Exactly 150 years ago, something happened in Great Britain. Benjamin Disraeli, whose name immediately discloses his ethnicity, was appointed prime minister of the United Kingdom, becoming the first Jewish head of government in modern times. And not just any government – in the late 19th century, Britain was at the apex of its greatness and was unquestionably a superpower. In the spirit of the Purim holiday, we could compare Disraeli's status to that of Mordechai, who was the right hand of King Ahasuerus.
Shortly before his bar mitzvah, Disraeli's father had him baptized as a Christian, but his opponents always saw him as a Jew. When they mocked him, he proudly underscored his Jewish heritage. When he was head of Parliament, the Christian wording of the parliamentary swearing-in was canceled, allowing Jews to be elected MPs. Disraeli broke the glass ceiling: After he achieved greatness, ambitious Jews made their way up the ladder in other countries. Our fellow Jews began reaching the top in one place after another, sparking the question: "Is this good for the Jews?"
No one disputes Disraeli's greatness as a British statesman, but in the Jewish context, his influence was mixed. On one hand, he fought for full civil rights for British Jewry and promoted the integration of Jews into society as equals. On the other hand, whether he wanted it or not, his religious conversion hinted that the way to success for Jews was to abandon Judaism, and sadly paved the way for many European Jews to do just that. In addition, the fact that a Jew was prime minister led to outbreaks of vicious anti-Semitism in countries that felt harmed by British policies. This was a new form of anti-Semitism based on racial hatred: Even though Disraeli had left Judaism and his policies served Britain's interests, entities hostile to Britain turned their hatred of him into hatred of his entire race.
Disraeli liked the vision of Jews returning to the land of Israel and helped introduce it to his political and social circles. Even before he entered politics, he did so as a writer. He gave a voice to the aspiration to return to Zion in his 1847 novel "Tancred: The New Crusade." A few decades later, these efforts started to bear fruit. Disraeli's followers, a lobby of Christian Zionists in the British leadership, promoted the idea of a national home for the Jewish people and backed the Balfour Declaration.
The precedent of a Jew as leader of a non-Jewish government awakened the question of Diaspora Jews' double loyalty. No matter what they do, they will always be suspected of trying to promote Jewish interests. In an attempt to avoid such suspicions, they will do everything possible to shake their ties to Judaism and possibly even attack it publicly. There is an inherent conflict between being completely patriotic and being completely Jewish, and it only increased once the State of Israel was founded. So for most Jews who reached top positions among the nations of the world, the Jewish issue paid the price. It's very doubtful that we would have gotten American recognition of our eternal capital if a Jew was currently president of the U.S. It seems that what was possible in the time of Mordechai and Ahasuerus is impossible today.
