Vol. 68 No. 3 2001 - page 459

CLIFFORD
J.
MARKS
459
Spirituality in everyday life involves responsibility and transmission,
and this responsibility may not always be fairly distributed. Invoking
cabalistic doctrine, Mordecai proclaims that his thoughts will be carried
on by Daniel. One man and another may share information, but if the
exchange stops there, little edification of society transpires. Mordecai
reminds Daniel of the inextricable link between soul and body, a link so
profound that, though bodies may pass from the earth, the soul remains
in the ideas and actions of others who have been part of their lives.
These conditions vividly emphasize judaism's material/spiritual mix.
Judaism recognizes that death, or entrance into the traditional world of
spirits, should not end an individual's philosophical or spiritual work on
earth. Through Daniel's dedication, Mordecai's heart and soul remain
alive, informing others, though his body has passed away.
If
Daniel con–
tinues Mordecai's spiritual and philosophical explorations, then he can
develop a spiritual awareness among others. Ultimately, at least accord–
ing to Mordecai's vision, both Christians and Jews will profit from the
minority culture's "incursion" into the majority.
Eliot does not write
Daniel Deronda
to proselytize about the benefits
of Judaism. Instead, she complexly depicts a significant minority culture
within the British empire who, for too many reasons, had been subjugated
by prejudice and ignorance. Due to bigotry and ethnocentrism, the enrich–
ing worldly spirituality that Judaism promotes had been largely over–
looked within the majority British culture.
Daniel Deronda,
a traditional
English novel written by a renowned member of the English literati,
becomes the site for a detailed explication of Jewish spiritual practices and
customs. Judaism's ancient culture reached back into tradition and,
because Jews had been mostly marginalized, their practical survival
within Christian societies looked forward into modernity. Eliot found in
this minority culture an ideal ethical system already realized in the world.
The confrontation between majority and minority practice becomes
even clearer when Daniel meets Leonora Halm-Eberstein, his
Spanish/Jewish mother. In their discussion, she justifies having raised
him as an English gentleman. Her discourse represents the majority.
Daniel thinks of her speech as "conscious representation, experience
immediately passed into drama." Daniel had earlier said, "I wonder
whether one oftener learns to love real objects through their represen–
tations, or the representations through the real objects." But it is not
representation; it is misrepresentation. What Daniel must discover is his
Jewish heritage. He cannot just merely join the minority culture. In this
case, he cannot completely abandon his Christian upbringing, just as he
cannot transform entirely into a Jew (which he informs Mordecai). But
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