Assimilation as a Logical Issue

This paper is an attempt to take seriously the ubiquitous use of the word “paradox” to characterize the condition of assimilated Jews by outlining a few of the logical, as opposed to the historical, peculiarities of the “assimilation deal”, summarized by David Sorkin as “rights for regeneration”. Use of the methodological tools of a number of disciplines of the social sciences shows that the logical peculiarities of the path outlined for the Jews ensured that they would never reach equal status with full-fledged members of society, and consequently exposes the “assimilation deal” as intrinsically fraudulent and destructive.