The State of the Jews: A Critical Appraisal

265 Pages·2012·2.26 MB·English

by  Trilling

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Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2011032331
ISBN: 978-1-4128-4614-1
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alexander, Edward, 1936-
Th e state of the Jews : a critical appraisal / Edward Alexander.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4128-4614-1
1. Jews—History. 2. Judaism—History. 3. Jews—Politics and
g overnment—20th century. 4. Jews—Politics and government—21st
century. 5. Jews in literature. 6. Trilling, Lionel, 1905–1975—Political
and social views. I. Title.
DS117.A618 2012
305.892’4—dc23
2011032331
IN MEMORIAM
Lucy S. Dawidowicz
Emil and Rose Fackenheim
Sol and Lizzie Fox
Josef Hadar
Anna Levy
Lew and Rose Levy
Roy and Dagmar McClement
Bernard and Eleanor M. Saff ran
Marie Syrkin

Th e hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit
of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was
full of bones . . .
And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I an-
swered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest . . .
Th en said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man,
and say to the wind, Th us saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four
winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into
them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding
great army.
Th en he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house
of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost:
we are cut off for our parts.
Th erefore prophesy and say unto them, Th us saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come
up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your
graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves.
And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you
in your own land; then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken
it, and performed it.

—Ezekiel, 37

Contents
Preamble: A Walk through the Table of Contents—and
a Linguistic Alert xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
I Th e Victorian Background 13
Dr. Arnold, Matthew Arnold, and John Stuart Mill 15
II History 41
Britannia Waives the Rules: Antisemitism,
English-Style 43
British Philosemitism: A Th ing of the Past? 53
Medieval Zionism: Yehuda Halevi 59
Hitler’s American Professors 65
Hitler’s (Palestinian) Arabs 71
Beethoven and the Holocaust in Hungary 75
Israel’s “Original Sin”: Th e Refugees of 1948 81
“If I Am Not for Myself, Who Will Be for Me?”
Th e History of Commentary Magazine 87
End of the Holocaust? 95