Western European assimilation’s motto originated from a Russian Jew writing in Hebrew.

Evidence

It is not without irony that this excellent formula, which may serve as a motto for Western European assimilation, was propounded by a Russian Jew and first published in Hebrew. It comes from Judah Leib Gordon’s Hebrew poem, Hakitzah ami, 1863. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2048

Categorization

• CANDY: A light, quotable irony: the assimilationist slogan came in Hebrew from an Eastern Jew.