EDEOLGGICAL FOUNDAHGNS FOR
EDUCATION IN ESRAEL

Thesis for file Degree 0‘ pk. D.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Gershon 'Winer

1959

THY-“5‘5

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

IDEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR EDUCATION IN ISRAEL

presented by

Gershon Winer

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

 

Ph.D. degree in Foundations of Education

6%.sz

Major professor

Date April EH, 1959

0-169

LIBRARY

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ABS‘I‘ RACT

Gershcn Winer

The State of Israel, established in 1948, represents the
realization of the Zionist program evolved in about seventy-five
years of ideological speculation, political organization, and

practical colonization.

In the course of tints-making and frequently traumatic de-
velopments, and in the encounter of fructifying ideas, there were
crystalised concepts and values operative in Israel society and re-
flected in its school curriculum The thesis examines these ideas
and traces their origin to the contributions of twelve major Zion-
ist thinkers who critically appraised the Jewish problan in its
political, social, economic, cultural and psychological complexities
and proposed specific solutions. These were directed toward indi-
vidual and national reconstruction in Palestine. The p lethb‘ra of
platforms produced an intellectual synthesis of past norms and pre-
sent needs in a pattern of values affirmed in Israel society and

emphasised in its education.

In a period of sixty years between 1860 and 1920 the founding
fathers of Zionism, residing in Eastern and Central Europe, Palestine
and the United States, expounded their views largely in Hebrew, but

also in German, Yiddish and Russian. These were formulated in

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Gershon Winer 2

tractates, essays, or novels according to their particular genre
of writing, exerting a powerful influence on numerous disciples.
Zionim was defined in terms of a political autonomous
entity, a reconstructed socic-eccnomic order, a revived language,
a spiritual renaissame, and a psychological adjustment, frequently
set in universal and messianic dimensions. The aim was for a
change in the status of the Jewish people, a re-orientation of
Jewish culture, and a metamorphosis of the Jewish personality.
This has been achieved in Israel. I
The Twelve, and their contributions, chronologically ar-
ranged are:
Hess - messianic vision
Smolenskin - spiritual nationalism
Pinsker - auto-unancipation
Eliezer Ben Yehuda - revival of Hebrew
Herzl - a national state
Achad Ha'am - a spiritual center
Berdichevsky - freedom for the individual
Gordon - redemption through nature and labor
Syrkin and Borochcv - a new sccic-eccncmic order
Brenner - psychological re-adjustment
Rabbi Kuk - religious rebirth
Historical factors and social forces instrumental in forging
ccntanporary Israel included the various manifestations of anti-Sani-
tism in religious intolerance, political disability, economic dis-

crimination, social prejudice and cultural limitation in Europe and

  
  

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Asia. There was also the lure of assimilation, and the impact of

the resurgence of nationalism.among the subjugated pe0ples of Europe.

In Palestine the Zionist settler faced the challenges of
climate, geography, hostile neighbors, and the problems of an acutely
diversified mass immigration.

The values of Israel education are to be seen against a back-
ground of military exigency, national conflict, economic pressure,
and religious, cultural and social heterogeneity in a confluence
of problems in the accelerated pace of historical events as they
affected the Jewish people in the twentieth century.

Education in Israel today incorporates the values of Jewish
tradition in their emphasis upon the intellectual, moral and mes-
sianic. It is also predicated upon the newer concepts inspired by
the above mentioned Zionist theoreticians, embracing the return to
nature and physical labor, social justice and equality, collectivist
ideOIOgy, a fusing of Socialist economy and capitalistic enterprise,
aesthetic norms, a pioneering spirit, prophetic universalism and
identification with.a world Jewish community beyond the borders of

Israel. The curriculum is organized to inculcate these values.

 

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EEG-0010,“. FUUNDATIWS FOR EDUCATION

IN ISRAEL

by

GEIfiHON WINER

L THESIS

But-titted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of
Michigan State University of Agriculture and
Applied Science in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSO PHI

Departmmt of Education

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CHAPI'ER

I.
II.
III.

V.

VI.
VII.

VIII.

XVII.

XVIII .

TAEE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

PART I
INTRODUCTIONumtm-e of the study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
THE STATE OF ISRAEL-«antecedents and realities . . . . . . . 5
THEZIONISTHOVEIEM--histcry................ l6
THBZIONISTIDEAL--philoscphy................ 33
THE EDUCATION PICTURE-~past and present . . . . . . . . . . . 48

PART II
mSBHESS--aninspiredvisicn............... 57
ms mamSKIN—spiritual nationalism . . . . . . . . . . 70
LEON Plum-«wall for auto-unancipation . . . . . . . . . . 79
EIEZERBENYIHUDA—snstionaltongue............ 90
THEDORE HERE-“blueprints of a state . . . . . . . . . . . . lOl

ACHADEA'AM—aspiritualeenter............... 114

MICHA JOSEPH BEIUJICHE'VSIYurevolt of the individual . . . . . 128

Ac De GORDONureduption Of 801! e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 141

NACEMAN STRKIN and BER BOROCHOV--a new socic-econcmic order . 158

YOSSEF CHAIM BRENNER--psychological readjustment . . . . . . 179

RABBI ABRAHAM ISAAC KUK--a religious rebirth . . . . . . . . 194
PART III

THEHOMSTDEME"ImWeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 206
LEGISLATION AND CURRICULUIIN'QD “813'81' e e e e e e e e e e e 227

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A study of the ideological foundations of the American public school
would not be limited to an analysis of its educational philosophy and the
major writings of its leading exponents. Considerable attention would have
to be given to moron historical and contemporary factors in the making
.of American society. In addition to the contributions: of men like Dewey, -'
Kilpa'tri‘cki androtherleducatOrh“, we would be bound to appraise the insiglts
of Turner in history, Veblen in social psychology, Whitman and Sandburg in
literature, James in philosophy, and others in various fields of intellectual
endeavor. Nor should we stop there. The political-economic revolution of
the New Deal, the recent technological development, the imigration of
millions of Europeans, the changing status of the American negro, the
emergence of the atomic age, America's new role as a world powers-all of
these are among the forces and concepts related to educational goals and
methods. An understanding of American education therefore, calls for an
understanding of American society and its social, economic, political, philo-
sophical, and religious roots.

This applies to Israel as well. Israel is a new state, founded in
1948. Its antecedents are the religious ideals and institutions of a dis-
persed people, the cataclysmic events of the nineteenth and twentieth cen-
turies, far-reaching historical sources of inspiration, political develop-
ments on the international arena, organised efforts of dedicated groups and

individuals, philosophic speculation and creative experimentation of men

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cf genius, and the outcome of particular crises. Though comparatively small
in area and population, Israel has been a centrifugal and centripetal force
for world Jewry, with a history of thousands of years. This was true when
Israel was romance of the past and dream of the future. This is true when
it has. become a reality of the present.

It is the purpose of this thesis to examine the ideas and values
that make up he cultural climate of the new state as articulated and
characterised by its educational goals and methodolog. Without attempting
an analysis of three thousand years of Jewish civilisation--a possibility
suggested by the above-mentioned ramifications of educational theory—I
shall attempt to analyse the events and ideas of the century leading up
to the establishment of the state. In the first category of events will
be considered national and international developments acting upon that major
cement of Jewry preoccupied with the return to the Holy Land. The second
category of values will necessitate a study of the literary remains of
crucial men of stature, how they reflected the physical and intellectual
pressures of the age, with an eye for the permanent contributions to an
emerging philosophy of national survival and educational revival in Israel
today. The first part demands a comprehensive knowledge of modern European
Jewish history; the second requires an acquaintance with the original literature
in Hebrew, Yiddish, and German, disrever it is not available in English
translation. lost of the sources quoted and analysed would fall into that
class.

The literary amlysisuand that represents essentially the origi-
nality of this thesis-«is based upon the writings of a dosen personalities.

These had to be carefully selected from scores of poets, novelists, philo-

 

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sophers, statesmen, religionists, social and economic thinkers of diversi-
fied opinion and location. The test of veracity for the thesis is, there-
fore, the validity of the chosen list of luminaries, as a representative

and authoritative group, shaping directly or indirectly the emerging Israeli
mind, at least in its normtive upsets. Our recourse in this matter is to
supply evidence from accepted living authorities approving the selection
made by this author. Then, there is the question of reliability as far as
interpretation is concerned, a problem which can be alleviated. by quotations
and references cited. The third, and final criterion for corroborating the
praises and conclusions of this thesis, is dependent upon the extent to
which the author's interpretation of Israel education approximates the truth.
Documentary testimony of an official nature may prove helpful though not
decisive; for, drawing another analogy from American education, it is ex-
tremely difficult to observe, on the surface, Whitman's or Dnerson's in-
fluence on proclamations of the Office of Education of the American Govern-
ment, or on statements of policy of national educational agencies.

In keeping with the recomendations of the Faculty Guidance Committee,
an introductory section is prefixed to the thesis describing succinctly the
historical setting of the new State, the background of the Zionist movement
which brought it into being, the major facts and figures necessary for an
understanding of Israel, and the history of education since the re-emergence
of Palestine on the Jewish scene some seventy-five years ago.

The importance of this study is beyond parochial interest. A people
that has Imde a signal contribution to the spiritual growth of mankind merits
attention when it reconstitutes itself on its ancient soil and restmes the

cultivation of hunan and universal values. Out of the matrix of a new society

 

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there may merge once again ideas and insights of benefit to civilization.
Certainly, the one bastion of democracy in Middle East totalitarianism, and
the one island of enlightenment in a Levantine sea of ignorance and bigotry,
is bound to influence its neighbors destined to rid themselves of medieval
feudalism and cultural bachardnees. Last, but not least, what happened in
Israel has affected world Jewry. Five and one half million American J on
have been deeply moved by Israel events. Jewish education in America has
been revolutionised under the inpact of Israel developments .1. Understanding
the ideological foundations of Israel education makes for an appreciation
of the factors and issues funamental to the religious education of American
Jews in our generation. Therein is sugested a further study of the influence
of Israel on Jewish education in Americauunexplored as yet—«which may logi-

cally follow our present inquiry.

 

1 This includes introduction of conversational Hebrew, adoption of
the Sefardi pronounciation, Hebrew-speaking summer camps, modern Israeli
lore, music and fell: dances, idealising the Israeli Chalutz (pioneer) type,
incorporating Israel studies (such as geography and history) in the curriculum,
charging the school atmosphere with Israel romance -- the latter in contrar-
distinction both to the old East Eur0pean Orthodox experience and the newer
American frontier adventure.

 

 

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CHAPI‘ER II

THE STEIE 0F ISRAEL

Israel comprises an area of 8,000 square miles, or about twenty per
cent of Palestine as it was known after World War I, and is slightly larger
than New Jersey. Its boundaries stretch about 600 miles by land and 16) by
sea. The total length of Israel is 2&) miles and the width ranges from
seven to seventy miles. These figures are significant for an appreciation
of its precarious position in the midst of hostile nations, and the impli-
cations for education.

The pepulation is over 2,000,000, including about 200,000 Moslcms,
Christians, and Druses. More than half of the Jewish population arrived
after the birth of the State in 1948. The largest city is Tel Aviv with
400,000 residents, followed by Haifa (unier 200,000) and the capital,
Jerusalu (with 150,000), The countries of origin supplying more than
1,000 imigrants are above thirty in number, spread over five continents.

The form of government is democratic, the only one in the Near
East, and the franchise is open to all citizens, irrespective of race,
creed, or sex. There is a president as in France, and a prqnier responsible
to the lm-seat Parliament which is elected periodically on a party basis.
The present coalition government is controlled by Mapai, a centrist labor
party, which has been successful in maintaining its lead since the founding

of the State. Communists now occupy only five seats in the Parliament."1

llsrael 1954, (New York: Israel Office of Information, 1954); and
Big; Years 3! Israel Independence (New York: Israel Office of Information,
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The State of Israel was born in 1948, in accordance with the United
Nations decision.of Hovember 29th, 1947 dividing Palestine between Jews and
Arabs. The declaration of independence issued in may 1948, upon the withdrawal
of the British (hopefully regarded by them as temporary) after thirty years
of Mandate rule,‘was followed by an invasion by seven Arab nations. The sup-
pressed Jewish underground Army, rising to the challenge, successfully de-
fended the infant republic against the onslaught. A state of war with
sporadic outbursts has existed.to the present day, the Arab countries re-
fusing to make peace.

Ancient Jewish statehood came to an endnwith the war of liberation
against Role in ‘mDe70, followed by a final abortive revolution in A.D.l$2.
The Jewish ccnmnnity'continued to flourish in Palestine, with intermittent
unfulfilled hopes of restoration of sovereignty, for another five hundred
years. The subsequent decline~was checked somewhat by infrequent immigrations
throughout'the centuries, with a revival taking place in the sixteenth century.
At no time, however, was there an interruption of Jewish communal life, from
ancient times to the present day.

In the eighties of the nineteenth century, colonisation efforts were
initiated by East European Jewry. A slow but steady increase took place,
especially after the launching of political Zionism.in 1897. By 1914, there
was a network of agricultural colonies and a growing city population, total-
ling about 90,000. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, issued by the British
government, recognised.Jewish historical rights to Palestine, and rewarded
the world'wide and local Palestine Jewish community for its war participation

on behalf of the Allies. This charter, approved by the Allies, stated:

 

 

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His Iajest'y's Government views with favor the establish-

ment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people,

and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achieve-

ment of ibis object, it being clearly understood that nothing

shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious

rights of the existing non-Jewish comnunities in Palestine or

the rights and political status erfioyed by Jews in any other

country.3
Subsequently, at the Conference of Allied Pmers held in San Rome, Italy,
Britain received the Mandate over Palestine, which was finally ratified
in 1922 by the League of Natims, entrusting Britain with the responsibility
of assuring the establishment of the Jewish National Home. Replacing the
shifting irregularities of Turkish rule, the nations of the world—acting
through a great power—were now committed to a Jewish Palestine.3

The following decades proved otherwise. The . p011 ci 5 3 :. of British

colonialism in cultivating Arab nationalism, presented numerous obstacles.
I'flhite Papers” were issued periodically, limiting imigraticn and colonization.
Sporadic Arab outbursts led to bloodshed. In 1922 Trans-Jordan, comprising
about two-thirds of Palestine, was rancved arbitrarily by the British govern-
ment from the operation of the Mandate. The Passfield Comission of 1930,
following the 1929 riots encouraged by the Palestine government,4 attqnpted
to halt further settluaent. At that time the Jewish population was 175,000,
twenty per cent of the total. Various government commissions and proclama-

tions constantly interfered with the implementation of the Mandate. In 1937

zChaim leimann, _T___rial aid Error (New York: Harper, 1949) p. 208,
citing the Balfour Declaration.—

“Box-nus Joseph, British Rule in Palestine (Washington: Public ar-
fairs Press, 1948), p. 73.

Book of Documents, sulliitted to the General Assembly of the United
fictions (New YoPsz: 3.11.5 Agency for Palestine, 1948), p. 8.

) 4Iaurice Samuel, What Happened in Palestine (Boston: Stratford Go.,
1931 . "'"" "' "'"'"'

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the Peel Comission recomended the dividing of Palestine among Jews, Arabs,
and British, with the former receiving the smallest part. Two years later,
a new White Paper practically liquidated the Mandate in its Jewish aspects,
assuring British control notwithstanding. Illegal Jewish immigration con-
tinued, especially during the second World War. A Palestine Jewish Brigade
fought in Africa and Europe. Masses of survivors from the Nazi camps were
pressing against the closed gates of Palestine, where a Jewish community was
waiting eagerly to receive than. World public opinion was increasingly con-
demning the British government on this score. An Anglo-American Commission
in 1948 reconnended the imediate admission of 100,000 "displaced persons,“
but this was not carried out.5 Finally, England referred the Palestine problem
to the United lations Special Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP) in 1947, upon
whose recommdaticn Palestine Partition was voted on November 29th, 1947,
and the State of Israel case into being a half year later on May 16th, 1948.6
From its inception, the infant State met with nearly insurmountable
difficulties. A comunity of 700,000 faced the converging armies of seven
Arab nations, representing 70,000,000 people, openly defying the United Nations
decision. A British-American embargo prevented Israel from securing the
necessary arms. With the help of volunteers, Jews and gentiles from Europe
and America, the war was won. The population pressure of nearly three-quarters
of a million imigrants fleeing Arab persecution, Red terror, and Nazi
memories, created unparalleled housing and food shortages, and resulted in

A;

6Bartley C. Crum, Behind the Silicon Curtain: 3 Personal Account _o_i_’_
o-American Di lcmac in Palestine and the Middle East. (New York: Simon
and Schuster, l . '

6Albert M. Hyanson, Palestine Under t_h_e_ Mandate: 1920-1948, (London:
“Cthua. 1950) e

 

 

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economic inbalame. World Jewry rushed to the aid of Israel, and in a re-
latively short time made possible the absorption of a hundred per cent
increase of population, transferred from the transient immigrant-camps“-
oftentimes inhabited by the same people for two or three years—to productive
labor and settluent in the cities and farming conununities. An education
system had to be set up to serve the needs of young and old from many lands,
speaking different languages and bound to diversified traditions. 0n the
international political arena, constant vigilance was maintained against the
combined forces of Arab hostility, Anglo-Amorioan oil interests, and Con-
nunist plotting. At the armed borders, continued restlessness and incendiary
activity by the shaky regimes of neighboring countries created an atmosphere
of fear and unending ”incidents" and reprisals. In the midst of economic
difficulties, military emergencies, political dangers, inner cultural bar-
riers, and religious problems, a nation forged its destiny, inspired by an
ancient prophetic tradition and a two-thous and-year odyssey toward freedom,
security, and creativity. This in essence is what the "still enall voice”
of Israel has spoken so articulately from the platform of the United Nations,

which helped to bring it into being and accepted it into its fold.

The magnitude of the problems confronted by Israel cannot be over-
estimated. Their solutions touch upon all aspects of Israel society, molding
its national character and determining considerably its social, economic,
cultural, and religious orientation.

(a) The existing socio-economic pattern of 1948 had to cope with a
deubling of population within seven years. The masses of immigrants were,

to a large extent, urban storekeepers and uprooted individuals liberated

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from the concentration camps, without any vocational background. These had
to be transformed in a short time into productive indm trial laborers and
self-sustaining independent smll farm holders. Towns and villages sprang
up, but not fast «laugh to aborb the new immigrants. Job opportunities
in a pioneer country with limited resources were not plentiful. Temporary
tent camps became dwelling quarters for a number of years. The primitive
homes, abandoned by hopeful Arabs lured by the promise of returning with
the victorious sweep of Arab armies, housed many newcomers. At one time
there were nearly 830,00) people in the Maabarcth (immigrant camps). By
the end of 1957 they‘were reduced to a quarter of the number. A vast program
of vocational training was launched and courageous economic expansion programs
undertaken. The means for absorbing the people came from self-imposed aus-
terity, reinforced by increased labor productivity and financed by modest
international loans and the philanthropic efforts and investments of world
Jewry, mostly from the United States. The annual campaigns in the United
States and abroad supply the additional funds for the rehabilitation of tens
of thousands of inmigrants still reaching Israel shores, year after year.
Economic experiments in collectivisation and cooperation abound,
serving to alleviate the strain of initial adjustment and restoration of
physical human resources. The Negev, souihern desert, is now being reclaimed
for agriculture in an imposing concentration of effort and resourcefulness.
Intensive farming, hopeful mining ventures (oil was recently discovered),
collective agricultural units, accelerated technological research--all con-

tribute to an expanding econow geared to operate in an emergency situation]

 

7Between Past and Future: Essays and Studies on A. ects of Immi rant
Abso tion In Israel. (edJ C. F‘rafiEenstei'iT (Jerusal'e'm: snri'e'tta hold
0 a on for cEiId and youth welfare, 1953).

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11

(b) The military exigencies have created an atnosphere of permanent
acbilisation to meet surprise attacks. Though an armed truce is in effect,
peaceful coexistence is still a distant goal. The Arab nations have re-
fused tc recognise Israel, or to accept it 5.12. 319.32“ Smouldering in the
defeat of 1948, they are committed to the ultimate annihilation of Israel,
determined to win the "second round.” There are repeated provocations
on the borders of Israel, involving tragic loss of life and property.

The half million Arabs who voluntarily abandoned their homes in 1948, in
accordance with the strategy of the Arab High Command, are kept in per-
manent transitoriness and tension to serve as a threat and obstacle to
peace.

Military training is compulsory for all men and women in Israel.
In a country where war is imminent and the battle lines are fifteen or
twenty miles away, even school children are brought up in the art of war-
fare. Faming conununities are military forts. Air raid shelters are
rapidly being constructed. These efforts accelerated in the years 1955-6,
after Egypt began to receive jet planes from Russia, while Saudi Arabia8
was secretly being armed by the United States. At the time, Israel was
falling behind in the arms race, having been refused defensive weapons
by both East and West, with fine excqation of France, while the United States
efforts at peace in the Middle East did not appreciably diminish the
tension. Israel’s successful offensive against Egypt, at the end of 1956,
eliminated the threat of aggression and the border incidents involving con-

tinuous loss of life and property. United States policy, however, has re-

 

8Saudi Arabia was officially committed to destroying Israel at
the expense of ”sacrificing ten million Arabs” -- quoted by the Associated
Press release, January 9, 1953.

 

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sulted in the restoration of Egyptian militarism with its proclaimed bel-
ligerency toward Israel. The Sues Canal remains closed to Israel shipping,
in violation of international law. An economic boycott is in force, and a
worldwide campaign is waged by the Arab powers against commercial firms deal-
ing with Israel. The Jewish minorities still residing in Arab lands are
subject to increasing oppression.

But what Israel lacks in anus, it hopes to make up in courage and
deteminaticn. And if aggression comes, the people of Israel will defend
their harddwon independence with the stubborn tenacity of a last-ditch battle
fought in final desperation, somewhat encouraged by the faith that the democ-
racy-loving people of the ‘Dl‘ld will not fail them in their trying hour. In
the meantime, Israel is an armed camp in a state of emergency, engaged
simultaneously in the pursuit of peaceful arts and cultural values. To
maintain the one within the other is the unique problem affecting its very

9
survival .

(c) The cultural integration of Israel's heterogeneous ethnic groups
is a major challenge to the new nation. Small, dark-complexicned, bigamous,
and scholarly Yemenites, emerging overnight from the Middle Ages: tall, color-
ful, patriarchal orientals of the tribes of Central Asia and India: exotic,
Arabic-speaking refugees from the ghettos of North Africa and caves of Sahara:
multi—lingual, alert but sensitive and tense survivors of Nazi camps: cultured,
assimilated, westernised professionals and businessmen of Italy, Yugoslavia,
and Bulgaria: dymmic, intellectually creative but shiftless Yiddish-speaking

Luftmenschen from Poland, Lithuania, and Romania; preciously needed artisans

 

9I. z. Schwartz, Israel’s War of Liberation, trans. Itscak Ivry.
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13

and sailors from Greece and Turkey; sophisticated, enterprising, conservative
Westerners from France and the English-speaking countries: these, among many
more, are to be welded into one people. The levels of culture, the linguis—
tic differences, the tribal traditions, the diversified mores of family and
comunity present a kaleidoscopic panorama without a unifying pattern. The
problem of attaining unity in diversity is colossal, since it must be achieved
at an accelerated pace.

A vast network of schools for both youth and adults disseminates the
spoken Hebrew. The' am is a powerml educational and unifying force. To
preserve the positive aspects of each heritage, to remove parochial mores
in conflict with contemporary moral standards, to super-impose the Israeli
Hebrew culture of an indigenous minority on an unorganized majority of new-
comers, is a three-fold task of unequalled proportions. What all this means
in the religious domain aloneualways a terribly important matter to J ewe--
is obvious without elaboration. Suffice it, for the moment, to record that
the traditional division of Jews into Ashkenazi and Sefardi with its ritual
differences necessitates two independent Chief Rabbis with appendaged hier-
archies. Beside these century-old loyalties to particular religious traditions,
there is an equally vociferous and numerous group of devotees to aggressive
secularism, antagonistic to all religion.

The linguistic difficulty is considerably aggravated by the peculiar
nature of modern Hebrew. Reintroduoed as a living tongue some fifty years
ago, it is now being developed for all-embracing usage in a degree commensurate

with European languages .10

 

10

Raphael Patai, Israel Between East and West: a Stud in Human
Relations. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1953;.

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14

(d) The complex psychological factors should not be ignored. The
overwhelming preponderance of people with past thematic experiences, con-
ductive to maladjustment, places Israel society in an unenviable position.
The remnants of European Jewry are emotionally scarred after the many years
of terror, hounded by Nazi brutality. Those who escaped Red tyranny have
been accustomed to a clandestine way of life, suspicious of all outsiders.
Fanatic partisanship, fragmentisation, and restlessness plague Israel society.
The masses from Arab lands, never having known freedom, are unprepared for
the responsibilities that come with it. The Western tempo is alien to the
Eastern way of life. The additional pressures of war atmosphere contribute
to tensions bearing down upon the individual and society. The ability to
merge untainted in spite of this is of course the sublime test. The proven
adaptability of adherents to the Jewish faith, in overcoming historical
crises and challenges, may serve as a reservoir of strength to their des-

cendants in the present emergencies.11

The rise of Israel in many respects has its counterpart in American
history. In both instances agricultural pioneering, economic trail-blazing,
and social experimentation were necessities and opportunities. A conglomera-
tion of peoples and cultures swarmed to both places, creating a new member
in the family of nations. Israel, too, must choose both the "melting pot"
and "cultural pluralism” in the emergence of the nation's future. But what
sets Israel apart is the pace with which all this is to be achieved. What

took America cmturiee has to be done on an equal scale within a decade or

 

11S. N. Eisenstadt, The Absorption of Immigrants. (Glencoe: Free
PNBI. 1955)e

15

less. This is not because of an inherited impatience characteristic of
Jews, but because of the unprecedented critical condition of sements
of Jewry, which requires their saving now or never. Consequently inte-

gration, acculturation, and productivisation become immediate short-term

demanls e

 

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16

CHAPTER III

THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT

Zionism is the mass movement which fathered the State of Israel.

It is the modern refomulation of religious yearning which animated and
revived troubled Jewish hearts througlout the ages. Based on the ancient
reality of an independent Judaean State, a national dream found expression
in ritual, literature and faith, reinforced by the two-thousand year old
homelessness of a dispersed people. It emerged as a moving force and pro-
gram of action at the end of the nineteenth century. Within fifty years
of its inauguration, the ideal of Jewish statehood was transformed into

a fact. The story of the antecedents, formation, and development of the
Zionist movement is important for discerning the basic elements of Israel
life and thougit todv and discovering its educational values.

Over half of the Jews of the world before 1914 lived in the Russian
and Austrian aspires of Europe. It was there, among the compact Jewish masses,
that a religious culture flourished and it was in this geographic area that
new ideas and leaders were born that left their imprint on all of Jewry,

Israel am America included.

The nineteenth century found East European Jewry still in the mental
climate of the Middle Ages where religion was the sum total of all intellectual
and recreational pursuits. Enlightenment came late to European Jewry, for
the broadening of the scientific intellectual horizons of European society

was accompanied by the intensification of bigotry and oppression of minorities.

 

17

Catholic umiversalism, at least, tolerated Jewish non-conformity. Protestant
nationalism and enligtenment was infuriated with persistent Jewish different-
ness. Economic discrimination, political repression, social alienation and
religious persecution could hardly constitute the fertile soil from which the
fruit of science and ihe crop of ideas would grow.

It was at the end of the eigiteenth century that the Haskala movement,
as Enligitenment became known in Hebrew, began. Moses Mendelsohn, a scholarly
German Jew who became an important modern philosopher, opened the gates of the
ghetto for the culture of Europe. Henceforth, thousands of young men in the
towns and villages of Eastern and Central Europe engaged in the study of
languages, arts, and sciences in a furtive manner. It was believed by the
exponents of the new movement that it was the lack of secular culture that
prevented their co-religionists from acquiring full citizenship rigits. The
solution to all evils was, therefore, in a new education that could bring
the sciences, the arts, languages and philosophy to the ghetto. Here is an
interesting phenomenon of an historic movement sugesting a new school our-
riculum as a solution to political and economic difficulties. They main-
tained that, in the wake of inner changes, full emancipation, political and
social, would follow. Beside secular education, already mentioned, European
garb was to be adopted: an! productive labor, especially farming, cultivated,
partially replacing comerce. Believing in the dawn of a new age, the men of
Haskala naively felt that, once the J ewe became modernised sufficiently to
share the products of Enlightennent, they would merit and receive equality
of treatment at the hands of the ruling classes.

In Germany, the Haskala brought religious reform and conversion

 

 

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(Hendeleohn's own grandson, the composer Felix, was a convert). In Austria
and Russia, a modern literature arose in Hebrew, and later in Yiddish. The
Prophets and Wisdom books of the Bible, long replaced by the study of religious
law, were reintroduced: Hebrew grammar and language enjoyed a new emphasis.
Mendelechn's disciple, Naftali Hers Wessely (1725-1805), who wrote poetry
and propagandized secular education among Austrian J ewe, is regarded by some
as the father of modern Hebrew letters.1 Mondale Mocher Seforim, ”grand-
father of modern Yiddish," satirized the unwholescme and sterile aspects
of Jewish life, its secio-economic structure and removal from contemporary
knowledge. J. L. Gordon (1830-92) sang of the virtues of Haskala and was
critical of the maze of religious legalism interfering with individual free-
dom and happiness. A host of other writers joined in the praise of modernism.
Becoming primarily didactic and moralistic, Hebrew literature nevertheless
was released from its religious chains and prospered in its new secularistic
freedom. In the meantime, the Russian government had made some overtures to
enlightened Jews, and these, in turn, had their hopes raised high.

But the panacea soon proved a mirage. There came the pogroms of
1881, engineered by the Czarist regime. With the ashes of victimized
Jewish comunities were consumed the hopes and promises of the Haskala.
The above-mentioned Gordon, "king of the poets,” called: ”Back to your
tents O Israel!” Euzope had disappointed than. The Jewish intelligentsia
suddenly woke to the realization that the Jewish problem cannot be solved

by relying upon benevolence from without, but by some drastic steps taken

 

1Joseph Klausner, Histo of Modern Hebrew Literature, vol. I,

in Hebrew. (Jerusalem: Hebrew Uni-varsity Press, 1948)

 

 

 

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from within. Pinsker (see Ch. VIII) published his history-making pamphlet

Auto-hancipation, focusing attention upon Jewish homelessness and point-

 

ing to the need for a separate territory as an end to the road of persecu-
tion traversed for nearly two thousaxrl years. The "Chibbat Zion” (Love of
Zion) movanent was launched, and the first group of young volunteers from
the Universities (Bilu) set out for Palestine as the vanguard of the masses
returning to the ancient homeland. Hebrew and Yiddish literature reversed
its invidious praise and criticism in favor of its own people. Hundreds

of thousands of Jews streamed to America and Argentine, and a small tribu-
tary was rechannelled to Palestine. The story of the colonization of Pales-
tine, the first ground-breaking for the later great national structure, now

begins e

Forerunners of the Zionist movement already appeared in the first
half of the nineteenth century. Benjain Disraeli, himself of Jewish birth,
published a novel, Tancred, on the theme of Israel's return to Zion. The
English novelist George Eliot, depicted the new Jew restored to his homeland
in her MDeronda. An Ameiican statesman of the Jewish faith, Mordecai
Manuel Noah, attempted to form a Jewish territory as "an asylum temporary
and provisionary . . . under the protection of the American Constitution with-
out relinquishing hope of eventually regaining possession of their ancient
homeland."2 In Prussia, Rabbi Zvi Kalisher (d. 1874) preached the message
of return and urged the adoption of practical measures in the settlenent of

the Holy Land. Palestine-born Rabbi Judah Alkalai (d. 1869), occupying a

 

zRufue Learsi, Fulfillment: the Epic Story 2.: Zionism (Cleveland:
World Publishing Co., 1951) citing Noah p. 32.

 

 

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pulpit in Serbia, projected a political organization representative of
European Jewry to negotiate with the Great Powers and Turkey. David Gordon,
editor of the all-important Hebrew periodical Hamagid, opened the pages of
this Haskala organ to the exponents of the new idea and joined their ranks
in propagating Zionism.

A mantis setting for the predecessors of early Zionism was pro-
vided by the middle of the century in the works of Abraham Mapu (1808-67).
This intellectual Lithuanian Jew, of prosaic scholarly stock, fired the
imagination of generations of young people by his moving dramatic and roman-
tic ncvels of Judaean life in the days of the First Temple. So far removed
from Palestine in distance, climate and environment, he yet captured the
fragrance of Judaean hills and valleys, and revived the Biblical landscape
in his poetic re-enacment of historic events. Into the crowded, dreary,
impoverished villages of the Russian Pale he brought the romance and radiance
of a glorious past, and increased the desire for immediate redemption.3

The aformentloned spokesmen came from the ranks of traditional
Jewry and comunicated with than. A voice from other quarters was heard
when Moses Hess (see Ch. VI), former sccialist and assimilated intellectual
of Western Europe, appeared with his German book 3293 SEE Jerusalem in 1862.
It was a repudiation of assimilationist theory and an expose of the failure
of emancipation, calling for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Pales-
tine. Seven years later, Peretz Smolenskin (see Ch. VII), leading Hebrew
novelist and essayist, founded in Vienna the monthly Hashachar (Morning

Star), comitted to a dignified revival of the Hebrew tongue and Israel's

 

3Hasan and Feller, Th: Histoxl g Zionism, in Hebrew, (Jerusalem:
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21

national spirit. Until his untimely death, Smolenskin preached national
cultural rejuvenation and exerted powerful influence on the new generation.
Along with other writers of the age, he became aware of the bankruptcy of
Haskala which, in the process of bringing western culture, alienated the
Jew frm his people, and led him to assimilation and, oftentimes, to con-
version.

The ehock of 1881, therefore, came to an element prepared for a re-
evaluation of ideology in the direction of nationalism. In addition to the
personalities that ploughed the rough terrain of Jewish consciousness and
planted the first seeds of Zionism, there was another development in the
international arena which helped to usher in the Zionist movement. This was
the stirring in South Eastern Europe, the national uprising against Turkish
domination which gave birth to new states. The upsurge of national feeling,
the desire for independence, the emphasis on ethnic culture, stimulated
parallel sentiments in articulate Jewish groups. Thus, when the crisis
came, the weather was not inclement for the new breezes.

The first group of Bilu (an acrostic on the verse "The House of
Jacob, come ye and let us go," Isaiah 2:5) some twenty of them, arrived in
Palestine in 1882, three years after the founding of the first agricultural
settlement (Petach Tikva—Gate of Hope--now a flourishing town) by local
people. The little group of pioneers distinguished itself from native Jewry
in two salient characteristics: (a) they were young students who came to
live, as agaimt the resident old people who, previously, had come for the
purpose of dying in the Holy Land: (b) they were modern, educated, conscious

of their mission, inspired with zeal to engage in productive labor, essentially

 

 

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22

agriculture: to indigenom population was fanatically pious, living off
charitable contributions from all over the world.

Before leaving Russia, the Bilu issued this proclamation, as mean-
ingml in content, for the understanding of Zionism, as it is naive in form:

What we want:

1. A home in our country. It was given to us by the
mercy of God, it is ours as registered in the archives
of history.

2. To beg of the Sultan, and if it be impossible to
obtain this, to beg that at least we may be allowed to
possess it as a state within a larger state: the in-
terml administration to be ours, to have our civil and
political rights, to act with the Turkish Empire only
in foreign affairs, so as to help our brother Ishmael
in his time of need.

We hope that the interests of our glorious nation
will arouse our national spirit in rich and powerful
men, and that everyone, rich and poor, will give his
best labors to the holy cause.

The fact that university students of liberal arts proved miserable
failures as farmers in a strange land, is not important. They ignited the
spark which charged the motor of the Zionist revolution. Twelve years be-
forehand, in 1870, an agricultural school (Mikveh Israel) was founded, thereby
becoming the first outpost of modern Jewish colonization in Palestine. An
enterprise of the inspired mind of one of the leaders of the Alliance Israelite
Universelle, an organization of French Jewry, it exists as an experimental
and training station to its present day. However, it renained an isolated
incident without successors. The Bilu adventure, in contrast, though insig-
nificant in practical achievements, launched a new era. A number of other

colonies followed in the eighties and nineties, and societies throughout

Russia were engaged in the two-fold task of supporting the colonists abroad

 

4Maurice Samuel, Harvest in the Desert, (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication
SOOifly. 1944). p. 50s

 

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23

and spreading Zionist ideals at home. It should be noted that the first job
was primarily accomplished with the aid of the Paris Baron de Rothschild who
literally gave his millions for this purpose.

This first stage of practical Zionism faced a constructive challenge
with the appearance of Achad Ha'am (see Ch. XI) by 1890. Without deprecating
the importance of the program in effect to his time, he demanded a spiritual
awakening as a prerequisite. To him, the movement was to concern itself with
creed as well as deed, in the "preparation of hearts” for the'new cause. Not-
withstanding all times luminaries and projects, Zionist activity was sporadic--
limited and frequently abortive-until the eventful year of 1897, one of the
most important dates in J swish history.

Theodore Herzl, brilliant Viennese journalist, while covering the
dramatic Dreyfus case in Paris, suddenly awoke to the hopeless and helpless
position of the Jewish people, epitomized through Dreyfus, serving as a scape-
goat at every opportune occasion. Out of these deliberations, there dawned
upon Herzl the idea of a Jewish State as a haven of refuge and a rock of
strength, elevating the Jew to an equal role among the nations of the world.

TE Jewish State was composed, and the First World Zionist Congress was con-

 

vened in Basle in 1897. The manifesto, issued by the first international
Jewish conclave, explicitly states the purpose of Zionism, known as the Basle
Program: ”The aim of Zionism is to create for the Jewish people a home in
Palestine secured by public law."5

Zionism now became an organized movement seeking international re-

cognition for its aspirations. Herzl attracted Jewish dignitaries of Western

 

5Alfred Werner, “Basle to Jerusalem” Jewish Affairs, October 15, 1946,
vol. I: no. 10. (New York: Office of Jewish InformationTp. 8.

 

 

 

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'24

Europe and set out to win by diplomacy, the leading European statesmen to
his cause. His goal was a "charter” for Palestine. Seven years of frantic
activity in the capitals of the world brought no immediate results, as far
as acquiring Palestine was concerned, but did focus considerable attention
of government circles on file Zionist cause, and mobilized Jewish masses in
service of the ideal.

Herzl's diplomatic mission was continued by his successors after his
untimely death in 1904. This finally culminated in the Balfour Declaration
of 1917, which was heralded m the first great victory for political Zionism.

The World Zionist Congress, assembled annually, and, after Herzl's
death, biennially, became the platform on which Jews from all continents
met, and from which the united articulate voice of Jewry spoke to the world.
Iith the growth of the Movement, a number of "factions” or parties crystallized,
all sharing loyalty to the Zionist ideal but differing in interpretation.

(a) The Orthodox oriented delegation led by Rabbi Reines of Lithuania,
formed the Hisrachi (abbreviation of the term "spiritual centre”) party de-
dicated to the creation of a theocracy in Palestine enabling Jews to lead a
religious life, obeying all the commandments of the Biblical tradition--an
impossibility in gentile society.

(b) A liberal group headed by Leon Motzkin, called itself the "demo-
cratic faction.” It was concerned with the possible "clerical" domination
and inclined toward extensive cultural and social reconstruction. From this
emerged the Socialist Zionist parties that played a leading role in the re-
building ef Palestine.6

(0) The militant elements, regarding themselves as the true heirs to

 

6Isaac Greenbaum, The Zionist Movement. Book I a II, in Hebrew.
(Jerusalem: Mass, 1942) Bk. II, p. 8.

 

 

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25

Herzl, became impatient with the slow progress, and under the banner of
”Revisionism,” were the vociferous champions of a Jewish State. The color-
ful and controversial Vladimir Jabotinsky (d. 1940) was their dynamic
leader.

((1) The Gemral Zionists, uncommitted to any .i_s_n_x_, but dedicated to
the general welfare of the people and the land of Israel-~pclitica11y,
philanthropically, and economically-~remained a loose federation of middle-
of-the-readers. In America they have always been in the majority and in-
cluded in their ranks the most important leaders of the American Jewish
community.7

While Herzlim Zionism was intensifying its political engagements,
the Second Wave of immigration to Palestine began in 1904. This brought
the men who still stand at the helm of the State, such as Premier David
Ben Guricn. Set in'motion by the positive factor of a growing awareness
of file Zionist imperative, and accelerated by the negative force of the
Russian pogroms of 1903-05, these men and women differed from the Bilu of
the First Wave by their greater social consciousness and realistic appraisal
of conditions in Palestine. They came determined "to build and be rebuilt,”
after the revolution of 1906 resulted in such a disastrous failure. Upon
arrival they found a group of colonists who had lost their early idealism
and in the fact of seemingly insurmountable difficulties had compromised
on a life of two defeats: Arab labor in the plantations, and continued

subsidies from Baron de Rothschild. The newcomers, Chalutzim (pioneers)

 

7In listing these groupings we run the risk of being unnecessarily
pedantic. However, the above summary is important for classifying the con-
tributions cf personalities to be considered later in the thesis.

 

 

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26

as they were called, considered this a parasitioexistence, differing little
from the old comunity in Jerusalen which subsisted upon handouts from or-
ganized channels. To that, Palestine meant not only a change of location,
but also economic recomtruoticn. A Jewish homeland, they insisted, could
only be built by Jewish labor. These ideas were not popular with the older
settlers, who considered menial labor undignified for intelligent young men.
The resulting conflict became known as the struggle for "the Conquest of
Labor."

The driving spirit of the age is reflected in the ”Vitkin Manifesto,”
issued in 1906 by the Palestine teacher Joseph Vitkin, as a call to Jewish
youth in the diaspora for renewed immigration and pioneer enterprise. It
aroused many young people to embark upon a creative life in Palestine. It
contains the basic motivation and fundamental principles which became the
driving force of a new generation.

The major causes of our blundering lie in our search for
a short cut, our belief that the attainment of our goal is
close at hand. . . .And so we have turned with contempt from
the harder road which is perhaps the surest, and in the end,
the shortest. . . . Indeed, brothers, our strength is limited,
thougi our purpose is high. For that very reason do not let us
sit with our arms folded, if we still register the will to live.
. . . We must work and struggle to redeem our land, and fig'tt
with the courage of those for whom there is no possible retreat.
. . . God forbid that we deceive ourselves, or the people whose
cause we would champion, by describing the task as easy, the road
as short. . . . Let us be fully aware that ourships are burned,
that for us there is no other way in the whole world. . . . Know,
brothers, your people is sick and unhappy. Expect from it no help,
encouragement or reward. ... . Come rather to help and to awaken,
and your greatest, your higxest reward will be the realization of
the vision itself. Hasten and come. . . . For yet awhile longer,
andwe here . . . alone . . . shall perish.

 

8Simon Halkin, Modern Hebrew Literature: Trends and Values.
(New York: Schccken Books, I95” citing the 1711:1535 Manifesto," p. 96-97.

 

 

 

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27

The rigrt and duty of physical work was accompanied by the cause
of self-defense. Plantations had always been guarded at nigxt by hired armed
Arabs, often in collusion wiim zllarauding bands. The new pioneers fought
and won the right to defend Jewish property themselves. This too, was novel.
The subjugated role of Jews in exile prevented them from practicing self-de-
fense, when attacked by incited mobs.

These frictions gradually led the Chalutzim to establish their own
colonies, founded on principles dear to then. The grim reality of the new
environment, combined with the social gropings and idealistic yearnings of
these enthusiasts, helped to evolve the collective concept upon which hundreds
of Israel comunities (kibbutz) are still based. First of its kind, ”mother
of kibbutzim,” is Degania, founded in 1909 on the other side of the Jordan
at the mouth of Sea of Galilee.9 The collective ideal is voluntary economic
ccsmunism of a limited number of like-minded individuals, joining together
to redeem the land, share material possessions, and mold a supposedly ideal
society. A. D. Gordon, (Ch. XIII) the intellectual leader of the movement,
helped to fomulete its values incorporated in a "religion of labor." It
fostered an attitude of piety to physical labor and nature, emphasizing the
redeeming and spiritual powers of the two. The Zionist Congress had by now
accepted the plan of a German professor of mathematics for a Jewish National
Fund to purchase land in Palestine as the perpetual property of the Jewish
people, leased to individual settlers. This was compatible with the col-

lectivist negation of private property, especially land. A Jewish homeland,

 

9Joseph Baratz, A Villa e by the Jordan: _t_h_e_ Story 23 Degania.
1955’.

(New York: Roy Publisher's,

 

 

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28

in its deeper meaning, was to solve the problems of the individual and
nation by a reconstructed society, devoid of the evils infecting European
capitalism. It was also to have a salutary effect upon the unfolding of
the personality by a return to nature, from which urban Jewry had so long
been divorced. There was mud: of New England Transcendentalism, romantic
nationalism, European Marxism, and Rousseau naturalism in this brand of
Zionism, destined to pave m. road to Jewish statehood, despite its dreamy
utopianislll.1O

Simultaneous with diplomatic ventures in the evasive capitals of
Europe, and physical and social pioneering in the grim reality of Palestine,
a cultural revolution was taking place. Eliezer Ben Yehuda (see Ch. 11), by
personal exasple and service, engineered the resurrection of the Hebrew
tongue, spelling out Zionism as a return to the language of the Hebrews
as well as to the land.

