4 - The Jewish Contribution to (Multicultural) Civilization

Summary

AS A PERENNIAL minority the Jews seem always to need to fit in. One way to do this is to contribute, and to be seen to contribute, to the larger society, culture, and civilization in a meaningful way. The subject of ‘the Jewish contribution to civilization’, however, is usually thought of as referring to a certain type of Jewish apologetic rejoinder to modern antisemitism's denial of the possibility or reality of full integration of Jews into Western societies from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, and particularly after the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany. This kind of apologetic concentrated on describing how Jews contributed to or bene - fited the societies in which they lived, or humankind in general. The genre was common enough for the United States Library of Congress to coin the subject headings ‘Jews: Contribution to Civilization’ and ‘Civilization: Jewish Influences’.

It is noteworthy that this ‘contribution discourse’ appeared after the formal success of the Jewish political emancipation project, and the incubation of a high degree of Jewish acculturation to general European values and lifestyles. It was a sign of Jewish unease, frustration, and fear in the face of indicators that, despite Jews’ ‘good faith’ efforts to conform to the legal, social, and cultural demands of the emancipating societies, and notwithstanding legal guarantees of civil and political equality, their integration was in reality but partial, contingent, tenuous, and even revocable. The persistence of active antisemitism and unofficial or informal barriers to complete Jewish participation in social, cultural, and economic endeavours prompted Jews to attempt to demonstrate their worthiness to qualify as fully fledged members of society. Analysis of their contributions would serve this cause. At least it could bolster Jewish self-confidence and stiffen Jews’ resolve in continuing their struggle for acceptance. It was paramount that Jews themselves should have a sense of their own value and importance if they were to morally convince or legally coerce others to recognize finally that they really belonged.

Classic Contribution Discourse

The best-known examples of the genre of classic contribution discourse are Joseph Jacobs's Jewish Contributions to Civilization: An Estimate and Cecil Roth's The Jewish Contribution to Civilization.