The Jewish century

In 'The Jewish Century', Yuri Slezkine presents a provocative thesis that Jews have adapted exceptionally well to modern life, becoming the premier symbols and standards of modernity.

He categorizes Jews as 'Mercurians'—service nomads who provide crucial services such as money-lending, medicine, and trade—contrasting them with 'Apollonians,' the host societies traditionally devoted to agriculture and war.

The book explores the role of Russian Jews in modernity, their involvement in the Soviet Union, and their impact on movements such as Marxism and Freudianism.

Slezkine argues that modernity has transformed 'Apollonians' into 'Mercurians,' making the Jewish experience somewhat universal and emblematic of modern life.