The outbreak of the World War in 1914, put a halt to further
colonization and immigration. Non-Turkish citizens had to leave the country.
Aaron Aaronson, brilliant young agronomist, descendant of early colonists,
organized the secret spy ring Nili, serving the Allies in the Middle East.
He disappeared in 1919, in . flight from London to Paris on a British of-
ficial plane, under suspicious circumstances. Joseph Trumpeldor, veteran
of the Russo-Japanese war, and later hero of self-defense in Palestine,

together with the aforementioned Jabotinsky, organi zed Jewish units with

10Melford E. Spiro, Kibbutz: Venture in Utopia. (Cambridge: Har-
vard University Press, 1956).

Murray Weingarten, Life in a Kibbutz. (New York: Reconstructionist
Press, 1956).

 

 

 

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29

recruits from all over the vorld that distinguished themselves in battle on
the side of the Allies.

After the war, fliers was a great deal of rehabilitation to be under-
taken in Palestine. American Jewish agencies played a leading role in this,
as well as at the Versailles Peace Conference discussions of Jewish demands.
In the final awarding of the Mandate to Britain, the Balfour Declaration
was incorporated along with unequivocal stipulations on the task of Britain

in Palestine. In addition to the words of the Balfour Declaration, the chief

provisions incl uded:

Art. II--The Mandatory shall be requensible for the placing of the
country under such political, administrative and economic conditions
as will secure the establishment of self-governing institutions, and
also for safeguarding civil and religious rigxts of all the inhabi-
tants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.

Art. IV-An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognized as a public
body for the purpose of advising and cooperating with the Administra-
tion of Palestine. . . The Zionist Organization, so long as its or-
ganization and constimtions are in the opinion of the Mandatory ap-
propriate, shall be recognized as such agency. It shall take steps
to secure the cooperation of all Jews who are willing to assist in
the establishment of a Jewish national home.

Art. VI--The administration of Palestine . . . shall facilitate
Jewish imigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in

cooperation with the Jewish Agency .'. . close settlement by Jews on
the land. e e

The Zionist Organization received semi-governmental status in co-
operating with the Mandatory. An agreement had been publicly reached between
hair Feisel, head of the Arabs, and Weizmann, on the mutual recognition of
Jewish and Arab claims to tie Near East, with Palestine as the Jewish terri-

tory. Britain appointed a Jewish High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, who in

 

115132]: _o_{_ Documents Submitted 1:2 the General Assembl 2.1.: the
United Nations by tm Agency for Palestine, May, 194 .

 

 

 

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his desire to bend over backwards, considerably injured the Zionist cause.
Arab mob violence broke out in 1920 and 1921. Curtailment of Jewish oppor-
tunities followed. The twenty-eight years of British stewardship were studded
with British “11;,“ appearing; to obstruct and liquidate the Mandate, mostly
througi the "divide et impera" formula.

The upbuilding of the Homeland continued in spite of all obstacles.
Economic discrimimtion, political and religious oppression in Europe, re-
inforced by the Zionist dream of redemption, brought hundreds of thousands--
many of them illegally—to the shores of the Holy Land. A Polish emigration
of the twenties was followed by the influx of Gennans in the thirties. The
Hebrew University was founded in 1925 in impressive ceremonies that rever-
berated throughout the Jewish world. An issue of policy, between mass-scale
colonization and step-byhstep reconstruction, between Brandeis and Weizmann,
was decided in favor of the latter at a memorable Zionist convention in
Cleveland in 19s). This led to uninterrupted but modest efforts at planned
settlement with the stress on the younger idealistic elanents. The Labor
Battalion of itinerant volunteers attended to essential construction and
road—paving througxout the country. Pioneers struggled feverishly against
malaria in the swamps of the Valley of J ezreel, in the process of redeeming
the land from 2,000 years of neglect. On the northern border, the pre-
viously mentioned Trumpeldor took up a last stand against Arab terrorists,
and with his comrades died in defense of Jewish soil, thereby becoming a
national symbol of inspiration to tens of thousands. The Hagana, under-
ground defense army, was formed, after the government disbanded the Jewish

battalions who helped to conquer Palestine. It trained the type of farmer-

 

 

 

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31

soldier upon whom the security of the Jewish population depended. In the
thirties and especially during World War II, untold numbers were saved by
underground forces who outsmarted the British blockade of Palestine shores.
During the war the Zionist movement found itself in the enignatic position
of cooperating with Britain in the war against Germany, and fighting British
policy in Palestine. The Palestine Jewish community contributed significantly
to the war effort in material ard men. A Jewish Brigade once again distin-
guished itself in Europe. Trained in the British Army, the leaders of the
underground waited, while the civil population reacted with passive resis-
tance to the repressions and imprisonment of leaders (most of the members
of the present cabinet were in prison in 1947). Dissident underground ele-
ments such as the Irgan and the Stern group, met violence with violence,
mahng the British position untenable and compelling it to submit the entire
matter to the United Nations.12

The 700,000 Jews of Palestine in 1948 were in new ways prepared for
statehood. They had a chain of semi-fortified colonies all over Palestine,
an underground army, an officialdom of modest experience in public affairs,
an organized labor movement, a growing economy, and a fully developed school
system. They had a tradition of heroic self-defense, astute diplomatic
activity, and sacrificial conquest of swamp and desert. There were indigenous
values of love of labor, social cooperation, solidarity with Jews all over the
world, and last but not least, a powerful religious motivation. They were
fighting for freedom and democracy and knew that world Jewry was behind them.

By 1948, Palestine was no more a controversial issue in Jewish life. With the

 

leoshe Pearlman, Army _f_ Israel. (New York: Philosophical library,

 

1950).

 

 

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32

exception of a lunatic fringe of insecure wealthy Jews affiliated with the
American Council for Judaim, non-Zionis ts cooperated through the Jewish
Agency for Palestine (organized in 1929), creating a solid front of world-
wide Jewish support for Israel reborn. Besides, they possessed a secret
weapon-the ”no alternat ive"--assuring victory, for this was the one last
hope of millions of persecuted human beings, survivors of the Nazi holocaust.
The American Jewish community, acting through a legally-convened democrati-
cally elected American Jewish Conference, representing all shades of opinion,
voiced its unequivocal support, in word and in deed.

With the establishment of the State, the goal of Zionism, as proclaimed
in the Basle program of 1897, was fulfilled. Its present function is to pre-
serve, and strengthen what has been achieved, and intensify its efforts toward
a spiritual reinforcement of far-flung Jewish communities, united by their
religious ideals and manifested solidarity with Zion rebuilt. An American
Zionzist leader has formulated the present function of Zionism in these words:

. . . We return to the first principle of Zionism. It is a

principle which must be enunciated with greater emphasis than
over, new that the State of Israel has by its existence opened
the way to implement it with full effect: the principle, namely,
of the individible unity of our People; the identification there-
with of Israel and World Jewry . . . the participation of Jews
everywhere in the supreme experience of creating that ideal State
which Herzl and his ocmpeers foresaw from afar. . .

. . . The Zionist Organization must pursue a long-range program.
Beth Israel and the Diaspora, as we have shown, are the concern of
Zionism; and the long-term pm gram must be based on the pennanent
relations between them--for they are the inseparable parts of an

ideal harmonious whole. . .

The establishment of Israel has not altered the spiritual ob-
jectives of Zionism, but in the nature of things it has created a
shift in the scope and direction of our operations .13

“Irving Miller, The Zionist Movement Today. (New York: 1950)
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33

CHAPTER IV

THE 21 ONIST IDEAL

Six historic and socio-eoonomic factors are responsible for the
Zionist domination of Jewish consciousness and activity to an ever-increas-
ing degree. (a) The religious aspirations of Judaism predicate a return to
the Holy Land and a resurrection of the independent Jewish State and society
destroyed in A.D. 70. This concept is formulated in the traditional literary
sources, affirmed in the daily prayers and expressed in the pattern of ritual,
reaching into all areas of individual and group living. (b) Racial discrimna-
tion and religious persecution suffered by the Jewish people for twenty cen-
turies made the alternative of liberty and autonomy in Palestine increasingly
desirable. Hate intensification in the twentieth century led to the mobilisa-
tion of national energies toward attainment of the national goal. (a) The
assimilation of Jewish intellectual and upper classes after the emancipation
of Jews in Western Europe, revealed the increasing danger to the survival of
the Jewish minority as a religious and cultural entity in Europe and America,
major centers of Jewish population. ((1) The deterioration of the economic
conditions among the compact Jewish masses of Eastern Europe as a result of
a reshuffling of national and economic structures in eastern and central
European countries, coupled with economic repression, focused attention on
Jewish helplessness and uprootedness-«s homeless wandering people adrift
among nations firmly established on their own soil and controlling their

own economic fate. (e) The emergence of modern nationalism as a political,

 

 

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34

cultural and psychological force in the nineteenth century channeled in the
struggle for territorial liberation, reawakened parallel Jewish national con-
sciousness which crystallised into an organised movement. (f) The unprece-
dented catastrophe cf the Second World War in the annihilation of six million
Jews presented a situation whereby independent Jewish statehood became an im-
mediate neoessity rather than an ultimate goal and brought about the sudden

erection of the State of Israel.

Zionism represents the modern organised effort in the historical
aspirations of the Jewish people to reconstitute itself partly or wholly as
a political, economic, religious, and cultural entity in its ancient home-
land. Its program is all-encompassing, rooted in the experiences of Jews,
inspired by their traditions and forged in the cataclysmic events of the
twentieth century. The Zionist solution to the Jewish problem takes in land,
language, religion, culture, society and personality. Theory is combined with
practice in promoting a revolution against what is considered an abnormal exis-
tence of a people in uile. The aforementioned factors instrumental in the
energng supremacy of the Zionist formula, have given rise to fundamental
values spelling out the meaning of Zionism. After having traced its histori-
cal developnent we can analyze its ideological components basic to Israel
society.

(a) In the first place, Zionism is inseparable from the Messianic
dream of redunption with its universalistio as well as particularistic rami-
fications. Judaism, from its earliest origins, be projected into the future
the inevitability of redemption in terms of peace and brotherhood. The mil-

lenim, which will bring the ultimate triumph of justice and freedom for all,

 

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will not be cmplete without the restoration of the people of Israel to its
land and the spiritual rejuvenation of Zion. The Jewish messiah destined
to come, will find a leading role for Israel in the new scheme of things in
the world to Come.

Deprived of its theological trimmings, the messianic yearnings have
not left untouched ova: the secular Jew. Justice to the Jewish people, by
recognising its historical association with 1he Holy Land and a vindication
of the faith and sentiment centered around it, is essential for the blue-
print of the New World. Ancillary to this striving is the concealed hope
that a new light may radiate from Zion, illuninating the path of mankind
once again. Messianic Zionism of this dimension is characteristic not
only of mystics like Alkalai and pious rabbis like Kalisher, but pervades
the writings of the fomer dialectic materialist who turned spiritual
Zionist-dice“ Hess. (see Ch. VI)

(b) An integral aspect of this messianic era is the concept of ”In-
gathering of Exiles," a term in vogue even in the contemporary terminology
of official pronouncuents. The dispersion of Jewry throughout the globe
is to be corrected by the concentration of large nmnbers in Israel. The age
of fine Messiah will be characterised by that very process. This conception
was manifest in the reaction of Yemenite Jews when 50,000 of them were trans-
ported to Israel immediately after the founding of the State, to cite only
one outstanding example:l The design of the Ingathering is both to amass
mmerical strength and to gather and sustain the scattered rennants of far-
flung tribes of a dispersed people. The countries of origin for immigrants

to Israel, in the five year period following independence, adds up to thirty-

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36

four recorded by name (while many others are not listed) divided among six
continents.2 “Int makes this most ranarkable is the fact that the thirty-
four population sources of diverse tongues and cultures are all Jews, members
of a small people numbering less than twelve million throughout the world.

The process of redemption, originally defined in terms of divine in-
tervention and interpreted by Zionism in the frame of historical development
and organi sed initiative, implied the rebirth of political independence in
Palestine and the return of the scattered brethren from all corners of the
earth. Subsequently, this was to lead to an elevated status of Jews abroad,
transformed from a persecuted and helpless minority to an accepted equal:
the stigna of homelessness replaced by the banner of national sovereignty,
uplifting to oneself as well as in relation to others.

The rush of events partially vindicated the faith and the program
of Zionism. Thus a state resurrected 1878 years after its demise, seen in
the light of all that has transpired, can hardly be overestimated in its
impact on the fomation of the national character and influence on education.
Criteria for its development, defense, and function, pervade the atmosphere
of education, providing both the content and the purpose.

(0) A third principle of Zionism, complementary to the first two, is
the socio—eoonomic. The Prophetic Gospel of Social Justice, combined with
adaptations of Marxism, engaged the allegiance of the pioneer. He had re-
volted against the humiliating limitations imposed upon the Jew by a hostile
world. He rebelled against the economic structure of Jewish society. He
also tried to escape the injustice of capitalistic exploitation and the

zlsrael 1954. (New York: Israel Office of Information: 1955),
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37

glaring inequalities of the old economy.
' The nee—Marxist reinterpretaticns of Austrian theoreticians were
applied to the Jewish scene. In the early part of this century Ber Borochcv
(see Ch. XIV) saw the opportunity for a "productive" proletariat in Palestine
to replace the "unproductive" and roctless "Luftmensch" of the Russian Jewish
communities and the petty-bourgeoisie of westernised Jewry. Nachman Syrkin
(see Ch. XIV) further related the Jewish problem to a reconstituted classless
systan in Palestine. A. D. Gordon (see Ch. XIII) preached and practiced the
message of "personal realization" in a return to nature and soil and the
spiritual rehabilitation of the individual by the salutary effect of physical
labor. A youthful, embittered, but yet enthusiastic generation dedicated it-
self to this task, becoming loyal followers of this "religion of labor." They
brougit about the conquest of the seemingly uncontrollable impediments of
Palestine's natural and climatic conditions, the successful colonisation of
an abandoned land, the establidiment of hundreds of Collectives, and the
emergence of organised labor as the most positive and powerful political
and spiritual force in Israel today.

That this economic philosophy in its entirety cannot be accepted by
all segnents of Israel society is obvious. The predominently socialist-
oriented pioneer element, in its various political shadings of numerous and
supposedly distinct dunarcations, subscribe to these theories with little
modification. The basic proposition, however, the reconversion of the un-
balanced economic structure of European Jewry, is universally affirmed
by all schools of Zionist thought, including the "capitalist" groups. They
recognise the need for a transfer from conmercial and clerical pursuits to

industry and agriculture. For this purpose, vocational training institutions

 

 

 

 

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originally sprang up under the auspices of French, German, and Russian
Jewish organizations. Agricultural preparatory farms for Palestine existed
for decades in Europe and America, and were discontinued abroad only a few
years ago. The Jewish National Fund for the purchase of land in Palestine,
was designed to expedite economic rehabilitation, by making farm land avail-
able at nominal rates.

The pecularities of Jewish life have elevated a normal development to
tie-what may be considered by American standards--artificial lofty heights.
Charging an ordinary economic process with idealistic content, may seem
exaggerated, to say the least. We must be cognizant, however, of the histori-
cal factors compelling Jews to congregate in a few occupations. Prohibitions
upon land ownership were nearly universal, as far as Jews were concerned.

In Russia, for example, most fertile areas were even outside the official
Pale of Settlement to which Jews were restricted. Commercial enterprises
generally involve fluid assets and depend upon mental rather than physical
tools-a necessary condition for self-preservation in the frequent expulsions
throughout the centuries. It was natural, therefore, that the main occupa-
tional activities associated with the "diaspora" should be relegated to an
inferior position by the Zionist ideal. Beyond the negative consideration
there was also the indispensable need for farmers, heavy laborers, skilled
workers, and civil service in establishing firm foundations for a self-suf-
ficient Jewish society in Palestine.

It is in this area, the socio-economio, that the message of Zionism
was most universalistic in its nationalistic application. Espousing world
socialism, a classless society, peace between nations and harmony within

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39

and little recognized, that the voluntary, ccmmunistic, agricultural colonies
in Israel are the only Utopian-inspired experiments in the world,which have
not failed. Similar American and English ventures of the nineteenth century
all had to be abandoned. Russian collectives have never been more than com-
pulsory labor cusps. In Israel, they flourish since their inception forty-
five years ago, today numbering hunlreds of settlements.3

(d) The personality redeeming power of Zionist realization previously
mentioned, needs further clarification. It is the thesis of Zionism that the
personality of the Jew has been scarred and marred in the long exile. A
victim of circumstances beyond his control, his physical and psychological
security constantly threatened, he has emerged abnormal or maladjusted in-
wardly and outwardly. Proper balance, inner hamony and creativity, may be
restored by a changed environment in Israel. His sick soul will benefit
from its healing balm. His human dignity is to be recaptured in its purer
atmosphere.

These advantages will accrue not in any automatic fashion. No less
than a total revolution is to take place before a metamorphosis of personality
results. Specifically, this will come about in the presence of three condi-
tions. First, is a change in the mode of living from shiftless, commercial,
speculatory enterprise to solid physical labor. Second, is a transfer of
location from urban to rural life. Third, is a modification of attitude in
re-educating toward the courage of active self-defense in the face of chal-
1enge and jeopardy.

The first concept in the frame of national urgency has already been

discussed: its economic intellectual premises will be elaborated upon when

5Esther Tauber, Molding Society 1:2 Man. (New York: Bloch Publish-
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we analyze the writing of the socialist theoreticians. The psychological
dimension deserves our present scrutiny.

The Grandfather of Yiddish Literature, Mendele Mocher Sforim (1835-
1917) reflected the Haskala thesis, that the economic imbalances have caused
mental and moral aberrations. The daily uncertainties, oscillations, specula-
tions, and machinations in the pursuit of the meagre profits eked out for a
subsistence of bare necessities, have created habits of thought and social
relationships which were anything but healthy. Occupational training in
productive and skilled labor for employment entailing physical exercise,
regular routine, assured income and established patterns, are thus destined
to be of psychological therapeutic value.

The second condition of return to nature places a premium upon agri-
culture in the gamut of gainful employment. The cramped shabby quarters of
East European Jewish communities ruled out any contact with nature. Bialik,
the Hebrew poet of national revival, dramatically depicts, how pausing to
observe the natural wonders of the seasons, was regarded as sinful idleness
detracting from the study of the Holy Law.4 On the other hand, the Bible
abounds in idyllic rural description. The Israel landscape is a tangible
tie with the spiritually gigantic figures of the Bible, associated with
particular location. The life of a farmer cultivating the soil of the
Holy Land is fraught with possibilities of meditation, inspiration and
aesthetic experience, elevating and enriching. As Thoreau in New England
and Tolstoy in Russia, the Israel pioneer escaped the tumult and tension
of urban concentration to find peace and serenity in the midst of nature.

The devoted proponents of this ideal, frequently veered far in this

4Hayyfus Nahman Bialik, "The Talmud Student,” in A Treasu of
Jewish Poet , ed. Nathan and Marynn Ausubel (New York: Crown firélmers,

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direction in the Zionist youth movements under their influence, to the point
of stressing agricultural pioneering as the only contribution toward the up-
building of ‘lhe Jewish Homeland. Such over-emphasis is understandable in the
light of the needed ruralization of urban masses and the spiritual opportunity
for individual rehabilitation unfolded by the Zionist promise.

The third area of operation, self-defense, deals with the problem of
warding off anti-Jewish hostilities. Age old persecution has conditioned
the Jew to retreat and escape, as the only resort in face of physical ag-
gression. A defenseless minority without arms at its disposal may find this
sound strategy, against the overwhelming odds of military catnpaigns. But a
people subject to frequent mob rioting, will only invite more attacks by
cowardly inaction and fliglt. The pogroms of Eastern Europe, when ignorant
peasants were incited against Jews by Church and government authorities, in-
flicted severe injury on Jewish life, property and honor. The old community
of Palestine, as well as the first settlers, were attractive targets for
Arab violence and deceit. The Zionist call for courage and self-defense
against onslaught, opened a new chapter in inter-faith relations. Numerous
pitched battles discouraged outbreaks considerably and checked the excited
passions of Gentile mobs. In Palestine, such tactics took the Arabs by sur-
prise, and gained their respect for Zionist elements, spontaneously and. of-
fectively rising to the defense of a threatened community. The Hebrew term
for defense, m, was added to the sancta of modern Jewish vocabulary.
What is particularly significant in the context of our present analysis is
the psychological effect of this change. It brought self-respectand human
dignity to J ewe hitherto ashamed of their own cowardice.

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42

conflicts and complexes of the exile personality. A justified pride of
achievement has replaced a sense of inferiority. Self-acceptance is sub-
stituted for the pangs of rejection by oth ers and self-hate by oneself, so
characteristic of mam assimilated Jewish intellectuals, even those of con-
siderable tune. The acquired inner harmony reduces tensions and neuroses.
A feeling of equality detracts from the Chosen People concept, often used
as a rationalisation. The ability to fight bravely and do it well has
bolstered the spirit. This psychologcal revolution, brought in the wake
of the Zionist ideal, has left its impact upon the Jewish personality out-
side of Israel borders as well. Shmarya Levin, the Zionist orator and pro-
pagandist of the past generation, succinctly summarised the Zionist program
as dedicated "not only to take the Jew out of Exile, but also to take the
kilo out of the Jew.”
Zionism... . rather means facing the cold excruciating fact

that the restoration of the land to the people is the painfully

slow process of the people returning to the land, of individual

Jews shouldering the task of returning as individuals, each settl-

ing in the land himself, each undergoing metamorphosis of the re-

turning exile.5

(e) Zionism calls for national revival of cultural creativity. This

applies to the vehicles of communication, literature, theatre, press, art,
and music. To ignore one's own tradition and partake to one's full satisfac-
tion of another, at the exclusion of the former, is see imilation. In the
realm of faith it becomes conversion. Assimilation and conversion are aspects
of each other. That was becoming the fate of emancipated Jewry before Zionism

appeared on the scene. The awakening of national consciousness expressed it-

self in growing attachment to the cultural traditions of creative continuity,

5811mm Halkin, Modern Hebrew Literature: Trends and Values. (New
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43

especially in literature. At about 1880, J. L. Gordon, poet of the Haskala,
thought of himself as "the last of the singers of Zion." Two decades later,
a youthful dynamic literature was flourishing. What made the difference was
the Zionist movement.

A culture is revealed in-a language. Here another difficulty arose.
European Jewry created its own language, resting upon medieval German, Hebrew
and Slavic components. It developed from a jargon to a rich idiom of expres-
sion comparable to other European tongues. Parallel to the Haskala literature
in Hebrew, a vast heritage was accumulating in the Yiddish vernacular. At
first the masters wrote in both; later writers adopted one or the other medium.

Zionism had to choose between a spoken language and a holy tongue
relegated to the higher forms of life since antiquity. European Jewry was
the senior partner in the restoration of the homeland and with no competitors
in the spiritual realm. Yet the far-flung tribes of Jewry would be united
only through Hebrew. The epic story of the resurrection of a supposedly
"dead” language is told in the chapter on Ben Yehuda (see Ch. IX). Zionism
became identified with Hebrew in Palestine, but it could not ignore the
magnetism of Yiddish in the diaspora as an authentic indigenous Jewish product
containing the rich treasures of the Jewish spirit and uniting European J are
in their dispersion throughout the Americas, Australia and Africa.

Incontemporary America, literature plays a modest role. We could
hardly appreciate the tremendously important part of Hebrew literature (and
to a lesser degree, Yiddish literature) in the Zionist renaissance. The es-
say. of Achad Ha'am (... Ch. x1), expounding Zionist theory, were awaited
eagerly as they appeared in the periodicals and passed from hand to hand serr-

1ng as topics for discussion in hundreds of communities throughout Poland,

 

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44

Lithuania and neighboring states. The poems of Bialik inspired young men
in organise illegal self-defense units against peasant mobs. The lyrics of
even a second or third rate minstrel like M. M} Dolitski or B. Z. Imber,
author of the Zionist anthan, stirred the souls of tens of thousands and
helped to bring many of them.to Israel. The short stories of the great
waiter, J. L. Perets, evoked yearnings and gropings for a finer and better
life.

The dichotomy of newspaper and book does not apply in Jewish culture.
The daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals were the organs of expression for
the poets, essayists, novelists, and dramatists of Hebrew literature. To
date, the American Yiddish daily press reaching the masses, is the medium
for artistic expressionnwhich, in its English counterpart, is found only
in philosophical or literary journals.

For Hebrew literature to energe as this driving force, it had to
be released from the religious chains, depict life in all of its phases,
reflect the inner world of the individual, cope with social, economic, in-
tellectual and emotional problems, experiment with adopting and adapting
many European forms of literature, style, motif, plot and craftsmanship.
These elements account for its enveloping scope beyond the border of aesthetic
experience. Modern Hebrew literature, secular as it is, has enjoyed an in-
fluence commensurate with religious books, although it did not become didactic
nor programmatic. But its standards and values were under constant scrutiny,
resulting in controversies on Europeanism.versus Jewishness, aesthetics as
against ethics, and similar issues touched upon in later chapters of this
thesis. Poets, novelists, essayists, and dramatists had their own retinue,

not limited to sophisticated circles.

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45

From its halting beginnings in the eighteenth century to its
latest full-throated utterances in Palestine, Hebrew literature
has been intimately connected with all the vital manifestations
of Jewish group living, furthering some of them passionately, but
often even violently challenging some and bitterly condemning
others. More significant still, it has always pioneered among
these forces that have impelled and channeled the Jewish group
will, calling the group to new ibrms of living, setting up new
standards, anticipating social ideals long before they crystal-
lised into organised movements, creeds and parties.

Much of what has been discussed for literature applies equally to
the press, the theatre and the arts as they were conceived in Europe, trans-
planted and grafted in Palestine, where they blossomed forth into a reborn
Hebrew culture of the Jewish people, with Israel as its spiritual center.

It has been the plan of its architects, that the new Hebrew culture will
engage the interests and loyalties of Jews everywhere as an additional or,
at least, supplementary culture to that of their domicile. There is an

international Jewish agency, the Brit Ivrit Olamit (World Hebrew Covenant)

 

dedicated to this ideal.7

(f) The Orthodox wing of Zionism has focus ed attention upon Israel
as the only opportunity for a life compatible with the precepts of the
Jewish faith. The Jewish code of civil law, partially adhered to up until
the nineteenth century, became inoperative when Jewish groups sacrificed
ghetto autonomy for personal emancipation. It can once again be implemented
only in a state under a Jewish government where Jews make up the majority of
the population. The ritual practices, such as Sabbath observance and dietary

laws, are kept with less discomfort in a predominantly Jewish environment.

61bid., p. 101.

7Shalom Spiegel, Hebrew Reborn. (New York: Macmillan, 1930).

 

 

 

 

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The integration of secular and.religious education, wifinout the dissection
into two languages, is possible only in Israel. Furthermore, the ancient
Jewish code contains a body of laws applicable only to the Holy Land. The
spiritually rewarding opportunity to fulfill all the commandments is limited
to those who reside in Israel.

Religious Zionists have conducted a battle on two fronts in defense
of their position. On the other hand, conservative authoritarian elements
still insisted upon'waiting for the Messiah to bring them back to Israel,
and regarded human.initiative in that direction as atheistic digression. On
the other side were the articulate secularist elements who, in their enthusiasm
to break:with minority exiled status outside of Palestine, were ready to rebel
against the religious tradition as well. Religious Zionism, has won the first
battle in toto, and is scoring important gains on the second front. There is
a growing recognition in Israel today of the immeasurable opportunity for a
religious Jewish revival of unprecedented scope, inherent in a Jewish State.
Rabbi Abraham Kuk, late Chief Rabbi of Israel, was the inspired exponent of
this view. His contributions will be evaluated in a later chapter (XVI).

‘ It is'worth nothing that American.Jewish theological seminaries are
now insisting on one year's resident study in Israel before ordination.
Strangely enough, the most liberal'wingw-Reform.Judaism--originally anti-
Zionist, is taking the lead in this venture. The religious meaning of Zionism,
for Israel ann.Jews abroad, is now understood more than ever before.

The ideological and historical foundations of Zionism are formulated
in the Proclamation which brougit the Jewish State into being on May 15, 1948.
The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.

Here their spiritual, religious and national identity was fonned.
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47

and universal significance. Here they wrote and gave the Bible
to the world.

Exiled from Palestine, the Jewish people remained faithful
to it in all countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to pray
and hope for their return and the restoration of their national
freedom. .

Inpolled by this historic association, Jews strove through-
out the centuries to go back to the land of their fathers and re-
gain their statehood. In recent decades they returned in masses.
They reclaimed the wilderness, revived their language, built cities
and villages, and established a vigorous and ever growing community,
with its own economic and cultural life. . . .

In the year 1897 the First Zionist Congress . . . proclaimed the
right of the Jewish people . . . to national survival. This . . .
was acknowledged by the Balfour Declaration . . . and reaffirmed by
the mandate of the League of Nations. . . . The Nazi holocaust . . .
proved anew the urgency of the re-establishment of the Jewish
State. . . . In the second world war the Jewish eople in Palestine
made a full contribution in the struggle . . . 5mg gained than
title to rank with ihe peoples who founded the nit ed Nations. On
Novanber 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted
a Resolution for the establishment of an independent Jewish State in
Palestine, and called upon the inhabitants of the country to take
such steps as may be necessary on their part to put the plan into
effect. It is, moreover, the self-evident right of the Jewish people
to be a nation, like all other nations, in its own sovereign State.

Accordingly we, the members of the National Council, representing
the Jewish people in Palestine and the Zionist movement of the world,
met together in solemn assembly today, the day of termination of the
British Mandate for Palestine, by virtue of the natural and historical
right of the Jewish people and of tie Resolution of the General As-

’ sunbly of the United Nations, hereby proclaim the establishment of
the Jewish State in Palestine, to be called ISRAEL.8

 

8Joseph Dunner, The Republic of Israel: Its History and Its
Promise. (New York: McEraw—HIII Book—Co" 1950). Excerpts— from the
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CHAPTER V

THE EDIE ATION PICTURE

Israel's educational systan is

the mirror of the life of the country . . . it is perhaps the
most important of the forces that will determine the character

of this new state for the years to come. In the light of these
circumstances Israel's educational efforts should be of great
interest to all students of modern social and educational trends.
To such persons the story of education in Israel . . . should
serve at least as an introduction to a particularly complex edu-
cational situation in a counmry'which once contributed greatly to
the advancunent of civilization and which is now the scene of
great national and social endeavor of world.wide significance.

To the end of the nineteenth century, education in the former Pales-
tine omsisted of independent ventures of ethnic groups conducting schools
in accordance with the traditions of their countries of origin. The language
of instruction was Yiddish or Ladino (a Spanish-Hebrew dialect) depending
upon the sponsors of the school. 1

By the end of the century, three Jewish philanthropic organizations
established schools with some vocational opportunities. The Alliance Israelite
Universelle, the Anglo-Jewish Association, and the Hilfsverein der Deutscher
Juden.founded schools in the spirit and vernacular of their respective
countries, allotting tnme for Hebrew religious instruction.

The Zionist settlers organised their own schools pervaded with the
ideals they espoused. Hebrew, undeveloped as it was for modern usage, be-

came the language of instruction in these schools and fought an uphill battle

into the institutions under European auspices. In one instance involving

 

1
Noah Nardi, "Education in Israel ," Israel Youth Horizon (Jerusalem:
February, 1956), p. lle

 

 

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a high school in Haifa, only a teacher-student strike succeeded in replac-
ing Ger-In with Hebrew. It was the schools of Palestine, their constant
need for Hebral terlinolegy in the arts and sciences, that accelerated the
growth of the Hebrew language. The Zionist movement abroad supported the
new schools and dreamed of an integrated educational system, from elementary
through university level, in the Hebraic spirit.

The first to push for Hebrew as a living language in the schools was
Elieser ban Iehuda, who later became famous as the father of modern Hebrew.
His efferhin the late seventies of the nineteenth century were followed by
teaching in the French Alliance School in Jerusalem, where, in 1883, he be-
came the instructor of spoken Hebrew.

The Zimist settlement provided the natural setting for the new
"national" school. At first there were the old type one room "cheder'
tutoring, with Iiddish as the medium. In the last decade of the century
the battle for Hebrew was waged in these colonies, and by 1901: it had
trimphed. The later lexicographer, Judah Grozovsky, and the religious
thinker, Zev Iaaveta, were among the first teachers using the "neural
method“ of I'Iiebrew into Hebrew“ for the traditional subjects. The goal was
new to introduce this method for the arts and sciences as well, in spite of
the paucity of technical teminology in the Hebrew of that day.

The first all-Hebrew school was opened in Jaffa in 1890, but it
was short-lived. This was followed by two separate schools for boys and
girls, supported Jointly by Russian Zionists and the bench Alliance.
Friction between the agencies led to separate sponsorship, with the girls'
school remaining the Hebraic institution. The need for preparing children
in the spoken Hebrew before entering elementary school led to the founding

 

 

 

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50

of the first Hebrew kindergarten at the turn of the century.

Because of linguistic problems, the teachers of this period were pre-
occupied with the Hebrew language 2235 at the expense of other learning,
without coordination or direction. The first attempt at a teachers' organiza-
tion in 1892, proved abortive. But, in 1903, the Hebrew Teachers' Federation
of Erets Yisrael was finally launched with a two-fold aim of:

1. improving education in the land and fostering a nationalistic
Hehrew orientation in all schools; 2
2. improving the material and legal positions of the teachers.

The general educational aims of the teachers' unionva'e first imple-
mented in the eight year curriculum planned in 1907 for a thirty—four hour
week maximum schedule. In the following year, certification requirements
were set up. A "language committee” was fonned to initiate, sanction and
integrate all linguistic innovations which, by necessity, were being made
continuously. (This agency was the authoritative linguistic body until a
few years ago when it was replaced by a government department.) Textbooks
were published; the sephardi (south European and Asiatic) pronunciation
was officially adopted in place of the Ashkenazi (east and west European).
Qualified kindergarten teachers arrived from abroad and introduced the
Froebel method. ,Before the outbreak of the war, the schools in Palestine
had made considerable progress, largely under the guidance of the teachers'
union which in many instances sponsored its own schools.

Secondary education begins with the first high school in 1906, opened

with seventeen students and four grades. In the following year the Hebrew

 

2Aaron Berman, The History of Education: Jewish and General, in

Hebrew (Tel Aviv: Joshua Chachik) {3.142.

 

 

 

 

 

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Gymnasia Organisation took over the school which soon became known as Herzlia,
the leading high school to the present day. The tom "gymnasia" was borrowed
from Europe, giving the school a higher acadanic status. The first teachers'
seminary for women was founded in 1913 with a four-year curriculum. Along
with other schools, it was closed in 1917, as a result of Turkish war re-
strictions. Critical conditions during the war years, due to the cutting
off of funds from Europe, forced the removal of the population from certain
districts, and the expulsion of non-Turkish citizens-~including teachers--
seriously jeopardizing the educational gains. Ingenious makeshift arrange-
ments enabled instruction to continue under the most adverse circumstances.

In 193) the British Mandatory government accepted the educational
autonomy of the Hebrew schools as private projects, not meriting financial
support as received by the Arab schools. After much acrimony, the govern-
ment met about ten per cent of the education budget. Taking over from the
World Zionist Organization in 1932, the National Council of the Jewish Com-
munity, recognised by the government, was compelled to levy additional taxes
of its own in order to finance its educational system."5

Three official'school systems or "trends" were in existence up to
1953. The Labor schools emphasised to a greater extent, vocational and
agricultural training and were essentially socialistic in ideology. The
Mizachi trend was religiously oriented, teaching more of the religious texts.
Between than were the General schools, commanding the majority of pupils.
After the establishment of the State, it became increasingly evident that a

national unified state education would be preferable to the partisan ar-

 

3
Noah Nardi, Education in Palestine (New York: Zionist Organization
of America, 1945).

 

 

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52

rangement. The 1958 State Education Bill stipulated as follows, in sections

Sand 4e

3. From the school year 5714 onwards, State education shall be
introduced in every official educational institution. In
an official educational institution which in the school year
5713 belonged to the Misarchi trend or the Agudat Israel
trend or the religious section of the Labor trend, religious
State education shall be introduced.

4. The Minister shall prescribe the curriculmn of every official
educational institution; in non-Jewish educational institu
tions, the curriculum shall be adapted to the special condi-
tions thereof.

The new systan calls for a public school and religious school, both under
government direction (as in Quebec, Canada). A unified curriculum was set
in operation. Ultra-Orthodox schools preferring to remain independent of
the State, must still conform to minimum standards. The latter receive
sixty-seven per cent of the teacher salary budget from the government.
These are "recognised but unofficial" schools.

Jewish education was voluntarily almost universal under the Palestine
Mandate. In 1949 Israel enacted the Compulsory Edm ation Law which affected
largely the Arab population, especially since a high percentage of Arab children
were not in the schools at all. The Compulsory Education Law stipulates
that:

Compulsory education shall comprise all children of the ages

from five to thirteen years inclusive and all adolescents who
have not completed their elementary education. The parents of a
child or adolescent shall each be under a duty to affect a single
registration of a child or adolescent with the local education

authority in whose area of jurisdiction the child or adolescent
resides. . . .

. . . Official educational institutions for the provision of
free elanentary education under this Law to children and adoles-
cents resident in the area of jurisdiction of a particular local
education authority diall be maintained by the State and the local
education authority jointly. . . .

 

 

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Also those within. the age group of fourteen to seventeen who have not com-
pleted their primary schooling, are legally subject to compulsory education.

Secondary schools, unlike primany schools, are maintained by the
zmuflcipalities but helped by government grants and scholarships. Some are
privately owned. About one quarter of eligible youth receive secondary
mkmation. The figure includes those attending agricultural and vocational
institutions. Economic conditions compel most youth of high school age to
seek gainful employment.

Arab education enjoys the same privileges and is placed under the
same obligations as Jewish, except for the fact that Arabic replaces Hebrew.
Fbr a community long illiterate, this was quite a revolution, even though
the Compulsory Education Act has not been stringently enforced (seventy per
cult enforcement) since it was "believed that drastic measures will defeat
the very purpose of the act."4 This applied primarily to girls since fanale
education is not appreciated. About twenty-five per cent of Arab pupils ‘were

enrolled in non-governmental Christian mission schools in 1952.5

'ISRAEL'S STUDENT POPULATION 1957-8

 

Total -- 517,000 TUITION
Kindergarten age 5 78,000 partial fees
Hebrew 74,000
Arab 4,000
Elementary
Hebrew 319,0CD ' age 6-14 345,000 free
Arab 26,000
Secondary (and special) 47,000 tuition fees
Hebrew 46,000
Arab 1,00)
4

Noah Nardi, "Education in Israel," op. cit.. p. 19.

5S. D. Goitein, The Arab Schools }ll- Israel (New York: Israel Office
of Infonmation, 1952). ““"'

 

 

 

 

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54

Agricultural and Vocational 14,000
(including those under government
and private auspices)

Teacher sminaries 5,000
Higher education 9,500
Independent (kindergarten and

elementary schools)

Hebrew 11,000 19,000
Arab 8,000

 

Sources Government Yearbook 5719 (1958), Jerusalem: Government

W939?

 

The problus of education in a fast growing society are even more
accentuated in Israel, where the school populati on has increased five-fold
in ten years of statehood. Integration of non-Hebrew speaking pupils, com-
prising at least half of the enrollment, is a colossal task in the face of
their diversified home background, religiously, socially, inguistically,
and ethnically. The large number of teen-agers not in high schools are
provided with educational opportunities through evening classes and various
youth movements of all political and religious description, maintaining a
strong hold over their adherents. There is an extensive program of adult
education with interesting experiments in language instruction for immigrant
groups. The army, conducting orientation and instruction programs, is a
valuable educational force in integrating all youth, military service being

compulsory for men and single women (orthodox women can claim exemption).6

Higher education in Israel centers around the Hebrew University

founded in 1925. To its dreamers, planners and builders--ranging over a

6Israel Information Services: Building 3 New Generation (Hakirya:
Govermemtfng press, 1953):—

 

 

 

 

 

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55

period of twenty-five years before its inc eption--it epitomized the great
citadel of the Jewish spirit, heir to the ancient Temple as the spiritual
center of Judaism. Even thougl these grandiose ideas are far from realiza-
tion, it has become a great university for Jewish learning, general scholar-
ship and scientific research. The imposing campus on Mount Scopus is beyond
reach since the War of Liberation, but a new campus is being built in the
Jerusalun hills. The 1958 enrollment is over 13700. As the repository of
Jewish spiritual treasures, it contains the largest Jewish library in the
world, a project initiated long before the founding of the university.

The Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa (the Technion) is serving
the country in the preparation of sorely needed engineers, scientists and
technicians. (The Reali School, a secondary prep school associated with the
college, was the scene of a battle for the introduction of spoken Hebrew
into the schools before the first World War. Interestingly enough, it was
here that a successful student strike took place in 1912, which resulted
in the replacing of German by Hebrew as the language of instruction, and
marked the beginning of the conquest by modern Hebrew in the schools of the
country.) Opened in 1924, it had 2000 students in 1957. .

The new Bar Ilan University near Tel-Aviv was inaugurated in 1955.
Sponsored by American religious Zionist groups, it is modelled after American
colleges and provides an education in an atmosphere of Jewish tradition. Be-
sides providing a religious environment for a liberal arts college, it is a
unique American contribution to Israel life and thought by the introduction
of an American brand of Judaism--a synthesis of orthodoxy and modernism.
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovoth is dedicated to pure science

and advanced research in the spirit of "scientific pioneering.” Its various

 

 

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56

projects are "of great theoretical and practical importance for the future
of agriculture and industry in Israel,“7according to official claims.

In addition there is the newly organised Tel Aviv University pre-
viously known as the School of Law and Economics, with 1800 students.
Numerous teachers' colleges and theological schools, a music academy and

conservatory in Jerusalun, and the fmnous Bezalel Art School in Jerusalan,

complete the picture. The art products of the latter have been cherished

decorations in Jewish homes throughout the world.

 

7Report 1953: The Weizmann Institute of Science, p. 12.

 

 

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58

CHAPTER VI

MOSES HESS

Moses Hess is the first literary forerunner of the Jewish national
ideal wnong occidental Jews. Simultaneous with early Zionist utterances by
scholarly rabbis, and romantic speculation by creative artists in the Hebrew
language, Hess appears as the harbinger of similar tidings to emancipated
Jewry of western Europe. His book, Rome and Jerusalem, published in German
in 1862, is the first attention work of modern Zionist classics aimed at
establishing the naticml movement upon firm philosophical and realistic
foundations. The publication of such a volume by a prominent spokesman of
European socialism, author of treatises in philosophy and an assimilated
Jewish intellectual, marks the turning point in the nineteenth century climate
of opinion among'Jews.

”After an estrangement of twenty years I am back with my people. I
have come to be one of them again . . . to share the memories and hopes of
the nation."1 Hess was one of the first of the lost sheep who found their
way home again after meandering about in far off pastures. The estrangement
from Judaism was longer than indicated in the above quoted confession. At
the age of fifty, when he created the work which earned him a place in the
Hall of Fame of Jewish notables, he already had behind him a long and il-
lustrious career in revolutionary circles and an alienation from Jewish
life reaching back to a break with his family in early manhood. ‘

Born in Germarw in 1812 into a pious and wealthy household, Hess was

1Mcses Hess, Rome and Jerusalem, trans. Meyer Woman. (New York:
Bloch Publishing oo.,"I'93'5r p. 40.

 

 

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59

raised in a religious atmosphere. During his short stay at the Bonn univer~
sity'he'was imbued'with radical ideology and dedicated himself to its propae
gaticn. Breaking with his family on account of his revolutionary activities,
he travelled aimlessly through England, Frame and Germany. A temporary re-
conciliaticn‘with.his father improved his financial condition, but a pennanent
severance was soon brought about when Mbses married out of faith.

Pursuing his socialistic and intellectual ventures, he wrote a number
of books on historic-pclitical-philosophic themes, and cmtributed extensively
to radical publications. His independent thinking brought him into disfavor
with Marx and Engels, as revealed in Marx's criticism levelled at him,2 a
fact which suggests the importance of Boss in radical quarters. In 1848 he
returned.to Germany to take an active part in.the revolution. Condemned to
death, he fled and finally found refuge in Paris where he continued to remain
productive as a philosophical'writer, ardent socialist activist, and-~after
the reewakening of his Jewish conscience--a champion of the national revival
of his people. He died in 1875.

It seemm that the spark of Jewish consciousness had been smouldering
in his heart for twenty years. The notorious Damascus Affair of 1840, based
on a blood libel against Jews, attracted international attention and played
an.important role in the rude awakening of many assimilated Jews throughout
the world. Hess records in the Fifth Letter of his magnum opus:

Twenty years agp, when an absurd and false accusation against

the Jews was imported into Europe from Damascus, it evoked in the
hearts of the Jews a bitter feeling of agony. Then it dawned upon
me for the first time, in the midst of my socialistic activities,

that I belong to my unfortunate, slandered, despised and dispersed
People. And already, then, 171an I was greatly estranged from

2Sydney Hook, ”Karl Marx and Moses Hess ," The New International,
VOL I. no. 5, December, 1934, p. 140.

