Part 44 (2/2)
”_No_!” came in a vehement roar.
”_Hot aner etwas zu sagen gegen dem secretary_?”
”_No_!”
”_Hot aner etwas zu sagen gegen dem treasurer_?”
”_No!”_
Having thus shown his grasp of logical exhaustiveness in a manner unduly exhausting to the more intelligent, Wolf consented to resume his oration. He had scored a victory, and triumph lent him added eloquence.
When he ceased he left his audience in a frenzy of resolution and loyalty. In the flush of conscious power and freshly added influence, he found a niche for Pinchas's oratory.
”Brethren in exile,” said the poet in his best Yiddish.
Pinchas spoke German which is an outlandish form of Yiddish and scarce understanded of the people, so that to be intelligible he had to divest himself of sundry inflections, and to throw gender to the winds and to say ”wet” for ”wird” and mix hybrid Hebrew and ill-p.r.o.nounced English with his vocabulary. There was some cheering as Pinchas tossed his dishevelled locks and addressed the gathering, for everybody to whom he had ever spoken knew that he was a wise and learned man and a great singer in Israel.
”Brethren in exile,” said the poet. ”The hour has come for laying the sweaters low. Singly we are sand-grains, together we are the simoom. Our great teacher, Moses, was the first Socialist. The legislation of the Old Testament--the land laws, the jubilee regulations, the tender care for the poor, the subordination of the rights of property to the interests of the working-men--all this is pure Socialism!”
The poet paused for the cheers which came in a mighty volume. Few of those present knew what Socialism was, but all knew the word as a s.h.i.+bboleth of salvation from sweaters. Socialism meant shorter hours and higher wages and was obtainable by marching with banners and bra.s.s bands--what need to inquire further?
”In short,” pursued the poet, ”Socialism is Judaism and Judaism is Socialism, and Karl Marx and La.s.salle, the founders of Socialism, were Jews. Judaism does not bother with the next world. It says, 'Eat, drink and be satisfied and thank the Lord, thy G.o.d, who brought thee out of Egypt from the land of bondage.' But we have nothing to eat, we have nothing to drink, we have nothing to be satisfied with, we are still in the land of bondage.” (Cheers.) ”My brothers, how can we keep Judaism in a land where there is no Socialism? We must become better Jews, we must bring on Socialism, for the period of Socialism on earth and of peace and plenty and brotherly love is what all our prophets and great teachers meant by Messiah-times.”
A little murmur of dissent rose here and there, but Pinchas went on.
”When Hillel the Great summed up the law to the would-be proselyte while standing on one leg, how did he express it? 'Do not unto others what you would not have others do unto you.' This is Socialism in a nut-sh.e.l.l. Do not keep your riches for yourself, spread them abroad. Do not fatten on the labor of the poor, but share it. Do not eat the food others have earned, but earn your own. Yes, brothers, the only true Jews in England are the Socialists. Phylacteries, praying-shawls--all nonsense. Work for Socialism--that pleases the Almighty. The Messiah will be a Socialist.”
There were mingled sounds, men asking each other dubiously, ”What says he?” They began to sniff brimstone. Wolf, s.h.i.+fting uneasily on his chair, kicked the poet's leg in reminder of his own warning. But Pinchas's head was touching the stars again. Mundane considerations were left behind somewhere in the depths of s.p.a.ce below his feet.
”But how is the Messiah to redeem his people?” he asked. ”Not now-a-days by the sword but by the tongue. He will plead the cause of Judaism, the cause of Socialism, in Parliament. He will not come with mock miracle like Bar Cochba or Zevi. At the general election, brothers, I will stand as the candidate for Whitechapel. I, a poor man, one of yourselves, will take my stand in that mighty a.s.sembly and touch the hearts of the legislators. They shall bend before my oratory as the bulrushes of the Nile when the wind pa.s.ses. They will make me Prime Minister like Lord Beaconsfield, only he was no true lover of his people, he was not the Messiah. To h.e.l.l with the rich bankers and the stockbrokers--we want them not. We will free ourselves.”
The extraordinary vigor of the poet's language and gestures told. Only half comprehending, the majority stamped and huzzahed. Pinchas swelled visibly. His slim, lithe form, five and a quarter feet high, towered over the a.s.sembly. His complexion was as burnished copper, his eyes flashed flame.
