If there are riddles in the history of the nations, then the Jews most certainly present one of the chief instances; and, whoever has occupied himself with the problems of humanity, without advancing so far as the great problem of the Jews, has, so far as knowledge and experience of life are concerned, merely skimmed the surface of the subject. There is scarcely a field, from Art and Literature to Religion and Political Economy, from Politics to the most secret domains of sensuality and criminality, in which the influence of the Jewish spirit and of the Jewish entity cannot be clearly traced, and has not imparted a peculiar warp or trend to the affairs in question. That the Jews, however, in spite of their dispersion amongst the nations, still feel, at the present day, that they are a special people and a special race, and that they feel themselves united more by their common blood and race than by their religious creed, is testified to by one of the most illustrious amongst the people of Israel.
