The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 129

Excerpt from The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 129: January-June, 1922 Now, if no other element entered into the Jewish problem than the question of this external relation, the real impe tus might be lacking for the abandon ment of the traditional attitude of non resistance. For the fierce pride of the martyr is still strong in the tortured breast of the Jew. But in these latter days other elements have entered into the problem, which compel the Jew to revise his attitude toward both his own inner world and the outer non-jewish world. These newer elements, indeed; deal with the spiritual problem of J ew ish life in the Diaspora; but they are us ually unrecognized. It is depressing to see the Jewish problem discussed, even by Jews, from without and not from within; as if its inner aspect did not mat ter; at all events, as if this were some thing in which the world at large need take no interest, it being the concern of a few Jewish zealots only. Over against this mistaken position, these very Jew ish zealots, who are far from obsolete, claim that the only way to solve the Jewish problem is from within. Find the right solution for the internal prob lem of the Jew, and the external problem, created by the persistence of anti-semi tism, will solve itself. These two modes of approaching the Jewish problem, the external and the internal, correspond with two eternal types within Jewry. It will do well to call these two types the extraverted Jew and the introverted Jew. Not a particularly pretty jargon, and in a way not very necessary, since the ancient prototypes of the introverted and ex traverted Jew are found, respectively, in the Pharisee and the Sadducee. The Pharisee was always intent upon the spiritual problem of the Jew; in order to solve it, he was ready to bring the greatest sacrifices he was the intro verted Jew. 'the Sadducee was always less spiritual, more worldly, more yield ing to the lure of the (environment. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.