The Jaffa (or Joppa, or Yafo) promontory from the air, with modern Tel Aviv essentially surrounding it. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whatever else one thinks of Israel, whatever one\u2019s politics, Mark Twain asks\u00a0a marvelous question\u00a0here, one that is worthy of reflection:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. \u00a0It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. \u00a0Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. \u00a0He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. \u00a0His contributions to the world\u2019s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. \u00a0He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. \u00a0The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
A believer, I think, might justifiably see something more than earthly here.<\/p>\n
Posted from Tel Aviv, Israel<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Whatever else one thinks of Israel, whatever one\u2019s politics, Mark Twain asks\u00a0a marvelous question\u00a0here, one that is worthy of reflection: \u00a0 \u201cIf statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. \u00a0It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. \u00a0Properly, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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