”Yes, brethren,” he resumed. ”These Anglo-Jewish swine trample unheeding on the pearls of poetry and scholars.h.i.+p, they choose for Ministers men with four mistresses, for Chief Rabbis hypocrites who cannot even write the holy tongue grammatically, for _Dayanim_ men who sell their daughters to the rich, for Members of Parliament stockbrokers who cannot speak English, for philanthropists greengrocers who embezzle funds. Let us have nothing to do with these swine--Moses our teacher forbade it.
(Laughter.) I will be the Member for Whitechapel. See, my name Melchitsedek Pinchas already makes M.P.--it was foreordained. If every letter of the _Torah_ has its special meaning, and none was put by chance, why should the finger of heaven not have written my name thus: M.P.--Melchitsedek Pinchas. Ah, our brother Wolf speaks truth--wisdom issues from his lips. Put aside your petty quarrels and unite in working for my election to Parliament. Thus and thus only shall you be redeemed from bondage, made from beasts of burden into men, from slaves to citizens, from false Jews to true Jews. Thus and thus only shall you eat, drink and be satisfied, and thank me for bringing you out of the land of bondage. Thus and thus only shall Judaism cover the world as the waters cover the sea.”
The fervid peroration overbalanced the audience, and from all sides except the platform applause warmed the poet's ears. He resumed his seat, and as he did so he automatically drew out a match and a cigar, and lit the one with the other. Instantly the applause dwindled, died; there was a moment of astonished silence, then a roar of execration. The bulk of the audience, as Pinchas, sober, had been shrewd enough to see, was still orthodox. This public desecration of the Sabbath by smoking was intolerable. How should the G.o.d of Israel aid the spread of Socialism and the shorter hours movement and the rise of prices a penny on a coat, if such devil's incense were borne to His nostrils? Their vague admiration of Pinchas changed into definite distrust. ”_Epikouros, Epikouros, Meshumad_” resounded from all sides. The poet looked wonderingly about him, failing to grasp the situation. Simon Wolf saw his opportunity. With an angry jerk he knocked the glowing cigar from between the poet's teeth. There was a yell of delight and approbation.
Wolf jumped to his feet. ”Brothers,” he roared, ”you know I am not _froom_, but I will not have anybody else's feelings trampled upon.” So saying, he ground the cigar under his heel.
Immediately an abortive blow from the poet's puny arm swished the air.
Pinchas was roused, the veins on his forehead swelled, his heart thumped rapidly in his bosom. Wolf shook his k.n.o.bby fist laughingly at the poet, who made no further effort to use any other weapon of offence but his tongue.
”Hypocrite!” he shrieked. ”Liar! Machiavelli! Child of the separation! A black year on thee! An evil spirit in thy bones and in the bones of thy father and mother. Thy father was a proselyte and thy mother an abomination. The curses of Deuteronomy light on thee. Mayest thou become covered with boils like Job! And you,” he added, turning on the audience, ”pack of Men-of-the-earth! Stupid animals! How much longer will you bend your neck to the yoke of superst.i.tion while your bellies are empty? Who says I shall not smoke? Was tobacco known to Moses our Teacher? If so he would have enjoyed it on the _Shabbos_. He was a wise man like me. Did the Rabbis know of it? No, fortunately, else they were so stupid they would have forbidden it. You are all so ignorant that you think not of these things. Can any one show me where it stands that we must not smoke on _Shabbos_? Is not _Shabbos_ a day of rest, and how can we rest if we smoke not? I believe with the Baal-Shem that G.o.d is more pleased when I smoke my cigar than at the prayers of all the stupid Rabbis. How dare you rob me of my cigar--is that keeping _Shabbos_?” He turned back to Wolf, and tried to push his foot from off the cigar.
There was a brief struggle. A dozen men leaped on the platform and dragged the poet away from his convulsive clasp of the labor-leader's leg. A few opponents of Wolf on the platform cried, ”Let the man alone, give him his cigar,” and thrust themselves amongst the invaders. The hall was in tumult. From the gallery the voice of Mad Davy resounded again:
”Cursed sweaters--stealing men's brains--darkness and filth--curse them!
Blow them up I as we blew up Alexander. Curse them!”
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