The Enigmatic Jew

France, 1894

A Walloon Huguenot preacher named Caspar Daubanton made a statement concerning the Hebrew people that is as current today as it was then.

Dubanton said:

“Judaism is still a living reality. It has been transplanted, it is true, from the Holy Land and has unquestionably suffered in the process of being torn from its roots, its locale, its soil, and its spiritual climate.

“But it is not dead. Since the Hebrews left Palestine, they have created things of great spiritual value - the Talmud, for instance. The spiritual creativity of Judaism has not withered. Judaism is not dead. It suffers from anemia. It has no anchor.

“It would regain its health if allowed to function unhampered, and that can only be if the Jewish people have back a place where they can work (and live) freely.

“There is a mystery about the people of the Hebrews, a mystery which both attracts and repels us. Sometimes I think that the mystery resides in the fact that they, unconsciously perhaps, as a people, are the bearers of God’s Word.

“We know they are. We feel they are. And deep down in our hearts we hate them for it. For we hate God and do not want to follow His law.

“In their mere presence there lies always, I find, a subtle, often unavowed and indefinable, challenge to us, something of a reproof, an accusation.

“They remind us of something which we do not like to be reminded. I think that there sits the core of the secret of Jewish persecution in Christian lands.

“The Jews are not safe anywhere, not in Russia, not in Germany, not in Holland, or in far-off America to which so many of them are fleeing these days from Russia.

“In moments of historical crisis they are first thought of, almost instinctively, as the convenient victim on whom to unload popular frustration and wrath and fury at governmental incompetence.

“In that case, Palestine is not a solution either. You say yourself that the Jewish people will find no security in the world until the hatred for God is eradicated and His Law is revered in the whole world.”

How true this is!!


	The Enigmatic Jew France, 1894 A Walloon Huguenot preacher named Caspar Daubanton made a statement concerning the Hebrew people that is as current today as it was then. Dubanton said: “Judaism is still a living reality. It has been transplanted, it is true, from the Holy Land and has unquestionably suffered in the process of being torn from its roots, its locale, its soil, and its spiritual climate. “But it is not dead. Since the Hebrews left Palestine, they have created things of great spiritual value - the Talmud, for instance. The spiritual creativity of Judaism has not withered. Judaism is not dead. It suffers from anemia. It has no anchor. “It would regain its health if allowed to function unhampered, and that can only be if the Jewish people have back a place where they can work (and live) freely. “There is a mystery about the people of the Hebrews, a mystery which both attracts and repels us. Sometimes I think that the mystery resides in the fact that they, unconsciously perhaps, as a people, are the bearers of God’s Word. “We know they are. We feel they are. And deep down in our hearts we hate them for it. For we hate God and do not want to follow His law. “In their mere presence there lies always, I find, a subtle, often unavowed and indefinable, challenge to us, something of a reproof, an accusation. “They remind us of something which we do not like to be reminded. I think that there sits the core of the secret of Jewish persecution in Christian lands. “The Jews are not safe anywhere, not in Russia, not in Germany, not in Holland, or in far-off America to which so many of them are fleeing these days from Russia. “In moments of historical crisis they are first thought of, almost instinctively, as the convenient victim on whom to unload popular frustration and wrath and fury at governmental incompetence. “In that case, Palestine is not a solution either. You say yourself that the Jewish people will find no security in the world until the hatred for God is eradicated and His Law is revered in the whole world.” How true this is!!