 

 

 

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Judaism, I wanted to express my. Jewish- patriotic sentiment in a
cry of anguish, but it was unfortunately immediately stifled in
my heart by a greater pain which the suffering of the European
Proletariat evoked in me.3

The record of the Hess conversion is not unique. The annals of
Zionist history are studded with tales of repentent renegades, the zealous
devotees of many a current foreign fad, who suddenly awoke or_were shocked
into an awareness of their responsibilities to their own people. Their ranks
included the majority of the dignitaries who graced international Zionist
platforms, as'well as large numbers of lesser lights who became the pioneers
of the new Palestine. Hess is chronologically the first in this category of
the Zionist Who's Who.

It took an unusually long time for his initial reactions to crystal-
lise into lasting and powerful sentiments. The Italian‘war of liberation
and the upsurge of nationalism in Europe left their impression upon his sen-
sitive soul. He asserts that intellectual maturation was responsible for

his emerging Jewish convictions.

. . . I discovered a real and strong relationship between

my ethnological studies and the modern national movement. . .
These studies convinced me of the inevitable ultimate dis-
appearance of any particular race dominance and the necessary
regeneration of all oppressed peoples.4

Two elements in his mental development pointed in the same direction.
As a socialist struggling against tyranny of all fonms, he demanded the
liberation of oppressed classes and peoples, Israel not excepted. This was
fortified by academic investigation into cultural and national characteris-
tics and differences, suggesting an opportunity for the Jewish people to

mold its own corporate gestalt and fulfill its destiny without interference.

 

gMcses Hess, "Rome and Jerusalem," 22, cit., p. 60.

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Cosmopolitanism, preaching fusion of nations into one undifferentiated
Humanity, he discovered to be totally unscientific. The new realisation
on his part "became a dominating trait of my character and a lasting mood
of my soul. No more did I seek to suppress the voice of my Jewish con-
sciousness ."5
What were the essentials of his philosophy of Jewish nationalism?
.Asuccinot statement of his views is condensed into one paragraph at the
beginning of his Rome and Jerusalem.
LA thought which I believed to be forever buried in.my heart,
has been revived in me snow. It is the thought of my nationality
which is inseparably connected with the ancestral heritage and
the manories of the Holy Land, the Eternal City, the birthplace
of the belief in the divine unity of life, as well as the hope in
the future brotherhood of men.6
Here is the forthrigat self-revelation of an emerging Zionist consciousness
with the related components of an all-embracing mental pattern. The ‘
nationalistic sentiments gripping him late in life are not isolated episodes,
but interwoven with the total Weltanschaung of cosmic, theological, histori-
cal and humanitarian ramifications. They are an inseparable aspect of his
world view charged with universal significance beyond parochial interest.
Hess postulated a divine cosmic plan unfolding in time. The world
is a unity; the same principles apply to nature and society joined by the
unifying force of God. The cosmic, organic and social are all subject to

the genetic laws of progress operating consecutively in each of the three

realms. The cosmic development as recorded in the Bible was followed upon

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62

its completion by organic evolution adequately traced in scientific investi-

gations. Man's history, being comparatively recent, is destined to take the

same course, ultimately leading to the realization of the potentialities of
harmony and fruition in social and spiritual achievement. The nineteenth
century, marking the broadening of man's intellectual horizon and the libera-

tion and regeneration of suppressed peoples, is the "springtime" of human

history, ushering in a new age. Just as in the era of transition between

antiquity and medieval times Palestine supplied a faith for mankind; like-
wise, in the present twilight before a new dawn, Israel restored to its

homeland shall contribute to the regenerated spirit of man in the new era.
Though hesitating at first in explicitly stating this potential service to

mankind (reserving the major civilizing role to France), Hess develops the

argument to its logical conclusion:

It is through.Judaism that the history of humanity becomes
a sacred history. VI mean by that, that process of unified or-
ganic development which has its origin in the love of the family,
the mmmbers of which will be united by the holy spirit, the
creative genius of history, as strongly as the organs of the body
are united by the creative natural forces.7

The Jewish people . . . is still today, that organ of humanity
which expresses the living creative force in universal history,
mainly the organ of unifying and sanctiiying”love.8

Bringing humanity to the synthesis of materialistic and spiritual
aims, geared to improving the lot of mankind, is the peculiar function of
the Jewish people. This shall be accomplished by realising the moral teach-

ings of religion in practical life, thereby fulfilling the Jewish mission in

society.9

7pm., p. 106.

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Israel can perform this service to mankind by setting an example on
its own soil. From there, implementation of prophetic social justice will

inspire anulation elsewhere:

Providence would not have prolonged your existence until
today, had it not reserved for you the holiest of all missions.
The hour has struck for the resettlement of the banks of the
Jordan. The historical books of the royal prophets can, perhaps,

be written again only by you. 0
The rebirth of Israel is inevitable to anyone who understands the
signs of the times.

The old frame-work of European society, battered so often
by the storms of revolution, is cracking and groaning on all
sides. It can no longer stand the storm.

Just as after the last catastrophe of organic life, when
the historical races came into the world's arena, there came
their division into tribes, and the position and the role of
the latter was determined, so after the last catastrophe in
social life, when the spirit of humanity shall have reached
its maturity, will our people with the other hiitorical peoples
find its legitimate place in universal history. 1

Return to Palestine therefore will come not only as a result of the dialecti-
cal processes of history, but is necessary in order for the Jews to assume
the role which is their destirw in civili sation. In their dispersion, the
Jewish people are unable to carry out this mission because of the abnormal
economic conditions, deteriorated Jewish cultural situation, and, inhibiting
social status. National independence in Palestine will deliver than from
plight and release the powers of rejuvenation in discharging their assumed
obligation to mankind. In their renewed exalted capacity they appear as

"the triumphal arch of the future historical epoch, under which the great

¥

101bid., p. 139.

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The cell of the hour in preparing for the regeneration of the
Jewish people, is to keep alive this hope and reawaken it where it slumbers.
Constant vigilance will provide the readiness for taking advantage of an
international situation conducive to the restoration of "a Jewish State,”
preceded by colonisation ventures.”

Hess envisaged the spiritual revival of Judaism following on the
heels of a reconstituted, numerically significant community in the land of
Israel. He endorsed the coloni zation plans advocated by the contemporary
Rabbi Kalisher, urging solicitation of leading Jewish financiers for this
project, and pointed to existing favorable conditions for the recognition
of Jewish aims. France's involvement in the building of the Suez canal
could sway her, if sufficient influence be brought to bear, toward sponsor-
ing resettlunent in Palestine under her protection. Hess' idea of viewing
the international political arena with an eye for assistance from western
powers, later became a most important plank in the Zionism of Theodore Herzl,
architect of the World Zionist Organization.

Two roads have led to Zion from two directions during the nineteenth
century. One was positive, paved with the desire for unhampered religious
and cultural expression which had been suffering an inhibiting disadvantages
under the pressure of a dominating majority civilization. The other had its
source in negative motivation, in fleeing the scmrge of anti-Semitism. The

trail-blazers of the Zionist ideal traversed either one, the political or

12
Ibid., p. 140.

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cultural paths, as the case may have been. Though the first approach could
be traced to Hess' reactions, for anti-Semitism among his fellow socialists
and hostilities against Jews elsewhere had aroused his conscience, he was
largely moved by spiritual considerations. This has been sufficiently ampli-
fied in the above analysis of his philosophy. The return to Palestine meant
to him a challenge and an opportunity for the unfolding of the Jewish spirit.
Anticipating much of the Zionist political platfom more clearly enunciated
by his successors, be primarily represents the embryonic stage of a philosophy
of spiritual rebirth subsequently evolved by Achad Ha'am and others. In the
messianic role assigned by him to the resurrected Jewish ration, he reaches
into inspired ethereal heights, beyond the grasp of his heirs, the theoretic-
ians and architects of the national rebirth.

Central in the perspective of Hess is the road of assimilation em-
barked upon by cccidental Jewry. The merciless criticism levelled at their
denial of the national historical elements of the Jewish religion, he directed
against the Reform movement as well. The religious reform sparked by the
supposed desire to modernize the religious tradition, he regarded as a fiasco,
masculating the faith and transforming it into a sterile liquidated creed.
He accused his emancipated co-religionists of apish behavior unbecoming to
men of dignity. Rejecting international identification with Jews as a his-
torical and existing religious entity, was too great a price for men of honor
to pay for civil 'rigits. He dramatically cries out: "If it were truethat
Jewish emancipation in exile is incompatible with Jewish nationality, then
it were the duty of the Jews to sacrifice the former for the sake of the

latter e ”1“

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66

Hess perceived the deep truth which calls the bluff of assimilation--
that it never assuages the injuries of anti-Semitism, but frequently aggravates
then from without and weakens the immunity from within. It is accompanied
by a loss of respect on the part of the non—Jew, paralleled by diminished
emotional protectiveness of fine individual. The bond of peoplehood does
not interfere with loyalty to one's country. History contains many examples
of strong Jewish identification and dutiful patriotic allegiance existing in
harmony and mutual re—enforcement. ". . . It is possible to be a good,
patriotic national Jew, in the full sense of the word, and at the same time

participate in the cultural and political life of the land. . . ."15

A word is in place concerning emancipation of Jews in Europe gener-
ally.-.’ Citizenship, rights'were first granted to Jews by the French Revolu-
tion in 1791. Though these rights were somewhat curtailed by Napoleon,
his military conquests brought relief to Jews in other countries, notwith-
standing. The Congress cf Vienna deprived most Jews of the recently ac-
quired status. The upsurge of reaction led many to conversion to escape
the fate of their brethren. A more positive pro gram, designed at modernis-
ing religion, to refute the specious argument against emancipation, was
undertaken by the Reform movement in Germany. It did not satisfy itself
however with external modification along aesthetic lines, but struck at
the very heart of religion by eliminating the Hebrew language and all re-
ferences to Zion found in the prayerbook. Many intellectuals had become
zealous devotees of the new nationalism of their respective countries. The

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nascent nationalism was all-embracing in scope and frequently demanded
considerable retreat from religious convictions as proof of meriting equal
rights. This was especially true in Gemany. Responding to the challenge
in an over-ardent fashion, many Jews were ready to make the necessary con-
cessicns. Actually, these had little to do with the final emancipation of
west European Jewry by a series of legislative enactments from 1830 to 1870,
essentially motivated by political, economic and democratic considerations.
In eastern Europe, equal rights were not granted until after the first world
war.16 The aforementioned sacrifices of integrity and conviction, cowardly
offered by many on the altar of emancipation, were the butt of the attacks
by Hess. The renegades inc sought refuge in total conversion, he scornfully
ignored and pitied, noting, that in the new racial anti-Semitism baptism
made little distinction.
critical as Hess was of Reform, he could not at the same time fully

agree with Orthodoxy. Its fomalism and rigidness made it unpalatable,
though he subjected it to a less severe judgnent than the other. The former
lacked an articulate national consciousness while the latter tried to sup-
press it. His reading of the newly published Jewish History volumes of
Greets, inspired him with an appreciation of the spiritual development of
Judaism and love of his people. He could thenzsay that

the min problem of the Jewish national movement is . . . how to

awaken the patriotic sentiments in the hearts of our progressive

Jews, and how to liberate the Jewish masses, by means of this

patriotism, from a spirit of deadening formalism.”

He was not discouraged by the apparent unconcern by both camps. A tremen-

16Solomon Grayzel, The Histogypf the Jews. (Phila.; Jewish
Publication Society, 1953) pp. 573-594.

 

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dcus struggle would have to be undertaken before admitting defeat in that

"the Jewish heart is dead . . . no more capable of patriotic inspiration."
His was a fond hope for a third position on the religious front, removed

from Reform negation, yet not too close to ossified Orthodoxy, a possibility
materialized by the rise of Conservative Judaism long after his demise. Hess
entertained these hopes for Palestine where "there will rise in the Holy

Land . . . universities conducted by able scholars whose spirit will . . .

hamonise with the ancient Jewish national religion."18

Hess did not abandon his socialism when he turned to Jewish nationalism.
His entire messianic philosophy was predicated upon a new Jewish society "on
”10 foundation of labor” setting the examples for "better and more progressive
relations between Capital and Labor.” The materialism of Marx alienated him
from the start, but idealistic socialism saturated his soul. It forms an 111‘
“5"]- Pfirt of the pattern of cosmic and social regeneration that he out-
lined, The partnership of socialism and science will eventually establish
‘ better order and the Jewish people cannot help but contribute in its own
land to the "unity of different tendencies of social life into one center
0? activity." More than a quarter of a century after the death of Hess,
Pioneers streaming to the shores of Palestine raised aloft the banner he

earlier held, not always aware of him who antedated them.

What was the effect of Hess' preaching on his contemporaries? The
“89“” Was mostly negative. Angered at his outspoken eloquence, "the

a
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17
Moaes Hess, 3p. cit.. '_. 2'. ‘
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negate the accepted catechism of assimilation."19 In his on day Hess seems
to have lost the battle in spite of his continued efforts in the same direction
after the publication of his book. Over the years, he was rediscovered as a
prophet of the Jewish national renaissance, and his major writings became a
source of inspiration to many. Nearly all of the tenets of Zionism received
their earliest formulation from Hess. He advocated political Zionism before
Herzl; dreuned of spiritual and cultural resurgencebefore Achad Ha'sm; pro-
jected socio-econcmic reconstruction before Borochcv; and hinted at religious
rejuvenation before the advent of men of kindred spirit in America. All this
was tinged in the messianic glow of universal proportions and eternal values,
elevating and charging the Jewish national revival to an exalted position of
hunanitarian and spiritual dimensions .

Hess' influence upon Israel society was chameled through others.
His ideas were rediscovered and developed by the Zionist men of thought and
letters of a later generation, through whose intermediary service they were
absorbed in the forms and values of the emerging society in Israel. Time has
vindicated most of his conclusions, even though ”his book was forgotten . . .
until the Zionist movcnent of Russia and Poland came and raised Hess and his
book from the depths of oblivion and set him up among the prophets of Zionism
and the founders of its teachings."20 As a primary source of inspiration Hess
still points to the bankruptcy of assimilation, the messianic aspects of Zion-
ism, the social reccnstructionist ideals of the national movement, the re-
generative function of Jewish spiritual creativity, the true meaning of unan-
cipaticn in terms of human dignity and national character, the possibility of

a religious revival attuned to the modern scene, and the fusion of universal

socialism with national aspirations.

1981mm: Dubnow, W_o____rldHi of the Jewish Peo le, in Yiddish
(Bushes hires: Confederacion pro-cu tura“ Judia, I955 , V. III, p. 277.

intschak Greenbaun The Zionist Movenent in Hebrew (J erusaluu
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70

CHAPTER VII

PEREI‘ Z SMOLENSKIN

The last hundred and fifty years of Jewish life can be conveniently
divided into the age of Enlightenment and the age of Revival. Designating
the prevailing pattern up to 1800 as the established thesis, the men of En-
lightenment oscillated toward an antithesis and the generation of Revival
reverted to a synthesis. The pendulum swung from religious particularism
to opportunistic universalism, and from isolationist pedanticism to cultural
assimilationism. Nationalism linked the group-solidifying terrain of the
old with the intellectual horizon of the new. The nan who himself went
through all these stages, contributing more than any other person to the
rise of the philosophy of nationalism, was the Hebrew novelist, essayist,
and editor, Perets Smolenskin. In performing finis function, he is regarded
in Hebrew letters as the father of the national ideal.

Born in 1840 in White Russia in a poverty stricken household, Smolen-
skin had an unhappy youth. The fanily had to flee from unwarranted threats,
and a young brother was kidnapped as a child-~the usual fonn of recruiting
Jewish boys for the amy, requiring twenty-five years of service. His father
died, and at the age of eleven he was already away from home studying in a
Yeshiva (a secondary school for boys devoted solely to instruction in religious
law). Expelled for reading banned books-~a category including everything
which was not part of the curriculum-who seeks- :refuge in the sectarian

pietistic environnent of a Chassidic miracle Rabbi. He becomes a wandering

manber of Cantorial choirs, an itinerant preacher, and a private Hebrew

 

 

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tutor, settling in Odessa at the age of twenty-two. Free to indulge in
lightenment" in a cosmopolitan modern city, he begins creative writing in
Hebrew. Moving to Vienna, beyond reach of the Russian censor, he issues the
monthly Hashachar (the Dawn), ushering in the dawn of a new era in Hebrew
thought and literature. He published seven novels and a few books so! essays,
suffering constantly from economic depravity and poor health, while enjoying
unsurpassed popularity among the younger generation. He engages in many con-
troversies and dies of tuberculosis at the age of forty-five in 1885.

The story of Smolenskin's'intellectual growth is an integral part
of the history of modern Jewish thought. Two ideologies were struggling
for supremacy at the beginning of Smolenskin's career as a writer. Petrified
Orthodoxy was equating conventional standards of appearance and garb, the
traditional curriculum, and numerous folkways indigenous to the ghetto-"with
loyalty to Judaism. Pitched against it was Europe-infatuated Haskala offer-
ing secular studies, external modernization and cultural assimilation as a
panacea to all ills. The Russian movement, unlike its German antecedent,
found itself paradoxically fostering a flourishing Hebrew literature in the
process of substituting national amalgamation for isolation. Actually, there
was confusion among its protagonists, between modernization and cultural in-
tegration, in the failure to realize that identifying a secular Hebrew litera-
ture with the first, was in conflict with achieving the second. Smolenskin,
an eye—witness of Jewish life during his nomadic years, at first followed
the Haskala line of distinguishing sharply between the enlightened hero
and reactionary villain. Residing in Vienna, he altered his perspective.
There he was able to gain first-hand unoolored impressions of ”enlightened"

Jews. What was acclaimed in the new form was as distasteful to him as that

 

 

 

 

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72

which he condemned in the old. If he originally objected to superstition,
oormpticn and intellectual suppression, he now protested vociferously against
superficiality, materialism, and ignorance of Judaism, rampant about him. The
liberated Jew, taught to ascribe inferiority and anachronism to his own heri-
tage, while attributing superiority and progress to the Christian culture,
was hardly the paragon of virtue and dignity he was intended to be. Smolen-
skin now waged an offensive war against the two Opposing camps, through the
journal which be edited, proof-read, half filled with his own articles and
stories, printed, managed, and distributed personally, making it into an ag-
gressive median for an awakened national consciousness.

The statenent of policy introducing the new publication is a daring
proclamation of challengi ng ideas that later became the fighting program of
a new era:

We shall be as other nations in cherishing our tongue and
our people's honor. We are not ashamed of our faith in the
' ultimate end of our exile, when the day shall come of renewed
dominion by the House of David. . . . We shall not blush as
we hold the hand of the old language which accompanied is from
nation to nation and in which our poets and seers sang.
In the first stage of reflection presented in the book in Eternal
People, he defines Jews as "a nation of the spirit," unencumbered by geographic,
political, and linguistic features required by other rations. He accepts in
essence the basic premise of the assimilationist school which divorced Jewish-
ness from its traditional attachment to land and language; but he rejects its
conclusion that Judaism is a mere doctrinary bond among members of different
nationalities, sharing a cannon faith. On the contrary, the national ties:

uniting dispersed Jewry is stronger than the political, geographic, and lin-

 

1
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guistic denominators solidifying other peOples. Jews have outgrown these
forms in their spiritual development. Furthermore, the common faith is
not an unchanging set of dognas but rather intellectual speculation and
the priority of spiritual endeavor. The unity of Israel was preserved in
exile long after expulsion from the homeland--a condition depriving it of
the common manifestation of nationhood. Its destiny is to pursue its mis-
sion among the nations.

Here again is a concept borrowed from classical Reform, but the
common ground shared with the assimilationist philosophy is the fertile
soil for nationalistic growth. The hope of redemption and the Hebrew
language, instead of being minimised as in Reform Judaism, are of para-
mount value in Smolenskin's thought. They are indispensable in preserving
and reinforcing the spiritual nation which must retain its identity in order
to serve a noble purpose. The nationalism of Jews being different in kind
from the nationalism of oih ers, cannot therefore stand in the way of emanci-
pation. The assumption that a nation will not grant equal rights to manbers
of an alien minority insisting upon its own distinctiveness, is not tenable.
Due recognition of the uniqueness of Jewish peoplehood, combined with a con-
structive program of strengthening Hebrew culture, spiritual“. values and the
messianic hope, will present a formidable obstacle to the corroding effects

of assimilation.

. . . For the children of Israel have existed longer than
other people because they considered thanselves a people of
the spirit, and so were they labelled by all their scholars,
authors, and score. . . .

Indeed we are a people, we are a people from ancient times
until today. We never stopped being a people when our kingdom

 

 

 

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was destroyed and we were exiled from our land. And nothing which
will transpire will prevent us from remaining a people. Of course
we differ from oiher nations just as we differed from them when we
dwelt in our land, in not being dependent upon state, country and
laws. . . For we were always a nation of the spirit who'se Law pre-
ceded land and state.2

The national feeling should be cultivated by the modern Jew. Unity will
be maintained
by reviving the Hebrew tongue and placing it in the mouths of all
Israelites desiring to renain Israelites, for besides being the
binding cord for all of us, it is the memorial stone for our an-
cestors of ancient days. . . In it we place our hope for unity

in the days to cane when we shall succeed in building ourselves a
home.

He is not referring to Hebrew as a vernacular, but to the great books of
the past and continued creative writing in the present.

Prior to Smolenskin, the problem most frequently posed was how to
better the physical lot of Jews. He introduced the question of preserving
Judaism. That entailed defining the nature of Judaism and projecting a
program of reconstruction. Smolenskin attempted to supply both. Analyzing
Smolenskin's philosophy, we discern that his

initial doctrine is not one of nedempt'ion but of diaspora nationalism.
Unlike Hess,~he is not a ”Zionist". . . Only later does he become one
of the founders of Zionism. . . . In his first period he was spiritual
diaspora-centered. . . Smolenskin created the concept of the spiritual
nation. ‘

Smolenskin was among the first to recogni se the. real dangers of

the Enlightemnent movement in Germany and its heir in Eastern Europe. He

 

zPeretz Snolenskin, "A Time to Plant." Pangs of a Nation: Selected
Essays 33 the Problems of Existence of the Jewish PeopTJ, v. I, in Hebrew.
J., Ovsi 35 __'a'l. (N'ew""Yo?E." Isr—ae-lnhlets Fund, 19:58): pp. 53, 55, 56.

 

38molemkin, "The Jewish Question-ma Life Problen,” 1mm, 1). so.

4Ezekiel Kaufman, Exile and Estrangement, in Hebrew (Tel Aviv:
DVir, 1930), V. II, P. 2890

 

 

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75

was not opposed to religious change, determined by the needs of the people.
Nor was he critical of the aesthetic emphasis of Reform. But the emasculation
of Jewish theology which eliminated the components of Hebrew language, mes-
sianic return to Zion, and world national unity, he diagnosed as false and
dangerous, in violation of the fundamental spirit of Judaism and detrimental
to its survival. It instilled a sense of inferiority without pointing the

way to improvement making for self-acceptance. It weakened the ties keeping
a landless people together. At the same time, its promise of better relations
with the non-Jew proved a mirage. He appealed for abandoning "the idols of
Haskala and the folly of their acts, honoring our people and the rennant of'
cur-refuge before it is too late."5 He views the Haskala as a destructive
force inimical to national interests. Instead of following the ancient pro-
phetic call for abandoning the ways of the nations around then, the leaders
of the Haskala reversed the criticism to achieve opposite ends. In the at-
tack upon the Jewish reformation he was undoubtedly influenced by Bass. The
motivation, however, was different-“not the challenge of anti-Semitism as in
Hess, but the threat of loss of national identity; spiritual survival rather
than physical preservation.

When the crisis came to Russian Jewry in the early eighties, shatter-
ing the hopes of Enlightenment in the sweeping wave of anti-Jewish terror,
Smolenskin felt that he had sufficiently prepared for the necessary reorien-
tation. Unlike other intellectuals whose philosophy crumbled in the ruins
of Jewish communities, he did not have to seek a new ideology. As an advo-
cate of diaspora nationalism he was ready for the next step, the second stage

of his productive delih'erations-u-the ideal of Zionism. Though hesitant at

5
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first, when in 1878 Smolenskin's own monthly printed a proposal by Eliezer
Ben Yehuda (see chapter IX) for a return to Palestine, he now openly preached
the Zionist message. Severe criticism was levelled at the Alliance Israelite
Universelle for failing to divert its public funds to the support of immigra-
tion to Palestine. He vehemently opposed allocating all charitable collec-
tions for financing immigration to America.

Needless to prove that it would be in the best interest of the

refugees coming from one land, to reconvene as a group in another.
. . . Therg is no better place for them to turn to than the land

of Israel.
He vigorously campaigned toward this end with no success. The leaders of
French Jewry were deaf to the rising voice of national recovery in Palestine.

The call for ex‘pediting a mass return to the Holy Land was not moti-
vated by practical considerations alone. He became an enthusiastic protagon-
ist of the idea of national redemption attended by a spiritual revival. In
consonance with the previous emphasis upon the spiritual characteristic of
Jewish nationhood, he envisioned its reinforcement by a national center.

Our unity and existence is dependent upon the ideal of the

Land of Israel. If a number of families will gather in one
location, that location will become the center to the Law of the
people, and from there shall come forth the Law for all the lands.

Thus the originator of an advanced nationalism, unattached to con-
ventional attributes, is compelled under the pressure of events, to retreat
from ethereal heights to the firmness of ground in an independent territory.
It seems that even a spiritual nation should have a physical home. Smolen-
skin had embarked upon a new path, opening up wide vistas on the road to

F

6Perets Smolensldn, "Let Us Seek Our Way," The Book _o_f_ Zionism: the
Chibat Zion Era, S. Yavnieli, ed. in Hebrew (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1942), v. II,
part I, P. 122.

7
Perets Smolenskin, ibid., p. 141.

 

 

 

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Zion.

The novelist most popular to the Haskala generation became the
publicist who championed a resurgent nationalism, leading to Zionism. The
author of fiction exposing the humiliation and deterioration of ghetto life,

is the essayist who mercilessly reveals the bankruptcy of modernism and eman-

cipation. There were others who called for a return to Palestine before him.

These presented reinterpretations of the orthodox position within the tradi-
tional camp, or were the mystic, poetic yearnings of a neophyte like Hess-—
both with little influence on an alert generation of young peeple captivated
by the glamour of European civilisation. It was Smolenskin in his aggressive
and prolific writing that stimulated the mind and animated the spirit, paving
the way for Zionist societies following the pogroms of 1881. He himself was
organisationally active, founding in Vienna the first student Zionist group
"Kadima," which fifteen years later, was so receptive to Herzl's Zionist
program. He also took part in other ventures in behalf of the new movement.
Smolenskin's secular nationalism, devoid of theological trappings,
but in harmony with spiritual values, was a dynamic inspirational message,
developed and modified in the succeeding Zionist debate of decades. It con-
tained interpretation of history, critical appraisal of contemporary combatant
forces, and an articulate program of cultural reconstruction. No other writer
of the nineteenth century reached such a large number and enjoyed such a loyal
following. Commanding was the pathos and vigor of his style, the fearfulness

of expression and the originality and integrity of reflection.

finclenskin is the greatest author-warrior of modern Hebrew
literature. . . . More than a writer, he was the standard bearer
of a new ideal. If we assume that literary creations can plant

 

 

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78

and nourish national and social forces originally brought into
being by vital historic causes which are crystallized and generally
accepted by virtue of the fact that they take on form and content
in great literary works-u-we have the right to consider the new
national ideal of Israel and the Zionist ideal based on it, as well
as its product the State of Israel, to a large measure the product

of Perets Smolenskin.8
In the final appraisal, Smolenskin stands for concepts that have

not lost their meaningfulness in present day Israel society. Significant
are the ideas of (a) a secular nationalism linked to spiritual values, charg-
ing it with ethical and intellectual implications; (b) a flourishing Hebrew
culture, unifying and elevating for the scattered tribes of Jewry; (c) a
healthy appreciation of the Jewish heritage with little sympathy for un-
checked infiltration of alien standards and institutions, though with ample
recognition of positive contributions by others 3 (d) an affirmation of the
existence of a Jewish people beyond the borders of Israel, joined together
in a spiritual bond.

Hess was a voice lost in the din of rushing events. Smolenskin
had a public which was influenced by him, long after his earthy departure.
Then there came Achad Ha'am (see Ch. XI) who accepted the basic concepts of

Smolenskin, erecting upon them the elaborate structure of spiritual Zionism.

8
Joseph Klausner, Foundation Layers for the State 23 Israel, in Hebrew.
(Jerusalem: thiasaf, 1953), p. 28.

 

 

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CHAPTER VIII

LEO PINSKER

A thirty page pamphlet in German, appearing in 1882, aroused
Jewish public opinion to an unprecedented degree, establishing its author
among the most important of the founding fathers of Zionism. This was

Auto-Emancipation, written by the sixty-one year old Russian.Jewish doctor

 

Leo Pinsker, locally prominent in Odessa as a benevolent and highly quali-
fied physician, hitherto remote from nationalistic circles. Active in an
organisation promoting Russian culture among Jews, his conversion from
assimilationist tendencies to nationalist convictions took place when he
found himself already chronologically at the sunset of life. His meta-
morphosis is integrally related to nineteenth century events in the
chronicle of'the epic story of Zionism.

Enlightenment came late to the compact Jewish masses of the Rus-
sian empire. It drew its nourishment from three sources, two spurious and
one authentic, running its course from inception to recession in less than
a century. A sincere thirst for knowledge impelled the more adventure-
somevspirits to imbibe profusely from.the fountains of European learning
and Biblical scholarship (the latter, strangely enough, excluded from the
ken of orthodox studies). This was coupled with the mirage of civil rights
to be granted as a reward to a deserving "enlightened" community. The

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80

a government secretly hoping for the Enlightenment to ease the way to as-
similation and conversion to Christianity.

Pinsker had the unique fortune of being raised in an "enlightened"
household without having to gO'through the emotional strain of breaking
away from the old world. His father was a prominent maskil (enlightened)
who made significant contributions to contemporary Jewish scholarship.
Young Pinsker's education, Jewish and secular, is comparable to present
day normal upbringing. He studied law, but due to anti-Jewish restrictions,
changed to medicine. As a doctor he was popular and unmercenary. Having
visited Gennany and Austria for post-graduate work, he became acquainted
with the chief exponents of religious reform and cultural assimilation,
and was duly influenced by them. Returning home, he naturally drifted
into the sophisticated, peripheral circles desiring to improve the lot of
their co-religionists by a process of Russification. In Odessa, the most
modern city of the Czar's empire, it took on a more extreme form when the
Organization for Enlightenment contemplated substituting Russian for Hebrew
in worship, following in the footsteps of German Reform. Toward this end,
they issued a journal and planned to organise elementary schools. Associated
with this program, Pinsker was a "full fledged assimilationist" committed to

total assimilation with the ruling community . . . the Messiah
which our enlightened and better public awaits. . . . (There-
fore7'there is no need for deparate community organizations
nor special schools and certainly no different language.1

In later years he referred to the fonmer mood in these tenns:

In the past I too was one of those misty-eyed idealists
belonging to that church which placed freedom, equality,

l
The Book of Zionism: The Chibat Zion Era, vol. II, Book II, ed.
Samuel Yavnieli, in Hebrew. (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1944), p. 12.

 

 

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81

and fraternity as the mipreme dogma. I also believed in the
victory of progress of eighteenth century humanism and liberal-
ism . . . and I was confident that Europe will agree to our
equal rights. . . .'We fought on all the battlefields of

Europe . . . no less than its other inhabitants. And what

was our reward?

Then the crisis came and the Jewish intelligentsia lost its bear-
ings, until its course was recharted in another direction. First of all
there was the ominous prelude to the storm that swooped down a decade
later. In 1871 the first pogrom of the century (in Russia) broke out in
Odessa taking all by surprise and temporarily destroying the confidence
of the sophisticated in the efficacy of Enlightenment. One spokesman of
the group confessed that "the leaders of the Odessa chapter have been for-
cibly convinced that all efforts at joining with the Russian residents are
of no avail.”

Pinsker too was taken aback. The very foundation of the program
of assimilation—-that it makes for greater acceptance by gentiles--was
shaken. The organization was discontinued, but after a few years, recon-
vened and began functioning anew.

Then the Odessa episode became national policy, for all practical
purposes! After Alexander II was assassinated in 1881, a wave of mob
violence against Jews swept through Russia with the participation of all
strata of society. The death knell for assimilationist philosophy was

sounded when a bewildered Jewish intelligentsia suddenly found itself, as

21bid., p. 13.

. 3Joseph Klausner, Foundation Builders of; the State 9_i_‘_ Israel
in Hebrew (Jerusalem: Achiasaf, 1953), p. 61.

 

 

 

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the emperor in the fairy tale, without any clothes. Homeless throngs
streamed across the borders on the way to America. Some turned their
eyes toward Palestine. On the ruins of a discredited ideolog, the
Zionist banner was hoisted spontaneously and independently in many places.
Pinsker himself recognized how helpless Jews were in their current state
and how hopeless were the chances for improving their doleful lot within
the existing framework. He was convinced of the indubitable need for a
change of location as a basis for better conditions. His analysis of the
Jewish problem and the recommended solution, was presented in a pamphlet
published in 1882. It was written in German as an epistle to the more in-
fluential and potentially able Jews of western Europe in order to convince
them of the fallacies of the entire emancipation theory and enjoin them to
cooperate with his constructive substitute program.

The reaction abroad to Pinsker's manifesto was mostly negative.
At home however, where it was immediately translated into Hebrew, Russian,
and Yiddish, the effect was colossal. The Chovevei Zion groups looked up
to him as their new leader. The first national conference, convening in
the Silesian town of Katowitz (since political gatherings were illegal in
Russia) established the national organization in 1884 with Pinsker as head.
He served in that capacity until his death in 1891 at the age of seventy,
faithfully devoting himself to the fund-raising projects in support of the
Palestine colonists, and the slow and tedious tasks of propagating the
Zionist ideal, maintaining the morale and preserving the unity of the
scattered Zionist societies operating secretly until legalized in 1890.

It was not because Pinsker became the leader of Chibat
Zion that he holds his place in our story. . . He was a

 

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83

man of stainless character, lofty idealism, and deep convictions,

but he was unable to cope with the external forces that impeded

the movanent, nor with the internal conflicts that bedeviled it.

Pinsker was not a great leader but a great apostle, and he owes

his place in the story of Zionism to his Auto-Eknancipation. . .4
This only published work of Pinsker is entitled "Auto-Emancipation, an
appeal to his people by a Russian Jew." The name is significant. Financi-
pation, as the treasured acquisition of occidental Jewry, representing not
only equality before the law with the ensuing privileges, but also human
dignity of immeasurabler psychological import, was an inadequate surrogate
to the westerners who had achieved it and the easterners aspiring toward
it. Pinsker claim that it solves the Jewish problem theoretically and
superficially instead of realistically and actually. Anti-Semitism flourish-
ed throughout Europe unabated by the fruits of Enlightenment. Only self-
emancipation, in terms other than hitherto subscribed to, offers a solution.

Nations, without exception, do not regard Jews as they do other
minorities. Aliens enjoy a status based upon the existence of a father-
land elsewhere, capable of reciprocating in sundry ways the treatment meted
out to its sons on foreign soil. Such respect is absent in relation to
Jews, lacking as they do the normal characteristics of nationhood.
The Jewish people has no fatherland of its own, though many

motherlands: no center of focus or gravity, no government of

its own, no official representation. They home everywhere but

are nowhere at home. The natims have never to deal with a

Jewish nation, but always with mere Jews.

The peculiar circumstances of the Jewish people inspire fear and

suspicion in the hearts of gentiles who behold "the ghost-like apparition

4
Rufus Learsi, Fulfillment: The Epic Story of Zionism (Cleveland:
World Publishing 00., 1W. '—

 

. 5Leo Pinsker, Auto-Eknanci ation, trans. C.S. Blondheim (New York:
Zionist Organization oT'KEeFTEET‘I'gZHT,‘ p. 4.

 

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84

of a living corpse of a peeple no longer alive. . .walking among the living
without precedence in history."6 The fears and prejudices culminate in the
socially hereditary illness of "Judeophobia." Contending against these
hostile tendencies is therefore futile, since prejudice as an emotional
reaction will not be counteracted by argument as a rational process. Other
factors, such as economic competition, aggravate the situation; for no one
appreciates competition by a stranger in his own home. Different classes
ascribe to the Jew that which is most unsavory from their view, with the
result that Jews supposedly asslme many contradictory roles, all of them
odious.
. . . To the living the Jew is a corpse, to the native a
foreigner, to the homesteader a vagrant, to the proprietary
a beggar, to the poor an exploiter and a millionaire, to the
patriot a man without a country, for all a hated rivalo7
Enancipation merely scratches the surface failing to cope with the
pathological and economic aspects of the problem. As a legal concession
it offers a palliative but never a solution, for it cannot renove the stigma
of homelessness from the Jew to reestablish him in the sight of mankind.
What aggravates the case is the passive attitude on the part of
the Jew himself. "Instead of realizing their own position and adopting a
rational line of conduct, the Jews appeal to eternal justice."8 They fail
to realise that in order to produce a different effect, the case must be

changed. Loss of self-respect by denying their identity, humble self-ef-

facement and retreat before a hostile environment can hardly earn for them

 

6
Ibide, p. 6e
7Ibld., p. 12.

8
Ibid.

 

 

 

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85

the human dignity requisite for acceptance on an equal footing. The very
reliance upon the Messiah has proved a subterfuge for initiative toward
self-liberation. Thus a vicious circle is created of inner and outer
forces in collusion against recourse to a constructive program of Jewish
survival. The mission idea too is a delusion, rationalizing a calamity
into a privilege.

Pinsker here alludes to an issue which elicited controversy in
religious quarters for many decades. Obviously a reinterpretation of the
concepts of Messiah and missionhood was required to solicit the cooperation
of traditional Jews for an activist program of return to the homeland.

The author maintains that Jewry can extricate itself from the
sucking whirlpool of human degradation by a plan of self-help instead of
reliance upon others. This entails a national revival for concerted ef-
fort to achieve unity and independence, parallel in scope to other nations.
It means having a home, a geographically pliable unit, Jews can call their
own.

The territorialism of Pinsker was not limited to Palestine. At
first he preferred other possibilities. He failed to appreciate the in-
tricate historical and religious associations with the Holy Land, alone
able to generate within the Jewish heart the powers of sacrifice, exces-
sive energy and tenacity required for the regeneration of the people and
reconstruction of the homeland. Motivated, at the outset, by objective
practical and human considerations, he hinted to an independent Jewish
place of refuge somewhere in America. After the publication of the pamphlet,

the author yielded to expressed Jewish sentiment for Palestine.

 

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86

The times were supposed to be prepitious for such an undertaking,
according to the assertion of Pinsker. Other ethnic groups were obtaining
their national independence. The mass emigration from Russia of multitudes
on the run, instead of a nation on the march, can be redirected in part
toward a permanent home in an autonomous Jewish country. The first signs
of an awakened self-consciousness are already evident, stemming from dis-
illusionment with the slogans which have failed. World public opinion may
respond more favorably to Jewish demands for territorial independence. It
is incumbent upon the wealthier and mightier Jews of the Occident to rush
to the aid of their less fortunate brethren in a manner holding out full
rehabilitation and not momentary succor. The call of the hour is conse-
quently for (a) the existing societies of organized Jews in various lands
to "convoke a national congress"9 to speak in the name of a united people;
(b) the congress to locate suitable territory and secure it as inalienable
national property sufficient for the settlement "in the course of time
several million Jews;"10 (0) the formation of a "stock company” to purchase
land, reapportion and resell it equitably to prospective colonists and pro-
vide additional funds from profits and charitable collections, for destitute
immigrants.

To implement the colonization project solidly and efficaciously,
international recognition is required as a preliminary. "The establish-
ment of a Jewish refuge cannot come about without the support of the

11
governments." Furthermore, a large scale transfer of population is im-

 

9
Ibid., p. 27.

lolbide , Fe 31 e

11
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87

practical if not impossible. The territory could only receive the annual
surplus population from larger Jewish concentration. The existence of a
sovereign Jewish state will revolutionize the fate of Jews elsewhere in
the world. The abnomality of their position would disappear, for as all
foreigners and minorities with a home base, they will be no exception.
Simultaneously the new status of nationhood will inspire individual self-
acceptance and identification in place of humiliating self-abnegation.

Yet a miraculous rebirth could not be expected within the span of a few
years. The remedy was a slew one. "We must take the first step. Our des-
cendants must follow at a measured and not over-precipitant speed."12 But
the beginning is to be launched immediately. It is "now or never."

In many of his ideas Pinsker was preceded by Hebrew writers. .His
was the first presentation in a European tongue reaching a larger public.
It was timely and therefore became timeless. His analysis of anti-Semit-
ism was original and incisive: the attack upon emancipation, denuding;
the insiglt into the social condition of Jews, penetrating: the appeal
for action, eloquent: and the outlining of a program, practical. The
fact that his grandiose ideas and dramatic plea were of no great immediate

consequence, is not the fault of Pinsker. He was the pioneer who pointed

the way. And he drew the blueprints. The movement of Chibat Zion placed

 

the manta} of leadership upon his shoulders against his will. He was
neither young enough nor strong enough to embark upon the program. Fifteen
years elapsed before a great engineer arose who constructed the bridge

leading across to auto-emancipation.

 

121bid., p. 35.

 

 

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88

Pinsker's great little book poses a number of important premises
of lasting value vital in the contemporary Jewish universe of discourse.
There is a conviction "that humanity and enlightenment alone will not cure
the malady of our people” but that concrete steps are to be taken in trans-
ferring toward self-reliance. The initiative to come from within the group
in terms of what it does with itself to better its lot, begins with creat-
ing new conditions conducive to different results. Implicit in this ap-
proach is the claim that the creation of a homeland is not an act of re-
treat drawing away from humanity, but the only logical and dignified co-
existence, as man is constituted today and quite likely, for some time to
come. The cementing of national unity and preservation of corporate entity
arepredicated upon and conducive to restoring human stature, self-acceptance
and wholesomeness of personality in the life of the individual. Standardiz-
ing the status of Jewry is a sounder basis for interfaith relations. All
these are axians elaborated and reiterated in the Zionist debate of de-
cades.

Pinsker served by example. For a man over sixty to be endowed
with the courage and integrity of abandoning a life-long cause, is a rare
event. History is replete with religious conversions of old and. young;
but an intellectual re-evaluation, secular in character, leading to a
denial of the allegiance of a lifetime, is most unusual.

A comparison between Hess and Pinsker is illuminating at this
point. The influence of the latter was considerably greater than that
of the former. While Hess was a voice calling out in the wilderness,

renoved from large Jewish centers in his French isolation, Pinsker was

 

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89

a Russian.Jew in contact with his people, finding fertile ground for-his
ideas in the immediate environment (though that is not where he intended
to plant them), enjoying at least vocal support from a movement of fol—
lowers. The vantage point too was different, for the German who had
been totally estranged from Judaism could make a clear break with the
past and start from the beginning. In Pinksker's case, there were many
decades of activity within the Jewish group, and a joint venture with
numerous other men of stature implementing nationdwide policy. His was
the painful task of digging up the old and replanting new seed in the
same field of operation.

The two are complementary to each other. One spoke in religious-
cultural terms primarily, while the other dealt in political-economic
realities. Each approach affects the inner composition of man and.his
outer department. Israel is the spiritual citadel of the Jewish religion;
Israel is the physical refuge for the Jewish people. These are the two
parallel currents in the Zionist stream, irrigating the arid soil of the
Jewish conscience in the past seventy-five years. These are the ir-
reducible axioms of Zionist education currently operative in Israel and

abroad.

 

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CHAPTER IX

ELIEZER BEN YEHUDA

It is difficult for a modern person today to conceive of a nation
without a common spoken language. Yet the Jewish peeple lacked it until
comparatively recent times. It is true that some nationalities, like the
Swiss or the Belgian, do not have one single tongue identified with their
state and people. But besides being the exception rather than the rule,
these countries are each divided into two or three administrative areas
corresponding to the linguistic divisions. The Jews returning to their
homeland brought with them literally dozens of tongues, clashing with each
other or existing side by side in confusion, in the cities and villages of
Palestine. To reunite a people in its former home without dealing with
the towering babel of languages, is a virtual impossibility. Zionism was
to cope with the problem of language, in addition to territory, govern-
ment, society and culture.

In the plethora of issues, political, social, economic and cul-
tural, the language question was ignored by Zionist theoreticians. Herzl,

in his novel Old—New Land, implies that German is the existing medium.

 

Exponents of cultural or spiritual Zionism, while elaborating upon the
need for a Hebrew literature and Hebrew education in the classics, were
oblivious to the question of a vernacular, usually entertaining every
possibility except Hebrew.

Two Jewish languages widely accept ed throughout the dispersion

were Yiddish, and to a lesser extent, Ladino. The former, mother tongue

 

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91

of millions of East European Jews, was coming into its own at the turn
of the century. It was derogatorily designated as a jargon by both
sophisticated Hebrew and assimilated occidental intelligentsia. Ladino
was the Spanish-Hebrew dialect of Levantine Jews, without the stature of
Yiddish. Educated people of Palestine, in their guarded moments, con-
versed in German, French, Russian, and to a lesser extent in English,
Polish, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Roumanian, Italian, and Arabic. Twelve
major languages enjoying lip-service of a numerically small group as-
sembled in a geographically limited area, plus an equal number of other
tongues less frequently heard, could hardly achieve the cohesiveness,
harmony and integration necessary for the reconstruction of land, economy
and society.

