In the last article, we talked about what diaspora is and why it should not be confused with ethnic group and community. This analytical essay is aimed to study in more detail the history of the formation of one of the two existing diasporas – the Jewish. The history of its formation goes back to ancient times and begins with the fall of the Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BCE. However, the massive growth of Jewish communities begins in the Hellenistic era as a result of social and religious persecution. A failed revolt (the Jewish War) against the Roman Empire led to the fall of the Second Temple and the expulsion of most of the Jews from Palestine. The geopolitical events of the time led to the formation of three major community clusters: Sephardic (Spain until 1492), Ashkenazi (mainly Germany), and Afro-Asiatic.
It should be clear that these communities had nothing in common with each other except religion. The Sephardim spoke Ladino, which is close to Spanish, and the Ashkenazi spoke Yiddish, which is still classified as a Germanic language. They were classic religious communities that were not only not friends, but also hostile to each other. Internal discrimination created hundreds of barriers to the formation of any model of unification. One of the best examples is the tradition of the Ashkenazi refusing to marry off their daughters to Sephardic men, and vice versa. Social welfare, social position, and family origin were the main criteria of life within each individual community. Their survival was largely made possible by Judaism, which created a wall with the exterior world. The Jewish religious nobility was prepared to have purely formal and business relations with that world.
Following the expulsion of Jews from radical Catholic Spain and most of the Central Europe, new community centres began to form. The first schools of Jewish political thought emerged in Hungary and Poland. The emergence of a significant class of secular Jewry in Europe and the Russian Empire changed not only the very understanding of the Jewish community, but also Jewish identity. A new generation of communal intellectuals, highly educated and raised on the works of the Enlightenment classics, reinterpreted the history of their people and their fragile position in alienation, setting out to create a new ideological platform around which to rally a thoughtful minority willing to take responsibility for the destiny of the Jewish people. Israeli Zionism became such a guiding star. Its founder, Theodor Herzl, was initially a supporter of the integration model, according to which Jewry is an integral part of the identity of the countries of residence. However, his views changed as a result of close contacts with the European aristocracy, which had an extremely sarcastic and negative attitude towards the Jews.
Historical background
Zionism, as a religious and political philosophy, arose in the depths of British Christianity (Anglicanism). Its founder is considered to be the English politician and theologian Henry Finch, who in his work “The World’s Resurrection or The Calling of the Jews” put forward the thesis about the need to initiate the return of the Jews to Palestine in order to fulfil the biblical prophecy. His followers, John Darby and William Blackstone, advanced this concept, declaring that Christians should establish Israel and protect it, since this mission was entrusted to them by God himself. This is how the ideology of Christian Zionism arose, which became widespread in the United States. Christian Zionism turned into a natural ally of Israeli Zionism. A configuration was formed in which Christian Zionism viewed Israeli Zionism as a tool for the fulfilment of its concept, and Israeli Zionism used Christian Zionism to lobby for the interests of the Jewish state.
Many noble Jewish families in Europe were sympathetic towards such attitudes and sought to avoid any activism so as not to irritate the locals. Herzl also harboured illusions for a long time, hoping that one day the Jews would become one of their own. Populism, which actively penetrated the European ruling circles after the Great French Revolution of 1789, played a significant role in these developments. The policy of emancipation (equalising the rights of European Jews with the rights of the local population) as one of the consequences of this revolution, created high expectations in the more affluent Jewish circles. They sincerely believed that they were living in the era of the fulfilment of the prophecy of the German thinker Johann Herder, according to which “a time will come when no person in Europe will inquire whether you are a Jew or a Christian; as the Jews will equally live according to European laws and contribute to the common good”. They believed in a miracle. And history tends to punish in the cruellest way those who choose to believe in miracles instead of analysis and reflection.
The reality was harsher. The Jews were liberated, not to be given freedom, let alone accepted into the ‘family’, but simply to be used for others’ self-interests. During the Napoleonic wars of 1805-1812, the members of the Jewish communities eagerly and enthusiastically enlisted in the armies of their countries (especially in Prussia), and their patrons gladly and proudly allocated significant funds for this. As soon as they were no longer needed, the rights previously granted to them in many countries were revoked, and the Prussian princes and counts, to whom the Jews were especially loyal, imposed stricter restrictions. Despite all these difficulties, they continued to naively believe that they had become a part of European civilisation.
