ever walk the earth before us, for we have been designated to wrestle not only with the entirety of mankind, but with our own God as well. Of course, as a result, we the Jewish people are so often despised by the rest of humanity, may it be out of jealousy or out of anger, as our obligations demand we challenge the conventional order of humanity. 

I began this reflection with a claim that I have yet to have found a way to alleviate my loneliness. Once again, I feel that I must confess. There is a way to find comfort; there is a way to derive consolation. As our prophet Jeremiah instructed us, “Let him sit alone and keep silence, for the Lord has cast it upon him” (Lamentations 3:28). For there is something quite purifying in loneliness. It provides a certain eerie silence that if one is brave enough to truly listen, he might hear the merciless whisper of truth blowing in the wind. And in that whisper, one who listens may find the one and only source of comfort: the One and Great God. For even when we may feel alone, for even when we may feel that all the nations are against us, the God who wrestles with us is forever present and always whispers “Comfort, oh comfort my people” (Isaiah 40:1).