Hebrew as a spoken language was therefore a sine qua non in the

 

new Israel. This simple self-evident truth was recognized by one person,
Eliezer Ben Yehuda, who made its realization his life goal, fanatically
_ pursuing it for over forty years. Almost single-handed he accomplished
his purpose to an amazing degree of success. In the course of total com-
mitment, he made a personal obsession into a national ideal without which
Israel society would be inconceivable and may have proved unattainable
today. Living Hebrew speech, usually taken for grant ed, is still an
ideological foundation repeatedly stressed and cultivated in the Zionist
synthesis upon which Israel education is predicated.

Hebrew is the only tongue linking all Jewish tribes. Not that
any one group used it as a medium of conversation: but the prayers,
ancient texts, legal and religious documents, and inter-comnunity mis-

sives were all in Hebrew. A secular Hebrew literature and press had

 

 

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92

risen in Europe during the nineteenth century. On the debit side it
should be recorded that of the languages previously listed, Hebrew was
the one which was "dead." It lacked the basic vocabulary and forms of
expression for modern usage. The words for "please" and "thank you,"

to cite an example, were cumbersome clauses. Abounding in philosophical
and religious terms, Hebrew was poor in essential words for the kitchen, .
market place, factory, and playground. The constructions are ancient

and circumlocutionary. As a holy tongue, not having been profaned in
daily life for perhaps thousands of years, it was unsuitable for fast-
thinking, rapid-speaking, sharp-tongued people, inspired to assume heroic
functions and consume untapped energies in the upbuilding of a nation.
Obviously, more than preaching‘was necessary to overcome what appeared
to be insurmountable obstacles. Ben Yehuda accepted the challenge,
never resting until the job was done by the end of his life.

Born Eliezer Perlman in Lithuania in 1858, he received the usual
religious instruction. At the age of twelve he was sent to study in a
larger school away from home where he came under the influence of a
teacher who secretly initiated him into the forbidden texts of Bible and
Hebrew grammar. Transferred to another school, he had the good fortune
to be welcomed into a family of'culture and means where his future wife
tutored.him in preparation for entrance examinations in a Russian high
school. He continued with his general schooling, breaking with his
religious upbringing, and identified himself with the socialist movement.
The RussianJTurkish'war of 1877-8, leading to independence for Balkan

nationalities, suggested to him the possibility of Jewish statehood in

 

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93

Palestine. George Eliot's Daniel Deronda, which he read at that time,
further stimulated his nationalistic sentiments. He went to Paris to
study medicine, planning to be a physician in Palestine. Hospitalized
for tuberculosis, he was canpelled to retire temporarily to Algiers. In
1881 he set out with his bride for Palestine. Living, according to his
doctors, on "borrowed time," he spent the next forty—one years in Jerusa-
lan (frequently taking trips abroad in conjunction with his work), teach-
ing, editing, writing, and engaging in many controversies until his pass-
ing in 1922.
While still in Paris, young Perlman, adopting the Hebrew name

of Ben Yehuda, published in 1879 an essay entitled "A Weighty Question."
It appeared in Smolenskin's Hashachar in Vienna after being rejected by
another Hebrew editor. Ben Yehuda's literary debut was an assault upon
assimilation, pursuing the line of attack of Smolenskin, but a step ahead
of the master in urging a return to the homeland. He traces the contem-
porary rise of European rationalism. and comes to the conclusion that

we Hebrews have the same right; for why shall our lot be in-

ferior to that of other nations? . . . Why shall we be

robbed of the hope to return to a national life in our deva-

stated land in mourning after her children who have been

driven off to disth lands some two thousand years ago.

The same article contains the germ of the idea which became the fixation

Of a lifetime.

Why do new of our people claim that we are not qualified
for national life since we do not all speak one language. . . .
We do have a language in which we can write everything that
enters our mind, and we can speak it if we only will make the

effort to do so.2

 

1
Elieser Ben Yehuda, "A Wei ghty Question," Fangs of _e_._ Nation,
ed. Ovsi and others, pp. cit., pp. 130-132. _-

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94

The essay, appearing before the crucial year of 1881, was con-
sidered radical even by the editor who expressed his reservations.

(Later on, convinced by the tragic events of times, he conceded to Ben
Yehuda's reasoning.) Against Smolenskin's "spiritual nationalism” de-
rived from the nature of Judaism itself, Ben Yehuda postulates a politi-
cal nationalism sparked by the European national upsurge he was witness-
ing. The former proposed a strengthening of the peoplehood concept among
the far flung remnants, to assure survival in the diaspora. The latter
found this emphasis necessary but insufficient, unless followed by a
concentration in Palestine. The disease of assimilation, he maintained,
had not only infected western Jews enamoured by the lure of enlighten-
ment; it had also felled iastern Jews leaving the ghetto. Ultimate dis-
integration wae natural and logical as long as religion was losing its
medieval pervasiveness. A political center of gravity serving as a cul-
tural stronghold will reverse the trend.

Elaborating upon his first call with other appeals, Ben Yehuda
reaffims his faith in the national redemption of Israel and the revival
of Hebrew. The two are inseparable from each other, with the second as
the logical complement to the first and umttainable without it.

We shall not be able to revive the Hebrew language except

in the land where a majority of the inhabitants are Hebrews.
Let us therefore increase the number of Jews in our desolate
land, and return the remnant of our people to the soil of their
ancestors. Let us restore to life the nation, and its language

shall live again.‘5

He takes the extreme position of linguistic territorial nationalism

 

3
Eliezer Ben Yehuda, "A Letter of Ben Yehuda," 2p. cit., p. 142.

 

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95

independent of spiritual values, at the same time rejecting a Hebrew
language dissociated from a nation restored to its land. "If I should
not have believed in the redemption of the Jews I would have cast: Hebrew
away as a useless thing."4 Stnolenskin's Hebraism, devoid of the nonnal
fonns of nationalism, is quite irrational to Ben Yehuda. Operating with-
in a secular nationalistic frame of reference, he concludes that "Judaism
shall be Hebrew Palestinian, or it shall not be."5 He denies the pos-
sibility of survival in the lands of dispersion, being the first in the
camp of the "negators of exile” in the great Zionist debate which was
waged on this issue for over half a century. "In the conditions of life
in the modern day Judaism cannot exist for very long.'6 The attempts at
transmitting the Hebrew tongue outside of Palestine are futile, in the
minority status of Jews everywhere. He explicitly defines the new
nationalism to avoid any misrepresentation.

Three things are inscribed in fiery letters on the national

banner: land, a national language, and a national education.
To deny one of them is to negate the essence of nationalism.7

Ben Yehuda was a man of action who translated creed into deed,
beginning with his own person. Converted to Zionism, he emigrated to
Palestine and settled in Jerusalem, a community most inhospitable to a

young man educated in a European university. The local inhabitants, in-

 

41bid., p. 139.
5Eliezer Ben Yehuda, “Judaism and its Future." Selected Hebrew '
Essays, ed. Becker and Schpan, in Hebrew (Tel Aviv: Gazit, 1953'), p. 147.

61bid.

7Eliezer Ben Yehuda, "The Banner of Nationalism," The Book 2};
Zionism, 3.01130. Fe 820

 

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96

eluding an unusual number of older pe0ple who had gathered from all parts
of the world to enjoy the privilege of being buried in the Holy Land,
were mostly beneficiaries of an age-old charity system, while engaging in
study and prayer without gainful employment. This was known as Haluka
(distribution), drawing its funds from small but world-wide regular
charity collections channelled through various ethnic agencies supporting
their own co-religionists residing in the Holy Cities. It was a com-
munity which excelled in fanatic devotion to the minutiae of ritual and
custom, well fortified against the slightest manifestation of modernity.
Ben Yehuda brazenly undertook the three-fold task of cultivating spoken
Hebrew, propagandising Zionist principles, and advocating productive
livelihood in place of parasitic existence.

Ben Yehuda's triumphs and defeats are more than biographical
data. The particulars of his life comprise the national saga of a
generation. He influenced by personal example. Details of his public
battles and private endeavors are interwoven with the fabric of Israel
to an extent never approximated by any other individual in modern times.
Of the personalities treated in this thesis, he alone settled in Palestine.
at the early age of twenty-three and dedicated himself and his family to a
specific cause. The colorful romantic events of his heroic life, inter-
related as they are with the epic story of the rebirth of a people, have
captured the imagination of a Christian writer whose English biography
of Ben Yehuda is the only English work of such dimensions on any Zionist

figure e8

8Robert St. John, Tongue of the Prophets (Garden City: Doubleday
and Co., 1952). _-

 

 

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97

When Smolenskin saw that his pupil intends to rebuild
Zion's ruins with his own hands, he hurried to warn him
against it, comparing "his desire to that of a man attempt-
ing to build a tower on the roof before erecting the house. . . ."
It is futile to strive toward the "establishment of a kingdom! . .
for both the faithful and the enlightened shall arise against
you?
But the pupil took no heed.

Ben'Iehuda, after adopting a Hebrew surname, began his campaign
for Hebrew by enforcing its exclusive use in his own.home, though his
wife was completely ignorant of it. With unrelenting stubbornness he
persisted in this course, addressing his son only in Hebrew, thereby
preventing him from communicating with any playmates. He influenced
other intellectuals to fonn the first Hebrew-speaking club. As a teacher
in the Alliance school, he introduced the method of teaching Hebrew in
Hebrew as a natural living tongue. Gradually his influence spread to
other schools. He edited a periodical EEEEXE.(Th° Deer - a Biblical
reference to the Holy Land) and made it a champion of Hebrew revived.
He declared war on the German sponsored schools refusing to adopt Hebrew,
thereby jeopardizing the subsidies he received for his literary activity.

The path was a thorny one. The orthodox opposed him on the
grounds that a holy tongue should not be desecrated in kitchen and bath-
room parlance. The modern elements scoffed at the poverty of expression
in everyday speech and the limitations of Hebrew in the academic field.
Officials of European Jewish agencies Operating in Palestine regarded

9
Y. Tulkiss, "Eliezer Ben Yehuda: Thirty Years After His Death,"

15322222! vol. VII, ed. S. Rawidowics in Hebrew (London: Ararat publica-
tion society, 1954), p. 624.

 

 

 

 

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98

his efforts as a threat to the English, French, and German cultures they
were propagating. The leading Hebrew writers had little faith in the
undertaking. Zionist leaders merely tolerated his obsession. But the
Hebrew teachers and the young pioneers who had been stirred by his early
calls for action, now responded favorably to the linguistic challenge

and rallied behind his banner. Ben Yehuda built the first Hebrew home;
his wife was the first Hebrew mother; his son was 1119 first Hebrew-speak-
ing child in centuries. Soon there were others who followed suit. After
the first World War, Hebrew as a living tongue spread to Jewish schools
in Europe and Amarica.

Stronger men would have admitted defeat. He suffered excom-
munication by the Rabbinate, imprisonment by the Turks, scorn by his
contemporaries. When his wife died, she was refused proper Jewish burial.
His children were subjected to ridicule and hostility. Unwavering in his
loyalty he remained the dauntless missionary, accepting defeat with equa-
nimity. After his wife's death, her younger sister arrived from Russia
to take her place by his side, joining whole-heartedly in the dedication
to her newly acquired tongue, and sharing his trials and tribulations
for over thirty years.

The revival of the Hebrew language in Palestine created the

need for new words and expressions, names for objects and con-
cepts unknown in ancient times, scientific terms and definitions,
forms of expression for modern thought. Ben Yehuda involuntarily
became the linguist, the great innovator in the field of Hebrew
philologr.10

This was codified in his life work, The Complete Hebrew Dictionary. Of

 

10A. Orinovsky, History of Modern Hebrew Literature, vol. II, in
Hebrew. (Tel Avivs Isrmm', p. 61.

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99

the sixteen volumes which he prepared, five he saw in print, and eleven
have been published posthumously, the last one appearing during the
nineteen-fifties. The monumental compilation is more than a dictionary;
it includes a thesaurus, grammatical, philological and etymological
studies and numerous new words. He undertook the task of gathering all
the words of a three thousand year old literature, diffused over many
lands, modernising an ancient tongue and creating a vocabulary for daily
and scientific usage. To achieve this he laboriously searched the
libraries in Europe and America in person, communicated with scholars
all over the world, and examined countless books, manuscripts and docu-
ments, rediscovering words, borrowing tenns, adapting forms, and coining
new words in accordance with the linguistic requirements of Hebrew. Most,
though not all, of his innovations were accepted. His, too, was the de-
termining decision to adopt the Sefardi Asiatic pronunciation of Hebrew
in place of the European dialect designated as Ashkenazi.

As illustrated before, Ben Yehuda was an undiluted nationalist
with a one-track mentality, relegating religious, social and economic
considerations to a secondary position. During his checkered career he
often aligned himself with anti-religious forces, joined Herzl in the
Uganda territorialist escapade, and.lashed out mercilessly against all
distractions from the nationalist aim. 'With fanatic zeal he championed
the cause of Hebrew until he was privileged to witness its recognition
as an official language, alongside Arabic and English, by the Mandatory
regime.

His personality fused two seemingly contradictory
characteristics: scholarly research in withered folios

 

 

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100

and the war-like spirit of a man of action; the moderation
of an erudite man and the fiery tanperament of a political
combatant. . . . An ancient spark ignited in his heart be-
came a burning flame illuminating the path of many exiles
to the one and only land.

Ben Yehuda's English biographer concludes his work with this
succinct statement of fact:

When Ben Yehuda started work on his dream Hebrew was

only a liturgical medium, as dead as ancient Latin. . . .
By the time he made his last trip up the Mount of Olives,
a new and vibrant Belize was being spoken by a new and
vibrant race ome.

In the Irish Free State a sovereign government, with all the
means of support and control at. its disposal, and ruling an independent
nation occupying its own soil, has had little success in reviving the
indigenous natioml Gaelic tongue. What a modern state failed to ac-
complish with all its machinery of government, a frail, tubercular man
with little assistame from anyone except young enthusiasts, achieved
in his own lifetime, addirg another miracle to the wonders of the world.
His fruotifying ideas on nationalism are overshadowed by the crowning
Herculian effort which established him for posterity as the Father of

the Modern Hebrew Language.

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101

CHAPTER X

THEODORE HERZL

More than any other individual, Theodore Herzl influenced the course
of Zionism, founding the movement which set out to establish the Jewish
State in Palestine. In historical perspective, Herzl emerges as the
greatest Jew in centuries, the impact of whose work proved of lasting
value. Meteor-like he appeared in the darkened Jewish skies, leaving
a trail of light in his path, and was consumed in the momentum of his
course. In less than a decade of service to his people, in a life pre-
maturely ended at the age of forty-four, he transformed the face of
Jewry enabling it to begin a new chapter of heroic revival. He launched
an era which in half a century, brought organized Jewry to its goal.

Theodore Herzl was born in 186) in Budapest in a typically "eman-
cipated" middle-class home, steeped in German culture. His early educa-
tion included superficial Jewish training at a school maintained by the
sophisticated segment of the Jewish community. 'When he was eighteen,
the family moved to Vienna and there Herzl prepared for the degree of
Doctor of Laws. He abandoned law after one year of practice, for a
literary career of composing plays and feuillitons, finally becoming
associated with a leading Vienna newspaper. As its Paris correspondent
he attended the Dreyfus trial involving a Jewish captain of the French
army, falsely accused of treason. The case, eventually exposed as an
attempt to find a Jewish scapegoat for treachery within the French

General Staff, rocked Europe and shocked Herzl. It became the turning

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102

point in his life.

Throughout his student years and during his journalistic en-
deavors, Herzl witnessed the rise of racial anti-Semitism as an organiz-
ed aggressive force enjoying the support of educated elements in the new
nationalimm. In school, he experienced anti-Jewish hostility among the
students and in adult life, he was confronted with the difficulty of pur-
suing a successful law career in the midst of increasing discrimination.
At one time he entertained the idea of mass conversion as an escape from
the ills of bigotry. A later insertion in his diary reads: "At first
thelJewish problem hurt me sorely. Perhaps there was a time when I would gladly
have escaped into Christianity---anywhere."1 He followed the example of
many Jewish professionals who tried to be oblivious to their religion
and people, hopeful of the ultimate abeyance of prejudice by the liberat-
ing powers of a new age destined to dawn on Europe.

The Dreyfus Affair brought out into bold the defenselessness
of the Jew, making him a vulnerable target even in an enlightened age in
the most advanced capital of Europe. Some years afterwards Herzl wrote:

The Dreyfus case anbodies more'than a judicial error: it

embodies a desire of the vast majority of the French to con-
demn all Jews in this one Jew. Death to the Jewel howled the
mob. . . . 'Where? In Francei In republican.modern civilized
gzgpge a hundred years after the Declaration of'flle Rights of

The episode started a train of thought with new insights into the nature

1
Ludwig Lewisohn, ed. Theodore Herzl: 2_Pcrtrait for This Age.
(Cleveland: 'World Publishing Co., 1955), p. 52.

 

 

aTheodore Herzl, The Jewish State. (New York: American Zionist
Emergency Council, 1946), Alex Bein, biographer, citing Herzl, p. 34.

 

 

 

 

103

of anti-Sanitism, undermining his previous convictions: "Until that time
most of us believed that the solution to the Jewish question was to be
patiently waited for as part of the general development of mankind.":3

It then flashed upon him that this was too long a period to wait. . . .
In the throes of emotional reaction to this dramatic miscarriage of
justice in Paris, he composed The Jewish State, published in 1896, usher-
ing in the dawn of political Zionism. In the following year he called
together in Basle, representatives of Jewish groups from all over the
world for the historic. sessions of the First Zionist Congress, which for-
mulated the official Zionist program and launched the movement bearing
that name. He remained its leader through the stormy years of subsequent
Congresses until his untimely passing in 1904.

Herzl's influence on the contemporary scene emanated from two
sources: the book he authored and the movanent he organized and led.
Unlike his precursors, he was a man (of action whose leadership captured
the innginationof file masses, galvanizing than into unprecedented
spirited activity.

To begin with his book. The Jewish Problem exercised a hold
upon his mind in his pro-Zionist days. A play entitled The New Ghetto,
depicts the tragedy of the emancipated Jew admitted into the
modernwcrld but not accepted by it. The solution is presented in a
little book of less than one hundred pages, The Jewish State, heading

the roster of books which have changed the Jewish world. He was not

 

3
Ibid.

104

aware of Pinsker's pamphlet, as he later testified, for had he read the

fonmer's Auto-Emancipation, he never would have written the book. It

 

consists of a short exposition of the grievous Jewish question, and an
answer formulated in a detailed blueprint. He sums up his thesis in
these words: ”Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the
globe, large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation;
the rest we shall manage ourselves.”

”The Jewish question still exists," he states in the introduction.
Eventually humanity may'rise to greater heights of charity and under-
standing. But that is too far distant - "beyond our day, beyond the.
days of our children, of our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren."
Be dissects anti-Semitism in all its negative components, pointing
beyond the religious motive to its social, economic and psychological
bias. Emancipation, removing the legal barriers against Jews, created
additional friction in the economic competition of liberated men gain-
ing foothold in business and professions. Unable to withdraw equal
rigits nor to single out the Jewish group for effective suppression of
commercial enterprise without injury to the general economic structure,
anti-Semitism becomes a seething infection, often reaching in its frus-
tration to a dangerous point of eruption. A vicious circle has fonmed
whereby Jews, in desperation, identify themselves with revolutionary
causes or strive successfully toward economic ascendency to escape
middle-class pressure and prejudice. In both instances, wells of hosti-

lity are continuously replenished.5

41bid., p. 92.

5The analysis is noteworthy as a prognosis of the Nazi mania
mflater years, and its catastrophic effects.

 

 

105

Assimilation, even if possible, is not a solution-~a fact amply
demonstrated in the experiences of Herzl's generation. Only total fusion
through intermarriage may eventually eliminate the problem. But as long
as there is some Jewish identification, there will be anti-Jewish reactions.
Jews are thus "one people" bound together by a common destiny in a hostile
world.

The answer lies in a Jewish State. The first step is to organize
a "Society of Jewi"as the political representative of the Jewish people
and the "Jewish Company” as its financial and executive agent to adminis-
ter the mass colonisation.in the new territory. Through its newly foamed of-
ficial channels, organised Jewry will solicit from some great power,
sovereignty over "a portion of the globe." Such representation, of course,
will be made only in behalf of Jews identified.with the Society.

Those Jews who agree with our idea of a State will attach

themselves to the Society, which will thereby be authorized

to confer and treat with Governments in the name of our people.
The Society will thus be acknowledged is its relations with
governments as a State-creating power. [a function grant d
the Zionist Organization after the first'World'War - GJN.

For the territory to be selected Herzl suggested Palestine or
Argentine, the latter then the seat of extensive Jewish colonization
financed by a Paris philanthropist. He expressed a preference, though
rmt an exclusive one, for-the former. The unfolding plan of statehood
outlines liquidation of property, transportation of immigrants, and re-
settlement in the new land. Advanced managerial methods and technolo-

gical discoveries are to be utilized in the rehabilitation of the people.

'The seven hour day” is set up as the regular working day of the new

6Theodore Herzl, _op. cit., p. 94.

106

society to be established on economically sound and socially progressive
principles conducive to maximum human benefit. There is further elabora-
tion of social welfare policies, organization of commerce to eliminate
unsavory or unsound financial speculation, planned housing, industrial
promtion and methods of financing the initial enterprise. He suggests
three mthods for raising capital: (a) through big banks, (b) through
small and private banks, and (c) through public subscription.7 Out of
necessity, the last became the chief source, a manifestation of faith
and support by the people. The plan further calls for immigration re-
gulated by the Society, transplanting existing conmunities to enable
them tp preserve their social and cultural norms. He predicts that
'those who are new desperate will go first, after them the poor; next
the prosperous, and last of all, the wealthy."8

The idea ef a Jewish State, though not new, he asserts, was never
as feasible as the present. "A hundred or even fifty years ago it would
have been nothing more than a dream. Today it may become a reality."9
Scientific progress will make possible a project on such a large scale.

The existence of an independent state will relieve the strain for
those who choose to remain behind. It will be possible for them to com-
pletely give up their Jewish loyalties without regret or reproach, once
Jewish political sovereignty is a fact.

Jews who wish to assimilate with other peoples now felt
free to do so openly, without cowardice or deception. There

 

71bide, p. 119e
8Ibid., p. 82.

91bid., p. 155.

 

107

were also sue who wished to adopt the majority religion, and
these could now do so without being suspected of snobbery or
careerisfofor it was no longer to one's advantage to abandon
Jmaime

The salutary effects will begin inmediately without having to wait for
achievement of statehood. "If we only begin to carry out our plans, anti-
. 11
Semitisn would stop for once and forever." For the new role of the Jew
will elicit respect from all. The citizen of the Jewish State, residing
in security and freedom, will inevitably prove a better h'man being,
elevated and purified by the healing powers of the new society, which is
to be predicated on the noblest principles of mankind and operating within
the framework of the most advanced scientific knowledge of the age. The
book cencludes in a crescendo on that theme.
And what glory awaits those who fight umelfishly for the
cause!
Therefore I believe that a wondrous generation of Jews will
spring into existence. The Maccabeans will rise again.
The Jews who wish for a State will have it.
We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and die
peacefully in our own homes.
The world will be freed by our liberty, enriched by our
wealth, magnified by our greatness.
And whatever we attempt there to accomplish for our own

welfare, will react powerfully and beneficially for the good of
humanity. _

The daring vision of the Jewish State is continued in the utopian
dream of 9.19.1”;‘1'. Land published in 1902. The author revisits the Jewish
homeland twenty years afterwards (by now it was to be Palestine without

loTheodore Herzl Old-New Land, trans. 1.. Levensohn (New York:

Blech Publishing Co., 19 )Tp‘T7.
11
TbOOdor. Herzl, Th3 Jmsh Sta“, 22o 9.322., p. 156e
12
Ibid., p. 156-157.

 

108

hesitation) and finds a reconstituted model commonwealth

where the intellectual proletariat of Central Europe would
exercise their skill in law, medicine, journalism, adminis-
tration, engineering, architecture, art, music, and philosophy
for the upbuilding and progress of the land, and the prole-
tarian masses of Eastern Europe drop their pedlars' packs to
become straigit-backed, sun-bronzed peasants and artisans.
Then the'Jew, degraded to less than man's estate by anti-
Semitism, would regain the full'stature of manhood on his own
SOlle e e e 3

The noble experiment is an example to mankind. One of the characters in

the novel explains why Jews were the logical people to lead in industrial

and social pioneering. "Only we Jews could have done it, replied David

calmly. ,6. . We only were in a position to create this new society, this
1

new center of civilization here."

Insisting that 111s Jewish problem is a national one and not merely
religious or social, he urged that-sit. "be raised to political world-rank."
Governments out of a sense of duty and self-interest should cooperate in
bringing this about.

It was expected that such a plan would arouse in Herzl's own words .
"a mighty cry of agreement in every place where Jews suffer."

The cry was all the mightier because the Jewish masses had

never expected to hear such a voice from such a quarter-“from
a German assimilationist writer and journalist, from one with-
out a Zionist past, almost without a Jewish one. And this was
a mighty voice. . . a triumph bugle call, --deep and vibrant,
because it expressed the liberation of the man himself. . . .15

Weizmann, first president of Israel, reminisces on the reaction to The

J swish State.

 

1 .
i 3Theodore Herzl, Old-New Land, op. cit., translator's introduction,
pe x e

14
Ibide, Pa 82.

16
Ludwig Lewisohn, 2p. cit., p. 57.

109

The effect produced was profound. Not the ideas, but the
personality which stood behind them appealed to us. Here was
daring, clarity and energy. The very fact that this Westerner
came B us unencumbered by our own preconceptions, had its ap-

peel.
Student groups and leading intellectuals such as Max Nordau and Israel

Zangwell, were won over to the cause. The magnetic personality of Herzl
attracted disciples among non-Jews as well. Though preceded by Hess and
Pinsker, Hersl's idea was a revelation to some and an apostasy to others.
His predecessors had discussed anti-Semitism and suggested a state as the
remedy. Beside the fact that they had not been read by Hersl's contem-
poraries, his plan was new in the form of organization and program of im-
plementation carefully spelled out in the direction of the goal. It im-
mediately created ”among a small but immensely influential group of Western
Jews, a new Jewish consciousness."17

It soon became evident to Herzl himself that he cannot adhere to
his intention stated in the preface to the pamphlet: "I feel. that withthe
publication ef this pamphlet, aw task is done."18 He set out feverishly
to drive toward the aim. He conceded to public sentiment by shifting from
general territorialism to specific Zionism. "When I began, I thought only
of a Jewish State. But now I have become a Lover of Zion. In my eyes there
is no other solution to the great national preblem known as the Jewish
Question, except the Land of Israe1.":L9 He called together the first

 

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The Vision _gf Herzl: a Selection, in Hebrew (Tel Aviv: Histadrut,
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110

Zionist Congress as the Society of Jews designated in the initial plan.
The opening address contained these memorable words: "We went to lay the
foundations of the edifice which is one day to house the Jewish people."20
Having assembled around him recognized Jewish dignitaries, and prepared
with the necessary pageantry for an impressive beginning, he struck a
high pitch of enthusiasm and solemnity for the auspicious inauguration
of Zionism as a political movement. The Congress kindled the spirit

and set the tone for great things. The following years were crammed
with concentrated activity on the international arena, as he conferred
with the Kaiser, Pope and Sultan, British, Austrian and Roumanian
ministers and Jewish philanthropists. His missions took him to all the
capitals of Europe and to Palestine. In Russia, Jewish crowds welcomed
him.as ”King of the Jews."

As far as immediate results were concerned, there were none,
since the coveted "Charter" for Palestine was not offered during his
lifetime. Counting on the potential support of Jewish financiers, he
contemplated bartering financial backing of the bankrupt Sultan govern-
ment, in exchange for a charter. This he did not attain. However,inter-
national recognition of the Zionist movement was granted in the British
offer of Uganda in East Africa as a Jewish refuge under Zionist auspices.
Discussion of the proposal inspired.the most dramatic moment and division
at a Zionist Congress, when the dissenters ascribed to Herzl and his
followers treason to the Zionist ideal. 'With a sense of immediacy

sparked by the Kishinev pogrom of 1903, Herzl was amenable to anyter-

 

20
Ludwig Lewisohn, 3p. cit., p. 307.

 

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111

ritorial opportunity for colonization and sovereignty, an expedient
departure the loyal followers of Zion were unwilling to accept. Herzl
died the following year.

In the eight years of Herzl's dynamic leadership, the instrumen-
talities of Zionism were being forged. A permanent world representative
body was established for the far-flung communities of Jewry; an anthem,
flag and statement of aims adopted; a bank for colonization formed; the
Jewish National Fund to purchase land in Palestine, organized. The Zion—
ist Congress became a permanent institution meeting every few years as
the united Jewish tribune speaking to the world. The Congress continues
to reconvene with the most recent one held in Jerusalem with the partici-
pation of elected delegates from all over the world, Russia and its satel-
lites excepted. In the short period of a few years, Zionism emerged from
humble beginnings and sporadic strivings to an organized vital force
operating in behalf of the Jewish people on the international scene. After
1iforld War I the charter aim was realized with the Balfour Declaration and
the Mandate, which gave international recognition to the Basle program,
accepting at least in principle, that which Herzl had striven so vigorously
to attain.

Herzl was wrong in many respects. Remote from the traditional
Jewish way of life, he failed to appreciate the importance of spiritual
and cultural ethnic values in the reconstructed society. Some of his
ideas, such as the desirability of dueling, were quite alien to the
Jewish spirit. Revival of Hebrew was not in his plan. Herzl's real con-

tribution was not in the originality of thought, but in the inspiration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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112

of personality. He rekindled the faith of an ancient ideal spurring on
its adherents to daring action.
Herzl was the first--and herein lies his historic greatness--
who was able to breathe a new spirit, the will to act,into the
faith and nostalgia of the Jewish people yearning to be revived.
. . . He transformed the Jewish people for fine first time since
its Exile into a political force, a fighting creative force. . .
capable ofzfeshaping its historic destiny by its own will and
exertions.
Such is the evaluation of David Ben Gurion, first premier of Israel.
He'was a visionary who strove to redirect a Messianic hope into
a political reality. He raised the banner of the Jewish State, summoning
behind it millions to whom the concept was a cherished wish beyond reali-
zation, a prayer encased within the heart, concealed in the Hebrew tongue.
He uttered the ineffable with daring forthrightness, describing, demanding,
and striving toward its earthly translation. ‘When he first mentioned it,
he was considered mentally deranged. After his death he was regarded the
prophet who prepared for its coming in 1948. Herzl's motto, "If you will
it, it‘is no fable," became the slogan of two generations who marched on
to a new life in the promised land. It is most fitting that in Israel's
Declaration of Independence, Theodore Herzl is the only personage mentioned.
in that historic document.
For the present generation of youth, the first in independent
Israel, Herzl is more than an influence. He is the hero of the century
whose inspiration and dedication turned a legend into a fact, creating

a halo of legendary romance about the life of a person who is nearly a

contemporary.

lebid., p. 11.

 

 

113

Herzl's vision, and therein lies his appeal, was a national re-
surrection in a Messianic setting. Addressing himself to youth a few
months before his demise, he emphasizes that Zionism "as I understand it,
contains not only the striving for a legally assured homeland for our
people, but also the striving for moral and spiritual perfection.”22 The
ideal of individual fulfillment was a factor in the Zionist formula.
Therefore it could mean so much in personal terms, elevating, uplifting,
and reinforcing. "Zionism was the Sabbath of my life," he could admit
at the end, in spite of the frustrations and disappointments which studded
his path. A sense of destiny inspired his efforts, providing an example

for those who have identified themselves with the cause of Zion from its

inception to the present day.

Viewing the whole period in perspective from the vantage
point of our day, it may be confidently asserted that never
in modern times has a prOphet arisen among his people who saw
more clearly or endeavored more nobly to guide his people
along the road of honor and security.

It has been his task to overcome the inertia of centuries
and set his people into motion. Deliberately and with persis-
tence, he has striven to dispel the mood of helplessness and
dull acquiescence in their fate, and breathe into them a new
spirit of self-confidence and the will to achieve. . . . In
a remarkable passage of his diary written at the close of the
First Congress, he said: "At Basle I founded the Jewish
State. If I were to say. this today, I would be met by univer-
sal laughter. In five years, perhaps, and certainly in fifty,
everyone will see it."2

He was only one year off in his prediction.

 

221bid., p. 345.

23Emanuel Neumann, The Birth of Jewish Statesmanshi : the Stogy
of Theodore Herzl'_s_ Life (New York: Zionist CrgaYization o mneri'ca,
19.49,, p. 3 .

 

1 ‘lIs.a-o e I’L|II|

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

114

CHAPTER XI

ACHAD HA'AM

The central figure in modern Jewish thought, exerting the greatest
influence on Zionist ideology, was Achad Ha' am, whose centenary has re-
cently been observed throughout the Jewish world. Expounding his views
in short essays on contemporary events and issues, he became the leading
intellectual authority in the Jewish debate of the twentieth century,
affecting social theory, literary standards, educational values and emerg-
ing religious comepts. In the impact of his creative thinking he can be
compared to the American John Dewey, though the quantity of his writings
are collected in four modest volumes. Like Dewey, he borrowed consider—
ably from his immediate predecessors and was instrumental in the develop-
ment of a climate of opinion conducive to an all-pervading intellectual
reconstruction of society in a changed environment. Like Dewey too, he
stimulated far-reaching controversy in various disciplines and was subject
to much misinterpretation.

Achad Ha'am, "One of the People,"--the unassuming by-line of his
first essay in 1889 which became his nomme de plume for the rest of his
life-dwas born Asher Ginzberg in Ukraine in 1856. His home, that of a
merchant scholarly family, provided the opportunity for growth in an at-
mosphere of study within Jewish tradition to the exclusion of secular
knowledge proscribed in pious quarters. In the seclusion and established

patterns of small town life (a wife was chosen for him at sixteen) Ginzberg

115

devoted himself to his books and clandestinely partook of foreign languages,
classics, philosophy and science. Gradually he emancipated himself from
the orthodox milieu. A number of unsuccessful attempts, at home and abroad,
in the direction of formal university education, followed. At one time
he even left his family to enroll in the University of Vienna, but had
to return. As an autodidact he attained comprehensive knowledge of im-
pressive proportions. This pursuit of academic interests is important
in terms of later values crystallized in his Zionist philosophy.

His mature life was spent in Odessa, London, and Tel Aviv re-
spectively. In the first location he appeared as the reassessor of
the Chibat Zion in the role of the spiritual guide of the esoteric
circle of altruistic elite named mm (sons of Moses). The secret
society consisted of men of high character and noble principle dedicated
to the cause of Jewish national revival in accordance with Achad Ha'am's
views. Existing for eight years, it included and influenced the Russian
Jewish personalities that subsequently stood at the helm of the Zionist
and Hebrew creative enterprise. During this period, he also visited
Palestine on a number of occasions returning with-critical and constructive
insights. He continued to publicize his ideas through the publications he
edited or contributed to. Some educational and literary ventures elicited
his cooperation, such as the organization of a modern Hebrew school in
Jaffa, Palestine, the founding and publishing of the epoch—making monthly,
Hashiloach, and participation in Zionist and general Jewish conferences

in RuIBi-ae

The London chapter of his life where, beginning with 1907 he

 

116

resided as an official of a tea company, brought him into contact with a
limited circle of intellectuals under his influence. In 1922 he moved

to Tel Aviv, where he died in 1926.

Achad Ha'am's philosophy will be treated in this paper in the
three categories of religion, people and homeland. These appertain to
his definition of Judaism, the theory of survival as a minority in an
alien world, and the concept of Zionism as a solution to the Jewish
problem. Together they spell out a Weltanscheuung of individual, national
and universal human values. In the light of the philosophy, the educa-

tional applications can be deduced and contributions traced to the present.

Achad Ha'am accepted the basic religious tenets of Judaism with-
out their theological foundations. To the secular Jew, unfettered from
the intellectual and practical discipline of supernatural} religion but
unwilling to cast his moorings in strange waters, the synthesis of
traditional values and modern concepts was most welcome. Two alterna-
tives had been adopted in the nineteenth century at harmonizing the heri-
tage with modernism. Westernized Jews sought to refom the religious
tradition; Haskala tried to re-educate Jews as Europeans. Recognizing
the latter as a matter of course rather than an ideal, Ginzberg ap-
proached. the spiritual heritage of his people with the criterion of
intellectual validity in place of social expediency. The~result was a
clearer demarcation of Jewish and Christian domains and the renewed
emphasis upon the uniqueness of Judaism in its spiritual superiority,

for the present as well as the past.

 

117

The Jewish creative genius expressed itself through national
ethics originating with the prophets, pervading and enobling Jewish ex-
perience throughout the ages. This consisted of a total commitment to
absolute justice, uncompromising, indivisible, and ubiquitous. Absolute
morality became meaningful by the particular application in every situa-
tion rather than by pious generalization. This is the unique and regret-
fully, still the private insight of Judaism. Meses exemplified it, the
prophets enunciated it, the Jewish people translated it into a pattern
of behavior. The Hebrew creative spirit expressed it in literature. The
modern Jew, by fuller identification with his people, can approximate it
without the theological trappings of past ages.

The essential thought of Hebrew prophesy was the reign of

absolute justice in all creation; above--through the "Righteous
one of the Universe," who holds in his hand the category of
justice and judges all his creatures with righteousness;
belcw--through man Who was created in the image of God and who
is obligated to imitate his creator and to help him, as it
'were, in the conduct of the world in the ways of righteousness.
. . . Righteousness is beauty, is good, is wisdom and truth,
and without it--all is vanity.

. . . In far greater measure than is the case among other

nations, prophesy rested in Israel in ancient times, not as

an accident or as a temporary phenomenon but continuously over

a period of many generations, as if it were an essential quality
- of its being, bearing;the stamp of its national spirit.1

The "national spirit" reveals itself not only in cultural insti-
tutions, but in morality as well. In contrast to Christianity, the ethics

of Judaism.are based upon justice rather than love, an objective criterion

ultimately much more conducive to human welfare. This is in keeping with

1Jacob B. Agus, @pdern Philosophies 2£_Judaism (New York: Behrman,
1941) excerpt from.Achad Ha'am "Priest and Prophet," p. 45,46.

 

 

118

the Biblical insistence upon the elimination of images which limit the
ideal, both in the religious concept of God as well as in morality.

If the heathen of the old story, who wished to learn the
whole of the Torah while he stood on one foot, had come to me,
my reply would have been: ”'Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image of any likeness'---that is the whole Torah and the
rest is commentary." What essentially distinguishes Judaism
fran other religions is its absolute determination to make the
religious and moral consciousness independent of any definite
human form, and to attach it without any mediating term to an
abstract incorporeal ideal.2 . . . And this basic tendency of
the Jewish people to rise above any image in the religious or
moral life, is seen not only in respect of the religious and
moral ideal, but also in regard to the goal. . .having no limited
sensual image.3

Achad Ha'am focused attention upon another aspect of Jewish
religion,--its corporate character. Fulfillment is gained through the
group and nation. The individual's reward is found in the general wel-
fare. Such was the religious promise as long as Israel was a nation in

its own land.

. . . Judaism conceives its aim not as the salvation of
the individual, but as the well-being and perfection of a
group of the Jewish people, and ultimately of the Thole human
race. . . . The aim is always defined in terms of a collecti—
vity which has no defined and concrete form. . . . Judaism
had no clear ideal of personal immortality or of reward and
punishment after death. The religious and moral inspiration
of the prophets and their disciples was derived. . .from the
conviction of their belonging to "the chosen people" which
had. . .a divine call to make its national life the embodi-
ment of the highest form of religion and morality,“ Even in

later times. . .the highest aims of Judaism still remained a
collective aim.4

It follows that the revival of nationalism and the identifica—

tion of the individual with the destiny of his peOple is in harmony with

 

ZAchad Ha'am, trans. Leon Simon (Oxford: East and West Lib.,
1941) from—'TewIEF-a'nd Christian Ethics,” p. 128.

3Achad Ha'am in Jacob B. Agus, 23. cit., p. 46.

'4Achad Ha'am, op. cit., p. 130.

 

119

original religious tenets. Its rootedness in and attachment to prophetic
ideals of justice are mandatory. Spiritual depth is prior to numerical
scope and political slogans, if the Jewish character and promise of Zion-
ism is to be preserved.

Two composite prenises important for education are logical deri-
vations from these views of Achad Ha'am.
(l) 222329.93 Jewish education in inculcating the highest human and

universal ethical, values can best be served by educating within the

 

(2) Authentic Jewish education leads 1:}; identification p_f_ the individual

 

 

 

with the Eoup to the extent that the individual attains fulfillment in

the aspirations, ideals, and achievements of the Jewish people.

 

These principles indicate how a philosophy of Judaism is fraught
with implications ancillary to the nationalistic Zionist education
originating in Europe and transplanted in Palestine. It bridges the gap
between group and universal values, establishes the indispensability of
Hebrew as the vehicle of the spirit and charges the educational process
with the mission of the Jewish renaissance. These concepts are rein-
forced and elaborated by the views propagated in Achad Ha'am's treatment
of Palestine in the Jewish scheme of things.

It is the enigma of Zionist history that the westerner, Herzl,
living in comparative freedom and security, should be primarily con-
cerned with the physical plight of Jews, while the easterner, Achad
HA'am, residing in an environment of hostility, repression and mob
violence, should direct his energies toward the alleviation of the

sPiri‘lmal plight of Judaism. Upon further analysis it is evident that

Y

 

120

the one whose spiritual roots were deeper and environment more intensely
Jewish, should place the problem of assimilation before anti-Semitism.
To Herzl, Zionism offered the solution to Jewish homelessness: Achad
Ha'am regarded it as an answer to spiritual disintegration. With the
crumbling of the ghetto walls of medieval orthodox religion, the nation
lost its spiritual immunity and became subject to the lure and mirage
of foreign culture. Dispersed throughout the globe without a centrifugal
force, groups of Jews are bound to be molded by local influences, with the
resulting fragmentation into territorial segments and ultimate disappear-
ance in accordance with known sociological processes of social integration.
Confronted with this new challenge, not previously faced by an insulated
Jewry which was fortified by a way of life totally apart from its neigh—
bors, the Jewish people seeks new cohesive forces and creative sources _
in its "will to live,” a moving force for thousands of years. The threat
of assimilation does not suggest segregation as an escape. In Thomas
Wolfe's phraseology, one cannot come home again, and Jews cannot return
to the ghetto. There is an alternative which avoids the evils of both
extremes. In healthy relationships between groups there is a fruitful
interaction. The reciprocal influences exerted, evoke creative imitation
in the fostering of cultural values and institutions. What has been bor-
rowed frcm an alien setting is recast in the image of the group, to suit
its purpose and express its spirit.
We have gone through two successive periods, a long one

of complete segregation and a short one of self-effacement. . .

We are coming to recognize that salvation lies along neither

of these two roads but along a third mad that lies between

them: that of the enrichment of our national individuality
by means of imitation of the competitive kind.5

5
Ibid., p. 73.

 

121

Examples of this are a modern national literature, music, art, institu-
tional and organizational fonms and social customs adopted and adapted
accordingly.

Achad Ha'am postulated a "will to live" as an essential component
of his theoretical structure. Influenced by Darwinian biological concepts,
he applied the "struggle for survival" of biological evolution to national
history, suggesting the existence of a corporate national will operating
overtly and covertly through the chain of events. To nourish this "will
to live," which has recently become dormant, is the function of the
national movement. The individual egotistical interest, merging with
the group survival interest, is a renewed value initially propagated in
ancient Jerusalem.

Thus Palestine rebuilt as a national home will serve two signifi-
cant ends indispensable for survival:

(1) A national environment without detracting influences will
enable a reconstituted Jewish majority to embark upon a spiritual re-
vival as a link in the golden chant of a historic heritage.

(2) A'Vatican-like spiritual center from which will emanate
books, ideas and cultural values in the Hebraic spirit and tongue,
will create a bond between the outlying parts of a vast periphery,
materially assisting U16 center, and spiritually benefitting from it.

The creative unity of the Jewish people will once again be assured.
A center of our nationality implies that there is a national
circumference, which, likecevery circumference, is much larger
than the center. . . . The majority...in ihe future @111 b_e_7
scattered all over the world, but no longer broken up into a
number of disconnected parts. . .because Palestine will be a

centre for'than all and make them all into a single, complete
circumference. 'When all the scattered limbs of the national

 

122

body feel the beating of the national heart, restored to life
in its native home, they too will once again draw near to one
another and welcome the inrush of living blood that flows from
the heart.

Spiritual means that this relation of center and circum-
ference between Palestine and the lands of the diaspora will
of necessity be limited to the spiritual side of life. The
influence of the center will strengthen the Jewish national
consciousness in the diaspora; it will give to our Judaism a
national content which will be genuine and natural, unlike the
substitutes with.which we now try to fill the void.

The Zionist debate was three-cornered. Herzl championed politi-
cal action directed toward the establishment of an independent state.

A. D. Gordon called for economic reconstruction and individual rehabili-

tation in the formation of a new society. Achad Ha'am concentrated upon

education paving the way to a spiritual revival. Though not exclusive

of each other, one approach has frequently been emphasized at the expense
of the others.

