Whatever you may think of Henry Kissinger, he has been one of the most influential secular Jews by birth (outside Israel), in world affairs in recent times. Both because of his brilliance and his diplomatic skills, his talent has been harnessed in one way or another by every American president since 1969, and he has continued to play a role as an independent diplomatic advisor ever since. Kissinger received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, primarily for helping to bring the Vietnam War to a close.

He insisted that the US stand firm and show strength against tyranny and totalitarianism. And yet when it came to American interests, he had no problem interacting with and supporting tyrants. He believed in what is called Realpolitik, or pragmatism. Kissinger pioneered a policy of detente with the Soviet Union, opened up diplomatic relations with China, negotiated an end to the Yom Kipur War, and brought Sadat and Begin together. On the debit side, he was associated with bombing Cambodia, the 1973 Chilean military coup, Argentina’s military junta, and supporting the Pakistani atrocities in Bangladesh. He supported President Reagan’s visit to the Bitburg cemetery, where the SS elite is buried.

At the age of 99, he has just published a new book, “Leadership: Six Studies in World Leadership,” describing the careers of leaders he admired — Konrad Adenauer of Germany, Charles De Gaulle of France, Richard Nixon, Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, and Margaret Thatcher of the UK. Significantly, he points out that they were all deeply religious, with the possible exception of Lee Kuan Yew.

He says that faith in the future is the indispensable quality for a successful leader, and the elevated purposes they claim to inculcate. He believes that no society can remain great if it loses faith in itself or if it systematically impugns its self-perception. He laments the erosion of moral purpose and the religious belief that often underpinned Western societies, and looks aghast at these divisive destructive features of American politics today.

Kissinger remains a controversial and polarizing figure in US politics, venerated by some, and condemned by others as a war criminal (I’d love to know which Secretary of State has done a better job). Although some Jews like to claim him as one of ours, his whole career seems to have been an escape from everything Jewish.

The Nixon tapes have recorded him remaining silent as his master excoriates Jews in general. When he returned from the war in Europe, he told his father, “Certain ties bound in convention mean nothing to me. I have come to judge men on their merits.” He told Golda Meir that he was an American first, a Nixonite second, and a Jew last. She replied that in Israel, they go from right to left!

In Israel, he was not liked because he was perceived as pressurizing Meir more than the Arab states and the Palestinians. It was felt that his policies ignored the role of the PLO in fomenting violence and avoiding peace.

In recent years, he has been seen in Orthodox synagogues on the High Holy Days. Surprisingly, he now laments the erosion of moral purpose and religious belief.

Kissinger’s moderation between idealism and pragmatism is a very Jewish position. It is a balance between the extreme of idealism and the extreme of pragmatism. Neither is always right. Judaism allows its principles and laws to be sacrificed to save a life, except in the three cases of murder, adultery, or cursing God. Survival trumps all the rest. Idealism can be self-defeating if taken to extremes. Pacifism is not a Jewish value. Idealism can also be a threat when it may lead to the ultimate betrayal and defeat of Western values, by fascism, Marxism, and religious barbarism, all of which claim to be idealists. This seems to be the way things are going in the world — capitulation to bullies on both sides instead of interaction, moderation, and cooperation.

Kissinger writes that no society can remain great if it loses faith in itself or if it systematically impugns its self-perception. And this applies to us, too.

The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.

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