Let it not be forgotten that a man’s pride is his people, his ethnic origin, and a people’s pride is its language, which constitutes its only historic qualification for being considered a cultured human collective. Jewish consciousness must remain a withered plant as long as it is not rooted in the knowledge of the only vehicle by which the creative genius of the Jewish people has scaled the heights of mighty and magnificent expression, in prophecy and prayer, in song and story, in poetry and prose, ancient and modern. The revival of Hebrew in Israel is one of the most daring cultural achievements of man. In our own annals it stands out as an epoch-making victory, of the same order of magnitude as the conversion of the yishuv into a working community in the physical sense of the term, the re-establishment of Jewish statehood, and the messianic sweep of the ingathering of the exiles. Is it conceivable that this miracle of cultural rebirth should not decisively affect the spiritual character of the diaspora? If it is given to Israel to realize its most cherished ambition of generating a new flowering of literature and art, thought and science, of what value will it be to Jews of the diaspora if they fail in their elementary duty to learn and master the language of their people?

Whether indeed it will be Israel’s privilege to so inspire is one of the mysteries of the future. It is true that if the achievements of the Jewish state in all fields of national action and human endeavor are summed up, it may well claim to have fulfilled considerably more than it has ever promised, and therefore to be now promising far more than it has already fulfilled. Yet spiritual creativity is a gift of heaven which is either bestowed or withheld. It cannot be evoked at will. It is one of those enigmatic matters concerning which it is more profitable to ponder what immediate action they entail rather than what their ultimate fulfillment is likely to involve.

As for concrete measures, there is a great deal the diaspora may do in order to cultivate Israel’s creative possibilities. One such contribution is the voluntary effort of Jewish scientists, technicians, social workers, economists, and artists to place their knowledge and experience at Israel’s disposal. The spontaneous mobilization of Jewish talent and know-how on Israel’s behalf constitutes an investment of unique value for its future. Systematic action is called for to tap such resources further and to make their assistance increasingly effective.

The tasks facing Israel in this context are enormous—particularly if all its other burdens and obligations are fully taken into account. Education must be improved and expanded, talents cultivated, science and the arts promoted. Above all it is imperative to deepen Jewish consciousness, to sharpen the sense of association and identity with the Jewish people, to inculcate in the hearts of the young—apart from national pride, veneration of the glorious past, and admiration for our heroes—a love of the Jew of today, the Jew of every day, the Jew as he is wherever he might be.

On this last point, exaggerated fears are often expressed, and rash indictments handed down, concerning the growing alienation of Israeli youth from the diaspora. The record of our younger generation is filled with shining examples of a fundamental sense of kinship with the ordinary Jew of the diaspora. Among them, to mention just a few, are the epic of ha’apala—the so-called illegal immigration—in which our youths transported tens of thousands of their fellow Jews from the slaughterhouse and ruins of Europe to the land of Israel; the glorious successes of the soldiers of the Jewish Brigade and other Jewish units in World War II in rescuing, gathering together, assisting, and organizing Jewish survivors, strengthening their spirit and sending them to the land of Israel; the sublime heroism of our parachutists who dropped behind enemy lines, risking and even sacrificing their lives for the sake of their doomed brothers; the commitment of scores of young Israelis who went to serve at the Geulim camp of Yemenite Jews in Aden during Operation Magic Carpet; the enthusiasm with which hundreds from among the younger generation of settlers volunteered to assist and guide the newcomers by living and working with them; the services performed by the Israel Defense Forces in the new areas of settlement; the depths of exultation felt by groups of our youth when they were charged with the task of bringing tidings of Israel to Soviet Jews at festivals and sporting events. All these and many other episodes bear compelling witness to the living connection with the diaspora which is frequently aroused in the hearts of our youth. Yet for all that, a value cannot be relied upon to preserve itself automatically, without conscious effort being applied to its cultivation. Hence no opportunity should be neglected to deepen that feeling and make it a basic feature of the attitude and consciousness of Israeli youth.

All these are thoughts and suggestions which probably do not provide an adequate answer to the most difficult question raised by the subject at hand. A new situation has arisen in Jewish history which calls for a fundamental reappraisal and readjustment. As compared with the tasks ahead—called upon, as we are, to resist the inroads of assimilation, burdened with profound anxiety for the fate of the millions who are completely cut off from us, faced with the tremendous opportunities unfolding in so many countries for the free self-assertion of the Jewish personality—what has so far been undertaken, both in Israel and in the diaspora, underscores the challenge more than it records the achievement. Yet a generation that has been witness to so dramatic a swing of the pendulum of history from doom to deliverance is entitled to draw encouragement from the events of the past in preparing itself for the trials of the future.