Cultural Zionism, as Achad Ha'am's views became known, originally
demanded a reorientation of Zionist effort from mass propaganda advocated
by the political exponents, to the slow process of education, "prepara-
tion of the hearts," recommended by Achad Ha'am. He suggested that
idealism and self-sacrifice be embedded in the heart instead of false
hopes and superficial enthusiasm.capturing the imagination. He asked
for the total commitment of the few endowed with the persistenoy and
perspective required for pioneer initiative in the new land. Critical
of the various colonization projects dependent upon Baron Rothschild's
handouts, he urged a concerted effort at instituting schools, publica-

tions and genuine educational enterprises geared toward a sounder Jewish

and national consciousness. Under his influence, the Chovevei Zion of

6
Ibide, p. 204.

 

123

Russia supported the new schools in Palestine colonies, and the Zionist
congresses, after 1902, included educational projects on the agenda.

An interesting controversy raged between Achad Ha'am and con-
temporary authors on the fimction of literature. When the latter at-
tempted to I'broaden" the horizon of Hebrew literature by using the
language for articulating theories and values alien and contradictory
to Judaism, he vigorously opposed them on the grounds that the national
revival must have its spiritual roots in the collective heritage and
experience of the Jewish people. The new literature must be Hebraic in
content as well as in form.

Translated into educational goals, these ideas suggest the

following principles:

 

intellectual, shying away from the narrow political and often

 

 

 

chauvcnistic frame familiar 32 smaller embattled nations.

 

 

(4) The new education.i§ to express historic continuity rather than

 

 

break with the pas ,'in spite 2f its secular orientation. (The apparent

 

 

platitudinous character of this statement disappears in the light of
vociferous pronouncements to the contrary by other spokesmen of Israel
intelligentsia.)

According to Lachover, author of a definitive history of modern
Hebrew literature, Achad.Ha'am achieved complete integration of ancient
Judaism and twentieth century pattern of thought. ”Without retreating
from any fundamental Jewish concept, he redefines them in social national

terms of a general universal context compatible with a modern cultural

 

124

perspective."7 Whether religionists will agree with this evaluation is
questionable. Yet the fact remains that for secular Jew$ he bridged the
gap between tradition and modernism, the Jew and the world. In the never
ending discussion of Judaism versus humanity, he clearly demonstrated
that the universal reveals itself through the national forms, and that
Judaism representsthe noblest in both, without inner contradiction. In
the final analysis, the universal elements in the Jewish heritage elevat-
ed it to a world religion.

It is understandable that Achad Ha'am had much to say on inter-7
faith relations. The' attitude of the Jew to the alien environment im-
pinged upon his relationship, mental and articulated, to himself, his
religion, and people, reaching into the nethermost depths of his per-
sonality.

Mention has previously been made of. the German-centered reform
movanent launching an overall remodelling of the Jewish way of life.
The New Look streamlined to suit the tastes of the times necessitated
the renoval of all furnishings, and their replacement by imitations of
the Christian sanctuary and home. The Russian Haskala concentrated upon
a superficial dusting and refinishing job in making the house of Israel
more presentable. Both were moved by the desire to make the grade and
be accepted. In contrast, Achad Ha'am was primarily motivated by con-
siderations of authenticity of inherent values in Jewish sancta, and

their logical setting without regard for outside approval. This to him

 

7F. Lachover, Histor offlodern Hebrew Literature, vol. II, in
Hebrew (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1937), p. 192.

 

.. .. P. .. . ...~ .9; .....~ . .. . I

 

125

was the path of dignity trodden by free men.

Terrible indeed is the backwardness, the degradation and
the poverty that surrounds me here [in Russi27} and well may
I look for comfort across the border, to the land in which
there are Jewish Professors and Members of.Acadenies, Jewish
generals and statesmen. But when behind all the grandeur and
the glory I discern a twofold slavery, moral and intellectual,
I ask myself whether I envy these Jews their civil rights; and
in truth and sincerity I answer "No, a thousand times not" I
will have none of them. I have no civil rights. I can proclaim
aloud my feeling of kinship with.my fellow-Jews, wherever they
may be, without having to defend it by far-fetched and unsatis-
factory excuses. . . . I have no need to idealize my people and
to pretend that it is superior to all others in order to justify
its existence. . . . I can even adopt "the scientific heresy
that bears the name of Darwin" without any danger to my Judaism.
In a word, I belong to myself, and my opinions and feelings are
my own. And this freedom of the spirit--scoff who will--I would
not exchange or barter for all the civil rights in theworld.8

This is an eloquent plea for a position which in educational application
would read:

(5) Jewish;education ii tg_endow the individual with the psychological
traits 2£.self-acceptance and independence comprising truth, freedom
312 human dignity, withOut 33 inferiority complex in relation 1:2 others

and with the ability to react in equanimity to imposed humiliation.

 

 

A philosophy of such dimensions encompassed all of Jewish life,
psychological and intellectual, individual and collective, in Palestine
and abroad. It was geared to a projected Jewish renaissance in the
twentieth century, expedited by the establishment of a spiritual center
hnfelestine, with the political and economic conditions necessary though
not sufficient for its realization. This was to be ushered in by the new

education. The exponent of spiritual Zionism

Achad Ha'am, 22, cit., "Slavery in Freedom", p. 18.

 

 

 

 

126

saw the national movement as the later stage in the long
evolution of the Hebrew spirit. . . A great national
ideal... .can grow. . .where the Hebrew spirit can assert
itself freely unhumpered by foreign influencgs. Zionism
is therefore synonymous with Judaism itself.
Ultimately Palestine would become "not merely a state of Jews, but a
Jewish State."

To what extent are Achad Ha'am's ideas reflected in Israel
education today? The Hebrew University in Jerusalem aspires to become
that reservoir of spiritual values, feeding the tributaries of the world
Jewish community as Achad Ha'am envisaged. The‘Weizmann Institute in
Rehovoth (Ch.'V) in its partial dedication to pure science and scientific
pioneering is a further extension of his views. Universal compulsory
education, the gradual broadening of educational opportunities, the em-
phasis upon Bible and Hebrew literature, the sense of continuity with
the ancient past, the reinterpretation of the hallowed texts in a con-
temporary intellectual frame of reference, the psychological identifi-
cation with the world Jewish community--these are all products of the
master's blueprints. Israel teachers are exported abroad; American
institutions of higher Jewish learning are insisting upon residence
study in Israel; numerous publications flow to all parts of the world;
great Hebrew encyclopedic projects are now under way (Universal, dhildren,
Jewish, Biblical, Talmudic, biographical and linguistic encyclopaedias);

ancient and medieval texts are being edited; and many other ventures in

creative scholarahipr are among the practices and processes making Israel

Hillel Bavli, "The modern Renaissance of Hebrew Literature,"

Iflg_flg!g, ed. Louis Finkelstein, vol. II (Philadelphia: Jewish Publica-
tion Society, 1949), p. 579.

 

127

the spiritual center of an international Jewish periphery.

On the debit side, the constant jeopardy in which the nascent
state finds itself and the economic and social pangs of birth in absorb-
ing incoming masses, have obstructed the translation of some of Achad
Halam's noble, human, and.universal sentiments into educational operation.
(Further analysis of the existing‘values in the educational scene are
found in chapter VII.)

It was Achad Ha'am's cherished dream to compose his magnum
opus on.the Ethics of Judaism. This was designed to be a comprehen-
sive work presenting in an orderly fashion a philosophy of the Jewish
renaissance and serve as a contemporary summation parallel to ancient
and medieval anthological restatements. He never achieved it. But the
bricks for this projected construction are strewn about his numerous
essays over a period of thirty years. They are still useful material

in the rising national structure of the new Israel.

 

128

CHAPTER XII

MICHA JOSEPH BERDICHEVSKY

In the chorus of voices heralding in the new national era there
is one note of discord in the cry for individualism uttered by Micha
Joseph Berdichevsky, noted novelist, essayist and scholar. Known as the
great dissenter of Hebrew thought, this Polish born brilliant and sensi-
tive soul who spent his mature life in Germany, was the life-long ideo-
logical opponent of Achad Ha'am and his school of cultural Zionism. The
latter's ideas, he vigorously challenged while retaining a respectful
recognition of his person and position. Thirty-five years after the
death of Berdichevsky, his non-conformist negations reappear as outspoken
assertions by numerically insignificant but articulate elements in Israel
society.

He was born in 1865 in southern Poland to a rabbinic family trac-
ing its associations with Chassidic sages for many generations. Three
factors in his childhood proved potent in the molding of personality later
reflected in the form and content of his literary expression and mental
constitution. The Chassidic atmosphere of poetic inspiration unleashing
religious emotion fed his unbridled spirit soaring into ethereal heights
and human depths of mental probing and emotional unfolding. The acquisi-
ticn of an unsympathetic step-mother at the tender age of eleven aroused
conflicts that scarred his personality, making him as an artist extremely

sensitive to the inner world of the individual. Landing on the "wrong

 

129

side of the tracks" in the crowded Jewish neighborhood removed from the
spacious homes and green gardens of the gentile populace which possessed
a special attraction for the tender child, fostered as aesthetic hunger
which pervaded his writings in later years. These were the three pillars
of Berdichevsky's philosophical and artistic structure: emotion, indivi-
dualism, and aesthetics, in contrast to his famous adversary Achad Ha'am
who established his world on reason, nation, and ethics.

Growing up in an environment of study, Berdichevsky partook ex-
tensively of Jewish lore and secretly branched out into Haskala litera-
ture. Married at sixteen he continued his studies assiduously, economi-
cally supported in the customary fashion by his father-inQ-Iaw. Discover-
ed reading an unauthorized book, he was driven out of the house. He
pursued his studies at the famous rabbinical school of Volozhin and soon
published scholarly and belletrist'ic articles. At the age of twenty-five
he went abroad to German and Swiss universities where he received his
Ph.D., the thesis dealing with the relationship of ethics to aesthetics,
a point of departure for fruitful thought in later life. By this time
he had made a break with his orthodox religious background, following the
university crowd in becoming a disciple of Nietzsche.

Berdichevsky appeared on the Jewish literary horizon as a produc-
tive writer of fiction and author of thougrt-provoking essays in Hebrew.
He also wrote short stories in Yiddish. As a man of great erudition he
produced scholarly and philosophical works in German, delving especially
into the vast reservoir of legends originating in the off-track side-paths

01‘ Jewish history outsi do of normative Judaism. He emerged as the spokes-

 

 

130

man for the younger "rebels" who sought to broaden the intellectual and
literary perspective of Hebrew literature. They rejected the accepted
values not only of the traditionalists but of the modernists as well, -
those of Achad Ha'am's persuasion seeking to recast the religious tradition

in a contemporary secular mold. He died at the age of fifty-six.

An authoritative analyst of modern Hebrew literature in a recent
work states: "No understanding of the miracle of present day Israel is
possible without some understanding of the world of Berdichevsky."1 He
was the great rebel of Hebrew thought, the questioner par excellence
whose doubts, heresies and restlessness in fiction and essay have made
him a commanding figure in a revolutionary age. His protest and dissent
served as a basis for important affirmations in the Zionist synthesis.
Steeped in Hebraic lore-«he was one of the most erudite personages in
modern Hebrew letters—-he engaged in a life-long controversy with Achad
Ha'am and his school, utilizing Hebrew literary periodicals as vehicles
of expression. Personally, he remained aloof from parties, platforms
and programs. A polemical writer of wide scope he was yet always the
individual artist creating works of fiction and social theory in the
privacy and seclusion of his study.

The Zionist movement rebelled against contemporary conditions
in the name of historic ideals. Negating the aberrations of Jewish
life, provoked by the abnormal status of a permanent minority without
adequate opportunity for security and wholesome living, Zionist theo-

1Simon Halkin, Modern Hebrew Literature: Trends and Values

(New York: Schocken, 19505, p. 91.

 

 

 

131

reticians appealed to spiritual values emanating from the cumulative
experiences of a people deigned to fulfill its destiny in its ancient
abode. In the final analysis, Zionism represents continuity rather
than severance of the historical thread. It seeks to interpret and
channel Jewish aspirations into historically determined, religiously
dictated and pragmatically required avenues of operation. His main
adversary, Achad Ha'am, divorced as he was practically from the religious
discipline of orthodoxy and removed intellectually from its frame of
reference, yet accepted its spiritual demands and attempted to reveal,
analyze and affirm their relevance. Not so Berdichevsky. 'With all its
modernism, the prevailing mood of cultural Zionism was a positive Yes
to Jewish values. Berdichevsky uttered an emphatic No.

A further distinction. The architects of Zionism deplored the
crumbling structure of Jewish society. They criticized the inferiority
status, resented the crippling passiveness, challenged the parrot-like
acculturation. But they owed their allegiance to the inspired ideals
of prophets and sages in the heritage of Israel. Berdichevsky questioned
the very spiritual foundations of historical Judaism. He did it, however,
as an insider committed to preserve the physical unity and entity of
Jewry, thereby remaining the great dissenter instead of becoming the
renegade which many anofiier lesser talent proved to be.

Berdickevsky was obssessed.with the burden of the past, desir-
ing to be relieved of it. Dominance of the past dictated the people's
mode of life in the present, depriving it of creative originality. The
conventionalists were not alone in being tied to the past: the modern-

ists too were bound to its spirit. To Berdichevsky the history of the

 

132

Jews in exile presented a sordid view of enslavement to yesterday and
estrangement from today, subject to a self-imposed predetermination of
behavior and events by an age that was no more.

'We are an ancient people, submerged by a heritage that is
altogether too rich, by a deluge of thoughts, feelings and
values transmitted to us, so that we no longer can live in our
pristine simplicity, just being, essentially being. Our egos
are not our own, our dreams and our thoughts are not our own,
our will is not the one implanted in us; everything we were
taught long ago, everything, has been handed down to us. Everyb
thing is defined.and designated within set limits and boundaries,
measured.and weighed, ruled and legislated; so that those among
us who crave to know themselves are forlorn. . .they never can
find their own self.

Thus our individuality is subdued in the process of worshipping
the past. A choking atmosphere engulfs us making it impossible to breathe
the refreshing air of a free day.

we do not consider the heritage of the past as an ancient
culture with sufficient room for our own activity and new life.
For we are the slaves of our memories, the slaves of our in-
heritance. ‘we are mummified by the transmitted and limited
thoughts. . . . The past has pushed out the present taking
away from us the treasures of today, and making us carriers of
theavy burdens. . . . 'We gre tired of it. . . . New needs and
desires awaken within us.

Berdichevsky sees no need for continuing in the role of porters
of bequeathed burdens. A total break with the past is possible and de-
sirable. It isn't necessary for us to be heirsg'we can make our own
fortunes and choose enterprises at will. This we accomplish by disconr
tinuing to be the People of the Book. The Book, from the Bible to all

Of the vast literature of legalistic and pietistic commentaries and

gMioha Joseph Berdichevsky, Collected Essays, in.Hebrew (Tel Aviv:
Am Oved, 1952), p. 35.

 

31bide’ P0 360

 

’_-——_.

 

133

super-commentaries, has received too much attention down the centuries.
This has led to an over-intellectualization and over-spiritualization
at the expense of observing, enjoying and living life itself. The book
has blocked the view of life, separating us from reality. The emphasis
was upon ideas rather than people, and "Jews were replaced by Judaism."
Our human form has been diminished to the extent that our
political and rational forms have been reduced... .and we be-
came people who only stand and look at the book, see and turn
reverently to the holy script. . . . All the noble feelings,
the great thoughts of will and desire, all that beats within
a man's heart to the degree that he is a man, a thinking, feel-
ing and willing being--all of life in its ramifications-~every-
thing, everything has been silenced by the weight of the book.4
It has been claimed that Jewish ethics have been translated into
life upon the inspiration of the literary tradition. Berdichevsky re-
jects the entire view of a unique Jewish morality warranting our con-
tinued loyalty. The historic record is replete with episodes and per-
sonalities approximating standards that are objectionable simply because
they do not comply with that quality which we esteem above all - compas-
sion. In contrast acts of physical courage, aroused human pride, re-
liance upon the sword, have a respectable genealogy in Biblical annals.
There is no common spiritual heritage shared by all generations. "A
concept of Jewish ethics is wishful thinking without foundation, as
transient as all religious values."5 He rejects the abstract spirituality,
which, in his opinion, Achad Ha'am foists upon the Jewish people.
You have chosen a gracious and prepossessing Judaism,
by dint of which we presumably exist, and by dint of which

only we are allowed to exist 3 but we do not need the kind
of existence whose merit is the cultivation of a sublime

4
Ibid., PO 340

5
Ibid., p. 38.

 

134

system of law and.life. The Jewish people is a vital event,
not the summation of some circumscribed abstract'world.6

Such a revolutionary appraisal calls for a re-evaluation of
Jewish history. To Berdichevsky the heroic acts of martyrdom in defense
of religious convictions were futile gestures; the spiritual fortitude
in face of danger was often a subterfuge for physical cowardice; and
the brave odyssey of centuries in exile wasa-tragic error of a people
whose powers for action were paralyzed into inactivity, unable to make
a last stand, recover its lost geographic position, or make a dramatic
exit. The ideals of'the Bible, in themselves, are of dubious validity.
Monotheism, with its philosophic monistic ramifications, he regarded
as a delimiting value inferior to fine Greek pluralistic attitude to
the world. Ethics in its prophetic uncompromising aspect was barren,
consisting of negations to police human relations. Heathen aesthetics,
on the other hand, contained an unfolding appreciative receptiveness
to life. Judaism as a religion was an historical error, and Jewish
life was often reprehensible in its narrow horizon, its denial of the
opportunities of living. The Jewish mission idea in both assimilation-
ist and nationalistic versions, is a deception.' "In vain to we champion
a noble ethical culture destined to be the light of nations when it is
dark in our tents and cloudy in our lives."7

Domination by the past and enslavement to the Book, combine to
relay an unsalutary spiritual affectation oflife, completing the vicious

circleiof abortive existence by the suppression of the individual in the

6Berdichevsky, translated in Simon Halkin, gp. cit., p. 94.

7
Micha.Joseph Berdichevsky, op: cit., p. 40.

 

 

 

135

—.

interests of the collective. Thus runs Berdichevsky's criticism.
Advances in the long history of Jewry were always scored by individuals
whose accomplishments were largely not because, but in spite of the en-
vironment and the collective. The "gleichschaltung" in Judaism, the
homogeneity of behavior, the weight of tradition, left little room for
individual differences and personal expression. The very quality of
historic Judaism accorded by Achad Ha'am-mite corporate nature and
blending of individual and collective needs-Berdichevslq turned into
a fault. He considered it as frustrating and dwarfing the image of
man seeking to free himself from the shackles of custom and group. The
spiritual tradition deadened the sense of beauty and closed the eyes to
nature. In becoming spiritual beings they were transformed into emas-
culat ed men. Regarding this as the overpowering inheritance of catholic
Israel, Berdichevsky "battled for the right of the individual Jew who
must free himself from the fetters of a narrow rabbini- and must regain
freedom and self-assertion in all fonns and phases of productive life."
The fact that he borrowed much from Nietzsche did not in any way deter
him, for the indigenous character of ideas had little to do with their
genuine quality of his pattern of thought.
The transition to a positive philosophy of Zionism was at this
point of individual emphasis.
I saw that we built for ourselves too many castles in the
air, that we are spiritual people more than required, and that
the spiritual consumes the physical in our people and makes us

powerless. Then I developed the concept of a change of values
in all that we have. I thought of destroying the spiritual

8Joseph Heller, The Zionist Ide'a (New York: Schocken Books,

1949), p. 193.

 

 

136

kingdom and to crown the physical, to restore the strength and
courage so that we would be hmnan beings who know life and not
only priests in the tabernacle. And then I saw that man is not
alone; that one family cannot pave its way. . .that there is no
people without a land. I denied the condition of exile and de-
dicateimyself to bring abogt the unification of a people with
its ancient homeland. . . .

The first demand was for a change of focus from religion to
people, from group to individual, and from the spiritual to the temporal.
Self-interest is the basis for group interest. Recognition by the in-
dividual of the factors that militate against his own security and ex-
pression in the land of exile, will compel him to seek personal fulfill-
ment in Israel. Assimilation is not an answer because it means running
away from oneself and again su‘rmerging one's ego in the group culture.
Zionism is the only solution to the personal problen, pointing to an
opportunity for men to live freely and fully without sacrificing the
individual altruistically on the altar of the collective good. In this
fashion the Zionist goal is attained by approaching 'it from another
angle, that of individual self-interest. The result is not a rugged
laissezefai'na competifion but harmonious blending of personal and social
interests.

This is not a circunvention of the problem in order to arrive
at the same Zionist solution. The "change of focus" from the group to
the individual is a major philosophical premise. ”Man is the eye of
the universe. Man's will is the God of the universe. The will of the
individual is king over all propensities, the sum total of all poten— -

tialities."10 This is a far cry from the spiritual tradition. Zionism

9
Micha Joseph Berdichevsky, pp. cit., p. 375.

10
Berdichevsky, quoted in Simon Halkin, 2p. cit., p. 92.

 

137

predicated on this anthropocentrism, becomes unequivocally a secular
and secularizing movement.

It would aim to establish anew the house of Israel on
secular foundations. . .emancipating the people from the
dictatorship of the Law. . . . Zionism should stand up
and say No to everything accepted hitherto. That which in
exile apparently seemed to be of a supporting and preserv-

ing power, would be reversed in the new land. . . . The
fallacy of Zionism was to link the new with the old. . . .

ll

The new man, Berdichevsky envisaged, motivated by considerations
of personal enhancement, would seek a new life in Palestine. Freed from
the inhibitions of a religious culture, he can entertain any theory with-
out regard to its Jewish antecedents or parallels. He is receptive to
nature, appreciative of its phenomena, inwardly enriched by contact
with it. He accepts all people, insensitive to any distinction. Yet
the Jew of tomorrow speaks the Hebrew language, for he must have some
medium and it might as well be his own in which he was brought up, He
lives in his own country: in other respects he is a‘citizen of the
world.

It is possible to begin once again after making fundamental
changes in our lives and our hearts. . . . There is no con-
struction without preceding destruction, and there is no being
without ceasing.

The individualism of Berdichevsky led to nationalism that
required the Hebrew tongue and the land of Israel. His opposition to
Spiritual speculations and cultural programs was in consonance with
the total dedication of Herzlian Zionism to the political goal of es-
tablishing a Jewish State. There was also agreanent with Achad Ha'am

that Zionism required a change of spirit, but it was a revolt against

11 , .
Micha Joseph Berdichevsky, op. cit., p. 382.

12
Ibid., p. 36.

 

.rl

 

 

   

138

the spiritual rather than re-enforcement of it, that he advocated.
Needed were changes, not improvements .
I give you your thoughts and opinions, your doctrines and
regulations, . . .and you give me the body of ancient Israel,
his nature and.simple life. . .give us back our youth.13
His was a romantic longing for pristine beauty and simplicity, in some
respects remindful of Rousseau.

Removing barriers, lifting controls, allowing life to take its
natural course-~these are values to be reflected in literature as well.
The creative writer owes no obligation to any ethnic tradition. His
spirit is not to be curtailed by the restrictions of a national culture.
Achad Ha'am's attempt to create a literature in the spirit of the
historic destiny of Israel was an anathema to Berdichevsky. His novels
depict the conflict of individual passions and drives with the frustrat-
ing norms of public pressure. "We have room for all ideas and opinions.
'We may’bcw or refuse to bow to any deity of our liking."14

Yet with all his unbridled individualism, Berdichevsky--to
borrow a term from Stalinist vocabularyb-was no roctless cosmopolitan.
So deep were his roots that he found it extremely difficult to trans-
gress the ritual restrictions of Judaism. "When a Jew has given his
life for the sake of a minor commandment, his blood cries out to me
from the earth; when I transgress it, the image of this martyr rises
tmfore me."15 There was an ambivalence within him, simultaneous de-
tachment and involvement in Judaism. Anguish is vividly manifested

lslbid.

141b1d., p. 38.

15
Ibid., p. 430

 

 

 

139

in confessions that abound. He is aware of the paradoxes that in
themselves are the products of the particular circumstances of Jewish

life.

A Jewish sadness raps upon the portals of my heart. I
sit in my room and hear the restless moaning of the Jewish
people, its protracted grief, hoary with age. . . . Within
my being, I feel the pain of my heritage, the aching of a
life and a soul banished from their paradise; I cannot break
down that which I want to break down. . . . I crave unifica-
tion, I want to create a new people--new human beings, and
yet I am torn in my own soul. We are ripped to tatters for-
evennore.

The sorrow of a nation is forever evident in his work, a sorrow of dis—
turbing questions, aching problems, and uncertain answers. He was the
spokesman of a bewildered age.

He fought for the new but his soul was caught between two
worlds. An ancient heritage was alive and moving in his heart
even at the time when he fought it bitterly. . . . He was
among the select few whom fate has decreed to give fcnn and

expression to a generation in transition, in its being and be-
coming, its direction and destiny.17

What lessons for education are derived from Berdichevsky in
Israel today? More than anyone else he is the champion of secular
education, released from all dogma, religious or otherwise. Emphasis
upon the individual's needs and abilities, academic freedom and aesthe-
tic development are some of the positive implications of his thougit,
honored in breach or practice. An important concept of dubious signi-
ficance is his negation of Jewish life and values in exile. Segments

015' Ilhael society in its early stage of pro-State days adopted a

16
Simon Halkin, 22. cit., p. 91.

17
M. Glikson, Works, in Hebrew (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1941), p. 270.

 

 

 

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Ana“

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:u“.
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140

critical attitude towards the diaspora, denying it the right and the
possibility to survive. Frequently there is an attempt to discount
Jewish spiritual growth beyond Biblical and Talmudic times. The catas-
trophe in Europe has modified this reaction.

Berdichevsky's individualism spelled out Zionism in personal
terms. This was subsequently given deeper meaning by other personages
and became a major foundation in the ideology of the pioneer youth or-
ganizations.

Most recently a group of native Israeli have flirted with the
cult of Canaanism. It consists of a denial of the totality of Jewish
experience in an effort to recapture am ient Hebrew pagan culture.
Though not drawn directly from Berdichevsky, the exponents of the new
fad have found considerable support and stimulation in his non-con-

fomist views.

 

 

 

 

141

CHAPTER XIII

A. D. GORDON

Zionism as a political movement was founded by Herzl. The
cultural renaissance was spelled out by Achad Ha'am. The Hebrew
language was revived by Ben Yehuda. The man who, more than any other
individual, is identified with the social and spiritual foundations
of modern Israel, was A. D. Gordon.

. . . the Prophet of the Second and Third Aliyoth. . . ,

his words have been eagerly mad, discussed, interpreted,
and misinterpreted, and have served Jewish youth as criteria
for their deeds and thoughts.

Aaron David Gordon merited inis distinction by virtue of his
preachment and practice during the formative years of Israel society,
among the young men and women of pre- and post- world war immigrations
(Aliyoth). A combination of fructifying ideas, forceful personality
and selfless behavior converging in one individual, placed him as the
key figure in a pioneering generation. The principles expounded by
Gordon have become indigenous to the Israel socio-economic and educa-
tional environnent.

Jewish life in the State of Israel differs radically from its
counterpart elsewhere. As an autonomous society, constituting the
majority population, it is easily distinguishable from Jewish minorities

in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. The accoutrements of national

1Reuben Wallenrod, The Literature of Modern Israel (New York
and London: Abelard—Schuman, 19533, p. 92—.—

 

 

 

 

142

and territorial independence in the form of government, language, social
structure, and legislation, present a flourishing civilization without
foreign infringement of authentic self-directed growth. That is to be
expected. Less obvious, but of equal if not greater significance, is

the difference in values not necessarily ethnic nor religious in origin.
Standards for living and attitudes towards economic pursuits and personal
happiness are at variance with those of oo-religionists in other countries.
They relate to nature, labor, agriculture, and the content and aim of
education. The historically dominating spirit of Israel points to

rural rather than urban living as the normative. Physical work is

often by choice rather than necessity. Industrial arts take precedence
over white collar professions in the hierarchy of gainful anployment.

The farmer is held in high esteem and may generally partake of a richer
cultural diet. Apparently geographic. transplantation has been accompanied
by social transformation as the new twentieth century Jew emerges on

his native soil.

In this metamorphosis, Gordon played a leading role through the
inspired meditation of his heart, the effective articulation of his mind,
and the dedicated work of his hands.

Born in Poland in 1857, Gordon led an uneventful life in compara-
tive economic and intellectual ease, without the stresses and strains,
material and spiritual, characteristic in the rise of other luminaries
on the Jewish horizon of his day. He was employed as a land clerk and
devoted his spare time to study and the furtherance of the Zionist ideal

in his own community. Then, at the age of forty-eight Gordon experienced

 

 

143

a.deep intellectual crisis, effectuating a turning point in his life.
In.spite of age, fmnily, and position, he was moved by the power of

his convictions to depart for Palestine. The remaining eighteen years
were spent as a farm laborer in various settlenents in the Holy Land,
passing on in 1922 at the age of sixty-five. It was during this period
that Gordon became the mentor and symbol of the generation that brought
about the great Zionist revolution redirecting the course of Jewish
history.

Herzl diagnosed the Jewish problem in political terms of national
statelessness; Achad.Ha'am feared assimilation in the abandonment of a
historical culture; Gordon saw it in the economic rcotlessness of the
individual and his complete urbanization. Upon arriving in Palestine
he rejected offers to teach, detennined to be a night guard and farm
laborer. ‘Without necessary training and conditioning, he made the dif-
ficult transition.from the desk to the plough as he set out to live by
his own faith.

What he saw, disturbed him: Arab labor tilling Jewish farmland,
Arab guards protecting Jewish property. To Gordon, removal from direct
contact with the soil through its cultivation, disqualified the legal
proprietors from becoming;the real owners. Certainly on the national
scale, the land belongs to those who till and guard it by themselves.
This applies to industry'as well. The country is theirs who build it
by the sweat of their brow.

If we do not till the soil with our own hands, the soil

will not be ours-Snot only not ours in a Social, or in a
national, but not even in a political sense. The land will

144

not be ours and we shall not be the people of the land. Here,
then, we shall also be aliens just as in the lands of the dia-
spora where, too, there are Jews who rent land, who buy fields,
gardens, orchards, and traffic in the fruit of the labor of 7
others. It is only to the degree that we here possess settle-
ments and farms in which the work is done wholly by us that we
shall become citizens and natives of the land.
The reasoning is in line with the Marxist concept of ownership. Yet
it is nonetheless valid in the reclaiming of a lost homeland. The
very absence of Jews from heavy industry and agriculture, historical
factors notwithstanding, had made the Jew in Europe vulnerable to the
cry of "foreigner.” Residence in Palestine without changed conditions
will not remove the stigma. In order to possess the land there must be
a "conquest of labor." This calls for willing employers and available
employees--not too common phenomena in the early years of the twentieth
century. The arrival of hundreds of young idealists, mostly intellectuals,
tipped the scales in favor of Jewish labor. The actual rise of an agri-
cultural labor class was a long drawn-out battle against competitive
cheap Arab labor, enployers' distrust, and.their own physical and voca-
tional unfitness. Among its participants are men who lead the state of
Israel today, including Premier Ben Gurion and President Ben Zvi.
Gordon was not necessarily the only spokesman for this movement.
What distinguished him from the others was his seniority in years and
tfis commitment to this strenuous life in spite of limitations of a frail
and aging body. Reminiscences of a leading contemporary stress his de-

dication to physical work.

When his efforts to work at digging ditches in a grove
proved beyond his strength--he managed to dig three a day,

2A. D. Gordon, Selected Essays, trans. Frances Burnce (New York:

League for Labor Palestine, I938}, p. 60.

 

145

while some of the cfiners did fifty-~the young fanners of
the colony offered him the position as assistant to the
colony clerk, but he refused.3

The challenge of the moment can evoke great sacrifice for a
worthy end. To sustain the sacrificial effort over a lifetime, the
means in thenselves must become worthwhile. Responding to the call
for work over a limited period of time is not unusual when.youth is
faced with the challenge of an attractive cause. Patriotic senti-
ments are aroused for any momentary heroic set even to the extent of
jeopardy to life. But dedicating one's entire future to seemingly un-
profitable and tedious toil, involves more than courageous behavior in
the face of danger. Physical work itself has to assume a new meaning,
Incoming spiritually rewarding and continuously replenishing.'

It seems clear that a half-hearted urge to work just be-

cause there is nothing to lose, to work merely for the pur-
pose of carrying on a national existence without the powerful
inner conviction of the importance of this life is so unstable,
so narrow an aim as to be ineffective in transforming a youth
that would like to be healthy but finds it very difficult to
acquire health. we must, in spite of ourselves, seek another
road.

This other road.was illuminated with a glowing light on a new route

from the prosaic routine of work to a cosmic "religion of labor."

A. D. Gordon laid the philosophic foundation for the

change in the Jewish estimate of the worth of labor. . . .
For Gordon. . .labor is not a curse upon one cast out from
the paradise of idleness, an inescapable evil of civiliza-

tion, but rather an ideal, a blessing upon him who has found
favor in the eyes of the Lord.

aMoshe Smilansky, "Aaron David Gordon," Sound the Great Trumpet,
ed.Nh Z. Frank (New York: Whittier Books, 19557, p. 81.

 

1!
A. D. Gordon, Selected Essayg, 223 cit., pp. 71, 72.

5
Shalom Spiegel, Hebrew Reborn (New York: Macmillan Co., 1930),
pp. 410. 110

 

 

146

There are two standard views of physical work: Gordon introduced
a.third. In a normal situation, work is accepted as matter-of—fact--a
necessary component of economic reality. In the Jewish group-~the trans-
ient state of its existence compelling it to rely on portable and flex-
ible means of livelihood--even skilled labor was regarded as a liability
detracting from the dignity of the individual. Gordon evolved a thesis
of the spiritual powers of man. To work is to worship, as suggested by
the Hebrew term diared by both functions. Labor is endowed with an in-
herent nobility elevating man beyond the animal. Its productive and
creative processes strike a responsive chord in his soul. Released is
a wealth of thought and feeling reinforcing, ennobling and gratifying.

You will derive pleasure from every task that you under-

take, frcm every deed that you do--a pleasure like that

which you derive in eating and drinking.

You will then know and consider in your heart that there
is in work such a spiritual wealth of which you can see the
bearest fringe; e e e

The Jewish people stands in need of this wealth. Its impoverish-
ment in exile lies in this very realm of endeavor. Return to Palestine
is of little consequence unless it involves abandoning the conditions of
the previous environment and creating a new situation in which life can
to completely different.

When you will utterly abandon the life that was created

by others, given it up as completely as you have given up

their land, you will come to create here a new life, a life

of your own, then the glowing ember will again be rekindledg. . .7

6A. D. Gordon, Selected Essays, 22: cit., pp. 250, 251.

 

71bide , p. 20

 

 

2“

 

 

 

 

 

147

Productive labor is the new requirement. The regenerative force of

work will revive the nation and restore the individual to his full

human stature. The psychological gratification derived, stems not only
from the indispensable use of constructive labor in the rebuilding of
the homeland, but in its self-contained healing potency. "The reward

of labor is inherent in the work} otherwise it falls short of its inmate
nobility."8 It is therefore incumbent upon the individual to change

his "mode of life . . . to make it conform to the ideals of labor."

And Gordon did.it, setting the example for others.

On the surface a similarity with the Harxist dialectic of labor
may be detected. The difference however is impressive. To Marx, economic
value is created by labor and no other value exists. Gordon
was concerned with its spiritual force. He ascribed to it a mystic
power bringing man closer to the cosmic, attuning him to the divine,
spelling out a life in another dimension. The Jewish people needs it

not only as a force tying man to the earth and acquiring the
earth, but also as an essential force in the creation of a
national culture. 0

Not an academic culture do we come to create today. . .but
the culture of life. . .the beliefs and opinions of life,
the art in life, poetry in life, ethics in life, religion
in life, . . .the living link between the present and the

past. . . . Our goal is to make with our own hands those
things that make life.11

8
Ibid., p. 111.
91bid., p. 109.

10A. D. Gordon, The writings of 5, 2, Gordon (Tel Aviv: Hapoel
Hatzair, 1928), vol. I, in Hebrew,*p.—§B.

11
Ibid., P0 970

 

 

 

 

 

148

Thus shall Israel prove different from the dispersion, unique, authentic,

and valid.

we strive to create in the land of Israel a new Jewish
nation, not a colony of the nation in the difspora, not a
continuation of the diaspora in a new guise. 2

The individual will find salvation, and the people redemption in a

mutually beneficial engagement where the one is not offered on the

altar of the many.

Labor is one side of the coin in Gordon's ideological currency.
Nature is the other. Return to Israel is to be a return to Nature.
And when, 0 Man, you will return to Nature, you will
open your eyes on that day and you will gaze straight into
the eyes of Nature, you will see therein your own image,

and you will know that you have returned to yourself, that

when you have hidden from nature, you have hidden from
yourself.13

Then the Jew will again he himself, for rusticating is not escaping; it

is coming'home again.

Contact with nature uplifts the spirit and enriches experience.
Man is more human when he senses the beauty of nature in all its majesty,
unhampered by the restrictions of city civilization. Deriving a liveli-
hood in the cultivation of the bounties of nature is salutary to the
spirit, purifying to the emotion, releasing to the mind, and ennobling
to the person. The broadened vision, the refined and overflowing feeling,
the stimulated thought, add to the capacity for getting the most out of

life. 'Without it we only survive; with it we are continuously revived.

12 .
A.-D.,Gordcn, Selected Essays, op. cit., p. 41.

131b1d., p. 247.

 

 

 

149

'Tbr‘we of today are far, and.sre continually moving farther away from

the source of life, from nature."14 To reverse the process, enables

us to lead the good life. Then do we transcend ourselves and attain the
harmony and unity of a higher way of existence. "Pure, natural life, . . .
amid nature and with nature . . . expressing the sense of higher unity

and higher responsibility~-this is true religion."15 The landscape of
Israel with its historical associations and illusions is all the more

charged with the appeal for human responsiveness.

It seems as though here the fullness of divine abundance
emanating from all the cosmos into the soul of man, and
especially into the soul of the Jew, . . .is altogether dif-
ferent than in the lands of the diaspora. In the language
of the soul, . . .I would say that the essence of the infinite,
the essence of truth, holiness, beauty, courage, the essence
of all divine emanation is conceived by the soul in a different
manner. . . . Here each one of the multitude of feelings, in-
clinations, desires, and powers of the soullgeceives a dif-
ferent illumination. . .than in other lands.

Thus nature beckons to us to approach it, unveiling itself for those who
choose to embrace it.

How is the gap between the Jew and nature to be bridged? Not
intellectual comprehension of the phenomena cf nature, nor the aesthetic
perception of its grandeur, but man's establishment of his domicile in
it, was Gordon's intention.

The categoric imperative of the spirit of man, therefore,

does not lie in the glib phrase of the culture of today:
"Know nature and love itt" Rather is it to be found in the
wordless notes, inaudible in our culture, of the voice that

coos like a dove in the searching soul, that beats like the
wings of a bird in its narrow cage: "Live Nature!"17

 

14Ibid., p. 179.

lslbide' P0 2160

. 16A.‘D. Gordon, Nation and Labor (Jerusalem: Histadrut
Talcnit, 1952), in Hebrew, p. 497.

1

 

7A. D. Gordon, Selected Essays, pp, cit., p. 181.

 

 

150

Gordon believed that cities retard human progress. The ills
cfi’mankind, the social conflicts and the moral deterioration are caused
by concealing the munificent blessings of nature and labor. To embark
upon a life of labor in close contact with nature is a way to combat
the ”conventional lies of civilization"18 and ameliorate the complexes
and.complexities of modern times. Man's quest for freedom, his desire
for untrammelled and creative expression, his search for wholesomeness
and harmony, are found at the threshold of nature. At this juncture
are his potentialities realized and consciousness refined. He acquires
a sense of belonging by becoming a citizen of the universe in addition
to being a member of humanity and.a son of his people. "The sum.of
all this lies here; to educate, to regenerate the Jew one must begin
at the beginning-with man."19

Gordon was undoubtedly influenced by Rousseau and.Tolstoy,
being a great admirer of the latter. Yet what he adopted, he adapted
with the stamp of his originality. To Rousseau return to nature meant
decontrol, loosening the bonds of behavior. To Gordon it was a higher
discipline spelling out greater and not lesser spirituality} Tolstoy's
anti-technological "return to the primitive"20 was a far cry from Gordon's
attempt to formulate a "religion of labor drawing from primary religious
sources, from.the source of a natural religious perspective, cosmic and
ethical."21 much closer is the transcendentalism of Thoreau, but Gordon

18The title of one of Max Nordau's books.

19A. D. Gordon, Selected Essays, 32, cit., p. 78.
Lewis Mumford's characterization in The Condition afghan.

21 x
F. Lachover, Poetry and Thought (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1953), in
Hebrew, p. 151.

 

 

 

 

151

was not acquainted with his writings.

How is the new society, as Gordon envisaged it, to be achieved?
Net in the conventional manner: "Our national regeneration is not re-
stricted to the establishment of a new social order or even to a renewed

"22 The individual begins with himself. He is to change

social spirit.
his mode of life to conform with these ideas. Living in Israel, and
speaking Hebrew is one form of Zionism inadequate though accepted in

official quarters. To mold one's life in consonance with the ideals

of labor is the sine qua non for immediate fulfillment. There are no

 

half‘measures. "For such an achievement in general, and for our nation
in particular, one rule must govern: either there is a complete achieve-

men or none at all.”23

Obviously the college student turned farm-hand
can hardly experience the joys of creative labor if he remains a wage
earner in the employment of 01116 rs. "Such an attitude cannot be ex-
pected from the so-called proletarian who is deprived of the right to
enjoy the actual fruit of his toil and to stand in direct personal re-
lationship to what he creates."24 Independent fanninggmakes this pos-
sible. In Israel it took another course of great promise. Economic
necessity, topographic and climatic inhospitality, security considera-
tions and commen.ideology, all brought into being the agricultural
collective. Though not directly its: prime mover, Gordon influenced

the Israel Kibbutz (collective) as it blossomed forth in the post war

 

22A. D. Gordon, Selected Essays, pp, cit., p. 4.

23
Ibid., P0 140

24
Shalom Wurm, The Kvutza (New York: Habonim, 1942), p. 23.

 

 

 

152

decade. It proved to be a chief factor in the upbuilding of Palestine
and.a successful social experiment, concretizing Gordon's ideas on man,
nature, and labor. "Thus the ideas of labor and the collective became

5
inseparably fused.“2 Gordon joined the first collective when it was
fanned in 1909. A world-wide youth movement educating toward collective
life in Israel bore his name.

The religion of labor with its metaphysical overtones is joined
to a socio-cultural perspective directed at a nation in the making. The
individual's search for an expressive and bountiful self in communion
with nature while engaged in labor, is bound up with the emerging
character of the Jewish people. Rejecting assimilation, Gordon objects
to Berdichewsky's imitation or even Achad Ha'am's emulation. Genuine
self-dictated expression is his goal.

'We are looking for ourselves and our own way of life.

Not a sponge drawing in everything with nothing of its own

except its sponginess, and not life translated from others

or patterned after the cliches or the spirit of others, but

independent personality--national for the group and individual

for the person--li§%ng in its own spirit and creating a life

or its own. 0 e e"
Socialism too he cpposes, especially in its class struggle format, con-
sidering it a foreign growth but affirming simultaneously "labor, national
ownership of the soil, and the means of production."27

His opposition to Marxism stems from his concern for the in-

dividual. Dielectics of history are unpallatable to one who places

251bid., p. 24.

26A. D. Gordon, the Writings 2315. _D. Gordon, pp. cit., p. 255.

 

27
A. D. Gordon, Selected Essaya, 223 cit., p. 48.

 

 

153

the unfettered human spirit above dogna. "Man is not sacrificed, even

'28 The individual is not a spoke in the

on the altar of the nation.‘
wheel of historical necessity. His fulfillment, physical, social, in-
tellectual, artistic, and religious is primary. Man is an end in
himself. In this Gordon leans on Jewish tradition.

We are the goal per se. . .the goal or chain of goals

begin with us and in our own lives from the day that wgg
come to the land of Israel and commence to work. . . .

A land-labor framework is the ideal setting for the blossoming
forth of man's potentialities. The stereotype peasant, with his pro-
vincial outlook and limited horizon, was as remote from Gordon's goal
as the urban merchant.

In exile, our life is not real living. . .since there

is no. room for achieving the goals essential to us in
themselves. 4. -.a life which is spiritual and material,
national, universal, and individual simultaneouslyfi’O

We have been describing, without identifying, the third pillar
of Gordon's philosophical structure--personal fulfillment exhibited
magnificently by his own person. This became the rallying slogan of
a pioneer movement whose members converged on the homeland from all
continents, America included.

The dream of restoration was born when the state was crushed

in 70 A.D. The Zionist moven ent in the nineteenth century is the politi-

cal formulation of a religious aspiration. It fired the imagination

 

28A. D. Gordon, Nation and Labor, _op. cit., p. 366.

29A. D. Gordon, the Writings 335. E. Gordon, op. cit., p. 250.

 

 

50 .
Ibid., p. 249, 250.

