Hess thinks that the problem of Judaism lies somewhere else, not in the lack of strong dogmas which would determine the skeleton of faith. The strength of Judaism is the constant reference to God and looking for the way to know and experience Him. Jews maintained an important aspect of religious experience based on diligent study of God’s Word and emphasizing God’s unity and singularity in the world (monotheism). All this is part of the absolute obligation of each Jew, which cannot be renounced by any external circumstances. For Hess, this attitude is resistant to any unwholesome reform attempts, abounding in philosophical concepts since the enlightenment period, which along with the clear glorification of reason considered any expressions of traditional religion ←39 | 40→as the “opium for the masses,” as remarked generally by Karl Marx.52 Obviously, the author notices that Judaism too is full of various reforming attempts, referring to the blowing of a “new spirit.” But all these reform attempts were treated like heresies, not having anything in common with the essence of the Jewish faith, and hence, in the Diaspora all these tendencies were strongly opposed and condemned by rabbis guarding the true cult.53 From this perspective, according to Hess, Judaism is a natural basis for nationalism, in which the most important aspect of the proper experience of faith was never lost in history: “A Jew belongs to his race and consequently also to Judaism, in spite of the fact that he or his ancestors have become apostates. It may appear paradoxical, according to our modern religious opinions, but in life, at least, I have observed this view to be true. The converted Jew remains a Jew no matter how much he objects to it. At present, there is but little difference between the enlightened and the converted Jew. My friend, Armond L., whose grandfather had already been converted, is more interested in Jewish affairs than many a circumcised Jew, and he has preserved his faith in Jewish nationality more faithfully than our enlightened rabbis.”54 So, in Hess’ opinion, being a Jew is inborn and conversion does not has to cause a heresy and departure from the true sense of the Jewish faith. In Judaism, there is only the phenomenon of apostasy, but does not have to always lead to the denial of the essence of Judaism either. Hess proposes another approach to this phenomenon, which does not need to automatically lead to heresy. The author refers to his concept of race, which characterizes both the physical and mental affiliation, together with the cultural encumbrance. The expression of the race is the sense of national identity, on the basis of which modern nationalism can be ←40 | 41→built. In this respect, Judaism has everything that is necessary for the achievement of this postulate – and this is its strength.
Each nation has its own national culture. As for Jews, their culture originates from its own national content. For this reason, Jews’ attitude to the cultures of other nations among which they live can only be superficial and no process of assimilation and emancipation can change it. At the same time, according to Hess, Judaism is changing internally also under the influence of historical changes in the environment. The author is convinced that these changes are the consequence of the necessary historical process, which involves three eras important for the Jewry. The first one was the development of the Jewish law after the exodus from Egypt, when a new covenant was made with God and the proper form of Judaism was achieved through Moses. The second important era of law development was the period after the Babylonian captivity, when Jews, though not all, returned to Palestine. This was the time of the Diaspora formation and the development of Jewish social life in two areas: one in Palestine, and the other, which has actually remained till the modern times, was life in the Diaspora, out of the Promised Land. Hess expresses the view that currently the time is coming for the third great era, which will be the time of liberating Jews from the third exile. He criticizes the condition of the Jewry as a consequence of phenomena occurring in the second one, because no reforms introduced by rabbis referred to the real spirit of Judaism, so the leaders of the Jewish nation fail to understand the real essence of Judaism and the fossilized orthodoxy based on inertia and conservatism is becoming even stronger. According to Hess, most rabbis fail to see the real essence of the problem of reform. In the time of revolutionary changes and the development of national awareness, Judaism faces the task of joining the key reformers, which in a way also accomplishes the religious postulate of proselytism, which – although rejected by Jews long ago (actually, the universal proselytism was adopted by Christianity from Judaism) – must be revived now.55 For Hess, Judaism has beautiful national and philosophical tradition, which can serve as an excellent foundation for new reforms. The history of Jews, even since the ancient times, has abounded in examples of heroic fighters for national liberation, and for two thousand years, also the hope for return from exile and national restoration.56 Jewish pursuits could be threatened by the ←41 | 42→traditional oral transmission of rules (Oral Torah), which made Judaism prone to many interpretations, including false ones. The author means particularly the metaphorical meaning of the so-called oral tradition, which fossilized too much around the exclusive worship of the Book alone, thus, becoming a cliquish field inaccessible for the majority and no longer shaping the significant spirit of national awareness among Jews. But this threat is the thing of the past, and the whole reformatory focus and effort should be oriented at restoring the national tradition through the worship of national heroes from the past and building the Jewish national myth on that basis.57 This is the task for contemporary reformers. Hess underlines that it is necessary to arouse in Jews again the long forgotten and repressed national pride based on the belief about the importance of the Jewish religion for whole mankind, and on the conviction of the importance of the covenant made between God and the chosen nation, which is the representative of the whole mankind with universal humanism in view. The author observes that the greatness of Judaism lies in its sources: Jews became the chosen nation, it was them that God made the great covenant with, and they serve the significant role of representatives of humanity. This gives Jews certain privileges as the leaders of all people, but it also makes them face the great challenge of leading the whole progress and reforming the whole mankind so as to achieve the idea of humanity and universal humanitarianism. Hess is sure that the consequence of Jews accepting this challenge will be the coming of the third epoch of liberation, resulting in the coming of a new era and the restoration of the Jewish state.58
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Further, Hess refers to the current condition of Judaism, pointing out that in Judaism, just like in the whole surrounding world, two opposing tendencies are dominant. Both tendencies are a response to the social changes initiated by the French Revolution and the overturning of the previous social life order, but also by the new approach to the world and a human. The only tendency Hess evaluates critically is the dramatic attempt to save the faith by protecting its naïve traditional “old” form. According to the author, it is simply an unreflective attempt to turn back the history and a dramatic response to negative tendencies of the contemporary world, first of all involving highlighted the issue of nihilism and alienation as the consequence of the changes.59 Hess strongly criticizes this approach, claiming it is very dangerous and not only fails to perform the historical ←43 | 44→role of Judaism but also prevents it.60 It has triggered the response of opponents, whom the author identifies with the second tendency associated with reform attempts occurring in contemporary Judaism. Those reforms are usually made as a negative response to the opposite view, and thus, as Hess stresses, reformers go the wrong way, because practically each of them proposes his own way of reform, which means extensive fragmentation, not to say chaos, with no consistent vision that could convince Jews and change the life of the Jewish Diaspora. Hess argues that all reforms made in this spirit are ineffective, because they basically prove to be not very relevant in the context of quick social changes. They lack the vision of historical dynamism in identifying the core of the Jewish religion and culture, which would ensure the desired effects of the reform.61
A reformative tendency similar to the one Hess observed in the German Jewry is also visible in the circle of French Jews, although the French Diaspora functions in a different reality. For the author, a classic example of reformative utopia in the French community is the mission of Joseph Salvador. Salvador states (and Hess agrees with him) that despite some distinct behaviors, French Judaism involves some inclinations to combine various historical cults and incorporate them as a part of reform by the old orthodox faith. Salvador himself is an excellent example of the consequences of such a view. Hess writes skeptically that Salvador arouses in Jews the desire to return to Jerusalem, he promotes the slogan of establishing the Jewish state (or something