474
PARTISAN REVIEW
tion, every criterion breaks down in the face of the multiplicity of
facts concerning the beliefs and behavior of those who call them–
selves Jews or are called such by others.
Religion, for example, is not a differentiating factor. Those who
subscribe to a particular form of Jewish religion still regard those
in the J ewish community who reject this form---or any form of re–
ligion-as Jews. What is even more to the point, the non-Jewish
community does not regard religion as a differentiating factor. It does
not distinguish between religious and irreligious Jews or believe that
"Jewishness" is washed away in the waters of baptism. I recall being
asked, during the thirties, to join an organization which called itself,
"The Society for the Help of Non-Aryan
(!)
Christian Refugees."
What is true for religion is true for any other trait of differen–
tiation-physical appearance, psychology, culture, language, political
faith. This may be roughly established as follows. Take any trait "x"
or combination of traits,
"X
S
"
which is presented as
the
mark of Jew–
ishness. Classify all those who are regarded or who regard themselves
as Jews, East or West, North or South, in an order ranging from
those who manifest the least amount of x, or x
S
,
to those who display
the most. It will then be found that the difference between Jews who
possess the least and the most amount of x, or xs, is greater than the
difference between most Jews and most non-Jews in respect to this
trait.
This
is clearly so in the United States, and if on a world-scale
we include Jews in the fastness of Yemen, the Caucasus, and
Abyssinia it is even clearer.
Some think that they can define the Jew in terms of origin as
one whose ancestors were of the Hebraic religious faith. The difficulty
with this is twofold. There are some who are not regarded as Jews,
and who do not regard themselves as Jews, whose ancestors many
years ago were of the Hebraic faith. Second, how many ancestors
professing the Jewish faith does one need-one grandparent, two or
three, one great-grandparent, two or three? Every decision is purely
arbitrary. No wonder an antisemitic mayor of Vienna, when taxed
with close friendship with J ews, retorted:
erWer
Jude is!, dass be–
stimme ich."
Paradoxical as it may sound, the only formal definition of a
Jew that can be given which will do justice to the various ways in
which the term "Jew" is used is this:
erA
Jew is anyone who for any
