Jewish History, S. M. Dubnow [smallest ebook reader TXT] 📗

to-day, it leads an historical life, striding onward in thepath of progress without stay or interruption. Deprived of politicalindependence, it nevertheless continues to fill a place in the worldof thought as a distinctly marked spiritual individuality, as one ofthe most active and intelligent forces. How, then, are we todenominate this omnipresent people, which, from the first moment ofits historical existence up to our days, a period of thirty-fivehundred years, has been developing continuously. In view of thisMethuselah among the nations, whose life is co-extensive with thewhole of history, how are we to dispose of the inevitable barriersbetween "the most ancient" and "the ancient," between "the ancient"and "the modern" nations--the fateful barriers which form themilestones on the path of the historical peoples, and which the Jewishpeople has more than once overstepped?

A definition of the Jewish people must needs correspond to theaggregate of the concepts expressed by the three group-name