Return to the Promised Land.. Jacek Surzyn
soon, and first wars between nations (peoples) broke out within the great human organism, which in a way resulted from the poor development of the so-called means of production (Hess mentions specifically science and universal industrialization, but includes both of them in the broadly understood socialist formula of means of production), and hence, ←61 | 62→from their insufficiency, as a result of which ground was never able to feed the residents living on it.
The competing peoples established a certain hierarchy, resulting in something that Marx referred to as the era of slavery. That ancient situation called by Hess the “beast state” (Thierereich) ended with the development of science and industrialization, the era of slavery was replaced in the sphere of philosophy and human spirit by rationalism and modern science, and in the sphere of social relations and economy by capitalism.91 Further development mostly referred to labor relationships, which in capitalism involves the abuse of others. As a classic socialist, Hess points to the evil occurring in capitalism, resulting from the intermediation in the “exchange” of labor, that is, the existence of a group of people that use the effects of others’ (workers’) labor but do not work themselves. The development of social awareness, however, leads to changes that the author observes currently (and to a certain degree anticipates for the nearest future). An important factor of changes is obviously the growing awareness on the part of workers – not only class, but also national, patriotic awareness. On this basis, it is possible to build the foundations of free associations, changing, not only internal class relationships, but also broader social relationships in the racial sense. Associations may also cause the formation of political power able to achieve important goals in the political way. Hess claims one effect of such activity is the political pressure connected with the formation of a national state around a specific territory, in which social relationships must be radically improved. For Jews, this is a huge chance for the implementation of their historic mission. Hess perceives them as the avant-garde of the world revolution occurring, not in a rapid, military or armed way but through cultural and socio-political change. The ally of Jews may be the whole working class, gradually enhancing their political awareness.
In this context, it seems more important to consider the political situation in which the creation of the Jewish state could be successful. Hess proves to be the protagonist of later activities and political solutions taken by Zionists, with Theodor Herzl as the primary figure. He can see first of all the meaningfulness ←62 | 63→of political actions, although he does not specify what actions these could be. Moreover, he does not see the need to create any philosophical or mental background for the Jewish community that could represent them politically abroad. Hess feels the main ally in political activities is France, the cradle of revolution and the related social transformations related. The author vaguely presents the concept of a certain type of alliance between the Jewry and France, trying to find some similarities between the two nations (though he is not very successful). He believes that for France the alliance can be beneficial both in the internal and external aspect. We must remember that France is the cradle of emancipation of Jews, and in this meaning, France has become involved in solving the problem of the contemporary “Jewish Question.” Jews and the French have a common area of interests, which may make them potential allies and be very beneficial for the Jewry, because it offers a political instrument supporting the implementation of the idea of the Jewish state.92 At the same time, according to Hess, it was the French people who contributed to the arousal of greater national awareness in the Diaspora.
A further task is vested in Jews themselves, who must restore the national cult as part of the Messianic idea. Hess believes that Jews are at the beginning of this road, although the symptoms of changes are already present. The strength of the Jewry is growing and despite some disrespectful views of political elites that are less willing or hostile to Jews, Jewish awareness is also changing along the social transformations. But in the environment, the stereotype of Jews based on centuries-long anti-Semitism is still common. Hess writes plainly that the Jewish circle is also contributing to reinforcing the image of Jews’ tendency to uphold the old, outdated mentality. The author illustrates it with an example and diagnoses: “You ←63 | 64→smile at my innocent belief in Jewish patriotism. You have undoubtedly read the Ghetto Scenes and you will possibly remind me of the hero, Mendel Wilna, who possessed a fixed idea to persuade the Rothschilds to devote their capital and energy to the rebuilding of the Holy City and Temple, but who only succeeded in winning over a child to his pious belief. The child, when he grew up and attended the University became so wise that he concluded that only children and fools can dream of rebuilding Jerusalem. … [T];he Jewish poet did not see any deeper meaning in the patriotic feeling of pious Jews than considering them merely as a kind of Jewish Christmas trees, able to amuse only little children and elderly fools. All this … applies to the modern poet who is influenced by the Germanic spirit and not to a poet like Judah Halevi, who poured out his heart’s blood in his Jewish poetry. Halevi, actuated by longing for the land of his dreams, grasped the pilgrim’s staff, only to find a grave for himself in his beloved land.”93 It is clear, then, that currently, Jews are still perceived through the stereotype that does not have much in common with the reality. It is a very skeptical image, because it presents the Jewish community as backward, closed in Diasporas and sticking to old messages, mainly the idea of return from exile and the reconstruction of Jerusalem as the symbol of return to the Promised Land. For many centuries, the image of exile has affected Jewish historical and social awareness. It also determines the Jewish attitude to the external world, which was, let us say, neutral. The Diaspora was not very much interested in what was going on outside, and an average Diaspora resident had little contact with the non-Jewish environment, or rather it was limited to the necessary minimum (mainly economic). Obviously, Jewish elites and so-called court Jews had much more contact with the external ←64 | 65→world, but practically, the Jewish community en masse remained more or less isolated for centuries.94
Emancipation changed the conditions and forced Jews to act. Paradoxically, the very process initiated with the French Revolution was a tragic change of position for Jews, leading to dramatic choices between their origin (including faith) and the reality of economic and social life. The bankruptcy of emancipation seems obvious for Hess, just like the futility of assimilation.95 He treats the tradition and orthodoxy as a link that is an important – perhaps, the most important – motivation for Jewish activity. This, of course is the desire to return to Zion. In this sense, the first step to the implementation of the slogan “next year in Jerusalem” was the philanthropic activities connected with the colonization of Palestine. Hess considers this process to be a positive aspect and good foundation of building the Jewish state in Palestine. Aliyah involved substantial influx of Jews to Palestine, and thus it was a significant step toward political solutions faced by the Jewish community. Undoubtedly, colonization and aliyahs paved the way for the achievement of the most important postulate of Zionism: the establishment of the Jewish state, even if the originator of the movement, Theodor Herzl, initially did not focus on Palestine as the location of the future country. Israel was created in Palestine, because it was the only place where the Jewish state could have been created. Hess could see positive aspects of the process of colonization of Palestine nearly a hundred years before the announcement of the establishment of Israel, seeing twofold benefits in it: first, the influx of ←65 | 66→Jewish people provided the general foundation for building Jewish statehood, and second, the circle of colonists pursued the postulate of new social awareness, strongly rooted in socialist ideals, with the self-awareness of workers, patriotism and the national sense. In this context, the Jewish community of Palestine was an excellent ground for the development of Messianic mission of the Jewish nation as the leader of the whole mankind and human society.96 Hess saw the possibility of managing the huge capital included in the Jewish colonization of Palestine. He appreciates the role of great philanthropists, although he can also see the dangers of their dominance over the rest of the Palestinian Jewish community. Still, Palestine is for Hess a great hope for implementing the Messianic idea.97
The political solution that the author can see is connected with looking for allies and political support for the plans of establishing the national state. Among the allies, he definitely counts France, then the developing nations of the Western (capitalist) world. Hess is convinced that nationalism thriving in Europe even in the middle of the nineteenth century must have a positive influence on the position of