Jewish Life In Modern Times

JEWISH LIFE IN MODERN TIMES BY ISRAEL COHEN Viril IIFTF. KX II. UNIKATUIXS AND TWO MAIS SKCIlXI ISWTKIN I MIKKIA HKVtSF. Ii ANI UiVihl. V KHWR1TTKK MKTEILIBN CO. LTD. 36 KSSBX STRBBT W. C. LONDON TO MY PARENTS PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION THE first edition of this work appeared at the outbreak of the Great War. Since then there have been such manifold and far-reaching changes in the conditions of the Jewish people that many parts of it have become obsolete, and this new edition has therefore necessitated not merely revision but the most extensive alterations in the greater por tion of the book. Most of the changes have resulted from the political settlement at the end of the War, particularly as expressed in the transformation of the map of Europe and the assignment to Great Britain of the Mandate for Palestine, whilst these epoch-making events have in turn exercised a varied and determining influence upon all aspects and rami fications of Jewish life. In mere numbers the Jews have grown daring the interval from 13 to I5j millions, an increase that has bei n accompanied by a marked redistribution in their dis persion, with a steady drift from East to West, All the multi farious changes that have occurred whether of a material, spiritual, or statistical character have been carefully traced and described, involving in the case of a few chapters only occasional corrections, whilst several chapters have had to be rewritten for the most part and others again have had to be replaced by entirely new ones In th t General Survey I have rewritten the chapter on Dis persirm and Distribution, giving the latest figures of the Jewish population in all countries, and taken note of the salientdevelopments in the heterogeneous composition of Jewry and th manifestations of its solidarity. In the section on the Social Aspect the revision has been mainly of a statistical nature in the chapters dealing with philanthropy, morality, ami racial and physical characteristics, with particular regard to the latest vital statistics. In the section on the Political Aspect the old chapter recounting Sufferings in Bondage viii JEWISH LIFE IN MODERN TIMES the conditions in pre-War Russia and Rumania has been replaced by a new one describing the emancipation of Eastern Jewry, with special reference to the provisions of the Minori ties Treaties, and the conditions in Soviet Russia, whilst the significant changes and additions in regard to political activity and State service, especially in connexion with the Great War, have all been embodied. Most of the section on the Economic Aspect has been rewritten owing to the fact that vast numbers of Jews are living in the States that were created or recreated, or that were reduced or enlarged in area, as part of the Peace, and that their conditions, especially in Soviet Russia, Poland, and the United States, present peculiar features of interest, both as regards occupation and wealth, whilst the currents of migration from Eastern Europe have been lessened in volume and deflected in direction. Under the Intellectual Aspect have been traced the simultaneous advance of secular education and the promotion of Hebrew culture, and likewise the further notable contributions of all kinds made to general culture and progress. Under the Religious Aspect note has been taken of the conditions of organization and administration in the Jewish communities in thepost-War States, as well as of the ceaseless inroads made by mixed marriages and apostasy not only in the West but also in the East. And finally, under the National Aspect, I have re-examined the conflict of the forces of assimilation and conservation, depicted the latter-day aberrations of anti-Semitism, and retold anew the story of the Jewish national movement and of the zealous labours to realize the Zionist ideal in a Jewish Palestine under the provisions of the British Mandate...