 

 

 

 

 

154

of a people unwilling or unable to bear further the blows of prejudice
or the demands of emancipation. A generation liberated from the intel-
lectual shackles of the ghetto sought in the emerging Jewish nationalism
a substitute for the religion of their fathers. That meant hope for
personal salvation. Gordon reinterpreted Zionism in personal tenns in
answer to this need, transferring a platform into a faith and a goal
into a promise. Zionist action was no longer altruistic self-negation
in the service of a noble and distant aim. Zionism was rewarding self-
fulfillment, a realization of the spiritual powers of the individual in
a new life, heroic but satisfying, difficult but romantic. A challenge
had become an opportunity. The Jew was to be saved as the man in him
drew from his untapped strength, regaining his lost stature. A nation's
destiny became an individual's career. The lines of demarcation between
nationalism, humanity, and individuality were blurred, and the three
separate entities merged into one force. The national mission, the
social gospel, and the personal interests, are parallel lines running
in the same direction,1neeting on the horizon. This was Gordon's achieve~
ment, and youth throughout the Jewish world followed his lead. Many could
truly repeat after him: "The Land of Israel has given me much life, as much as
I can hold, to the fullest capacity of my enjoyment of that life."31

To see the light entails being aware of the darkness. There
can be no acceptance of a new faith without rejection of a previous

0116 o

The simple truth is forgotten or dimmed, that the basis
of creation is the revolt of man against existing conditions,

31
A. D. Gordon, Selected_Essays,.gp. cit., p. 129.

 

 

 

155

the aspiration of man to create life in his own hnage and
to undergo a process of regeneration that does not stop
for a single moment.

A recognition of the unnatural and unwholesome state of exis-
tence in the diaspora precedes the embarking upon a new life in Israel.
The ills and evils of existing society are to be diagnosed before the
prescription for another is drawn up. 'We witness "how poor, limited,
and narrow are human relations in society, how little room there is
for life of universal breadth and depth."33 The inferior lot of the
Jew, caused not necessarily by the accident of faith as by the choice
of'environment and pursuit of livelihood, will be eliminated automati-
cally in the rehabilitation of the individual leading to the remaking
of society. Proletarianization and ruralization are conducive to
lessening of inter-human strife and eventually, national hostilities.

Reality can approxhnate the cherished ideals of humanity.

we must create a new nation, a human nation that has a
.brctherly human relationship toward other nations. . . .

'We must direct it toward the development of the human
spirit, toward the search for truth and righteousness in
its relation with other peoples and with all mankind.35
Individual fulfillment in these terms brings inner peace and

dynamic reorganization of the forces of personality. Man finds a new

self as he escapes from his former self.

 

szlbide, p. 870
33 , . .

A. D. Gordon, latlon and Labor, 2p. cit., p. 367.
34

A. D. Gordon, Selected Essays, pp. cit., p. 39.

 

35
Ibid., p. 130

A
I
1
I
o
.
U
' ) ‘ i
a
o
o
.
' I I
\ 3 , , I .
7 A I A n
. ' .

 

 

 

 

156

Here in infinite expanse everyone will find himself a
wide course, as wide as the course of the sun and the
stars. Here will the son of man be bound to his brother
with celestial bonds.

The primary reform that the life of labor in the midst
of nature institutes within man, is perfection. The perfect
unity, the complete participation and unification of all the
spiritual forces within him, in every aspect of life. Per-
ception, enotion, instinct, physiological powers and physical

powers of the body--a11 partake simultaneouslg and harmon-
iously. . .in the combined vastness of life.5

Gordon's influence on the intellectual climate of Israel and
the philosophy and curriculum of its educational system is profound.
The Land-Labor ideal retains its pioneer attraction and pervades the
public school, both secular and religious. The goal of self—fulfill-
ment is operative in the lives of large segments of youth as they make
their homes in desert settlements and frontier outposts. Premier Ben
Gurion personally dramatized this movement when he withdrew from govern-
ment office a few years ago to live as a shepherd in a southern desert
colony.

In this universe of discourse, the good teacher is only the
one who gives the lie to the old adage "they who can, do; they who
cannot, teach." He teaches by example, thereby communicating effectively

to his students.

The teacher as educator-if he really is prepared for
his profession-emust first of all be a philosopher with a
full, individual woridroutlook; that is, before he can
educate man, he must know man: he cannot know man except
through his own inner world. He must, too, be a son of
_nature, for his task is not alone to train man as a social
and a national product, but, primarily, as a cosmic pheno-
menon, for as far as the pupil is concerned, his world is

36
Ibid., p. 373, 374.

157

within himself, Education is not attained through books or
through oral instruction. The educator must be the book or
the living image, so that the student without any instruction
from the educator must see and realize what the educator has
created and creates of himself and of his talents.‘37

To Gordon self-education is a key to human progress. The panaceas of
isms, the promises of ideologies, social reforms, and political programs
are secondary to man's re-education of himself. Redemption begins from

within. .

Let the wise and practical men say what they will.
Let politicians, let socialists bring redemption to the
world through the class struggle, class education. . . .
Redemption will come to the world, rejuviination to life,
and salvation to man only through self-education as man
is renewed through labor, renewing life and creating the 38
spiritual bonds between men, with life and with reality. . . .

It was Gordon's privilege to lay the foundation for a model
aspiring society by remodelling himself and others in his orbit. His
was an attempt to get the most out of life while giving the most to
humanity through his own people.

A popular song of Israel, accompanied by a folk dance, runs:
"We come to the land to build and to be rebuilt." 0n the centenary

of Gordon's birth, the melochf is still a "hit" in the parade of a

nation on the march to a brighter future.

 

7
3 Ibid., p. 95.

38
A. D. Gordon, Nation and Labor, _o_p. cit., p. 584.

 

 

158

CHAPTER XIV

NACHMAN SYRKIN AND BER BOROCHOV

Two ideals fired the imagination of Jewish youth at the turn of
the century, illuminating the path of Jewry for over fifty years. Zion-
ism and Socialism, commanding the loyalties of large segments of a rising
intelligentsia and aroused masses, began at loggerheads with each other
as the First'World Zionist Congress in Basle and the Jewish Socialist
Bund in warsaw'were both convened in 1897. The interaction and integra-
tion of divergent ideas along with the combination of forces of opposing
camps, supplied the main.pcwer for the forging of the new state of Israel.
National revival and social revolution have been the two banners under
which have rallied the rebellious forces of a persecuted people, the
marching columns meeting on the horizon of a new dawn in the ancient
homeland. The blending of the two ingredients, nation and class, econo-
mic and ethnic, materialistic and spiritual, was accomplished by Nachman
Syrkin and Ber Borochcv. Their creative polemic writings and organiza-
tional leadership gave impetus to a movement which played a dominant
role in the prenascent stage of Israel's destiny. Syrkin was a man of
prophetic zeal and inspired vision While Borochcv was an original thinker
endowed with a scientific analytic mind. The result was the synthesis
of Socialist Zionism, an ideology still adhered to by the controlling

powers in the government of Israel and exerting a lasting influence on

 

159

its educational philosophy.

Socialism and Zionism sougmt an answer to the Jewish problem,
each in its own way; Marxism with its dialectical materialistic inter-
pretation of history,ascribed the plight of Jews solely to the economic
factor in a capitalistic system. A proletarian society, having eliminated
the bourgeois classes, will remove the cause for national antagonisms and
thus wipe out the persecution of minorities. The Jewish Socialists of the
Bund, distinguishable from their assimilationist companions, were begin-
ning to advocate separate but equal status for the Jewish proletariat,
joining forces with others in bringing about the world revolution. They
were opposed to emigration, confident that the approaching era will bring
relief to the Jewish-people in Eastern Europe without necessarily compelling
it to shed its ethnic plummage. Though deprecating nationalism as a re-
gressive force, the Bund utilized Yiddish as an internal vehicle of ex-
pression to expedite the class struggle, and soon began to affirm the
innate value of Jewish group survival. Territorialism1 generally, and
return to Palestine particularly, were regarded not only as unworthy
sentimentalism, but a desertion of the class struggle and an impediment
to the wheels of revolution. In'turn, Zionism deplored the hold of
Marxist dogma over increasing numbers and the diversion of corporate
energy from the promising front of national redemption to the arid field
of social conflict. Universalistic socialism, even more than Marxism,
along with assimilationism, loomed forth as the arch enemies of the Zionist

movement.

 

1The idea of settling Jews in an undeveloped territory, other
than Palestine, with the ultimate purpose of establishing a Jewish
autonomous society.

 

 

16)

lschman Syrkin (Russia 1867--New York 1924) was the trail-
blsser in undertaking a synthesis between Socialism and Zionism. Nearly
contemporaneous with the organi zation of the world Zionist movement,
Syrkin, younger ludor of Hussianewish emigroes in Berlin, issued a
treatise entitled Li: M Problem and the Jewish Socialist m.
In contrast to oiher Jewish Socialists, he opposed assimilation: as
a good Zionist he advocated a socialist state in Palestine as the only
answer to the Jewish problem. His numerous publicistic efforts in
Yiddish, German and Hebrew established him as the spokesman for the
M £92 partyuSocialist Labor Zionists-dwhich soon came into
being. Thereafter his intellectual influence and force of personality
were deeply felt in Labor Zionist circles in Europe, Israel and hmcrica,
the latter becoming his home for the last decade and a half of his life.

Syrkin approaches nationalism and Socialism from ethical
premises. The same moral oonsi dersticns of equality and freedom under-
lying Socialisn apply to nationalism. Any attempt to foster universal-
isn at the expense of the interests of any ethnic group is a violation
of Socialist principles and inimical to true internationalism.

The Socialist movement staunchly supports all sttmpts of

suppressed peoples to free themselves. . .sincg emancipation
is an organic part of the ethics of Socialism.

zDr. lschmsn Syrkin, Essa 35 Socialist Zionism (New York:
Young Poslei Zion Alliance of e ca, 1935,, p. .

161

The Socialist reconstruction of society has become necessary
owing to the default of Liberalism. The latter, originally dedicated
to the fostering of freedom in its individual as well as its national
ramifications, soon discarded its ideals in the struggle for economic
power. Freedom of coupctition inevitably led to conflict and wars
including persecution of the J as. Socialism, however, with its pro-
jected economic reshuffle, will renove the cause for friction and op-
pression from civilised peeples and increase the opportunities of cul-
tural intercourse, paving ”the way for intermtionalisn." A true undcr- -
standing of Socialism, therefore, affirms the right and duty of the Jew
to self-detenination.

. The social revolution and elimination of class conflict will
destroy the basis for anti-Jewish bias, nourished as it has been by the
ills of capitalist society. Self-interest therefore dictates to the
Jew to join the ranks of the conscious proletariat aiming at a new
social order. '

Until now the Jew was the torchbcarer of liberalism, but since

the bourgeoisie which was responsible for Jewish mancipaticn
in the old society, has betrayeg its principles, the Jew must be-
case the vanguard of Socialism.
Socialist and Jewish national goals merge on the Jewish scene and join
forces in the international class struggle.

Such rapprcachment betwun Jewish nationalism and Socialism
was a novel and moot point at the turn of the century. Zionists re-
garded Socialists with smpicion. Jewish Socialists were rabid op-

ponents of the new movement. The assimilat ionist tendencies of the

3
Ibid., p. 16.

162

upper class fringe of Jewish society wa'e shared by the Socialist
intelligentsia parading under the banner of universalism. Syrkin's
effort at a synthesis was an attempt to achieve within the Jewish
cup what had already been developed among many European national
minorities. Following contemporary examples, Syrkin called upon the
Socialists to become the standard bearers of the Zionist movenent.
He believed that inevitably
Jewish Socialism will sooner or later remove all assimilatory
tendencies from its ranks. . . . As a protest movancnt against
Jewish suffering, Socialism may become the common possession of
all Jews, because Jewish sufferings affect the Jewish prole-
tariwt as well as the intelligentzia, the Jewish middle class
as well as the upper bourgeoisie.
He the envisages a Socialism wabraced by non-proletarians as well,
‘ since it is designed to eradicate religious and racial persecution by
removing the economic ills.
lhat was this Socialism advocated by Syrkin in its operational
context of Jewish national revival? He was not a Marxist. Admitting
that ”class struggle is the main driving force of history," he yet in-
sisted that "it is not properly conceived to solve all our social problems.
Creative activities are realized not through the class struggle,but in
spite of it."5 He affimed spiritual values in his quest for economic
reorganisation of society, recognising the historical aspirations of
the Jewish people.

is to Socialisn's answer to the Jewish problm, he distin-

‘Ibide. psi 20 e

61bid., p. 27.

163

guishcs between long-range and immediate solutions. Unquestionably,
the ultimate establishment of the new order will end discrimination,
but that is to be achieved in the remote future. The middle class
position of the Jews and the absence of a large proletariat, places
the Jewish group among the least to benefit from a Socialist upheaval.
The cconaaically unstable middle class merchants and professionals, the
mall tradesmen, peddlers, and independent artisans of the lower class,
by. little to gain in the immediate aftermath of a social revolution.
Consequently, waigration is the only solution. Palestine, as the his-
torical homeland, is the logical haven. There, a new economic structure
based onsound rational and productive foundations, will avoid the evils
of capitalist society. The new Jewish State "must adopt as its ideal
Justice, righteousness, social planning and social solidarity. . . .
Eheg7 the hope for a Hessiah will be converted into political fact."6
Syrkin's conception of a Jewish state contain the elements of
prophetic bhessianism inspired by the Bible, combined with modern poli-
tical and eccncuic theory. It was unaffected by Marxian diclcctical
materialism and the all-pervading revolutionary class struggle. It
blended readily with romantic nationalism, marshalling the allegiance
of idealistic youth inspired by Jewish historical experience and pro-
voked by existing grin realities in Europe. He lashed out against the
prevailing Socialist distortion of Jewish interests, and pleaded for

considerations of huaan dignity eliciting self-respect as a foundation

 

61b1de. p. 28.

164

for identification with Jewish national interests.
The assimilated Jewish Socialist, and on account of him, the

non-Jewish Socialist as well, regard the Jewish people as a

means, a commodity of no value per se, except insofar as it

serves the interests of others. . . . hez7 have not the courage

to declare that since anti-Sanitiem is jurious to the Jew, they

are obligated to casbat it as Jews .7
A change of attitude to their own people will be reflected in their
behavior toward the diallenges of the menu-Jewish environnent as well,
particularly anti-Suitism. The result will be added stature in coping
with the environsnt. Thou shall they fulfill ”the dictate of our life,
and the dictate of our honor, human and national."8

This fusion of international Socialism and Jewish nationalis-

was a great pioneer venture, coming as it did in the early femative
years of the Zionist moment. In the immigrant student circles of
Berlin, young Syrkin's dynwnic personality and fervent espousal of
these ideas, exerted a decisive influence. The endless discussions
on the nature of the Jewish group and the solution of the Jewish prob-
lwa, were veered toward a positive Jewish consciousness by the pathos
and brilliance of Syrkin's elucidation. His brochure developing this
thesis, _r_1_1_._ £21.91. Problem 531333 L113 Socialist m appeared in
1898 only two years after Theodore Hersl's epoch-making little volume,
LEMEEEEP and one year after the first Zionist Congress was
convened, launching a world Zionist moment. In the following decade,

the semingly novel ideas took root and blossomed forth into the

 

_‘

7 .
laclnan Syrkin Writin vol. I in Hebrew (Bin Baroda
Bakibbuts Baneuohad,nd.s, p. 235., '

8Il'aid.

165

ideological fonulat‘icn of an organised party. These were further

crystallised in a restatement attempted by Syrkin some twenty years

later in a booklet published in 1917 untitled National Independence
9

_anl International Unity.

The author surveys the history of nationalism in its dichotomous
role as a regenerative and abortive force. Nationalism has frequently
contributed toward oppression, aiding the more powerful to despoil the
weaker nation and impress its culture upon the subdued. Among the
mighty, nationalism is transformed into a reactionary power source in
defense of the status quo and obstructive to progressive change. The
conquered, however, draw from national in: liberating and dynamic stuina,
reinforcing ‘huan values and universal aspirations. Suppressed peoples
express in their nationalism tie quest for political freedom, group soli-
darity, cultural developsent, equity and equality in the femily of nations.

lationalism has a dual meaning and diametrically opposite

tendencies. . . . To ‘lhe ruling elments. . .suppression and
negation of foreign nations, inflation of their on value,
stagnation and petrificaticn of national culture, and sancti-
fication of traditions. . . . The nationalism of oppressed
elements is a recognition of the principle of equality . . .
Eeein in it. own nation not mly an {3" in 11:..1: but also
an ins rusent for the good of humanity.

Needless to add that Socialism must choose the latter brand and that

this becomes the Jewish type.

 

9The analysis of Syrkin's contributions are presented in a
chronological order departing from procedure in previous chapters.
A systematic discussion of Syrkin's thought without regard to stages
of develoment, fails to take into account the impact of early theo-
ries in a particular historical setting...8yrkin's theories of 1898
' may lack the depth and canprehensivenss of his mature thinking of
1917, but make up in their originality and epoch-making forces they
set into motion.

10
Nachman Syrkin, Essay! 2 Socialist Zionian, pp. cit., p. 3?.

166

National entities have characters of their own. The national
forms-n-through the culture-«xpress the social and spiritual life,
refined and molded in the accmulat ed experience of ages. Each nation
has a IMission" dictated by the historical sequence of events. ”History
has found its bignest expression in the abundance of nations, and cele-
brates its triumph in the varieties and colors of the national cultures ." 11
The highest types of national mitten. contain universal elanents incor-
porated in the heritage of the human race. ”National ism and international-
in, people and humanity, individualism and universalism, are in the final
analysis, complementary terms."12

This has been the achievenent of Judaism as well as of the
Greek and Ram worlds. The Jews have not lost their authentic and
distinct attributes when they were deprived of sovereignty and territory.
The desire for national redemption, though sometimes dormant, was never
dead throughout the dispersion. The rise of Zioniws, fanning the flue
of national reduption, is a valid testimony to the vitality still driv-
ing the Jewish people to heroic efforts at reconversion to a normal
national existence. As such, they cannot be ignored by international
Socialism which, by the end of the world war "fully recognised the his-
torical truth that each nation had a right and a duty to detemine its own
path in history.“8 As Socialists abandon their naive idea of consopc-
litsn and unifcma huuity, they are bound to accept the Jewish group
as well. i

“Ibid., p. 41.

”112.9.-

13
Ibid., p. 53.

167

national self-detennination for the Jewish people entails the
rigxt of unhampercd cultural life and social organisation. For a pal—
listive, this is desirable. As a penancnt cure, the measure of national
self-determination granted to others—-territorial independence-«dc the
only prescription.

There are two roads in the historical solution of the Jewish
probld. First, the awakening of revolutionary political instincts
of the Jewish masses, with the Jewish social duocratic movement
and the proletariat in the center, and the remaining masses in the
periphery. Scomdly, the redirection of a chaotic migration of
the eternally wandering Jew toward a territory, for the purpose of
forming a Jewish State on Socialist foundations. This territory
is ancient Israel. 4

Syrkin had great faith in the ability of the Jewish proletariat
to achieve these goals. He was convinced of the spiritual force revealed
in Jewish history to be recharged in the fulfillment of a greater destiny.
A free country for the Jewish nation is not a contradiction,
but the fulfillment of Jewish Socialism. It is also the logical
conclusion of Zionism that the independent Jewish haneland is to
be built on higher social foundations. . . . Whoever believes
in the powers of the Jewish proletariat, cannot day the power
of the Jewish nation; and whoever hopes for the revival of the
Jewish peoplis cmnot conceive it without the leadership of the
proletariat.
Syrkin’s theories predicted the facts of history. , Jewish labor
preceded Jewish capital in the reclmation of the land and developsent
of industry in Palestine. The unparalelled determining role of organised
labor in Israel's economy today, and its unchallenged leadership in
govern-gt and society, is the actual realisation of Syrkin’s vision a

half century ago. That he was not alone in creative inspiration, has

 

1
4ll. Syrkin, Selected Writing, in Yiddish (New York: Peale
Zion, 1925), p. 3?. ""'""""‘

15
IMdeg p. 271 e

 

168

16

been sufficiently denoustrated in this paper. Moses Hess preceded

him in the blending of Socialist and Zionist ideology, and Syrkin
readily ahitted to this in his writings. That others are responsible
for the actual unfolding of national and social reconstruction, is

17 practical social idealism had a

again unquestionable. Gordon's
greater impact on the course of events. But the theoretical formula-
tions in the synthesis of non-Marxian Socialism with nationalism
generally and Zionism in particular, was Syrkin's leading contribution.
It is interesting to note that subsequently Otto Bauer and other authori-
tative central European ideological architects, in bridging the gap be-
tween Sooidlism and nationalism, gave belated recognition to the Jewish

complement.
II

A thorougi analytical reconciliation of Marxist Socialism and
Zionism was achieved by Ber Borochcv (Russia, 1881-1917). Within a
relatively short creative life, he built an ideological structure of
sufficient magiitudc to reach beyond the Jewish intellectual horison.
Borochovism became a platform of an organised Jewish political party,
as well as an official designation of a program adopted by moms-Jewish
Socialists in the Ukraine. Like Syrkin, his field of operation encom-
passed Eastern and Central Europe and a few years of activity in the
United States. On revisiting Russia after the revolution, in the

capacity of the spokesman of Socialist Zionism, sudden illness brought

168cc Chapter VI.

17
See Chapter XIII.

169

him untimely death. Unlike other founding fathers of Zionism, he
never set foot in Palestine.

Borochov's (bctrine was the first successful marriage of
natio'nali- and dialectical materialism. He coined new terms to ac-
cmplish this task, such as "conditions of production" and ”styohic
process ," to interpret historical and sociological phenomena. The
result was a system of thought embracing nationalism generally and
Zionism, in an analytically fim hold of Marxian dialectic. An im-
portant, though decreasing segnent of Israel's labor movement still
adheres to the initial Bore ohov doctrine.

Borodlev applies Marx‘s explanation for the class struggle
to the problm of nati cmal conflict. Since Marx lmd pointed to the
clash between thc‘forces of production and existing relations of pro-
duetion, Boroclnv suggested that the forces of production of a nation
come into conflict wifil its conditions of production, the latter in-
_cluding geographical and historical factors related to other groups
as well.

i The conditions of production. . .are geographic, anthro-
pological and historic. The historic conditions include both
those generated within a given social entity and those imposed
by the neighboring social groups.”

As society develops, the social and historical conditions of produc-
tion seems a greater importance than the natural conditions. “This
feeling of kinship, created as a result of the visioned common historic

18Ber Borochcv, Nationalism and the Class Struggle: A Marxian

Qproach 3232: Jewish Problem (New Y3}. Peale on, 937),-p. [57.

 

170

past and rooted in the common conditions of production, is called
nationalism."19 This supplies the frame for national struggle and
a purely materialistic approach to the national question. Class con-
flict is condusted, not for intangibles, but for the means of produc-
tion, “the material possessions of the classes. So too with the national
struggle."m
lationalism differs in content from upper to lower classes.
For the landed aristocracy, the territory is valuable in terms of the
income it supplies. The bourgeoisie consider the territory heme-plate
for playing the commercial ficl d. The middle class regards it as a
market for consuser goods, and is therefore interested in a unifying
language and culture. For the proletariat toe, the national territory
assmnes special sigiificance.
One should not accept the wide-spread misconception in
believing that the proletariat supposedly has no connection
with the national territory and has, therefore, no national
sentiments. . . . The tesz-Iitory is valuable to the prole-
tariat as the work-place.
This is its initial function. In addition, the territory becomes the
"strategic base' for conducting the class struggle. The national
sovereign territory, serving as the base of operations for releasing
the social forces in economic conflict, is an indispensable factor
in the ultimate tritmIph of Socialism.
Borochcv parallels Syrkin's concept of the divergent role of
19_I_b;i_d_., p. 144.
mm" p. 140.

21D. B. Borochcv, Labor Zionist Writings (New York: Peale
Zion, 1920), I, p. 67, in THEE?"

171

nationalim emong dominating and dominated nations. The former is re-
actionary, obscuring the class struggle in the desire for expansion at
the expense of others, and necessitating class collaboration. The latter
compels true overlapping of class and national interests: the striving of
a subjugated people to eliminate foreign control of its territory, is
paralleled by the effort of the proletariat aiming to establish a strate-
gic base for the class struggle. The latter is possible only in the free
interplay of economic forces, unhmpered by overbearing outside control.
The natiormli- of a suppressed nation is more authentic as it is channel-1»
ed into the preparation for the class struggle. Borochcv mrther distin-
guishes between types of nationalism along historical lines, as nationalism
changes its function in the advent of modern times.
llarx was quite correct in saying that proletarians have no

fatherland. In his day, healthy, progressive nationalism had

hardly yet peeked its way out. from its bourgeois liberal shell.

But since then, progressive nationalism has become a unique

historical phenomenon.22

The Jewish workers, belonging to a landless nation, suffer a

double disability as Jews and as proletarians. is foreigners, they are
being; expelled from primary economic pursuits (agriculture and heavy in-
dustry) to secondary occupations (commerce, light industry and white col-
lar). In further stages of development, the native population begins to
cmpcte with the Jewish merchant, professional, and wage-earner of the '
"secondary" level, with the result that the Jewish minority is bound to
retreat from its econanie positions. The productivity of the Jewish group

is initially relegated to less important areas, and subsequently subjected

 

22
Ber Borochcv, laticnali- and the Class Struggle, o . cit., p. 115.

 

 

 

 

172

to overpowering canpetition. On account of the diminishing value of
its services in the econmic system, the Jewish proletariat is pre-
vented frcm playing its proper social and political role in the class
struggle. Under the pressure of the majority, they are forced to uni-
grate to new lands, and there the cycle begins again in the sequence of
capitalistic growth from primitive to advanced stages of economic and
technological activity.
We are strangers and nowhere in the world do we have the

power to control our own conditions. . . . Our history in

exile was never molded by our own strength. Our fate was al-

ways dependent on outside factors. Can the rapid pace of

progresgsredeu us from this state of uprootedness and inse-

curity?
Since this is an inevitable process in the perspective of dialectical
materialism, Jews must eventually settle in backward countries such as
Palestine, where inc indigenous population is small enougr to allow for
large Jewish colonisation. Through territorial concentration, the
Jewish problur reaches a solution, as the new home passes through the
stages of capitalistic development and social revolution. In Palestine
'Jewish migration must be transformed from immigration into colonisa-
tion.'24 The majority Jewish population utilises the hancland as a
strategic base for the class struggle, leading to the realisation of
Zionism simultaneous with the attainnent of Socialism. This is a
stnhic process, inhm'ent in the course of history with existing and
evolving conditions assrming their logical and natural sequence.

28
B. Borochcv, Selected Writings (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1944), in

Hebrew, I, p. 15.

2("bar Borochcv, Nationalism LEE the Class Struggle, 22' cit.,

 

Pa 191.

173

Palestine is the most feasible territory for the fulfillment
of Socialism. There a Jewish proletariat can flourish undernormal
conditions in the. struggle for the new order. Palestine fulfills the
necessary confitions by virtue of the fact that it is

'1. not close to a cultural center,"

2. on the sea-coast,

3. @27 a nomadic population."25
It is also desirable because of the smallness of the native population:
also the difficulty of acclimatisation for Europeans and its paucity of
natural resources make it unattractive for non-Jewish lesterners. Jewish
capital and labor, both at a disadvantage in the lands of their origin,
gravitate to Palestine where they come to grips wifir each other in a
setting under their control.

The Jewish worker comes to Palestine with his proletarian
revolutionary class consciousness and experience in the class
struggle. . . . The J ewishzgntrepreneur who comes to settle
has had similar experience.

In the new arena, latent productive energy is released and channeled
into class conflict, as the Jewish proletariat “improves its strategic
base.“

Palestine then offers the answer. to the economic difficulties
of the Jewish masses. Concemitantly, social and political disability,
psychological insecurity, and problems of mtienal geographic diffusion

25
B. Borochcv, Selected Writing, op. cit., in Hebrew, I, p. 140.

26
D. B. Borochcv, Labor Zionist Writings, _o_p. cit. , p. 289.

 

174

are mitigated. ”Zionism is the only movement capable of introducing
reason, order, and discipline into J ewish life. [It] is the only answer
to the economic and histo rio need of the Jewish people."27 The automatic
unfolding of these proc esses--the stychic pattern of economic displace-
ment, immigration, colonisation of Palestine, transplanted class struggle,
and revolution-rcquires a catalyst to accelerate the taupe. The active
aid of husn effort is often necessary in order for the historical ten-
dencies to be realised in due time.

Along wi‘lir the stychic social tendencies, we must inject

into the process a conscious tendency. . . . The conscious
interfm-ence cannot create and improvise stychic processes,
but only rcgglate that, that is, facilitate and accelerate
their pace.
There is a need for an organised Zionist Socialist mcvenart, expedit-
ing and reinforcing the historical processes.

Borochcv attempted a reformulation of his vine at a later
period in his life, before his suddm demise. Modifying his Marxian
dialectics, he found room in his systar for Zionist historical aspira-
tions. ”We 'historical materialists' cannot completely ignore the past,

29

especially men it involves the formation of a national ideal.” Thong:

initially he referred to the settlmrent of Palestine “by the force of
historical necessity,"m in his final address, he permitted himself
"notional terminology,“ proclaiming, "The Lard of Israel--a Jewish

home e '31

27

Ber Borochcv, Nationalism and the Class Struggle, 31: 25., p. 74.
28 '

 

D. B. Borochcv, Labor Zionist Writings, _op. cit., II, p. can.
29

B. Borochcv, Selected Writings, 3p. cit., in Hebrew, p. 86.

Ibide. pe 146s

Sl
Ber Borochcv, Nationalism and he Class Struggle, pp. cit., p. 126.

 

175

Borochcv perceived in nationalism a force for human dignity
enabling the Jew to rise in stature and regain self-respect. He went
so far as to declare, "we must understand once and for all that one
who has no national dignity has no class dignity."""2 In contrast to
the non-territorialist Socialist nationalists (exponents of an _a_d 3133
national program without emigration), he expressed his impatience with
the wheels of progress.

And they promise us and themselves victory over the reac-
tionaries. .' . . But we Jews dame not wait. And we Zionists
cannot wait. . . . It is our deep recognition that there is
no help for the Jewish people vdthin the exile framework. We
do not rely on progress. . . . Progress is a great factor in
the accelerated development of technology, science, and
possibly even of the fine arts, but ethical advancement is
still too resets.”

Yet he did not advocate or envisage the ingathering of all
Jews in Palestine. He recognised that there would always rmnain large
sepents of Jewry throughout the world. Though Palestine's absorption
of increasing numbers will be a great rel icf to the displaced prole-
tariat, a constructive progru is needed for the protection of Jewish
interests outside of Palestine.
Zionism solves only some of the Jewish problens, namely
homelessness and landlessness. . . . No matter to what ex-
tent Zionism is realised, there will alwamruainuposaibly
a majority-«dispersed among other nations.

A pregrma of J wish rights, cultural and cumunal, was evolved as a

result. Labor Zionin became a potent force in Jewish communities,

 

52Ber Borochcv, Nationalism and the Class Strug’ gic, 22. £13.,
Pc 83c

 

 

B. Borochcv, Selected Writin s, 22. cit., in Hebrew, p. Z.

34
, B. Borochcv, Selected Writin (New York: Jewish Natioml
Workers Alliance, 1928),_Tfi'md1'sT,—T£' p. 286.

 

dedicated to local creative endeavor in political, economic, and cultural
facets. Identification with the Jewish Prolotariat was transferred into
an appreciation of the folk tongue of the masses, the Yiddish language.
Borochcv and his disciples affirmed the le ading place of Yiddish in cul-
tural expression and education, in Palestine and abroad. Syrkin, who
drew his inspiration from ancient sources, had championed a Palestine—
centered Hebrew oriented platform.

In anofirer category, - to pursue the comparison - Borochcv's
economic interpretation of history, compelled him never to deviate from
the one logical territorial solution, Palestine. Syrkin, however, for a
number of years, flirted with non-Zionist territorialism, pro-occupied
with seeking a homeland for the Jewish people elsewhere on the globe.

In the context of present world and Jewish realities, Syrkin's
idealism is more consonant with the times. Both have exerted a profound
influence on Israel society. Current Israel social thought is more in-
debted to Syrkin's idealistic Socialism than to Borochov’s dialectical
materialism. It must be remembered, however, that for decades, a class
consciousness in the spirit of Borochcv was fostered in organised labor,
particularly in the agricultural and industrial collectives. The Marxist
political orientation, class solidarity, and activism lmve run their full
course. Unlike the lmcricm trade-union movenent, organised labor in
Israel was articulatcly Socialistic, and its Bore chov-criented sectors
were ostermibly Marxist. Israel economy, more a creation of organised
labor and world Jewish philanthropy tinn of private capital, has cs-

tablishcd a planned economy and developed a Socialist society within a

176

 

177

society in the plethora of industrial plants, commercial enterprises
and agricultural units managed and operated by organised labor. The
Yugoslav systmn of shared profits by workers is operative in all agri-
cultural establishments and in a few industrial ones in Israel. But
the nunerous factories and services, started and operated by the labor
movcmmrt, are under centralised control (Histadrut) where the stresses
and strains, profits and losses of the various manufacturing and com-
mercial enterprises balance each other to preserve a growing economy.
A voluntary type of a Socialist society within the framework of a
democratic state has been established, without infringing to any cm-
siderable extent in the operations of private capital.

Socialism, as a doctrine, is still upheld and the first of
May is a universally observed labor holiday. But for the majority of
workers, it is more in the spirit of Syrkin's non-larxist Socialism
with its inspired experimental idealism, than Borochov's early dogna-
tion in its dialectic materialistic context. Generally speaking, 'Ihc
banner raised bythe two founders of labor Zionism is still held high
by Israel labor and intelligentsia, instrumental in determining the
future of the infant state and influencing the destiny of an old people
far beyond Israel's borders.

Borochov's doctrine still prevails in leftist Socialist circles,
“the m _A_v_o__d_a_ll and M parties-~equating all progress with the
oncoming New Order and ”wave of tomorrow." It is dognatically applied
to areas beyond the economic. Borochov's early revolutionary enthusiasm

still expresses their contemporary mood.

178

The working class raises the pillar of fire of the new
truth and the new culture. . .its own philosophy, ethics
science, and art in new fangs and a new spirit. . . . t
ii a proletarian culture.3
Syrkin's spirit, to a degree, dominates the policies of Mapai,
representing the majority of Israel labor. Its social experimentation,
political flexibility, and national maturity, occasionally at the ex-
pense of narrow class interest, bespeak a responsibility and vision
necessary to true leadership in the current maelstrom of world events,
and are colored by a characteristically Jewish social idealism.
Above all social, economic, material motives of Zionism,

there hovers the idealistic motive emanating fran the depths
of the hunan soul returning to it in a beckoning and creative

form.

is far as emacation is concerned, Socialism was the official
philosophy of the labor schools until their dissolution in 1953.
Borochov's ideas are still popular among teadxers in some of the col-
lective colonies. ‘ Identification of class and nation (as in Premier
Ben Guricn's formulation in the title of his book m C_l_a_s_s_tp_ M)
is accepted by all other educators formerly associated with the labor
schools. Thongs the public schools have been renoved from party con—
trol, youth movasents are still partisan, and Socialist indoctrination

1' rampant.

 

as
Borochcv Antholog, (Tel Aviv: Peale Zion; 1937) Hebrew,
Pe 46o

86 .
B. Borochcv, Selected Writings, 22. cit., “in Yiddish, II,
P. 262e

179

CHAPI'ERXV'

YOSSEF CHAIM BENNER

In 1890 there 1mm only'one organised political group among
Jews,exerting anuinfluence over'not too large a following. By 1910
there were more than half a dozen parties competing for the allegiance
of an alert and conscious youth. In fihe short span of twenty years,
hosts of young people, infiltrated.therranks of Russian and Austrian ,
liberal md revolutionary camps. It was a "stunn and drang" period
characterised by emigration of masses, fermentation of ideas, and
cryltallisation.cf forces. Nearly every'important ideological plat-
forn.still operative cn.the Jewish scene today received its initial
fomulation at that time. It was an age of slogans, programs, drmnatic
gestures and heroic deeds. Its atmosphere‘was chargod‘with controversy,
romance and the pioneering spirit. Statemen, thinkers, poets, and re-
volutionaries stirred the hearts of an attentive public sharply divided
in meir respective loyalties.

There was one man whose piercing eye penetrated beneath the
smart unifom to unveil the bleeding wounds of a generation whose cry
of pain‘was choked in the overwhelming din of eumuberant verbosity.

A full participant in the rushing evmts of his day, he reflected the
shiftlessness and restlessness of an intelligentsia caught in the

whirlpool of social and psychological conflicts in a disintegrating

 

 

 

180

Jewish society. He saw the individual hopelessly merging fran the
swamp of yesterday only to be trapped in 1m quick-sand of today,
domed to failure in his feverish efforts to reach a solid footing.
Descending to the hard bottom of disillusionment and despair he made
one last effort in planting the seeds of an imperative reaching up-
ward to affirmation and rehabilitation. In this way he offered a new
unattractive but compelling meaning to the Zionist definition. He was
Yossef Chaim Brenner, novelist and publicist whose life, work, person-
ality, and death, left a deep mark on the mentality of a trail-blazing
generation of pioneers.

Born in the pogrom-ridden year of 1881 in Ukraine, Brenner
early identified himself with the revolutionary movement, was drafted
into the army, suffered imprisonment, and, managed to escape to London.
His association with radical youth made him sensitive to the cliches
and illusory dreuns offering little immediate relief to the vexing
problems of livelihood and psychological adjustment. His deep seated
persmality traits tmded to blend with a critical attitude to social
phenomena. 4

In London he edited, for a few years, .H_a_ m (The awakener)
which assumed an unusual importance when the Hebrew publication in
Russia were closed down in the wave of reaction setting in after the
abortive revolution of 1905. At the age of twenty-eight he arrived
in Palestine, hoping to find peace for his troubled soul, perturbed
by ghetto life as he saw it in Russia and London, and discouraged by

the meagre support for the literary venture he unselfishly fought to

181

pI'CIOI'V. e

I will go to Palestine at the end of the year only as a
farm laborer.

I want to run away from all these holy and literary
matters. . . . I would like to work manually, eat, drink,
sleep, and die in the field when my turn comes. That immy
one ideal. I med some peace of soul if at all possible.
Brenner's departure from Europe made an impression in Jewish
quarters. llany periodicals reported about ”the famous Hebrew writer
. . . who suddenly rose and left the diaspora to go up to the 'Land of
Israel, and who changed.into a tiller of the .011.'2
But the. personal promise of a new life remained unfulfilled
for him for a long time. The talented writ er proved a failure as a
laborer. Responding to the publicity atroad he writes, ”would you
kindly note . . . that my happy days of work as a farm laborer were
no more than six counted days. . . ."3 He took up the pen again and
held on to it until he met his death at the hands of Arab assassins in
the riots of 1921. In the twelve years of his sojourn in Palestine
he came into contact with all strata of society, maintained a close
relationship with the labor elements and wrote extensively fiction
and on social problems. By dint of his personality and character he
exerted a strong influence upon the intellectuals. He was a keen ob-

server and incisive critic of all about him. The fact that he was the

only literary figure of stature who made Palestine his home was partly

 

1Rab Rinyomia, From Zaborov to Kimeret (Tel Aviv: Association
of Hebrew lriters, 19505, in Hebrew,pp. 209, 21 .

2!. Ch. Brenner, Collection of Stories (Tel Aviv: Israel Nets
Fund, n.d.), in Hebrew, ed. fntmduct'i—on, p. xi.

3Ibis.

 

182

responsible for the centrality of his role among the pioneer elements.
Seeing only darkness and degration most of his life, he finally began

to discern a little light and ascendancy in the passing of years.

Berdichevsky's indictment of Judaism was followed by Brenner's
indictnent of the diaspora. To western Reform, dispersion was a privi-
lege, a noblesse M in the interests of monotheistic religion. To
the traditionalist it was a punishment for ancient sins committed in
the Holy Land. To political Zionists it was a calamity depriving ‘
generations of territorial and sovereig opportunities. To cultural
Zionists it was a fact to be reckoned with in the creative survival
of a people. Brenner regarded it as a sin, not in the theological but
in the hunan sense, a condition with little moral justification. His
‘short stories aid novels of Jewish life graphically depict the degrad-
ing, fanatic, suppressing, unaesthetic, an! superficial. He decried
the povu'ty anl‘depravity resulting from it, the economic roctless-
ness imposed from the outside, and the concomitant economic shift-
less and gossamer-like form of existence. An atmosphere of this kind
could not breed healthy social relations and adjusted individuals. Here
liberation from the confines of traditional authority does not automati-
cally release powers comtructive and remedial in themselves. The modern
Jew may be intellectually removed from the ghetto, but that does not en-
dow him with the social mvironnent, economic condition and psyohcldgi-
cal pattern interacting to form a healthier person. The young intel-
lectual presented a gloomy sight of conflicts and complexes, spouting

of cliches, addiction to isms, shot through with basic maladjustments

183

requiring radical treahnent.

I realised that his present life é? the Jeins no
life. . . . I alnys understood his unfortunate role,
impossible to bear. My first and last cry was for another
foundation. . . . 4Then can we be saved from the shame of
our existing life.

Brenner was not bothered by political disabilities, social dis-
crimination, cultural assimilation or religious repression. These were
imposition deeply felt by other Zionist spokesmen. He was primarily
sensitive to the psychological traumatic effects and economic influences
as they took their toll from the individual. Berdichevsky had stormed
against the crushing burden of spiritual values, which had been inhibit-
ing individml expression in his physical and aesthetic dimensions.
Brnner conveyed the pain and ccnmsion of man adrift in the muddy
waters of the contemporary Jewish scene, polluted by the abnormalities
accruing from minority status. To him, the pious slogans of diversified
ideologies had little appeal. He dared to utter atheistic chubts about
Zionist hypotheses in both the political and cultural phases.

. . . I the Zionist am not talking about revival, spiritml
revival, the Hebrew national spiritual revival, but only about
exodus, the desire to leave the ghetto. uRenaissance, revival,"
these are magic words but we have no room for than. . . . My
Zionism asserts: the time has come for the elenent within us
most adaptable to life, to discontinue residing wi h others and
ascribing everything to the viciousness of others.

He did not therefore resent gmtile hostility; it was a fact to be re-

cognised. World Jewish dispersion was the source or at least the frame-

work cf all evil and no one else was to be blmed.

 

4|I. Ch. Brenner, Works, vol. I. ”From Here and There” (Tel
Aviva ha Owed, 1946), in Hebrew, p. 215.

5
Ibidep Pe 186.

184

This explains his quarrel with the Socialists and Cosmopoli-
tans,-not on nationalistic grounds, as was the case before him. Con-
cerned as he was with grim reality, he rever lost sight of the individual
faabling to find some anchorage in this "big buzzing confusion.”- (to borrow
a phrase from James). Grandiose ideas and eloquent generalizations left
him cold. There was an existentialist strain in his impatience with the
beautiful phraseclogy an! mgr-sounding verbosity of the political panaceas
flourishing in restless but educated circles. The class struggle of the
socialists could not apply to a nation of petty storekeepers struggling
to stay alive. International universalimn ignored the problem of the
little man beset with frustrations, befuddled with conflicts and taxed
by pressures brought about by historical and contenporary factors. Behind
all the fine terminology of these all-encompassing hunanitarian programs,
he discerned a basic Jewish inferiority complex muong their devotees,

a: self-subjugation and overwhelming awe before the gentile, a frigrtened
self-deceiving Jew eeveting approval and acceptance in an unfriendly
environsent.

Thus Brenner was not moved by a great vision of anticipated
glory, universal or nationalistic in scope, as were the statesmen and
visionaries of his day. His was a negative approach. He was running
my frcm something whm he left Europe, rather than running toward
something when he arrived in Palestine. As one of the heroes in a
novel calls out: ”I understand, in your case, the whole matter to be
based on negation, a negative attitude to our life over there without

seeing nor accepting anything positive here fl'n Palestiny."6 Then

 

5
Ibide' pe 261s

185

follows the shocking accusation: "You don't accept the entire Jewish
people, isn't that so?"

Herein lies the tragic enigna of Brenner's soul-u-anrambivalence
toward his own people. The master, Berdichevsky, may have disliked
Judaim 0but he loved the Jew and fought to relieve him from the shackles
of the past in order to partake of the pleasures of secularism. The
disciple, Brenner, to lacked the teacher's deference for European
civilisation, chose to ‘share lovingly the lot of his brethren, simul-
taneously resenting the deformed Jewish personality, revolting against
organised Jewish life, objecting to the sancta and the secular without
distinction. His perspective took in only suffering, ugliness and de-
terioration everywha-e. Jewry had been tried and convicted.

In his scrupulous honesty, Brmner never mistook a gesture for
the authentic act. Even the Zionist oonmunity in Palestine was a ter-

rible dis appointment.

. . . . If it wouldn't be so painful. . .this old community
and especially the new, similar to the old. . . . These
"Hegators of the Diaspora” of ours, who come here and make a

new diaspora. . . .
In Palestine nothing had changed. Achad Ha'am had visualised the spirit
of Zion overflowing to Jewish cmmunities _abroad. Brenner found the
stifling air'of the ghetto infecting the land of the fathers.
The Palestine reality frightened him into a cry of despair.
"Why shall I then cling to the corners of the devastatcdlalta’r."

The diagnosis was clear. “Our crisis is one of a people lacking
the talent to live. . .p‘operly. Our farmers are pseudo-farmers.

 

7Haiti.

