By William Markiewicz
A few days ago on French TV I saw a meeting in which Jewish Zionists, non-Zionists and a Palestinian confronted each other. If I remember, the subject was, "Is there a future for the Jewish people?" This was a highly emotional and very inconclusive discussion. Illustrating the confusion linked to the definition of Jewish people, one of the participants, a non-Zionist Jew born in Jerusalem, saw the future of the Jewish people in some international socialism dear to the pre-war Jewish association called "Bund." The Nazis saw a future for the German people in National Socialism and here comes a Jew who sees the future of the Jewish people in 'international socialism!' As Marx said, ideas have a tendency to repeat themselves, first as tragedy then as farce.
Instead of discussing the future of the Jewish people in an abstract way, why not start with a basic definition: 'What is a people?' A people is, first of all, the continuity of a group within a specific culture. It doesn't mean that this culture must be homogenous; as a matter of fact the culture of a people is the sum of its regionalisms. The living culture that creates a people and vice versa develops by growing and renewing itself constantly from the most popular to the most sophisticated levels and in all manifestations of the human spirit, whether slang, folklore, art, philosophy, sentiments, etc. Concerning Jews, there was a Jewish people in Biblical times of which we don't know too much because religion can give only a partial view of a society. Then came destruction by the Romans, Diaspora, and a new Jewish identity appeared, Sephardic Judaism in Spain. In the rest of Europe the Jews were communities enclosed in ghettoes. The Sephardic Jewish people had a very vibrant culture, and also participated in forming the Spanish popular fabric, along with Moors and Gypsies. The classical 'Romance espanol' has Judeo-Spanish roots. Then came the Inquisition, ending of this aspect of the Jewish people. I recall reading somewhere a fragment of a Jewish song or poem of the epoch:
"Perdimos bella Zion
Perdimos tambien Espana
Tierra de consolacion."
Then Ashkenaz Jewish culture reached its apogee in Central and Eastern Europe. Nazism ended this chapter of Jewish history. Now there is no Jewish people. It's as simple as that. Yiddish is becoming dead language like Latin, Greek and Celtic. It will exist for some erudites but it will not have the dynamism of constantly developing language. Now the Jews continue as communities more or less important throughout the world. Some of their members still keep their forefathers' culture. It cannot last. Consider the Italian American community: we know how powerful and rich are their Italo-American traditions. But, if some cataclysm wiped Italy from the surface of the earth, their Italianism would only echo the glorious Italian past linked to the old country. Latin America retains the Spanish and Portuguese languages without perpetuating Spain or Portugal. There is a Black culture in America but colour is a very powerful ingredient and this culture expresses itself mainly in slang and music. What is the future of the Jewish communities? Can they become the seed of some new Jewish people -- the fourth in the line? With globalization, which seems to envelop humanity in our epoch, it's not a very fertile ground for creation of a new people. Hassidic culture is fundamentalist religious culture. It can only be a fragment of a national culture, which must contain all antitheses. So, the question posed on this French program, "What is the future of the Jewish people" must have been twisted from the beginning and remains inconclusive because the participants were not ready to handle the question of culture and people at its roots.
Back to the index of the Vagabond 
William Markiewicz