The Story of the Jews Volume 2: When Words Fail: 1492--Present

by Simon Schama

But then Usque in the voice of Numeo the comforter says something quite new in Jewish literature. The heart of our tragedy, he says, our exile, the punishment laid on us to wander the earth in terror and dismay, is actually a blessing in (admittedly heavy) disguise. For by ‘scattering you among all peoples He made it impossible for the world to destroy you, for if one kingdom rises against you in Europe to inflict death upon you, another in Asia allows you to live . . . If the Spaniards burn you in Spain and banish you the Lord wills for you to find someone in Italy who welcomes you and lets you live in freedom.’26 This too, the comfort of the diaspora, would also echo down the following centuries. And to another endlessly reiterated question, ‘When will it stop? When will deliverance and the messianic deliverer appear?’, Usque has another modern reply: it must stop soon because God has run out of countries to send you to. You have reached the ends of the earth, whether on the edge of the Iberian peninsula, in the African desert or on the Asian shores.