The Jews ‘enjoyed’ the tender care of the authorities: they were forbidden to leave their neighbourhoods on Sundays; they were not allowed to marry before reaching the age of twenty-five (so that their descendants would be strong and healthy); on weekends they could only leave their homes at six o’clock in the evening; public parks and promenades outside the city were closed to them, and they were forced to walk in the fields. If a Jew was crossing the street, and a Christian townsman called out: “Show respect, Jew!”, the Jew was obliged to take off his hat. Undoubtedly, the purpose of this ‘wise’ step was to strengthen ‘mutual love’ and ‘respect’ between Christians and Jews.
Ludwig Börne, writer and publicist
The turning point in Herzl’s mind came during the ‘Dreyfus affair’, when the French, young and old, shouted the slogan “Death to the Jews!” In 1894, Alfred Dreyfus, a French army captain, was arrested and court-martialled on false charges of spying for Germany. Without waiting for the results of the investigation, most of the European newspapers (owned by the local bourgeoisie) condemned him, highlighting his Jewish origin. The idea was simple: if you are a Jew, then you are a traitor. It did not bother anyone that Alfred considered himself French and was one of the most patriotic officers serving in the General Staff. At that time, Herzl was finally convinced that the only solution to the so-called ‘Jewish question’ was the creation of independent state. Initially, there were not many supporters of this approach, since most wealthy Jewish families continued to live as if nothing had happened, demonstrating their loyalty to the locals.
Herzl, together with his closest ideological associates, spent a lot of time systematising the ideology and spreading it among the Jewish communities. In a fairly short period of time, they managed to attract the attention of many influential Jews around the world. The presence of ideology and the necessary critical mass of interested people made it possible to organise the First Zionist Congress, within the framework of which the creation of the World Zionist Organisation was announced. Herzl himself summed up the first conference with the following words: “In Basel I created the Jewish state”. In substance he was right, for he succeeded in impressing upon the minds and hearts of some of the Jewish nobility the idea of an independent Jewish state. This was a revolutionary idea, as the majority strongly opposed it (especially the Jews of France, Germany, and Switzerland), seeking to maintain their familiar comfort zone. They believed that their wealth was a charm against all troubles, and the fake smiles of the local elites were a sign of respect. In the future, as the Zionist leaders predicted, these mistakes cost the Jewish people dearly (the Holocaust).
It is not our task to delve into the history of the complex contradictions within Jewish communities, so it is important to focus on the key achievement in the form of the World Zionist Organisation, the first global Jewish political institution. Within this imperfect (but revolutionary) structure, a national aristocracy and a national bourgeoisie were forged, the interaction of which culminated in the creation of the State of Israel. The mission was accomplished: for the first time in millennia, the Jewish people received a chance to independently determine their destiny. The state assumed responsibility for the communities where the main resource for its survival and development – human capital – is concentrated. Since the late 60s, Israel has taken on a strategic task – the creation of transnational networks, the purpose of which was to influence the formation and implementation of foreign and defence policies of key countries in the Middle East. This task was accomplished, and with the direct participation of the state, the World Jewish Congress was transformed and strengthened.
Today, it is difficult to find a single country in the world whose leader does not consider the factor of Israel and its diaspora when making geopolitical decisions. The Jewish majority (like any other ethnic group) remains divided and disconnected: on the one hand, there is a confrontation between secular and Haredim (religious), on the other hand, there are internal divisions within each individual group. There are entire Jewish organisations advocating for the dissolution of the State of Israel (for example, Naturei Karta) and supporting its geopolitical opponents. Who is not there: individuals, parties, and movements for every taste and colour – moderates and reformists, right-wing radicals and left-wing socialists, Zionists and hyper-Zionists, parties of war and peace, supporters of repatriation and its fierce opponents. All this, naturally, testifies to the transformation of the Jewish people into an Israeli nation with strong immunity. The Jewish aristocracy created an ideology of an immutable value – the state, which, in turn, took on the function of protecting not only the aristocracy, but also world Jewry, even if the latter mistakenly believes that it does not need either this state or its protection.
