Joseph Roth - The Antichrist

All the fathers blessed their children. All the women wept in front of silver candlesticks. All friends embraced each other. All enemies begged one another for forgiveness. A choir of angels sang out to Judgement Day. Soon Jehovah opened the formidable book in which the sins, punishments and fates of the year are laid down. Lights burned for all the dead; others burned for all the living. The dead were separated from this world and the living from the hereafter by only a single step.

The great prayers began. The great fast had already begun one hour before. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of candles burning in a row and one behind another, bent over and mingled flames as they melted together. From a thousand windows erupted shouted prayers to be interrupted by nearly silent, low other-worldly melodies that seemed to echo the singing of Heaven.

People stood shoulder to shoulder in all the synagogues. Some threw themselves upon the ground, rose after a long period, sat down on stone tiles or footstools, crouched for a time and then sprang up suddenly, shook their upper bodies and ran continually to and fro in the small chamber. Whole houses, ecstatic outposts of prayer, were full of white shrouds, of the living who were no longer here, of the dead who were now alive. Not a drop of water crossed those dry lips to refresh those throats that were crying out so great a lamentation — not into this world but, rather, into the heavenly world. It was dreadful to think that no one would eat or drink, either on this day or the next. They had all become ghosts, with the characteristics of ghosts. Every small shopkeeper was a superman, as today he desired to reach God. They all stretched their hands outwards to grasp at the tip of His vestment. All, without distinction; the rich were as poor as the truly destitute, for none could eat. They were all sinners, and all were praying. A frenzy gripped them, and they swayed, they rested and whispered, they beat their breasts, they sang, they shouted out, they wept; heavy tears ran down their venerable beards, hunger was forgotten amid the grief of the soul and the eternity of the melodies heard by the enraptured ear.

I asked the people who lived in the area and hated the Jews or held them in low esteem whether they had noticed the Jews’ God-fearing and devout nature.

And one of the righteous of whom I enquired, who was himself a Jew, said: ‘Do not believe the wicked people around us who wish to destroy us, but neither should you believe the liars and the wicked among us. There are hypocrites in our midst — and people become not better but worse when they are haunted by hatred and misfortune. Many fear God’s punishment, and that is why they pray. And others would like to entice God to give them some reward, and so they pray. Some cling to life and fear that in the coming year they will be struck from the Book of Life, and they fear death, so therefore they pray. And I know some who, as soon as the sound of the shofar becomes audible, signalling the end of the Day of Atonement, hurry to their full tables more avidly than they had hurried one day earlier to the set tables of God. For they are human and require food and drink. But there are others who hasten even more rapidly to their evil occupations and wicked thoughts, more rapidly than to their full tables. They do so because they believe that with a day of fasting and atonement they have pacified God, so that He will, so to speak, close an eye to their damnable deeds. Thus it was among the ancient Jews, our fore-fathers, that there were some who believed that with a little sheep or little lamb they could buy the right to sin. They didn’t want to appease God but, praised be His name, they wanted to bribe Him. Such people are even more cursed than those who would deny Him, for they create a god in their own image and the qualities they assign him are not human but diabolical. And this is the greatest of sins — to worship God so that He may be more lenient towards injustice. May He protect us from that!

‘But vanity and arrogance are also at home among our people.

I was at one time led by various misfortunes to celebrate our Day of Atonement in a distant city in the west of Europe. And, as the Jews of that town recognized me as a man of pious reputation, they requested that I lead them in a few prayers — so I did this. They prayed in a large and beautiful hall, the walls of which were adorned with all kinds of paintings and statues. And since our faith prevents us from making pictures and statues — for it is written that man shall make no images beside that of the invisible God, praised be His name in all eternity! — I asked how these adornments came to be in a synagogue.

‘So they told me that this hall wasn’t actually a house of prayer but had only been rented for the High Holy Day. For the Jews in this big western city didn’t pray each day or each Sabbath, as do our Jews, but only on the High Holy Days. It wasn’t worthwhile for them to pay the cost of having their own synagogue. “Certainly,” I said, “certainly. For one can worship the Lord everywhere — and every place where He is invoked is a holy place. But He should be called upon every day — and one should spare no expense when a house is needed in which to give him praise.”

‘“In our country,” said the other, “the people are different. Business, you see, business takes up a great deal of our time. And one must earn money! Alas, if only there were no such thing as money!” said the man, sighing and raising his eyes Heavenwards, as if pleading with God to abolish money.

‘“If there were no such thing as money,” I said, “you would invent it.”

‘“No!” he cried, “May the Lord protect us from such a thought!”

‘I left him standing and continued to pray.

‘In the evening, when the shofar had been blown and the people were heading home, I saw in front of the entrance two large and gaudy placards, and there was a desk beside the door. Behind the desk I saw a pretty, made-up cashier girl selling tickets. And many of my co-believers, with whom I had been praying, approached the girl and purchased tickets for themselves. They said they were just going to have something to eat and would return shortly. And so it was. They went to the inns, where they ate and drank, and then returned. In the room where three hours earlier they had been praying and fasting, yes, in the very same seats, they enjoyed the spectacle of shadows rushing and scurrying hither and thither across the screen. And the man with whom I had just spoken invited me to be a guest in his house the next day, so I went there and saw that his house was that of a rich man. I saw that God had granted him prosperity — and I respected him for it. Then I asked him about his business. At that point he smiled and said: “I own the large theatre in which you prayed yesterday. I am first to buy the top films in the world. There are more than fifteen hundred seats in my theatre. The hall is well ventilated. In the summer it is kept cool, for I have a cold room under the floor and about a hundred ventilators. On the High Holy Days I rent the theatre for divine worship. And I wouldn’t even accept payment but would lease it for nothing, if only money didn’t exist!”

‘“Then I recognized that I had dealt with the Evil One himself. I had prayed and eaten in his house. So I left him on the spot.

‘And yet,’ finished the righteous Jew, ‘he was a very pleasant man. He had a gentle glance and an agreeable voice.’

This was what the righteous Jew recounted to me.

Thus I realized that the Antichrist dwells also among the Jews, just as he does everywhere else. And he is already sitting in the synagogues just as he is sitting upon the spires and crosses of the churches.