ZIONIST IDEOLOGY AND WORLD JEWRY

In: Commentary, Volume 25, Issue 2, p. 105-109

Abstract

Reflections on the Ideological Conference convened by the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, Aug, 1957, to discuss the place of Judaism & the Jewish people in the clash of world ideologies & the role of the State of Israel in Jewish life. The conference revealed major misunderstandings & disagreements between Israeli & Diaspora representatives. Thoughtful Israelis are troubled by forebodings as they reflect upon the decline of pioneering, & the growing desire for material comfort among the younger generation. There is a kind of consolation in thinking of the greater guilt of Jews abroad, particularly in America. The failure of those who have not migrated is magnified by the degree to which the comforts of New York are superior to those of Tel Aviv. The Galut becomes a vast distorted counter-image in which Israelis see exposed the deficiencies they are unwilling to examine in themselves. The tendency of Jews outside Israel to think of it as existing to remedy their own weaknesses is merely the obverse tendency of Israelis to judge the Galut by the standard of their own desires. Only by accepting the fact that Israel & the Diaspora exist for their own sake & not to redeem one another will we arrive at a mutally fructifying interchanee of experiences. J. A. Fishman.