THE SERMON
177
The chairman was overborne and submitted in silence.
"I'm not wandering from the subject. I'm speaking about prin–
ciples, about basic things...." Yudka fumbled wide-eyed, his earnest–
ness written on his face and his mind obviously entangled and exalted,
laboring and driving to something.
In a short while, he began again:
"I've already told you, and I beg you to remember that a
special, perverted, fantastic psychology has grown up among us, if
I may say so, a moonlight psychology, altogether different in every
way from other people's.. . . We love suffering, for through suffering
we are able to be Jews; it preserves us and
r:
taintains us, it proves
we are bold and heroic, braver than any people in the whole world.
I admit, I am forced to admit that this is heroic indeed, in a certain
sense. Men, you know, abuse many fine and noble words ... in a
certain sense suffering is heroic. And in a sense even decay is heroic
and degradation is heroic . . . that is exactly the kind of people we
are. We don't fight, or conquer, or rule. We have no desire, no will
for it. Rather, we submit, we suffer without limit, willingly, lt Ningly.
We say, actually: You shall not conquer us, nor break us, nor de–
stroy us! There is no power on earth strong enough for that . . .
because power has its limits, but there is no limit, no end to our
suffering.... In fact, the more we are oppressed, the greater we
grow; the more we are degraded, the greater we think is our honor;
the more we are made to suffer, the stronger we become. For this is
our staple food, it is our elixir of life.... It's all so beautifully ar–
ranged! A character like that, imagine it, a nature so perfected .. .
and that explains everything: Exile, martyrdom, Messiah . . . these
are three which are one, all to the same purpose, the same inten–
tion. ... How is it put, somewhere: 'The threefold cord. .. .' "
"'And the threefold cord is not quickly broken,' " contributed
one of the committee.
"That's it!" Yudka seized upon the verse excitedly. "Not quickly
broken! Not quickly! Never, never.... These three support each
other, aid and .abet each other, so that never will the Jews be re–
deemed in all the world . . . so that they wander from nation to
nation and country to country, age upon age to the end of all ages,
the weight of the laws falling upon them, the fury of the lawless rising
against them, everywhere trials and tribulations and foes and hatred
