History of Zionism, 1600-1918, Vol. 2 (of 2)Sokolow, Nahum
History
History of Zionism, 1600-1918, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Sokolow, Nahum
Jews -- Restoration; Zionism -- History
Now it is well worth our while to weigh all this and to make it part of
our outlook and equipment as we face the great present events. Because,
for one thing, it should go a long way towards delivering us from the
worst of all fears――the fear of to-morrow and the next day, and all
the days that the future hides. Nine out of ten of us are perpetually
spoiling what _is_ happening by dread of what _may_ happen, so that
we can all join Disraeli in saying that we have had many troubles, but
the worst have been those that never happened. If only we could let
the morrow be anxious for itself! But, to a large extent, we can, if
we will, school ourselves to it;
“וכימיך דבאך׃...”
דברים לג׳ כה׳¹
is a promise perpetually justified by the best psychological findings
and historic experience in the life of nations. It is really the fact,
that our “day” stirs and heightens our strength. Only when challenged,
do we know what we are capable of. Modern psychology tells us that
“the human individual lives usually far within his limits; he possesses
powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes
below the _maximum_, and he behaves below his _optimum_.” And to rise
to our _maximum_ and _optimum_ we need some unusual stimulus or some
unusual idea of necessity.
¹ “... And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”――Deut.
xxxiii. 25.
Jewish history has revealed this truth several times. One individual or
another, one small group or another――separated from the masses of the
people――may fall away from Jewry; whoever can do that to-day has never
belonged to it. The majority, however, remain loyal, and are never more
loyal than in times of stress. The illusion is destroyed that a man can
live a truly moral life in a time of trial while he is only a spectator
of the life of society. In the Jews, convulsed by the events of the
war, the new unity of Jewry showed itself. The situation was so serious,
so full of menace for all that we hold dear, that every thinking
Jew saw that he must in these days help to create and maintain the
moral energies which alone can carry him through the crisis. At this
time the Jew had a duty to his country and a duty to Judaism. To his
country he owed, as a citizen, duties which could not be shirked. Every
support was to be given to all patriotic efforts for the prosperity,
the victory, and the glory of the country. To Judaism he owed the
obligation of securing and defending not only the existence, but also
the development and the realization of its traditional ideals, and
of strengthening its unity. The first expression of this unity was an
increase of self-consciousness. Jewry was affected by the war, but the
essential problems of the Jews in the modern world were not altered by
the war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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