8
Ibid., p. 274.

186

The Jewish intellectual who comes here eager to live a dif-

ferent life, in its fulness, physical work, scent of the

field, soon discovers that he is unqualified for any labor

. . . . Our crisis, of our colonies and their workers, of

the J erusalcm grotto filled with invalids, paupers, and

fanatics, is only part of the great national crisis. Before

us is a destruction of a people in its simplest tenns."9
Brenner's pessimism was far-reaching. There was a sense of the
ominous in him. He stands alone among the personalities of his genera-
tion in the distrust of the twentieth century. Seaning to anticipate
the cataclysmic events of fire Nazi era resulting in the annihilation
of a third of world Jewry, he saw ”darkened lands, great nations, many
peoples, and wrong then a wandering sheep, scared flock heading for

O

slaugrter."1 He felt a tmse atmosphere and often spoke of the "last
Jews." Writing a "long letter," he sets 'out to prove that only dis-
aster is in store for the weak stranger caugxt in the tentacles of
blood-thirsty mobs. Born in thenotorious year of 1881 which was
marked by anti-Jewish riots, Brmner regarded himself as a child of
the pogroms and was haunted by it throughout. The sense of catas-
trophe accompanied him. Yet there is a clinging to life for all its
worth, a strong urge for a little sunshine and cheer. The defeated
but unclaished hero of his last novel, prays to God: ”Father of orphans,
be gocd‘to me. Send me the rays of the sun, and I, the orphan of orphans,
will accept your gift in gratitude, love and hope. . . ."11

Ihat is fire solution to these tragically perplexing problems?

 

9A. Oronovsky, History_ of Mode____r_r_1_ Hebrew Literature (Tel Aviv:
Israel, 1960), in Hebrew, vol. II, p. 435.
10
Y. Ch. Brenner, Works (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1946), vol. I,_. in
Hebrew, ”About the Focus," p. 115.
11
Y. Ch. Brenna, Works, vol. II (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1950), in
Hebrew, "Calamity and Ruiz-:57" p. 290.

 

187

For all intents and purposes, it adds up to a hopeless situation.
Yet, on the crumbled foundations of despair, a positive philosophy
was established.

His very denial of God, religion, and history, his

social and personal conflicts, he had to make into in-

spirational sources for continuity and survival. . . .

Brenner's atheism comes to cancel all accounts, cancel-

ling at the same time disappoinfinents, faults, aberra-

tions, and falsifications in the individual and in

society. . .in the long run, cancelling itself out.12
Zionism may not be the solution, but it has to be. There is no alterna-
tive. Everything else had been tried md failed. ”Zionism is the belief
in the possibility of the impossible.” The Jewish people has: reached
the end of the rope. Palestine is the last station in the trek of ages,
the point of no return.

Brenner did not invent this mood but. reflected it. Much of
this attitude, tlmt of pessimistic posititism, prevailed to make Israel
what it is today. In the War of Libmation following the establishment
of the State in 1948, the Israelis were said to have been in possession
of a secret weapon. This they called "no alternative,‘I which made vic-
tory the only remaining choice in place of total destruction.

The analogous rationale of existentialist thought warrants
mention at this point. The anguish of man, his helpless existence in a
strange vmrld befriended neither by rmture nor by any transcendental
force in the cosmos, places a great burden of responsibility and maturity

on his shoulders. Man in his loneliness can rely on no one else except

 

12
I. Rabinowits, Tan rement and Creativity (Tel Aviv: 131.111:
Institute, 1951) in Hebrew, p. 219. _-

 

188

himself. A negative philosophy becomes the basis for a constructive
call to responsibility.

It would be wrong to claim that Brenner's argument was based
upon a stubborn clinging to the impossible alone. He also pointed the
Iay. The road to salvation was to be found in the realm of physical
‘labor. Only by being a hunble servant in fine house of God, can one
sit in the seat of the mighty. He himself had attempted to become a
labora'. The fact that he failed did not deter him from re-emphasiz—
ing its innate significance. In this he was influenced by A. D. Gordon,
prophet of the ”religion of labor," (discussed in Chapter XIII). Labor
was not to be recopised only as an expedient form of activity neces-
sary for the reclaiming of the land. It was mdowcd with a healing
power of therapeutic value to the ailing Jewish personality. Physical
work is productive. It is continuity, purifying and pacifying. It
represents an authentic exp'cssion of the economic man making for
rootedness and stability, proving a kind of occupational therapy for
the neurotic Jewish personality. Interaction in the processes of
production presents a creative experience emotionally satisfying in
the operational as well as the culminating stages. This is especially
true in farm labor. Assuming the editorship of a labor monthly entitled
H_a_ £293, (The Earth) he states:

"The earth” means not only land and country (agriculture

and statehood) but something else. ”The earth” is cur aim
for roetedness in all aspects of life. . .recognizing the

foundations of reality. . .the pull to fire source of renewal,
the source of hunan truth.”

1
8cited in A. Oronovsky, pp. cit., p. 436.

 

 

189

In the final analysis, the novelist Brenner offered a depth
psycholog alien to the context of an merging nationalism. Brenner
the analyst reveals an anti-Jewish bias unexpected in a resurgent
nationalism. He focuses attention upon the individual, a strange em-
phasis in political nationalism. These elements make the Zionist
formula so intriguing and unique, su‘mtantially different from other
nationalistic programs acted out in the world arena.

Labor serves another worthwhile purpose in Brenner's schue
of things. ’It is an antidote to the ills of anti-Semitism. Ebdlic
life after the expulsion from the homeland some two thousand years
ago has become essentially unproductive. The ”de-proletarianization"
of Jewish masses caused anti-Semitism. Universal hatred was planted
in fire hearts of the nations toward a people eking out a livelihood
from ungainful employment.

An eternal hatred was 'planted in the hearts of nations

against those who came and used the fruits of their labor

. . .yet separated themselves from firem.

The question of Judaism is the question of the lack of
g;?fi:::1:ab§r for thzlmazses :11; izws the have become
g us , una e o wo .

The revulsion against centuries of Jewish history coincided with the
Zionist rebellion against life in exile. It made the rejection of the
diaspora caaplete, negating it in all existing manifestations. Pales-
tine restored becanes a categorical imperative without which the history

of the Jews comes to an ignoble and.

l
%. Ch. Brenner, Complete Works, gp. cit., vol. VII, p. 185.

 

190

In the light of these negative affirmations, Brenner's role
in Zionism is more clearly defined. Already in the London stage he
published the periodical The Awakener, designed to awaken the indi-
vidual fran the accommodating acceptance of the given and uncritical
espousal of popular causes. While some was battling traditional iso-
lationist forms, and others were berating assimilationist trends, Bren-
ner was challenging the current Zionist claims and denanding a deeper,
penetrating definition of Zionian with a brutal frankness in its ex-
crutiating logic. The insights, doubts, conflicts, and glimmers of
hope crystallized into a three phase position which can be considered
as a emery of Brenner's ntsnerous gropings.
l. Honest self-assessment to the point of complete
negation and total rejection devoid of positive charac-
teristics.
2. A nevertheless attitude regarding the Land of Israel
as the last station, and Zionism as a daring experiment to
conceive a fundamental revolution among the last Jews in a
last ditch effort to make than the first in the building of
a new nation.
3. Individualistic Zionism pointing to a personal align-
ment with the Zionist progran in terms of changing one's
mode of life to amply with the principles of immigration
and proletarianization.
His attitude to Jews and Judaism merits further elaboration.
Pride in the values and institutions of Judaism was unjustified as far
as Brenner was concerned. Survival under adverse conditions was not
broufirt about by spiri‘lmal courage but was more of a by-product of
weakness, cowardice, and the talent of adaptability. Martyrdom never

achieved the purpose of inciting rebellion against the exilic form of

 

191

existence and was of dubious holiness. There was therefore little
inspiring in both Judaism and Jews. The past, acclaimed as a heroic

and spiritml odyssey, was to him ”a bitter error, exaggerated pride,
and deception."15 Had Brmner stopped at this point he would have been
no more than an interesting case for psychiatrists as was another Jewish
genius, the philosopher-psychologist Weineger, whose hate of J ewishness
compelled him to commit suicide. Brenner's negations, however, led to
affirmations, as has already been previously adduced, with the hate
sublimated into love. He said:

With a thousand threads am I tied to my people Israel. . .

My life is linked with a strong bond to its life. . . . I

:ov;hthe J ewihzh mg?“ andkwould theraegralik: to dediggte

o onmyw e e,wor,energy, emu...
He was encouraged by the few emples of a new type of Jew rising in
the Land of lsrael, whose rejection of existence in exile was combined
with a restoration of personality through the redeeming process ’ of
labor on the soil of the homeland. Such personal realisation of Zion-
ism was to make it a living am! working faith.

Brenner not only preached but practiced. Unlike other non of
his age, he did not live apart but with the people. He influenced as
much by his personality as by his writings. The author was one with
his artistic creation.

More than the grief, pain, and calamity of the heroes of
the stories, was felt the grief, pain and misfortune of'the

15
Ibid., vol.VIL p. 109.

laCited in A. Oronovsky, pp. cit., p. 434.

 

192

author himself. One sensed a full identification of the

creator with his created. One felt a great truth, the

person of the author as a man of stature and distinguish-

ing features. A persomlity calling, demanding, lacking

personal peace and disturbfig the peace of others, an

“b.1031 paramiity. e e c
He was a man of uncompromising honesty, a prophetic spirit committed
to indivisible tmth, motivated by a fanatic devotion to its dissanina-
tion. A follower of Tolstoy doctrines, he pursued the life of an as-
cetic subscribing to gegetarianism, denying himself luxuries, and serv-
ing as a true friend to all who came into contact with him. The scope
of his immediate influence was consequently considerable, especially
oneng the workers. A labor leader of Palestine referred to him in

1922 as "

our sister and teacher, about whom it could be said,

'Surely our distress he did bear,‘ who suffered our

pains and had the power to open oui- wound mercilessly,

and through whom we were educated. 8
In spite of these pacific forms of behavior, he was torn asunder within,
always beset by doubts, never attaining Immony. He was too loyal a
son of those people not to be shaken by the plight of his brethren.
The individual and nationl reckoning blended in him to the point
where the line of donarcation disappeared. This, in essence, becune
his philosophy.

It is obvious that Brenner's intellectual brooding and emotional

outbursts, disguised and uninhibited in fiction form, are prone to be

 

17 '
w David Shimoni, Roniniscing Chapters (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1953),
in HOW". Po 245s

18
Earl Katsnelson, Writing (Tel Aviv: Hapoel Hatsair,n.d.},
vol. I, in Hebrew, p. 285.

 

193

misapplied. Anti—Suites mw find authoritative support for defamatory
charges. This accounts for the fact that Brenner is probably the only
major Hebrew or Yiddish author of fiction whose work ronained untrans-
lated even in part.

In sunmary, Brenner contributed toward:

a critical attitude to life in the diaspora, the shortcomings
of which are to be traced largely to econonic malfoxmationg

a searching and groping for new content 3

an introspection, intellectual and emotional, ultimately a
basis for renewal and reconversion;

a nationalism without suppression of the individual and an
individualism coordinate with nationalism;

an affimation of labor;

a realistic pessimism serving as the foundation for a no
alternative reconstructionism.

These insights and values still potent in Israel, were
crystallised in the strem-of-consciousness fiction, essays and
polonical articles, and a life of dedication of a sensitive and

talented, personality.

 

194

CHAPTER XVI

RABBI ABRAHAM ISAAC KUK

Competent observers of the Jewish scene, viewing Zionism in
historical perspective, have regarded it a factor for both continua-
tion and change in the course of national events. Pioneers of Zionist
thougxt have alternated between conservation and revolution, as the
leitmotif of their intellectual speculations on the Jewish problm.

All of the eleven creative minds whose contributions have been dis-
cussed in this thesis, were either strangers from afar who returned
with new ideas, or rebels from within who set out toward new horizons
for their people. In their combined efforts, they attracted largely
the peripheral elonents comisting of the secular, idealistic, and
disillusioned who had already been liberated wholly or partially from
the confinement of the ghetto. The masses of Orthodox pious, subject
to the ritualistic regimen and mental discipline of the erudite and
uncompromising rabbinate, hardly felt the positive impact of the Zion-
ist movonent. If anything, Orthodoxy responded with suspicion and
opposition to the national ideal. A handful of recognised rabbis were
favorably inclined toward Zionism at its inception, and some were among
its founders. These, however, were not the leading figures, the wide-
ly accepted legal authorities and sages of their respective generations.
It was Abraham Isaac Kuk, Chief Rabbi of Palestine, who commanded the

stature necessary for successful and fruit m1 fusion of Orthodoxy and

195

Zionism, developing a philosophy firmly grounded in the religious
heritage, and simultaneously embracing the national ideal in complete
consonance. He elevated religious Zionism to spiritual heights in

the path of historical continuity, charging it with the power to gal-
vanise large segnents of traditional Jewry in behalf of the reclamation
of Palestine. Without negating the political, cultural, and economic
ideas of the secular minded theoreticians of. Zionism, he encased than
in a religious setting in perfect blending of contemporary and conven-
tional values. This was an undertaking of singular importance, bridg-
ing the gulf between onbattled ramparts, each jealously guarding its
own domain. The accomplishment was made possible by a fortunate com-
bination of circumstances insofar as a saintly personality was placed
in the exalted central position of Chief Rabbi of Palestine, and an
original mind was engaged in creative deliberations producing literary
works of lasting value.

The Orthodox position vis a vis Zionism is best comprehended
in retrospect in the light of education in Israel today.

The unified school system includes a network of government
supported religieus schools, catering to a substantial minority of the
population. These sdnools combine a general education with training in
the observance of ritaal and in the transmitting of the religious tradi-
tion. let all like-minded parents enroll their children in these schools.
The ultra-Orthodox element, comprising about 30,000 pupils, is in the
Chinuch Atsma'i (Independent Education) system receiving limited financial

backing fros the goverment. These differ, not in ritual practice, but

196

in the attitude toward educational and national values cultivated in
the public schools. To this group, Zionism in the past was an anathema,
though after the birth of the State, it is no longer a moot question.
Co-educatim, along with muchthat pervades the modern curriculum, has
been unpalatable to the "Independent” backers.

For all intents and purposes, Israel education offers two
parallel religious soheol systems, public and semi-private, in addition
to the general public school. They are distinguishable from each other
more by their respective attitudes to the secular enviromnent of state
and society, than by loyalty to particular religious dogsa or adherence
to ritual requirenents. There is a tradition of competition and even
hostility among their sponsors and originators, going back to the time
when Zionism was a controversial issue. The Independent system aims to
approximate the East European traditional school, unchanged for con-
turies. It is under the auspices of the separatist mm (Union of
Israel), an Orthodox party founded before World War I in opposition to
Zionism.

The overwhelmingmajority of the religious population subscribes
to a program which is a synthesis of Orthodoxy and modern nationalism,

a philosophy reflected in the government sponsored religious school.

Its forerunner was he school systos launched by the Misrachi, the Or-
thodox wing of the Zionist movement, organised in 1902. Over the decades,
it succeeded in gaining the loyalty of increasing ntsabers mung the Or-
thodox masses of Europe and America. The prevailing sentiment in Eastern
Europe however, was unsympathetic to political Zionism in the conmunities

controlled by conservative rabbinical authorities. The acclaimed spirit-

197

ual leader of religious nationalism, whose influence reached the entire
community of Palestine, was Chief Rabbi Kuk.

Understanding more fully the ultra-Orthodox position, would
enable us to appreciate Rabbi Kuk's contribution.

The entrenched religious officialdom was opposed to Zionism on
psychological, theological, and practical grounds. There was an in-
herited intransigence in relation to all new movonents of messianic
inclinations, (he to historical precedents having resulted in fomaticn
cf heretic sects often secedixg from Judaism. There was also inertia
and stagnation reacting against anything different, especially when it
represented any departure from a two thousand year pattern of survival.
Existing leadership and vested interests were suspicious of new elements
rising to the forefront, mostly from non-conformist quarters. The tradi-
tional theolog was committed to patient anticipation of the Messiah,
instead of independent initiative directed toward immediate redonption
from exile. Restoration of statehood througi hunan instruments and
natural forces, was tantamount to blasphony. In Palestine the "old set-
tlement," centered in J erusalen, objected to the self-sufficient econonic
mode of lift advocated by the new settlers, challenging the parasitic
reliance upon charity from abroad. A vicious circle was thus created:
Orthodoxy opposed to Zionist colonisation, leading to the predominance
of liberal young people among the new arrivals, who in turn antagonised
the former by their modern ideas. Not the least of all was the trans-
valuation of Jewish life contained in the Zionist program, fostering a

new outlook toward physical work, business, recreation, and many other

198

vital areas, all in conflict with the inherited prejudices, attitudes
and accomodations. To cite one example ammg many, reference should
be made to spoken Hebrew, which was regarded as an outrigut desecration
by the unadulterated tradit ionalists who revered it as a holy tongue -
deciped exclusively for sanctified usage. Though not all rabbis neces-
sarily subscribed to all of this, many of the great sages living in
isolation and the articulate spokesman of the traditional camp reflected

this antagonism in word and deed.

Abraham Isaac Kuk was born in Latvia in 1866. He was recognised
as a prodigy and ordained at an early age. His'studies included not
only the 19.1531 (code of jurisprudence), but also Kabbala (mystic lore),
and secular knowledge. The then unusual curriculum did not detract from
his faith and piety. After serving a nunber of communities, he accepted
a call to Jaffa, Palestine, arriving there in 1904. Except for the inter-
lude of war years during which he found himself stranded in Europe,
temporarily occupying a pulpit in London, Kuk lived in Palestine until
his passing in 1936. After 1919 In held the exalted position of Chief
Rabbi of the Ashkenasi community (European), the Sefardi congregations
having their own Chief Rabbi, owing to the varying traditions of ritual
and religio-ethnic culture.

In his student years, Kuk came under the influence of the
m movement, a religious revival aiming at ethical perfection through
ceaseless self-examination, austerity and meditation. The Zionist dream
was then in its embryonic stage. In the rabbinical seminary at Volcshin,

Russia, where Kuk attended, a secret Zionist society was organised, in

199

which he participated. It was the Zionist motive which subsequently
moved him to accept a post in the Holy Land in spite of the pressures
brought to bear against depriving Russian Jewry of his spiritual leader-
ship. In the meantime he had blossomed forth a great scholar and sage,
a saintly personality, revered at home and abroad. He lmd also taken
up the pen to popularize his Zionist ideas, and worked out an original
and pervasive philosophy of religious Zionism.

In one of his first essays, “The Mission of Israel and Its
Nationhood,” Kuk sees no conflict between nationalism and religion.
They are complementary to each other, each inadequate in itself.

The central thought in Kuk's essay is the assertion that

Jewish nationalism with all its modern tones and overtones
is the expression of a Divine endoment in the soul of the
Jew. Not only the external assets of nationalism, such as
the Hebrew language and the land of Palestine, but the dyna-
mic creativc urge cf the ration that perpetually asstmes new
forms and creates new values is holy in the highest sense of
the word.

Nationhcod was an integral part of Jewish religion. Its foune‘ez-
tedn-head fed the streams of Jewish consciousness whenever the sources
of piety were depleted. Thus the nationalistic motif could induce
Jewish loyalties vhen religious inspiration weakened. Throughout its
long trek the Jewish people lost some of its national attributes and
sentiments, becoming spiritually the poorer for it. Kuk went so far

as to suggest

that the lack of national feeling was indeed a grievous fault,
productive of many vicious consequences, for we thereby missed

1

Jacob H. Agus, Banner of Jerusalon, The Life, Times and
Thou t of Abrahm Isaac LuE, t5- Ifie mief _§____a 'Ebi of Palestine
(New gorfi Bloc E, 19767,.— p. 67';-

 

 

 

200

the help of a great and splendid natural force that leads
men on to great perfection.2

Nationalism generally is therefore a positive factor making for
spiritual progress. "The beauty and magnificence of the Shelachinah8
can be revealed only in a people that lives a fully rounded life on
its own land."4 In the present day, an opportunity for replenishing
Jewish spiritual ttrcngth is available in the upsurge of national l
smtimmt. The Jewish people could thereby share the potentialities
with which this movonent is fraught, in toms of hunan progress and

moral advanconent. Within the religious frame of reference, the new

nationalism must occupy an honored position.

It is for us to concern ourselves with the task of
fostering and deepening the national motive and to make
room within the sacred precincts of tradition for the
consequences of Jewish nationalism. . . . It is impos-
sible to reach the level, of moral perfection without
the wholehearted love of one's nation.5

What is the nature of Jewish peoplehood? Kuk affirms that
.Israel has fused a union between physical kinship and lofty idealism.
The Divine has endowed the union with a holiness contingent upon the
preservation of this condition. This was a unique contribution of
Jewish genim. The task begun by Judaism at the dawn of history has
not been completed. Recreating the original setting within the con-

fines of the Holy Land paves the way for finishing the job.

 

Cited in ibid., p. 60.

on

Divine Presence.

IF

Cited in ibid., p. 82.

Cited in ibid., p. m-Sl.

201

The inner feeling, so strong within us, in striving for
the preservation of Judiasm in its. . .corporeal and terri-
torial aspects flows from the general public recognition
that there is still much to be finished in what we have
begun. We began to say something important to ourselves and
the world, and we have not concluded saying it yet.6

Thus Jewish nationalism is elevated to universal significance.

To Kuk, deeply attached to his faith in all its depth and
potency, the universal message of messianic Zionism was not a beauti-
ful poetic phrase bandied about with case. To him it was of literal
seriousness and inevitability. Mystic that he was, he ascribed an
innate sanctity to the people of Israel.

The community of Israel is the essence of all existence.
In this world the essence flows directly into the Israelite
nation: into its materiality no less than its7spirituality;
into its history no less man into its faith.

The Zionist movanent is not merely a hunanitarian undertaking
desiged to create a haven of refuge for homeless wanderers. Kuk's
Zionism draws from the grings of Divine inspiration. It is an unfold-
ing of a predetermined eternal pattern of a cosmic process.

The source of Zionism is that supreme sacred source, the
Holy Writ, which imports to it the depth and glory of tradi-
tion. It is fitting that we restore this eternal movment
to life. Zionism is not the response of a people hated in
the world, setting out to find for itself a refuge from its
persecutors. Ratha- is it the fact that a Holy Nation, the
choicest of peoples, the lion-cub of Judah, is awakening
from its long sleep and is returning to its rigxtful habitat.

The surface appearance of enthusiastic chauvinism notwith-

 

6
Kuk in J. Becker ani S. Shpan (cd.), Selected Hebrew Essen,

(Tel Aviv: Gazit, 1946), in Hebrew, p. 259.

7 .
Abraham Bick (cd.), Kuk in Easements and Philoco h of Religious
Zionism, (Brooklyn: Hashcmer Hadati of North America, 19421.7. 39.

B
Ibide, pc 38 c

 

202

standing, Kuk's love for hunanity was unparalleled in its universal
encompassment. In the footsteps of a medieval Jewish philosopher,
he attributed an inherent sanctity to the soil of the Holy Land and
the soul of the, people. Palestine offers a geographic imprint upon
local activity, penetrating and far-reaching in spiritual manifesta-
tions. The beneficent effects are indirectly enjoyed by all men, as
the spiritual forces cmoted in the Holy Land are channeled into the
turbines of cosmic power propelling human destiny.
It is impossible to grasp the essence of the unique holi-
ness of the land of Israel by any rational human effort, but
only through the divine spirit in the nation at large, in the
inherent spirittml casting in the soul of Israel sending forth
its natural colorful rays toward all facets of experience in
nature.9
Furthermore, the effect of the ”Holy Spirit absorbed in the land of
Israel is pemanently operative even when one leaves the land in-
voluntarily.'10
Thus, the Jewish faith can flourish best in Palestine. Israel,
the people and the land reunited, offers cptimun conditions for maximum
growth and creativity. Living in Israel is therefore a religious ob-
ligation in tune with a universal melody and in keeping with the Divine
Will. At the same time, it is a ”sin for Israel to continue to dwell
in the Diaspora.”
The difference between the life of the spirit in Palestine
and that of other lands is both of degree and kind.

In Palestine the flow of the Holy Spirit bursts forth
ready to invade the minds of the scholars. . . . But the

 

 

9

I. z. Zahavi (cd.), Kuk in Antholo% of Jewish 1110th and Ethics:
from SaadE Gaon to the present, in Hebrewj e1 AT— Avraham Zioni, 19“),
p. 283.

 

 

 

10
Ibid.

 

 

203

kind of sweetness and light of holiness that 11 offered in
Palestine is not found at all in other lands.1

The author maintains that he himself can testify to this fact. As a
mystic, he experienced personally that which he articulated frequently
in word and script, enoasing the intensity of his pious intoxication
in a modern mood. Yet, in his mystic nationalism, he veered clear of
narrow particularistic tendencies. The idea of munificent blessings
to mankind, realized by Israel redeoned, was pivotal in his philosophy.
Kuk's own horizon encircled all of humanity, his heart moved by a gen-
uine love for all nations.
I love all. I cannot help loving individuals, all

peoples. From the bottom of my being I wish the glory

of all, the perfection of all. My love for Israel is

deeper and more glowing, but my inner wish spreads the

might of my love: over all. I do not have to force my-

self to this feeling of love; it issues directly from

the sacred depth of wisdom, from the divine soul.12
And so we have a sense of loyal and dedicated world citizenship emerg-

ing from a powerful but elevated attachment to ethnic aspirations.

Kuk's influence can be traced directly to the philosophy of the
official religious school system. To a lesser, though not inconsequen-
tial degree, it reaches into secular circles. In summation: (a) Re-
ligiously, Kuk attonpted to adapt a two them and year tradition of a
people in exile to the new realities of a nation on its own soil.

The process is far from having run its course as yet. In the integration

of religious heritage and modern life, it called for a ronclding of the

l
Kuk in Jacob B, Agus, op. cit., p. 69.

12
Iuk in Abraham Biok, 32. cit., p. 40.

204

latter and a re-interpretation of the fomer. Thus, in its current
setting, religious authority and free speculation can flourish in
peaceful co-cxistence in a society where there is no marked separation
between Church and States. (b) Kuk's nationalism, onbedded in the
religious situation, is transcending in its universal ramifications and
spiritual overtones, spelling out human love and understanding. (0) From
his mystic piety there emanated a £319: 3.113.1' nourished by a deep
faith that makes for the individaal's dynamic and joyous involvonent
in the process of national reconstruction. The new life in Palestine
becomes a link in the chain of historic continuity in the sense that
the "old is renovated and the new is sanctified." In essence it pro-
vides an antidote to an abrasive secularism, surpassing the latter in

its hunnistic and hunanitarian thrust.

Pm III

205

206

CHAPTER XVII

THE ZIONIST DEBATE -- A SUMMARY

Nineteenth century events in Jewish life paralleled, in an
accelerated pace, four centuries of European developments. The
modern age in Western civilization is marked by religious reformation,
scientific discoveries, geographic expansion, economic reorganization,
rise of secular literature and awakening of national consciousness.
Similarly, but in a quarter of the time that it took Europe to pass
from supposed medieval darkness to the blinding illumination of
modernity, European Jewry, representing quantitatively and qualita-
tively the major cement of a world-wide people, rushed through the
same stages. Religious refons in Gemany was followed by scholarly
research in Jewish history, religion, and institutions; mass emigra-
tion from Eastern EurOpe leading to the onergence of new Jewish centers
in North and South America, South Africa, Australia, and Palestine:
economic transformation from shiftless ghetto economy to advanced com-
merce and labor; growth of a modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature,
press, theatre, and music 3 and a dynamic nationalism directed toward
reconstitution of scattered Jewry on its ancient soil.

The last stage, which culminated in the establishment of the
State of Israel in 1948, initially brought forth creative theoretical
speculations, many of mich crystallized into party platforms and

institutional programs, supplying the ideological foundations for the

207

social and cultural values of existing Israel society and the official
as well as inherent goals of education. The major contributions have
been analyzed in the preceding chapters, consisting of the essential
and influential ideas of twelve political, literary, and scholarly per-
sonalities, selected from the galaxy of Zionist luminaries. The choice
of names for inclusion in this study was made after proper consultations
with acaduic authorities, both in America and Israel.

The Jewish problem as it appeared to Jewish intellectuals in
the period between 1865 and approximately 1925, was seen in political,
economic, psychological, cultural, and religious perspectives. Twelve
men sought a solution, and as in the case of the classic elephant, each
touched a different part of its body under investigation. In retrospect,
none was wrcm g, nor completely right. A subsequent generation of un-
original but practical men, gathered the diversified elonents into an
all-inclusive pattern. Or was it the natural interaction of the processes
of life that formed the synthesis?

In seeking a solution, the fertile minds under consideration were
influenced by their own milieux, under the impact of which, they acquired
insigrts into contemporaneous conditicms, offered appraisals of historic
phenomena, and arrived at formulae for a projected future. Intellectuals
and professionals of Western and Central Europe, breathing the air of
conflict in the political arena and inhaling flie atmosphere of civil
liberties, were uppermost in advocating an autonomous state, taking
its place uong the nations of the world. East European thinkers and
writers, steeped in the indigenous rich culture of conpact Jewish masses

and fearful of the sweeping tide of assimilation inundating the ghetto

 

208

walls of Jewish spiritual isolation, were turning to Zion for possible
reinforcement to bolster the diminishing ranks of cultural creativity.
Searching souls caught in the wave of mass emigration, detached from
the moorings of age-old traditions, but yet without anchor adrift in
the turbulent waters of various isms, were groping for salvation for
their troubled spirits. Deeply religious personalities, ablaze with
the flue of religious fervor, gravitated to the Holy Land, seeking
inspiration. Lost scms returning hme sought renewed meaning in
ancient aspirations. And Palestine was the comon focus, alight in
the different colors of the spectrum, in accordance with each line
of vision.

The spiritual pioneers who planted the seeds, the produce
of which is still hu‘vested in Israel, were as:varied in their
origin as they were in their thinking. They cone from different
countries, were active in even more, wrote in different languages,
and expressed themselves through different genres. Geographically,
two (Hess and Hrsl) were born and raised in Central Europe, while
the others came from areas under Russian domination such as Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and Russia itself. Linguistically, their
Zionist theories were expounded largely in Hebrew (seven); some in-
Gcnsan (three: Hess, Herzl, and Pinsker); Yiddish (two: Syrkin and
Borochcv), and Russian (one: Borochcv). As to their literary classi-
fication, three were novelists (Smolenskin, Berdichevsky, and Brenner).
One was a rabbi (Kuk), and the others were journalists and social

analysts. Their creative writing took place in Israel (four), Russia

209

(three), Austria (two), Germany (one), France (one), and America
(one). Three lived for some time in the United States (Ben Yehuda,
Syrkin, and Borochcv), and five never saw Israel.

What they all shared was a preoccupation with the problons
of the Jewish people, crystallizing in a conviction that the minority
status was at the root of all evil, and that Israel offers the ulti-
mate, if not fire total solution. Much of what they thought and said
has not withstood the test of time. Yet a good deal of their fertile
thought spread forth into blossoms with fragrance firat has not evaporat-
cd from Israel's atmosphere today. We shall attempt in the ensuing
pages to recordthese contributions in value categories operative in
Israel society and related particularly to its educational philosophy.

To grasp the Jewish Problem in its intricacy and entirety,
one must divest himself of American concepts, and enter into the
social and intellectual climate of pro-World War I Europe. Home-
geneous ethnic groups with conmon geographic, historic, linguistic,
ando-to a degree--religious ties, comprised the majority populations
of various nations. In this setting nineteenth century Liberalism
held out the promise of freedom for the individual. Extension of
democratic privileges to fire individml was considered in these
circles to be highly commendable, providing that he operate within
a national religio-cultural setting. Its application to the group
was inconceivable. Thus, pluralism in the American donocratic sense
was, to say the least, unappreciated. Cultural, if not religious

abdication is the price the minority pays for the majority acceptance

210

of its individual members. Characteristic of this attitude is the
statement of one of the leaders of the French Revolution, pleading
for equal rights for Jews: "To Jews as a nation-«nothing; but to

Jews as human beings--everything."

(a) A century after the French Revolution broke the shackles
of medieval subordination of J ewe to inferiority civil status, the
Jewish Problan was no less severe than before. Lnti-Semitism was as
runpant in advanced Western Europe as it was in the retarded Russian
hpire. Jewish separatism in the latter and increasing assimilation
in the fonner, elicited prejudice and animosity. Nothing short of
total dissolution of Jews as a group could eliminate bias and its con-
comitant effects.

Whence this anti-Semitism? Hess regards it as instinct, em-
bedded raee hatred, accentuated by religion and cultural factors.
This biologically rooted racial conflict is characteristic of sane
nations, particularly Germany,--an observation corroborated in the
World liar II era.

Pinsker diagnoses it primarily as a psychosis, ”Judeo-phobia,"
with political and economic ramifications. It is a Platonic hatred
aroused by its abnormal condition of the Jews as a national walking
skeleton mung living peoples reacting with fear and suspicion. The
general distrust of aliens is therefore aggravated by the unnatural

cirsunstances of Israel's survival in the midst of nations.

 

IClaranont-Tonnerre at the National Assembly, 1789.

211

Hess' anthropologic-psychological explanation of anti-Semitism,
and Pinsker's socio—psychological analysis, is followed by Herzl's
political conclusions. Herzl realises it to be not merely religious
intel'erance or social prejudice (as Smolenskin previously believed)
that can be eliminated or at least mitigated by education. It is a
national problan requiring a political solution offered by an awakened
world Opinion.

Syrkin is cognizant of the historic clash of values between
Jew and Gentile, greatly intmsified by the stratification of national
social entities feeding the fires of hostility toward Jews. The enter-
prising spirit of the Jewish entrepreneur runs the gamut from favorable
acceptance to hostile competition in the field of labor, with the Jewish
proletariat inevitably removed from an effective role in the class
struggle antecedent to a new social order.

A Jewish state is therefore the answer for those Jews unable
or unwilling to rmain subject to the scourages of anti-Semitism, what-
ever its origin. Furthermore, the creation and existence of such a
state, renoves the stigna of homelessness (Pinsker) and national in-
feriority status (Ben Yehuda), and serves as a haven of refuge (Herzl)
and econmic safety valve (Syrkin), or strategic base for the class
struggle (Borochcv) in alleviating the pressures--psychological, social,
political, and economic--upon the remaining masses of Jewry in their '

adopted homelands .

(b) Simultaneous with the response to the threat of anti-

Smitiln, thinking Jews were fonnulating an answer to the challenge

212

of assimilation. The Jewish Problem was expressed by other men of
thought, in cultural rather than physical tems. To them it was
essentially a question of how to retain Jewish distinctiveness in
its authentic and creative forms, amidst engulfing confomity. It
was more the revival of Judaism than the survival of Jews, that pre-
occupied them. Acclimated to the political and econanic disadvantage
of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, and consciously moved by an abiding
faith in nineteenth century hopeful liberalism, they beheld appre-
hensively the crunbling walls of an age-old pattern of living, expos-
ing the rising generation to the beckoning breezes of alien cultures.
molenskin at first conceived of a "spiritual nationalism”
differing in kind frdn ethnic nationalism, expressed in spiritual
values (which he did not enuncrate) and acting as a cohesive and pro-
tective factor for Jewish survival. Its channelization into literary
Hebrew was accepted by Achad Ha'am, who defined the permanent values
in modern terms and projected their revitalization in a "Spiritual
Centre" in Palestine, with its resulting centrifugal force penetrating
and unifying scattered Jewry. Ben Yehuda, whose concept of nationalism
was unhestitatingly removed from spiritual considerations, established
in theory and practice the condition of a living Hebrew tongue as a
major force in Jewish unity, providing the linguistic form for the
cultural content fostered by others. Kuk restored to cultural national-
ism and its unorthodox spirituality, the traditional religious frame,
charging it with the ineffable, though nonetheless real power of indi-

vidual, national, and universal salvation. Achad Ha'am hadbonoludedi: that

213

a he thousand year old religious civilization had ceased to operate
effectively as the cementing force of Jewish survival, and is there-
fore to be ranodelled in intellectually more acceptable forms, emanating
from a spiritual power-centre in Palestine. Kuk, without objecting to
the diagnosis, prescribed the conventional diet recharged in increasing
potency through its relocation in Palestine, with its salutary effects
reaching abroad and reinib rcing theretreating tradition against the
onslaught of assimilation.

The common denominator in the secular and religious formula-
tions is one of spiritual rebirth. A Jewish society in Palestine,
flourishing without restriction in a free and favorable climate, will
strike root and produce a living culture of institutions and values,
linked to the past ani operative in the present. The rejuvenated
culture is to be spiritual in character, intellectual in content,

Hebrew in form, national in scope, and universal in focus.

(0) The political and cultural foundations of Zionism, revolv-
ing around the physical and spiritual revival of Jews and Judaism re-
spectively, were complemented by the psychological motives steaming
from a concern for the wholesomeness of the personality of the Jew as
an individual. Keen observers of Jewish life in European "Exile" were
conscious of the emotional pressures, mental aberrations and social
maladjustment of the individual Jew inhaling the infected atmosphere,
partly of his own creation. To than, Palestine was the control situation,
offering therapy for the disturbed Jewish personality. V

Berdichevsky put the blame on a dust-ridden bookish-heritage,

 

214

overladen with pietistic and morali zing cargo. Opening the windows

to Europe, casting off the antiquated yoke of ages, reducing the

ethical overanphasis, responding to the aesthetic in art and life,
preferring brawn to brain,--these were the actual rejections and af-
firmations of Berdichevsky as he envisaged a "nomal" Jewish personality,
restored to its human fonn, as it once flourished in ancient times on
its own soil.

Brenner groped more deeply into the inner pain of the Jewish
soul. He experienced the frustrations of mere existence as a manbsr
of a despised group. He took account of the psychological toll result-
ing from rejection and humiliation in an alien world. He hated the
intellectual sophistry, the moral distortion, the social maladjustment,
the enotional confusion, the economic unproductivity and uprootedness,
adding up to a sick, delinquent Jewish personality, diminished in its
hman dimensions. And a Jewish society in Palestine was the last hope
for any recovery.

A. D. Gordon prescribed the formula for the soothing balm
relieving the ache of pseudo-life in the Diaspora and its juxta-
position in Palestine. A life of labor in the bosom of nature will
open fountains of psychological strength, providing the necessary
therapy for the distuer Jewish soul. The salutary effects of harmony,
security, and fulfillment, with the accruing benefits of character
building, soul enriching and enotionally gratifying experiences will
redeen the individual from the creeping dehunanization paralyzing
his being.

215

The individual motif in Zionism, inoisively introspective
in focus and pragnatically oriented in fonnula, blended with the
political program and cultural theme in an all-embracing challenge
of Jewish redemption. Palestine was to become the social laboratory
for renewed and emerging values operative in fine social, economic,
and psychological realms.2 Let us define these attitudes crystallized
in the modern Israel milieu3 as they relate to vital issues in Jewish
life, tracing their origin anong the authoritative thinkers under
analysis in this thesis. Subsequent to the enumeration of these at-
titudes in the ensuing summation, I shall attempt in the following
chapter to establish their existence, or at least their normative
espousal in the educational philosophy of the State of Israel, as

reflected in official documentation.4

(a) In the hierarchy of social values in regards to the

pursuit of a livelihood, physical labor occupies an =exaItedi position.

 

z .

”A new face, thank God, to the Jewish community. . . . Only
then will Zion be Zion."

Theodore Herzl in Old-New Land, op. cit.

”Zionism offered a totally new scope beyond the borders of
village, province and country. . . . It discovered and developed the
Land-of-Israel-man whose deliberations and powers were directed toward
change in the general situation. . . . It brought forth in the open
the Jewish personality embracing nation and world."

Berl Katznelscn, Davar, (daily) in Hebrew, Tel Aviv, Nov. 3, 1941.

3". . . they set out defiantly and enthusiastically to turn them-
selves into manual laborers instead of city-dwellers, into producers in-
stead of middlanen, into agriculturists instead of financiers, into war-
riors instead of shopkeepers. . . ." ‘

Arnold J. Toynbee, A Stud of Histor , abridgcment of volunes
VII-x, (New York: Oxford Universigy—Fress, [557), p. 178.

4Chapter IV contains a general preliminary discussion of the
major Zionist pranises.

216

The Marxist, Borochcv, accepts it as economic necessity but was can-
pelled to place a higher preniun on heavy industry because of its
potential role in the class struggle. Gordon glorified labor, elevat-
ing it to a religion. In the life of labor the spiritual powers of man
are released as he related himself to the cones, society and self.
Brenner perceived in physical work a preventative and elixir for the
ills of mind and psyche of the modern Jew.

Lifting physical work from its humble footstool to the seat
of glory was a philosOphical proposition bolstered by political and
econanic necessity, making for balanced occupational differentiation
in Israel economy. Menial work and its technical and specialized
Operation enjoys status above ”white collar" and commercial employment
in reverse to the scale of merit in vogue for ages. That this is
nourished by the pioneer spirit of idealism, needs no elaboration. It
is consciously cultivated by the highest echelon, as demonstrated by
Pranier Ben Gurion's literal return to the plough after (what turned

out to be tanporary) retirement from office in 1954.

(b) In advocating the importance of ”productive" labor,
Zionism set a praniun on agriculture as the most desirable. Brenner,
and specifically Gordon, rhapsodized over rural life. an! farming as a
livelihood. Urbanization was largely at fault for many of the problans
of the Jews, spiritual and economic, social and psychological. Recon-
stitution of a segnent cf Jewry in Palestine into an agricultural class
was a political necessity, an economic requiranent, and a spiritual in-

dispensability. Decades of such orientation have effected a situation

217

where youth of the highest calibre, morally and intellectually, have
turned to pioneer fanning in fulfillment of aspirations toward service

and OIl‘OOI'e

(c) Proletarianization and agrarianizaticn of merchants and

professionals are inseparable from social idealism and gcperimentation

 

with national rmnifications. Hess had related Jewish national revival
to the revolutionary movements of the age, envisaging a society built
on Socialist foundations including specifically land nationalization.
Thus, the Jewish National Fund which was organized in 1901 as the land
purchasing agency of the Zionist movenent, financed chiefly by small
subscriptions throughout the world, continues to hold title to large
cultivated industrialized and settled areas in Israel. Herzl conten-
plated a seven hour work-day as exemplifying social progress. Achad
Ha'am made social justice the cornerstone of his philosophical structure.
Syrkin bridged the gap between Zionism and Socialias, hoping for a new
society in Palestine on Socialistic foundations. Borochcv projected a
Oanmunist society. Gordon identified himself with the Kibbutz movanent,
consisting mostly of rural settlenents operating on the local communis-
tic principle of collective ownership of property and consuner goods,
combined with bold experimentation in group living. Brenner is still
regarded as founder of ihe Histadrut, the general labor federation of
Israel. And Rabbi Kuk surprised the Orthodox world in offering religious
sanction for workers' strikes.

What the diverse pro grams share is a detemination to build a

new society free from fire economic ills of European economy. They all

218

aim toward economic reorganization without exploitation of labor. The
formulators of various platforms draw frcn the ethical gospel of the
Prophpts, the social ideals of the Jewish code of law, idealistic
liberalism and contemporary Socialism.

Within this ideological context, and as a result of local
historical conditions (including the fact that labor and mtional col-
lective enterprise preceded private capital) Israel is partly'a planned
economy, controlled by organi zed labor with a collectivist sector
largely in agriculture. Social consciousness is very keen, the labor
movenent in particular being imbued with a sense of mission beyond
its trade union interests. Social idealian, in econanic terms, is
more than altruistic behavior for the elite; it is a national trait
cultivated and superimposeduwith both the positive and negative icon-

notations of the latter term—on an merging economy.

(d) Israel, which came into being through the combined

efforts of Jews in. Palestine and abroad, is inexorably bound to the

 

far-flung Jewish settlements throughout the world. On the one hand,
it looks beyond for continued support of the nascent State, for a
favorable politic al climate, increased economic aid and investment,
am augmented and untapped sources of immigration. For export, ass
Achad Ha'am envisaged, are cultural values to accent the unity and
retain the integrity of the other eleven million members of the ease
people, dispersed around the globe. While Achad Ha'am was concerned

with Israel-inspired content of historical continuity and contemporary

219

validity in binding Jews together, Ben Yehuda looked to the £933 of a
revived Hebrew tongue for the bond among scattered members of one
people. In the final analysis, Jewish life of the future was to appear
as a wheel with Israel as the hub and the Diaspora as the encircling
rim, with linking spokes to keep it in rotation. The functions may not
be equal, with the periphery more subject to outer pressure and dents
than the center; but the unity of the whole must be maintained for the
wheel to remain in motion.

In such a conception, the Israeli recognizes the partnership--
though junior partnership-"of the Diaspora Jew in the national revival.
The plethora of benefits anerging in the reassanbled Jewish nation on
its own soil, values which are universal and ethical (Hess and Achad
Ha'ua), national and linguistic (Ben Yehuda), psychological (Brenner),
introspectively spiritual (Gordon), religious (Kuk), and aesthetic
(Berdichevsky),--are to be shared to a lesser degree by Jews everywhere.
Herzl visualized political legal advantages, and Pinsker had projected
improved social status for Jews residing outside of Palestine after
the state was to come into being.

