An excerpt from the brochure “The Only Way Out.”

What kind of a secret are we talking about? It is an idea, expressed in just five words: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Any secret has a price. The price of this secret is anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitism is not an accident or someone’s whim. It appeared simultaneously with the Jewish people, whose father, as everyone knows, was Abraham.

“A people, a nation, is like a tree which is born with its own shadow. The higher the tree, the longer its shadow. If you like, you may call it not a shadow but fate. The shadow of the Jewish people is prophecy-vision of the end of the days. The shadow of the Romans was fame, domination of foreign lands. The shadow of the Russians is anti-Semitism.” (Albert Einstein)

What is the relationship between the ethical principle of “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and anti-Semitism?

First of all, let’s look at things realistically. It is unlikely that someone other than the finished idealists believes that this ethical ideal corresponds to human nature. The latest world events confirm this once again. We know this; this is what is happening before our eyes. In fact, the world is at a dead end.

And yet, imagine for a moment that someone in some unimaginable way has managed to conform to this principle. What will happen then? Then, there would be hope that everything could be different. And this is important. Then, we would have the confidence that it is possible to treat everyone nicely, and everyone will treat everyone else in the same way. Then, violence and cruelty would disappear. Then, nations would become friends and live in peace. Hunger and poverty would vanish…

But it is a utopia, everyone would say, and they would be right. It is not possible today, and it was not possible yesterday. And yet, human history has one exception to this rule—the people of Abraham.
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Related Material:
You Won’t Be Able To Hide
Anti-Semitism as a Natural Phenomenon
A People Of The Idea

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