Adelaidei Magyar Értesítő, 1980 (13. évfolyam, január-december)

1980-09-01

Jews owe no apology to Koestler ARTHUR KOESTLER is one of the great writers of the 20th cen­tury. Among his fellow Jews he has long been a controversial figure be­cause he insists that Judaism in the Diaspora is finished and that Jews should cither emigrate to Israel or completely assimilate. In his new lmok he ad­vances this well-worn thesis yet again, though lie uses un­likely patlis to get to it. The Thirteenth Tribe traces the history of the Khazars. a medieval people of Turkish stock whose kingdom occupied a strategic position at the gateway between the Black Sea and the Caspian, where it acted as a buffer preventing the spread of barDarians from the north and Arabs from the south. Historians have long been intrigued by the thought that in the year 740 the king of the Khazars adopted Judaism and made it the State religion of his kingdbm. Traditional Jewish accounts have it that the king chose Judaism because he was convinced of its truth: Judah Halevi produced a fascinating reconstruction оГ the religious dialogues which led up to the decision for con­version. Koestler may however be partly right in arguing that the conversion was po­litically motivated: the king­dom "could only maintain its independence by accepting neither Christianity nor Islam _ for either choice would have automatically subordi­nated it to the authority of the Homan Emperor or the Caliph of Baghdad." Gradually the Khazars lost their hegemony and by the middle of the 12th or perhaps the 13th century their king­dom had disappeared from the scene of history. In some form or other traces of the con­tinued presence in Europe of descendants of the Khazars have been discerned by a number of historians: Koestler argues that this presence was solid and significant. Many Khazars, he claims, emigrated and re-appeared elsewhere in By RABBI RAYMOND APPLE THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE - The Khazar Empire And Its Heri­tage, By Arthur Koestfer; Hutchinson, $14. eastern Europe, eventually to form the backbone of the great Jewish communities of those lands. As a result the major por­tion of world Jewry today, whose ancestors originate in eastern Europe, may well be of Khazar descent. It is an inviting theory and well worth considering, but Koestler has not put forward a watertight case. He fails to provide convincing evidence of a number of crucial assertions. For instance, can we be cer­tain that all or most of the Khazars did actually practise Judaism? How deep and how­­normative was whatever Ju­daism they practised? Can we be sure that, people of Khazar descent made up a larger ele­ment in eastern European Jewish communities than what Koestler calls “real” Jews? But even if Koestler is right, what does it prove? That not ail Jews can trace their descent back to ancient Israel, and some had ancestors who came from gentile tribes? That there is no such thing as a Jewish race in any scientific sense? True enough, but in making these statements Koestler has not discovered America. Others have said it before and perhaps even bet­ter. He feels that If he is right, “the term ‘anti-Semitism’ would become void of meaning, based on a misapprehension shared by both the killers and their victim*.’’ He flatters the killers: anti-Semites, like most purveyors of prejudice, are Irrational beings not likely to change their policies because they are ’’based on a mis­apprehension." And he insults the memory of the victims: what evidence has he that they accepted suffering because they labored under some misapprehension? Koestler is at pains to deny that his argument implies that Israel has no right to exist. "That right." he says, "is not based on the hypotheti­cal origins of the Jewish people, nor on the mythological covenant of Abraham with God: it is based on internat­ional law." Agreed, Israel’s right to exist is provided for. recognised and guaranteed by international law. but history and the biblical covenant cannot be so lightly dismissed. Even if not every Jew has ancestors who physically lived In ancient Palestine, every proselyte who enters the Jew­ish fold Identifies as a matter of course with Jewish history and Jewish yearnings for the Promised Land. A proselyte joins not only a faith but also a people, a culture, a coven­ant. and a set of ideals. It Is largely irrelevant to the theme of his book, but Koestler concludes by homing in again on ins favorite theory. In Israel, he states, the Jews are a nation with the trappings of nationhood: out­side Israel they have neither language nor secular culture of their own. and they are at best a religion. But that religion, he claims, is dying out in its orthodox form and all that remains is a residue of Old Testament ideas which has in any event long since passed Into the mainstream of Western culture. Hence there is no logical reason for Jews to remain Jews in the Diaspora, and they should either emigrate to Israel or assimilate completely. He puts this theory forward engagingly but bis basic premises and his version of the facts are opeii to grave doubt. The facts of Jewish life clearly show that there are J e w i s h languages tnotabifr Hebrew- and Yiddish) and there are distinctively Jewish expressions of culture. In ad­dition to religious bonds, there is a recognisable feeling of group belongingness which unites Jews. This does not make them into a nation in a political sense but they do possess a type of ethnicity. Indeed they have long experi­ence of participating in two cultures simultaneously — a concept which pluralistic societies have found enriching. It has been suggested that the Jews constitute an ethnic church, though they are unique In the way in which they synthesise peoplehood and religion. To say that traditional Ju­daism is dying out, as Koestler sweepingly asserts, is a caricature of the facts. There is something of a revi­val of tradition m Judaism today which will probably prove more significant in the long run than the tendencies towards secularism and ag­nosticism. Despite Koestler. Jews do not have wisst he calls a "Chosen Race doctrine." Jews are not a race and do not consider themselves superior. In so far as they have a notion of "chosenness.” it is that of a highly motivated group ciiarged with tasks of ethical and religious pioneering. Nor is Koestler right to de­clare that Jewish teachings have "become the common property of Jew and Gentile alike.” Some Jewish teachings are shared bv other faiths: but Koestler should read Abba Hillel Silver's Where Judaism Differed or similar works on the distinct«” concepts and ways, or patterns of concepts and ways, which maintain Ju­daism’s intrinsic value for it­self and the world. Jews everywhere, especially since the traumatic experiences of the Middle East wars of 1987 and 1973. are passionately dedicated to the survival and security of Israel. Greater or lesser numbers will undoubt­edly express their Idealism in action and go to five In Israel. But this does not mean that Koestler is necessarily right that Jews who choose to live outside Israel have no destiny in the Diaspora as Jews. A Jew for wnom his Judaism and Jewishness are satisfying and fulfilling has no need to apologise to Arthur Koestler for rejecting the advice to liquidate himself as a Jew simply because he happens to live in a Diaspora. BOOK OF THE DAY -л kommunista VnuuADAi.oM CSAKIS EGY MAGYAR SZELLEMŰ győzelmének alapfeltétele egy MAGYAR HITÜ és MAGYAR LELKŰ IF- nr.MORALizALT ks nemzeti hagyó TUD MAGYAR JÖVŐT TEREM ил A wnv V Л 1 МТГP F^* T )F.l К F.7.0 1 г J T -MANYOKKAL NEM RENDELKEZŐ IFJÚ SAG LÉTEZÉSE' (Lenini TEN]. 22 t -S

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