. Affirmation of extra-territorial Judaism, as a challenge and
a comparatively lesser but still undeniable opportunity, is balanced
by a negation of Diaspora Judaism. Herzl had conceded, without protest,
the deliberate disengaganent fran Jewish identification of elements
choosing to renain permanently outside of the rebuilt homeland. The
traditional definition of Diaspora life as a divine punishment for

national misconduct in ancient days, is reinterpreted by Brenner as

 

220

sinful existence per se, falling short of hunan measurements. Others,
applying various criteria, find it inadequate or inferior by nonns of
civilized taste and modern standards (Berdichevsky), without the
potentiality for spiritual enrichment of personality (Gordon), with
diminishing material resources and unbalanced unproductive economy
(Syrkin and Borochcv), politically unprotected (Herzl), socially
husiliated (Pinsker), and divinely impoverished (Kuk). Under such
conditions, the Israeli can respond to the Diaspora Jew either through
myopic vision or with the jaundiced eye of upbraiding criticism and
invidious comparison.

The two views of exile—shackles of captivity or rearguard
of advancing colunns--oreate not an ambivalence but a dichotomy of
attitude toward the non-Israeli Jew. Alternately, these reactions
harmonise in bolstm-ing the inner security of the Israelis as they

face the uncertainties of unrelenting military and economic threats.

(e) The modern Jew has had to re-examine his attitude toward
the Gentile. With the transfer from a minority status of weakness to
a majority status of power, the normalization of Jewish life required
a clarification of relationship to the world at large. What is at
stake as a result of such deliberations is not only an attitude re-
flected in policies toward others 3 it involves frequently revaluation
of oneself.

The selection of Israel is a theological concept which permeates

the secularized circles of modern Israel as well. Israel of the past

 

221

was chosen by God to be "a light unto the nations." Israel today is
to fulfill.its destiny by exemplified leadership of a new society
founded on and guided by social justice. Jewish nationalism was to
embrace mankind in its ethical message and social experimentation.
Hess prephesied the spiritual possibilities of Jewish revival, claim-
ing a nationalism that went hand in hand with humanitarianism. Herzl
harbored more modest aspirations of social legislation. Achad Ha'am
dreamt of the "spirit of Judaism" creating a utopian society, while
Syrkin aspired toward Socialism that shall come forth out of Zion.
"The cultural Zionists preached the erection of a cultural center

in Zion as a great service to humanity at large."5 Gordon entertained
the vision of the New Man, and Kuk saw him sanctified in the prophetic
role of serving mankind.

Israel may have been to Herzl a haven of refuge from EurOpean
persecution, but it was no escape from European civilization. To
avoid the economic and social maladies of EurOpean capitalism was one
thing; to reject'Western culture was something else. Israel, geogra-
phically in Asia, was to remain spiritually in'Western EurOpe, adapt-
ing what is best in Western civilization to its own needs. Achad
Ha'am objected to Europe's invasion of Jewry's Spiritual domain. He
recommended emulation instead of assimilation as a positive cultural

process, fraught with great benefit. Israel society was to be modern

 

5Baron Salo W. in Great A as and Ideas of the Jewish People,
Leo W. Schwartz, ed., (New York: HandEfi’House,_I9567, p. 53h.

 

 

222

in form but Jewish in character, taking its place beside the societies
of man. This was the conservative agarcach of an authoritative spokes-
man for the Jewish revolution.
The radical sector, led by Berdichevsky, felt differently. If
two thousand years of Jewish life were a tragic error, nothing short
of plastic surgery will accomplish the transfonnation. Jewish society
is to be Weeern in character, modern in form, Jewish in constitution.
As against Achad Ha'am's Jewish ethics, he raised the banner of Greek
aesthetics. Art, music, and drama, unencumbered by historical baggage,
will flourish with Hebrew as the vehicle—s nation like all nations.
Time has healed the breach between the ideologies in conflict.
A sense of mission inspires men and women engaged in establishing a
society founded on social idealism, supported by historical values and
elevated by cultural interests. Simultaneously, a desire for normali—
zation of life in the free development of a culture liberated from the
chains or the challenges of obligation, characterizes the evolving
pattern of Israel values and institutions. Perhaps the Israeli desires
neither to resent the Gentile nor adulate him: he just wants to live in

a world big enough for both of then.

(f) The role of religion in Israel is a controversial issue,
unattenuated even while other problems are reduced in intensity, as a
people deepens its stakes in a new land. The relationship of Synagogue
and State is a source of controversy in government, society and educa-

tion. For the first time in millenia, Judaism is the religion of the

governing majority, faced with the opportunity and difficulty of
translating a hitherto academic code of law into daily reality. An
ambitious all-inclusive jurisprudence, embracing ritual, econanic
and social behavior-mas the Jewish code of law virtually attempts--
is unprepared for the exigencies and contingencies of a self-govern-
ing society disposed to secularization.

At this juncture, it is important to explain the relation-
ship of Zionist philosophy to traditional Judaism. Nourished by
the spiritual heritage of national romanticism, historic messianism,
and ethical consciousness, the Zionist movement nevertheless repre-
sented a revolt against religious authority and existing pattern of
institutions and values. In rebelling against the passive resistance
to the pressures of the Diaspora, it espoused norms deviating from
religiously sanctioned standards.

Freedom or the quest for it, is an expanding process diffused
from the political and economic to the religious. This is true not
only of ”pagan" Berdichevsky and critical Brenner, but holds as well
for the spiritual-center minded Achad Ha'an. The latter, in his de-
votion to the ethics of Jewish religion and history, never accepted
the binding ritual of Judaism with its discipline regulating the
individual, family, and group, in all their diversified relations of
living. Already the mystic Hess hinted at religious revisions
necessary to a revitalization of Judaism when Jewry return to Pales- '

tine. The leading Orthodox spokesman of Zionism, Chief Rabbi Kuk,

223

was alone among religious authorities to attempt even cautiously the ad-

aptation of religious law to the needs of contenporary Palestine.

 

 

224

The founding fathers of the State of Israel expediently retained the

status guo inherited from the British regime, in the governnent

 

recognised but autonomous Jewish religious courts (also Mohammedan
and Christian}, controlling marriage, divorce, Sabbath laws, and re-
lated matters. Religious political parties (four in nunber, recently
reduced to three) jealously guard this system and aim for its expan-
sion. Articulate secular forces are aided by the unfavorable reaction
to the combination of politics and religion, in advocating complete
separation of Church and State. The historic synonymity of Jews as a
people with Judaism as a religion, makes such severance problematic
if not enignatic, pointing out once again the difficulty of applying
an Anerican standard (regarding Church and State) to Israel realities.6
The dichotomy of authoritarian religion and rampant secularism
is, in the final analysis, indicative of a society in formation as a
cultural lag follows technological and social acceleration. The anti-
thesis of religion versus secularien gves way to processes of co-ex—
istence ultimately leading to synthesis. These pangs of growth will
cease if Israel is to fulfill its destiny. Already searching souls
among its intellectuals and educators are groping for a more spiritual
orientation and religious content. The public school curriculum
beginning with the 1957-8 acadanic year has been enriched with a "Jewish
consciousness” program of instruction in ritual and religious institu-

tions. That this innovation is more in keeping with Smolenskin's and

 

6Jewish communities outside of Israel are not beset by the some

problem since their minority status makes the bulk of religious juris-
prudence legally inoperative and compels religious identification as the
only fem of Jewish expression. Secular Jewish life once flourishing in
Eastern Europe, is virtually disappearing in the Western danocracies.

225

Achad Ha'am's positive affirmation of tradition than with the yoke-break-
ing aspirations of Berdichevsky, Brenner, and Ben Yehuda, is quite obvious.
In time, overtures from the religious camp will eliminate the tension and

pave the way for a genuine religious revival.

(g) The ethnic penchant for matters of the 9.13251. has been pre-
served in Israel, though not without considerable redirection. The Zionist
preoccupation with productivization of Jewish masses in industry (Borochcv)
and agriculture (Gordon) was directed Tmor. against commercial and
clerical employment than against intellectual pursuits. Herzl, however,
felt that there was an overabundance of "intellectual mediocrities"
within the Jewish group. Personages such as Brenner, exerting a power-
ful influence in pioneer quarters in Palestine, were dcrisively hostile
to Jewish intelligentsia in its over-intellectualism, economic uprooted-
ness, and psychological maladjustment. Berdichevsky envisaged the robust
farmer and laborer leading a healthy satisfied life unaffected by intel-
lectual and moral sophistication.

If the English speaking world created the gentleman-farmer
prototype, Israel evolved the student-farmer who combines tilling of
the soil with study of the book. He is imbued with a sense of mission,
serving in the vanguard of a people on the march. Achad Ha'am's dis-
ciple Weinnann (who later becme the first President of Israel) was in-‘
strumental in establishing the Hebrew University in J erusalan (1925)
dedicated to the futherance of Jewish scholarship, social studies, and
science. This was undertaken at a time when such a project appeared a

premature luxury.

 

 

226

Israel socio-philcsophioal and educational norms blend the
intellectual tradition of historical Judaism with the practical,
physical, and technological needs of a rehabilitated Jewry. They
bring together the moral values of the past along with the aesthetic
interests of the present. The previously mentioned splinter groups
of the religious authoritarian.(Neturai H3532) and.the isolationist
libertarian (Canaanite) may advance their own uncompromising plat-
forms. However, what is generally accepted and officially advocated,
reflected in the methods and goals of education, suggest a balance
between.lfind.and.Body, intellectual and practical, moral and aesthe-
tic. Ccmparatively new to the Jewish scene are phenomena such as
physical education, competitive sports, extensive agricultural,
scientific, and.meohanical training, and art schools. These are
essentially, though not exclusively, products of the Zionist revolu-
tion.plotted by the creative visionaries comprising the galaxy of

personages, presented in this thesis.

227

CHAPTER XVIII

LEGISLATION AND CURRICULUM

A

The concluding chapter of this thesis is devoted to an
examination of the curriculum of Israel schools, to determine the
extent to vhich the Jewish and universal values analysed in this
study are incorporated in the goals and content of the educational
program. Before pursuing the investigation, it might prove desirable
at this stage to record some introductory notations:
l. The official curriculun and related literature under perusal are
necessarily those dealing with education in the Jewish cousnunity
which canprises about ninety per cent of the total population. The
curriculun of the Arab and other minority schools cannot be predicated
on the religious and cultural foundations of the Jewish group, and is
consequently not included in this study.
2. The unified public school systen was established by the State
Education Law of 1958, introducing central government authority in
place of the ”trend" system in operation for many decades under the
auspices of ideological political groupings. Consequently, there is
a comparative paucity of literature on the subject of the goals and
methods of Israel's state education. At present there is an official
curriculum published in two volunes for the elementary school, and

"Suggestions for a High School Curricullml,” serving as primary references

228

for this chapter. They are designed for both of the school systems
under government auspices--the "general” and the "religious"-with
required curricular cmendations for each. All quotations from the
ourriculun are my own rendit ion into English from the Hebrew original,
and are largely taken from the "general” curriculum, it being under-
stood that the page by page accompanying "religious" program offers
ritualistic and theological augmentation to the ”general“ curriculum.
3. The material here presented is based on additional guidance and
information procured directly from the Ministry of Education in J eru-
salem and in conference with educators, principals and teachers, dur-
ing my six week visit to Israel in the sunmer of 1958. A nunber of
important details in the preceding chapters have been altered to con-

form with these personal findings.

B
A sunmary of the educational philosophy upon which the Israel
school system is founded is offered in the State Education Law of
1965, defining the goals of Israel education as follows:

. The object of State education is to base elementary education
in the State on values of Jewish culture and the achiev-emts of
science, on love of the homeland and loyalty to the State and the
Jewish people, on practice in agricultural work and handicraft,
on chalutsic (pioneer) training, and on striving for a society

built on friedom, equality, tolerance, mutual assistance and love
of mankind.

Noticeable immediately are concepts that can be traced to the

original thought of acne of the Zionist theoreticians discussed in this

 

1 .

The ”State Education Law" 5713-1953. Passed by the Knesset
August 12, 1953. Book 23 Laws, in Hebrew, No. 151 of the 9th Elul,
5713 (August 20, 1953), p. 13'7.

229

thesis. This skeleton formulation can only suggest terminological
affinity with the conceptual relationship to be denonstrated in ap-
proaching the details of the actual curriculum

The "values of Jewish culture,” in phraseclogy and content,
are derived fran Achad Ha'am who conceived of values of Jewish culture,
literary, historical, humanitarian and ethical.

'Achievanents of science,” comprising scientific data and
technological information as applied in the method of instruction and
unbraced in its subject matter, may also indicate an appreciation of
the valuational ramifications of scientific achievements, in the spirit
of modernism advocated by Berdichevsky.

"Love of homeland" and "loyalty to the State” are goals that
are generally acknowledged in national education elsewhere, and there-
fore require no further elucidation. The same does not apply to
”loyalty to the Jewish people” in addition to "loyalty to the State,"
implying the concept of an extra-territorial Jewish people beyond the
borders of Israel-~a pivotal concept in the philosophy of all Zionist
thinkers, representative prharily of Hess, Smolenskin, Achad Ha'mn
and Rabbi Kuk in their deliberation on the nature of the Jewish people
in its historic and geographic dimensions.

"Practice in agricultural work and handicraft” suggests a return
to "productive” labor advocated by Gordon and Brenner, to replace the
economic pursuits of the Jewish middleman in Europe.

"Pioneer training" denotes the inspired and new Jewish type

emerging in Israel, dedicated by personal example to the resettlement

 

 

230

of the land and the revival of the people, as Gordon envisaged and
Syrkin and Borochcv planned. '

”A society built on freedom, equality, tolerance" reflects
Ehrsl's-aspiraticns for a Jewish State, uninfected by European social
maladies, enjoying political freedom, economic equality and religious
tolerance.

”Mutual assistance” can be linked to Hess's reformulation of
prophetic ideals, Gordon's collectivist and Syrkin and Boroohov's
socialist aspirations. "Equality" as an econanic term is also related
to the Socialism.and Marxism.of the latter two, respectively.

"Love of mankind” strikes a universal note above and beyond
national ties, adumbrated by Berdichevsky and articulated by Rabbi
Kuk.

These interpretations, though arbitrary and fragnentary on
the surface, are'valid within the historiccontext of Israel's ideolo-
gical framework, and verified; by the existing curriculum of the public
schools. The values incorporated in the quoted official statement and
implemented in the curriculum,--universal, cultural (including linguis-
tic), sooial, economic, psychological and religious--constitute a com-
prehensive philosophy of education, echoing the spiritual challenges of
the fathers of Zionism.and.fi1eir coteries in Israel society and education
for half a century. It should be further noted that this educational
platform was not legislated by'a majority political party in power, but
by a broad coalition of parties, with the approval of all sectors in

Israel's parliament, except for the numerically insignificant at both

231

political extremities.
Another iten of educational legislation was approved by parlia-
ment in November, 1955 in the form of a resolution that reads as follows:
The Government will see to it that Jewish consciousness
be emphasised througlout elementary, secondary and higher
schooling. That the Israeli youth be steeped in the past
of the Jewish people and in its historic heritage; that his
moral affiliation with world Jewry be strengthened through
greater realisation of the cornea destiny and historic con-
tinuity which binds Jews all over the world and throughout
generations. ~
The "Jewish Consciousness" program, encompassing subject matter,
teaching methods, and extra-curricular activities, marks a return to the
spiritual religious exposition of Zionism. To be steeped in the past of
the Jewish people and its "historic heritage" was the goal of Rabbi Kuk.
"Moral affiliation with world Jewry" was taught by Achad Ha 'am. "Canmon
destiny and historic continuity" in the prophetic sense and spiritual
charge, was preached by Hess. The attempt at conscious identification
of the new Israel generation within the historic structure and geogra-
phic dispersion of the Jewish people in counter-distinction to the
separatist‘lo tendencies in some sectors of Israel society, represents
a return to the mainstream of Jewish national thought traversed by
most of the leading exponents of the Jewish national revival, without
negating the contributions of the more radical pioneer thinkers engaged

in grafting new ideas on the Jewish weltanschaaung.

C

The elenentary school curriculum issued at the end of 1954

 

2
Proceedings of The Kresset, vol. XIX, in Hebrew, "The Constitution
and Program of the New Government," pp. 243-288.

252

contains a preface by the then Minister of Edm ation with some interest-
ing observations on the aims of education and their underlying philosophy.
Referring to the aforementioned "State Education Law,” he declares:
The curriculum must faithfully express these goals and

the ways of attaining than. Everything taught in the school

should aid the pupil in acquiring these values, prepare for

his inner absorption of then, and their anergence as a moti-

vating factor in the crystallization of his person through a

process of thought and a ww of life. Neither the curriculum

nor the school should contain anything in conflict with these
goals.

The accompanying volume of curriculum detail spells it out in the class-
room situation. The philosophical frame of reference is herein evident
and not only implied, actually implementing that which has been proclaimed.

The basis for the curriculum is .the "educational experience of
the Jewish school in Israel . . . and the diaspora from the beginning
of the (modern) Hebrew school to the present day." Thus the philosophy
of State education is considerably older than the State itself, evolved
in the Jewish school as it came under the influence of Zionist ideology
in Israel and abroad during the first half of the nineteenth century
in the formative years of Jewish nationalism.

In listing the subjects, the introductory statement makes re-
ference to gardening as an integral part of the school curriculum, re-
lated to ”homeland and nature studies.“ Agricultural training is lifted
from its occupational and activity setting and placed within the value
context of student achievement in the area of "homeland" subject matter.

The stressing of agriculture throughout eight grades and its orientation,

. 3Curriculum: _f_o_1_' the elementary school, State, and State-
reli ous (JerusaTIEn: Government Printing Fresh-November 1954), in
ebrew.

 

 

 

 

 

233

bespeaks an acceptance of the ideals of labor and nature evolved by
Gordon. "Obviously we are to foster not only work skill, but also a
positive attitude to labor, its love, accuracy and resposibility."

To impart a wholesome attitude to war]: in the prevailing spirit of
modern Israel, pupils are encouraged to engage in independent study
canparable to the project method and activity program of the American
schools. But whereas in American.education this is essentially a sound
pedagogic technique for increasing learning efficiency, Israel educa-
tors invest these means with end value related to the philosophical
outlook.

The preface attaches special significance to the stuch' of
literature in cultivating and refining the aesthetic sense, drawing
from the gathered fountains of "Jewish thought from generation to
generation" and benefitting directly from creations of’modern Hebrew
literature. The latter are rich with meaning for young people, serv-
:ing to ”identify young people with specific aspects in the development
of the vision and fulfillment of our national revival."5 Such ambitions
reveal a concern for the aesthetic reniniscent of Berdichevsky, an em-
phasis upon the accumulated heritage of ages demanded by Achad.Ha'sm,
and.an acute awareness of'the long-yearnedvfor and hard-fought-for
:national independence inspired by Theodore Herzl.

The area of citizenship training again points to particular

 

‘Ibide' Po XIII e

51bid., p. H.

concepts indigenous to Israel society. The stated goals are ”brother-

hood of Israel, love of hunanity, mutual aid, equality and tolerance."6

"Education for ingathering of exiles” supplies practical realities for
translating these concepts. These worthy ends are fraught with parti-
cular meaning in the framework of Israel ideas and history. ”Mutual
aid" is not a voluntary act of kindness but conotes sooio-economic
theory unbracing ideas of welfare state, labor unions, national owner-
ship of natural resources ,--the ideational genealogy traceable to
Borochcv, Syrkin and Gordon. "Ingathering of exiles“ is a traditional
aesehatological concept reiterated by Herzl and Rabbi Kuk.

Virtually all subjects are viewed in the perspective of a
natio nal revival cl'a rged with the function of involving the pupil in
the noble task of Nation and State reconstruction. Education is seen
as the invaluable tool of the State in imparting ideals deigned to
root the children of an immigrant generation in the regained ancient
soil. Most subjects are organised inva manner that fill

make it possible to transmit to the students the entire
chapter of our striving for the reconstruction of our
people and the reformation of our lives. Let than relive
the epic of courage and heroism in our struggle for in-
dependence. These are decisive factors in educating the

man in Israel .7

This is education for emotional identification, intellectual

canprehension,and overt participation in the realisation of a messianic

dream, through socio-economic, cultural and spiritual redirection. A

 

6
Ibide. pe XIV.

7
Ibide' Po X1.

234

235

philosophy of education based on these pranis es must look beyond sub-
ject matter to to total personality and the social order. Since the

essential aim of education is the development of the whole

man in these values of culture and society, of the ethical

and the spiritual, . . . it is necessary for the curriculum

to be viewed as a unity, the organized pattern of a national

spiritual heritage to be passed on by the teachersé the

guardians of the State, to the growing generation.
Instruction is geared toward "transfer of acadenic achievement to per-
sonalised values" so that the ideals of Israel today (as discussed in
this thesis and enumerated in the State Education Law) are creatively
immured in the personality of the student.

The spiritual foundations and present orientation of Israel ’
education is formulated by the minister of education in the volune
under examination, in phraseclog reminiscent of and selected from
the utterances of Zionist ideologists.

The time history has alloted to us is not very much. We
We must therefore strive and work with the greatest speed and
maximun intensity toward the great charges placed upon us: to
be a working and creative people living on its own labor and
creating by means of it; to be a free people in its own country
capable of living in freedom and independence and defending it
with courage and understanding-«to be worthy of the name of
Israel, gathering in its scattered sons and continuing with its
magnificent cultuge pattern . . . in preparation for the redanp—
tion of tancrrcw.

A subject by subject examination of the elunentary school our--
riculum reveals to what extent the official pronouncements of educators

are prescribed in the classroom situation. A sampling of subjects with

relevance to our analysis is hereby offered, listing infeach case some

 

8
Ibid., p. XII.

9
Ibid., p. XIV.

236

of the specified goals and enumerating pertinent details of instructional

content and methodology.

8. BiblOe

The aim of Bible study is to transmit to pupils the funda-
mental values of Judaism, . . . the prophetic vision of the
future for Israel and mankind, and to transplant in their
hearts the striving for implementing these ideals in their own
lives. . . . To imbue them with the love of the homeland . . .
which gave birth to the Bible, and love for people which created
it. . . . To foster an appreciation of the literary and aesthe-
tic valves of the Bible. . . . To implant awareness of the ori-
ginal majesty of adiress, style an? language in order to exert
an influence on their own speech. 0

Bible study averages five hours a week of a total of thirty-
. one in the general school, and more in the religious school. Its in-
structional goals appear to be spiritual, national, aesthetic and
linguistic. This linking of the universal and spiritual values of the
Bible to the national genius of the Jewish people in non-theological
terminology is a cornerstone of Achad Ha'sm's intellectual structure.
The more theological aspects of this relationship have previously been
fomulated by Hess and Smolenskin. Concern for the aesthetic content
of the Bible emanates from Berdichevsky. Its utilisation for enrich-
ing the Hebrew vocabulary and express ion of the student, is the direct
result of Ben Yehuda's singular and successful dedication to the rein-
troduction of Hebrew as the living language of modern Israel. The
blending of patriotic and universal themes—spiritual, psychological

and pragnatic motives--in and by means of Bible instruction, is repre-

sentative of the integration of religious, political, psychological

 

10'
Ibide, pe XV.

23?

and social ideas achieved in Israel society, drawing upon the diversified
though not contradictory theories of the founding fathers of Zionimn.
Illustrative of this is the curriculum of the eighth grade listing among
the Bible topics -

The destiny of Israel as a unique people possessing righteous
laws, . . . an example to other nations.

Recognizing the social and ethical concepts of the Bible ex-
pressing the spirit of idealism in the Jewish people.

The ethical laws of the Bible as a foundation for moral be-
havior and social justice, personal security and universal peace.

In addition, considerable attention is directed to Biblical

legislation on agrarian equalitarianism and personal freedoms.

b. Language.

Among the various aims of language study there is included
”the fostering of loyalty to the Hebrew language and the desire to
aid in its development, enrichment and domination over the entire
people."12

Thougm Hebrew is the spoken language in Israel, it still cannot
enjoy the privilege of unchallenged status without additional exhorte-
ticn and deliberate propagandi zing among the multitudes from abroad who
bring with than their own languages. What Ben Yehuda began at the turn
of the century must still be consciously pursued if Hebrew is to flourish

as the chief median for Israel civilisation. The native tongue, taken

 

11
Ibide' p. 161s

12
Ibid., p. XVII.

238

for granted elsewhere, must of necessity be assiduously bolstered in
Israel. An appeal to patriotic sentiment and inculcation of an at-

tachment to the Hebrew language begins in the elenentary school.

' 0. History.

The aims of history study include
to impart the knowledge that our people, the smallest among
nations, in two thousand years of exile, preserved its re-
ligion, institutions and ideas without succumbing to the
culture of large nations and‘without ceasing to maintain its
unity throughout its dispersion. . . .

to impart love for the noble spiritual values of our people
and to awaken the desire for acting accordingly.

In both instances, Achad Ha'sm's philosophy of Jewish history

and destiny is evident. The goals further enumerate those concepts

operative in historical Jewish experience which contributed to survival
in the face of overwhelming odds. Among these life-saving attributes
are listed: prophetic universal messianism (pervading the writings
of Hess), the tradition of mass scholarship (Smolenskin), a unified
ritual and a sense of Jewish destiny (Achad Ha'am and Kuk), the bond
with the land of Israel and faith in ultimate return to it (Ben Yehuda).
Lest there be doubts about the historic intellectual roots of

current educational goals, the outline unequivocally incorporates the
aim of '

fostering the recognition that the establishment of the State

of Israel is the product of the yearning and loyalty of gene-

rations and the result of the efforts of the great pioneer
movqnant in the three generations of the era of revival.

 

13 ,
Ibide, p.XYII.

14
Ibide' P&XVIIIO

239

Listed among the accomplishments of the Zionist movenent in

the study outline are

rebuilding of the land, ingathering of the exiles, revival

of Hebrew language, flourishing of Hebrew culture, return

to a life of productivfslabor and engaging in physical de-

fense of the homeland.
These are all present realities which were individually launched as
new ideas by the architects of Zionist ideologies. The ideals of the
pioneer generation are still potent forces in Israel consciousness,
worthy of dedication by Israel youth. Alongside of these nationalis-
tic aims there is the stipulation that Jewish history is to teach

an appreciation of the partnership of nations and the recip-
rocal influences in the positive elements of cultures.

impart an attitude of tolerance toward other nations, and
instruct in the importance of intermtional bodies .15

Both elenents, the national and universal, are aptly developed
in the outline of study, as for example in the seventh grade topic list:
The rise of young mtions and new states in Europe and
Western Asia after the disintegration of the Western world.
. . . The feudal system and the beginning of cities

combined with
The resurgence of the hope for redemption and messianic

aspirations as a result of the Crusade persecutions and the
efforts of sages in preparing the people for redemption.”

(1. Homeland.
The unusual circumstances of Israel coming into being, together

with the fact that the overwhelming majority of the residents are of re-

 

15Ibid.

16
Ibid.

1?
Ibid., p. 12?.

240

cent immigration, require unrelenting harping upon the patriotic theme.
The curriculum lists "homeland" as a separate entity, organised as an
independent subject in the first five grades and combined with geography
in the upper three. Enemination of the goals and instructional topics
conveys the theological tendentiousness of informational subject matter
normally classified under ”geography.” Thus it is explicitly proclaimed
that the goal is

to root the pupils in the Land of Israel, the land of our
fathers and birthplace of’the Hebrew people, where, after
two thousand years of exile, the State of Israel has been
revived and continues to serve as the object of yearning
and aspiration for the entire Jewish people wherever it is
found; to transmit information on its landscape and climate
. . . the social and occupational structure of its inhabi-
tants in all branches of agriculture and industry, . . .

and the recognition that it is our natural habitat, the
basis for national cultural creativity in its spiritual and
material manifestations; to implant within their hearts love
for the homeland, the will to guard it and work in it . . .
and improve it; to foster loyalty to the State and readiness
to defend it at all costs.

Knowledge of the homeland is obtained by the pupils
through organized outings in the environs and observation
of the surroundings, . . . visiting agricultural settlements
and observing their life and livelihood, . . . through stories
of early immigration of the life of the first settlers and
their hardships in conquering the desert.18
Though the logical affinity of ideas may not establish a
historically related sequence, it may not be irrelevant to call at-
tention to Ben Yehuda's patriotic sealousness for national territorial
aspirations, having provided.intellectual and.1iterary precedents con-

tributing to current orientation evidenced in the quotation above.

The borders have been widened so that love for homeland is to embrace

 

18
Ibide’ pe XIX.

241

attachment to ideals of labor, nature, defense and other values embedded
in the mosaic of the people's return to its homeland.

In the teaching of "geography," listed as another subject, similar
values are conveyed. Gordon's influence is quite marked in a stated pur-
pose which reads:

To bring about an understanding that the earth is the
most important source of livelihood for man, and that it
responds to the one who toils and labors and guards it,
supplying him with its abundance.19

Obviously this reflects econanic and philosophic theory representa-
tive of the thinking of the pioneer generation. This is further
developed in the topics of grade six: .

Information on man's efforts to adjust to geographic
conditions and improve his lot and that of society by
intensive agriculture, exploitation of natural resources
. . . and recognition that the earth provides abundantly
for him who toils in it.20

Here is terminology borrowed from Gordon's writings. Following this
is an example of Berdichevsky's universalism, well phrased by the
second goal, stating:

To implant in their hearts the recognition that all men
on the face of the globe are of common descentzthat the members
of the various nations and countries differ from each other
only by their language and outer forms of living but not in
fundamental physical and spiritual endowments 3 that the unin-
terrupted progress in economic and spiritual factors of living,
increases the interdependence of nations, the need for mutual
aid, and the necessity for cooperation based on reciprocal un-
derstanding and peaceful relations.21

 

19
Ibide. p. no

20
Ibide. Po 87a

21
Ibide. pa XX.

242

The internationalism of Borochcv is apparent in this reference.
The study outline, striking against any form of isolationisn, spells
out international interdependence in toms of 'cos’ununication, commerce,

22
science and culture," reminiscent of Herzl's utopian cogitations.

a. Nature and Agriculture.

The Department of Education of the Israel Government has esti-
mated that 21.3% of the instruction time in the elanentary school is
devoted to agriculture and work activity.23 Such a high percentage does
not denote a vocational anphasis but rather a philosophical attitude to
physical work generally and agriculture particularly.

Brenner had attributed a parasitic existence to East European
Jewry and advocated a reorientation toward "productive" physical labor.
Gordon experienced the salutary effect of contact with nature, and
stressed agriculture as the ideal occupation not to be denied in some
form even to those engaged in other pursuits.

Borochcv had differentiated between ”primary" and ”secondary"
industries, indicating a shift to heavy industry and agriculture, of
"primary” and strategic importance in the emerging Israel society. In
this context, the aims of "Nature and Agriculture" studies are readily
appreciated:

To transfer work infcmaticn and skill in all branches of

agriculture, arranged according to age. . . . To implant in

their hearts an intimate relationship to their own cultivated
plot of land and to the domestic animals under their care,

 

22Ibid., p. 89.

zaZalman Oren, Educational and Cultural Endeavor in the State
g-Israel: a report of the Minister of—chucation and Culture, in
Hebrew, (Jerusalem: Department of Education and Culture, 1958), p. 8.

 

 

243

and to foster the aim toward agricultural work and rural
living as a fcnn of life desirable for its inherent salu-
tary value both physically and spiritually, and for its
opportunity of chalutsic (pioneer) realization in the up-
building of the homeland and the strengthening of the
State. To root the feeling that agriculture is the most
important foundati on in the econany of the State and the
life of the people, and that it is essential in the re-
surregtion of our people as a nomal nation on its own

lOile
The means employed for teaching these values include garden-
ing on the school grounds, outings, surveys, camping, botanical
exhibits, animal care, and close contact with children of the same
age levels in rural areas. In the fifth grade, for example, pupils
are taught
to be ready for emergency voluntary work duty in agricultural
establishments: . . . ability toprepare the soil for planting
and the skill to carry out all functions related to cultivat-
ing: . . . the ability to plant various vegetables and flowers
and care for them: . . . the skills of soil-turning, fertiliz-
ing, aeration, hoeing, etc.
The syllabus allows two hours of the weekly schedule for
handicraft and an additional five to six hours for nature and agricul-

ture studies, adding up to an impressive time allocation in the total

thirty-two to thirty-three classroom hours.

f. Arts and Crafts.
Drawing and the plastic arts are intended to

cultivate the aesthetic sense and the inner desire to observe
the beauty of nature and enjoy works of art 3 to develop free
creative powers within the student: to train him in organising
his envircnnent aesthetically and motivate him to participate
actively in that undertaking . . . recogniéglg thereby its im-
portance in enriching the content of life.

 

24
Curriculum, 22. cit., p. H.

 

zsIbide' PP. 40-41.

261bid., p. n1.

244

These are values fought for by Berdichevsky. At the same time
previously'menticned goals are reiterated under the rubric of arts and
crafts ”designed to develop an inclination toward a proper life of
labor, cooperative effort, mutual aid, and.collective effort”--phrasec-
logy pervaded with collectivist and socialist ideas of Syrkin and Boro-
chcv, in addition to Gordon previously mentioned.

In.the same vein, the syllabus presents music education, stat-
ing the need for “accepting art as an important foundation in the life
of the individual and a faithful means for social communion, as an ex-
cellent ccmplanent to the work of man and the changing phenomena of
life.”27 Placing music education in a context of such import represents
a point of view leaning heavily on ideas advanced by Berdichevsky.

The syllabus undertakes to carry out the aesthetic goals of
art in ambitious terms. To cite one example, in art for the seventh
grade, refinement of artistic taste is regarded as one of the goals,
as is indicated by the anticipated "ability to distinguish to a car.
tain degree between good and inferior or degenerate in art.”28. Nor
are practical considerations ignored, for students are taught to ap-

preciate ”proper color combinations in dress and home."29

g. Citizenship.
Instruction in citizenship is officially entitled "Education

for Society." Not forming a separate unit but integrated in the total

 

27
Ibide 9 Po XXII.

28
Ibide. Fe 146 e

29
Ibid.

245

school pattern, there are the specific values nonmally contained in
the school program of a democratic society, anphasizing hunan relations
in the political and social arenas, proper personal habits and ethical
behavior. These are also imparted by means of the usual facets of our—
ricular and extra-curricular activities enacting in the school situation
and the interplay of social forms and forces characteristic of the adult en-
vironment. Above these accepted standards, the Israel curriculum pro-
vides for the special conditions of‘life in Israel and its prevailing
climate of opinion. Students are, therefore expected to
I report for work duty in the school plant and.perfcnn all

tasks of labor,'whether easy or difficult, pleasant or

unpleasant, regular or noveéd . . . and to carry them out

responsibly and faithfully.
Singling out work experience in citizenship education and spelling it
out on such a large scale, reveals the emphasis in Israel's ideology.

Other unique features previously elaborated upon in this

chapter are reiterated in the special mention of such devices as
”cooperative>meals,' and ”reconverting school grounds to athletic
courts,'51 and.ccncepts of Tmutual aid . . . collective responsibi-
lity . . . and respect for cne's own work and that of others."32
These attitudes are transferred to the demands made outside the school
in the challenges of home obligations, social responsibilities and
child relationships. The activities of the classroom reach out beyond

its borders to

 

m
Ibidep Pe 60s

31
Ibide' p. 62s

32
Ibid., p. xxnx .

246

help weaker students in their class work; assisting a friend
in his work chores at home 3 a cooperative fund for the needs
of the group and the individual; a day's work to aid in
agricultural settlement; helping out in the nearby immigrant
camp.

The realities of present day Israel with its agricultural
orientation and ”ingathering of exiles” commitment are concretized
on the child's level by the last of the aforanentioned projects. Two
Zionist tenets--the one expounded by most and the other affirmed by
all philosophies of Zionism--are thus clearly and directly woven into
the fabric of Israel's education. In the final analysis, however, the
stamp of originality in the curriculum, distinguishable in these for-

mulations, lies in their anphasis rather than in their wording.

D

In mining the educational goals of the Israel high school
curriculun we should remember two pertinent facts: secondary education
is not compulsory; there is no government sponsored high school systen.
The curriculum therefore is more in the form of recommendations than
requirements, presented in the Suggestions £25 1:113 §_i_g_h_ School Curricu-
lfl, published in 1956.34

The present situation is widely recognised as far from optimum.
It is the opinion and anticipation of educational and lay authorities
that the government sohberl systan should and will eventually extend

to the secondary 1.4..1.

 

33
Ibide, Pe 60e

 

34 \
Su cations for the Hi School Curriculum (J erusalan:
Government Frinting Frees, I§56 , in Hebrew.

247

No one in the country-«even the most extreme--believes
that secondary education is essentially the private affair
of parents and that its sponsorship and support are not
the obligations of the State. . . . There is no essential
difference between elementary and secondary education as
far as government responsibility is concerned. This is
true even if secondary education is voluntary rather than
obligatory. e e e35

In the introduction to the 135 page publication, reference
is made to an issue of vital import during the Zionist debate at
the turn of the century, affecting the Hebrew high school.
General human culture and the particular national heri-
tage placed side by side, have frequently competed for re-
spective roles without always achieving the necessary syn-
thesis. Secondary education has nogeusually been recogni sed
by a clear and deliberated program. V
The equivocation between the universal and national, the secular
and spiritual, has often in the past led to indetermination and
oscillation. The dichotomy of universal and Jewish values frequently
aired in the Achad Ha'am-Berdichevsky controversy, has been reflected
in the structure of the high school curriculun. "One could say that
for tin-es generations there has been an uninterrupted struggle on
the question of our historical heritage: what to include and what
to exclude."37 Now, however, the battle is over and an understand-

ing has been reached.

In the arrangement of subject matter there is to be
a blending between established cultural values crystallized

 

356. Merchaviah, Frontiers 23 Education in Israel (J erusalen:
Achiasaf, 1957), in Hebrew, p. 2 .

36
Sugestions for the Big School Curriculun, op. cit., p. 10.

 

 

Deepenigg Jewish-Israeli Consciousness: (Jerusalem
Government Printer, Decanber 1957;, in Hebrew, p. 12.

248

throughout the ages and emerging contanporary values, taking
into consideration the actual needs of society.

The realities of a society which is molded by national forces
from within and universal forces from without, have brought about a
synthesis of their own, the elements of which are traceable to conflict-
ing ideas in their embryonic stage at the cradle of the Jewish national
movenmt. The Israeli of today, with the imprint of the school upon
him, energes into maturity as a harmonious individual not torn asunder-
by the inner contradictions of humanity and Jewishness, prevailing a
generation ago. The wholeness and wholesomeness of personality patheti-
cally groped for by Brenner and assiduously sought after by Gordon may have
been achieved in Israel education. In this fashion the Israel student
is nonnalizcd, differing only 111333;? but not in degree from his counter-
part in other societies.

The recomnended our riculun is predicated upon goals and focused.
on values similar to those embodied in the elementary curriculum, geared,
of course, to the secondary level. With the subject-by-subject break-
down superfluous at this juncture, attention should be drawn to elenents
that enrich and augnent the elementary program.

The aims of Bible study, among others, are to include the
"recognition of the unique place of Israel among the nations" and an
attempt 'to inculcate the ideals of religion, ethics, society . . .
love of man and motherland expressed in the Bible by its heroes."39

This is an example of the fusion of me particular and the universal

 

SBSuggestions for the High School Curriculum, op. cit., p. 12.

9
3 Ibid., p. 13.

 

 

249

so painstakingly dwelt upon by some of the aforementioned thinkers.

In Language and Literature study the elementary school aims
are reformulated, expanded and adapted to the secondary school. The
same national-universal, ethical-aesthetic balance is reflected in
goals listed as b, c, and d, reading:

To foster good literary taste . . . and the distinction between
a lasting work of art and the spurious. . . .

To open the window to human culture and literature and to its
universal human values as well as to the creations expressing
the genius of particular peoples. . . .

To bring the student into contact with controversial issues
and trends of thought of various ages and with the realities,
processes and the way of life of our people in its historical
course.

The prescribed reading in Literature includes the essays
of Smolenskin, Achad Ha'am, Brenner, Berdichevsky, Rabbi Kuk,--all
of them major contributors to Zionist ideology discussed in this
thesis ’( part 11 ), while the others are well represented in the
History and Social Studies outlines.

The ideological slant is borne out in the History syllabus
with its added emphasis on

the strengthening of the feeling for a cmmon Jewish destiny . . .
and tightening the inner bonds with the people as a whole . . .
to imbue the student with the understanding of the importance
of the State of Israel for assuring the biological survival
and historical continuity of the Jewish people.“
These are aims based on the Zionist premises of Herzl and others

regarding the indispensible role of the State of Israel, beyond the

 

4OIbide. P0 250

411bid., p. 35.

 

250

immediate interest of its own citizens, for the total ultimate
welfare of the dispersed Jewish comunities abroad, placing the
State within a historical and philoscphical setting. it the same
time, the broader horizons are set forth in the stated objective of
"preparation and conditioning for proper insight in and judgnent of
social problems and their possible solutions arrived at by indepen-
dent critical thought."42

The beginning of the Zionist movement and the ideas of its
leading exponents are prescribed for the History course in grades
11 and 12. There are units of study devoted to Hess, Pinsker, Theodore
Herzl, Achad Ha'am, Ben Yehuda, A.D. Gordon and others.

In Social Studies is included the History of Socialism
generally, and Syrkin anl Borochov's theories on a Socialist State
in Palestine.

There is another unit on ”Constructive Zionism in the Land
of Israel” and ”A. D. Gordon and the Collectivist Movenent.’ Of
special interest is the outline of a course entitled ”History of the
2 Jewish National Ideal."4:5 Featured are the men and ideas presented
in this thesis. The importance of this subject is indicated by the
fact that it merited such a detailed outline. A cursory reading dis-
closes the following titles and sub-titles, reniniscent of the per-
sonalities and subjects of {his thesis‘

The apostles of 1110 modern Zionist ideal.

The Jewish national p'oblqn within the framework of universal
redenption--Moses Hess. '

 

421bid.

 

43
Ibide. pe 127s

251

Pinsker and the causes of anti-Semitism; Auto-Emancipation.

 

Herzl and the political solution.

Achad Ha'am--the problem of Jews and the problem of Judaism:
the question of world Javish unity: a geographic center for
historic and spiritual function; concept of‘a spiritual center;
the debate with Berdichevsky.

The synthesis of Zionism and Socialism in Syrkin and Borochcv.
Brenner and personal reali nation.

Gordon and the creative factor in mtional life-

Teachings of Rabbi Kuk: the odern rational interpretation of
the "chosen people" concept.

It should be noted in passing that four hours a week are
devoted to this subject. Indirectly, the same concepts pervade the
instruction in other areas, as previously indicated. This applies to
Hebrew Literature with a five 1:) six hour schedule per week,45 Geography

and Citizenship.

B
At the inte rnational Conference on Jewish Education held in
Jerusalem in 1955, an Israeli educator read a brief paper on "The
Curriculum of the Israel Elenentary School." 'With reference to the
aims of education he had the following to say:

Throughout the world there is not so much preoccupation
in defining the aim of education, since the national aims
have already been attained--organized society, industry, can-
merce, pattern of culture. . . . But in our State the goal
has not been reached. . . . It is therefore necessary to
formulate clearly our educational aims and to place them con-
stantly before us as long as we havesnot fulfilled the objec-
tive incumbent upon our generation}!

 

44
Ibid.,pp. 127-129
45

World literature is taught separately in the eleventh and
twelfth grades.

46M. Abigail, ”The Elenentary School Curriculum in Israel,” in

Foundations for Hebrew Education in the Dias are edited by N. Nardi
(Israel: Jewish Igency for Pafistine, 19 ,in ebrew, pp. 59-63.

 

252

Explaining the need for closer attention to educational ideology,
he establishes the underlying pranise of education in Israel in

terms of

yearning for national redenption and ideological preparedness
directed toward this redemption: . . .

aspiring toward a revamped social structure, along with a re-

cognition of the existing facts of the sovereign State of Israel,

including the realities of ingathering of exiles, ethnic integra-

tion, practical7orientation for the new life in agricultural

colonies, etc.

In enunerating the areas of instruction, )1. Abigail: stops

to emphasize the phenomenon of physical labor in the school repre-
senting "a translation of the pedagogical aim into a patriotic
obligation,” relating it to the social, economic, political and
intellectual revolution innovated by Zionism, implenented by the
Jewish community in Palestine and consciously pursued trough the
official educational objectives of Israel. He then justifiably

refers to the ”inspired vis ion" of the culture of Israel and—we

might add-wthe mission of its school systun.

 

47
Ibid.

253

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Eisenstadt, Samuel N. The Absorption of Immigrants. Glencoe, 111.:
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Frank, M. Z. Sound the Great Trunpet. New York: Whittier Books,
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Halperin, Haim. Changing Patterns i_n_ Israel Aggiculture. London:
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F?

A1

Av

89:

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C . EDUCATION

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259

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D. DOCUMENTARY

 

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Israel. Laws of State. Laws of the State of Israel. 10 vols.
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Israel. Laws of State. Dar/1n“ 150 BookgfLaw. lO vols.
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Israel. Department of Education and Culture. ...: alllnn .15ng
‘7K'HI7" I'IJF'ID 5W 131131;; Educational and Cultural
Endeavor in the State of Israel: a Re ort of the finlster of
RucaHon-En'd—Cultfire ,_Zalfn'an Oren-.- J crusafimT—Depafient-Tf

Education and Culture, 1958.

 

 

 

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