[My Catholic elder brother passed on to me this old book:4th printing, 2nd edition 1967, hard cover, faded yellowish pages that he had to dry under the sun to make sure no mold and parasites had crept in.
I appreciate this gesture from an older brother as much as I appreciate another thoughtful gesture from my agnostic younger brother who carried in his luggage, a pewter Seder plate all the way from a recent trip abroad.
For a family of mixed faiths: Catholic, Evangelical, agnostic, un-churched Christian, and in my case—unheard of Sinaite, it brings great comfort to be accepted and not unfairly judged for my new-found belief, (i.e. relatively ‘new’ to me but as old as the time in biblical history of the giving of TORAH on Sinai). It is also a most pleasant surprise that my own siblings show even a passing interest regarding things ‘Jewish’ since they seem to think I’m a Jew-wannabe.
Such respect of different faiths could only stem from nonjudgmental parents —
- a mother who in her elderly years after a stroke, still seeking God, attended church services of different Christian denominations, evidenced by the wad of Sunday worship programs in her purse when she died;
- and a father who never went to church because he equated God with man-made religion, yet he stated in his last month of life “my religion is to be good and to do good.”
Such impact of parental influence on children is hardly noticeable but the legacy is there—in this case,
- a healthy respect for all faiths,
- but with courage to stand firm in one’s conviction.
Is that not the essence of living TORAH, written by YHWH in hearts and minds of persons who have never been exposed to it? Truly there is inherent good in man, but also the potential to do evil.
How we relate to the God of our faith is, after all, always a matter of individual CHOICE guided by the written TORAH for those fortunate enough to have been exposed to it, as well as the TORAH written in our conscience.—NSB@S6K
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As we do with our MUST READ/MUST OWN featured books, we reprint the “bookends” — Prologue and Epilogue, and occasionally selected chapters. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits to whet your appetite:
Inside Cover:
Einstein was an agnostic, Freud an atheist, Karl Marx a Protestant — were they Jewish? Was Elizabeth Taylor or Marilyn Monroe? Are Jews a denominational group, a nation, or a race? What makes them Jewish? Why can’t Sammy Davis, Jr. make it? How do they (or do they?) differ from Gentiles? What makes anti-Semites anti-Semitic?
Dr. van den Haag investigates the mystique about Jews created by their friends, their enemies, and, not least, the Jews themselves. Are they smarter than otherpeople? Do they have the golden touch? Why do they seem to have influence disproportionate to their numbers? It is remarkable how little is really understood about a people who have had so much impact on the history and destiny of the world.
Ernest van den Haag, for fifteen years professor of Social Philosophy at New York University and lecturer in Sociology and Psychology at the New school, has been a visiting professor at some of America’s most distinguished universities. A Guggenheim fellow in 1967, he is a practicing psycho-analyst, the author fo three books, and many papers in learned journals.
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Wikipedia: Ernest van den Haag (September 15, 1914, The Hague – March 21, 2002, Mendham, New Jersey) was a Dutch–American sociologist, social critic, and John M. Olin Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University. He was best known for his contributions to National Review.
Van den Haag was born in The Netherlands and raised in Italy, where, as a left-wing activist, he was nearly killed by a political assassin from Benito Mussolini‘s Fascist regime.[1] In 1937, he was jailed by Mussolini’s government and spent almost the next two full years in solitary confinement.[2] After escaping from Italy, and then fromNazi-occupied France, he settled in the United States in 1940. He eventually met and befriended William F. Buckley, Jr. He began writing articles for Buckley’s National Review, though he was never hired as a staff member. He would contribute columns to the publication for the next 45 years. Van den Haag was also a well-known defender of the continued use of the death penalty in the United States.[3] He also defended racial segregation in the 1960s arguing that integration would cause psychological harm to black children.[4]
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Amazon.com—Customer Reviews:
- 5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, October 25, 2004
- By Shalom Freedman “Shalom Freedman” (Jerusalem,Israel) – See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
This is an insightful work about Jewish history and character by a non- Jewish author. Van den Haag like Paul Johnson and Thomas Cahill later writes from outside the Jewish experience with real appreciation and understanding. Having read the book many years ago I will simply give one small insight of his. According to Van den Haag the intelligence involved in disproprotionate Jewish contribution to scientific and cultural creation came in part because among the Jews the most intelligent the learned were encouraged to have large families, while in the Christian world the most intelligent were priests and encouraged to be celibate. A counter- argument could be made pointing out the relatively small size of the families of the non- Hasidic Jewish leadership. In any case this is one small example of a book rich with insight and certainly worth reading.
FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN JEWISH CULTURE AND THE ROLE “THE CHOSEN PEOPLE” HAVE PLAYED IN WORLD HISTORY, THIS LITERATE, WRY AND AMUSING OVERVIEW IS FASCINATING. I FIRST READ IT IN THE ’60′S AFTER HAVING MOVED INTO A PREDOMINATELY JEWISH COMMUNITY AND WANTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY NEIGHBORS. THIS WAS THE PERFECT CHOICE AND ITS AUTHOR WAS A PROFESSOR IN NEW YORK CITY NEAR MY HOME. I TRACKED HIM DOWN AND TOLD HIM HOW MUCH I HAD ENJOYED IT AND WE HAD A DELIGHTFUL CONVERSATION THAT ENRICHED WHAT I’D ALREADY LEARNED. IT’S A BOOK OF ITS TIME IN SOME WAYS, BUT, SINCE IT CHRONICLES THE PAST AND PRESENT OF OVER 5,000 YEARS, THAT’S JUST AN INTERESTING FOOTNOTE. THIS COPY REPLACES ONE THAT GOT LOST IN A SUBSEQUENT MOVE.
In today’s politically correct culture, ‘The Jewish Mystique’ might be considered inappropriate. Written almost fifty years ago, it attempts to give insight into the commonly held beliefs, tendencies, quirks and stereotypes typical to the Jewish people.
For instance, it examines the Jewish reverence for education, how they feel about and interact with non-Jews, their belief systems, their fears and obsessions, their general hangups and pet peeves……Since a work such as this would be unthinkable in this day and age, the glimpse it provides into the collective psyche of this great but tortured people is rather rare.
This work was also written before the curse of Zionism took general hold of the Jewish diaspora. The Israel-centric obsessionism, the virtual hysteria created by Zionist fear-mongering, the rise of holocaust religion and industry, the anti-Palestinian racism, the ethnic cleansing, the massacre of civilians, the Apartheid Wall…..All of this was to come in the years after this book was published but it is somewhat easy to see, after reading ‘The Jewish Mystique’, how the Zionists were able to capture the Jewish heart and soul by exploiting many of that people’s hopes, fears and dreams.
The Jewish people remain an enigma. Obviously very great and gifted, prone to tortured introspection and self-doubt, capable of giving so much but also taking it away, with a habit of clinging tenaciously to myth and legend about both its history and its adopted homeland, forever at the centre stage of world history, what a people this is! Admirable at one time, disgusting at another, religiously zealous but also doggedly atheistic, The Jewish Mystique provides an attempt at understanding this dynamic and very formidable people.
An educating and interesting read.