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Israel: The Promised Land
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Oops, I got another book on Israel. I couldn't help myself. Maybe they should make me an honorary Jew. I already have the nose.
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"The Jewish State was a major influence in the emergence of political Zionism. Herzl pointed to the part played by anti-Semitism in bringing the Jews to their existing desperate situation. 'We have honestly endeavoured', he wrote, 'to merge ourselves in the social life of surrounding communities and to preserve only the faith of our fathers. We are not permitted to do so. In vain we are loyal patriots.' It was the distress of the Jews, he believed, that bound them together. 'Thus united, we suddenly discovered our strength. Yes, we are strong enough to form a State, and, indeed, a model State. We possess all human and material resources necessary for the purpose.'
"Herzl described some of the detailed work needed to set up a State in Palestine. Much of the book dealt with specific details of emigration, land purchase, house-building, labour laws, the proposed nature of manual work, the commerce, industry, education, welfare, and social life of the new State. It was to be a model society, ever developing and expanding, moulded in the image of European democracy but with Jewish values as its foundation. It was to be secular, not religious; bound by laws that derived from European civil codes, guided by the European - and American - example of the separation of Church and State, looking forward to the twentieth century, not backward to the middle ages.
"The Jews would not live in a ghetto in the new State, cut off from the modern secular and scientific influences and challenges around them, but would, after so many centuries of isolation and even obscurantism, emerge into the world of modernity. The State would be a testimony to enlightenment and emancipation: it would witness the birth of the modern Jew in a Jewish land. Jews who lived in existing poor, backward societies, far from the modernity represented by Vienna or New York or London, would have the opportunity to put their dismal circumstances behind them.
"Once the Jews were 'fixed in their own land', Herzl wrote, it would no longer be possible to scatter them all over the world. 'The Diaspora cannot take place again,' he added, 'unless the civilization of the whole earth shall collapse,' and he went on to proclaim, 'Here it is, fellow Jews! Neither fable nor deception! Every man may test its reality for himself, for every man will carry over with him a portion of the Promised Land - one in his head, another in his arms, another in his acquired possessions. But we must first bring enlightenment to men's minds. The idea must make its way into the most distant, miserable holes where our people dwell. They will awaken from gloomy brooding, for into their lives will come a new significance.'
"Referring to those Jews, led by Judas Maccabeus, who had overthrown the rulers of Palestine in the pre-Roman era, Herzl wrote in his closing sentences, 'The Maccabeans will rise again. We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and die peacefully in our own homes.'"
-- Martin Gilbert, Israel: A History (1998)
What can I say? I am partial to the pursuit of Enlightenment values over Medievalist values. Plus, when I read the Bible a few years ago, I was rather moved by the story of the Chosen People, the fall into bondage, the exodus, the building of a home, and then the Roman diaspora. Now, it is like reading the sequel. Even if there were absolutely no history behind it, this would still be a fascinating story. The fact that it is real and ongoing only makes it more so. And it does not get more dramatic than in our present circumstances and conflicts.
xXx
Oops, I got another book on Israel. I couldn't help myself. Maybe they should make me an honorary Jew. I already have the nose.
___ ___ ___
"The Jewish State was a major influence in the emergence of political Zionism. Herzl pointed to the part played by anti-Semitism in bringing the Jews to their existing desperate situation. 'We have honestly endeavoured', he wrote, 'to merge ourselves in the social life of surrounding communities and to preserve only the faith of our fathers. We are not permitted to do so. In vain we are loyal patriots.' It was the distress of the Jews, he believed, that bound them together. 'Thus united, we suddenly discovered our strength. Yes, we are strong enough to form a State, and, indeed, a model State. We possess all human and material resources necessary for the purpose.'
"Herzl described some of the detailed work needed to set up a State in Palestine. Much of the book dealt with specific details of emigration, land purchase, house-building, labour laws, the proposed nature of manual work, the commerce, industry, education, welfare, and social life of the new State. It was to be a model society, ever developing and expanding, moulded in the image of European democracy but with Jewish values as its foundation. It was to be secular, not religious; bound by laws that derived from European civil codes, guided by the European - and American - example of the separation of Church and State, looking forward to the twentieth century, not backward to the middle ages.
"The Jews would not live in a ghetto in the new State, cut off from the modern secular and scientific influences and challenges around them, but would, after so many centuries of isolation and even obscurantism, emerge into the world of modernity. The State would be a testimony to enlightenment and emancipation: it would witness the birth of the modern Jew in a Jewish land. Jews who lived in existing poor, backward societies, far from the modernity represented by Vienna or New York or London, would have the opportunity to put their dismal circumstances behind them.
"Once the Jews were 'fixed in their own land', Herzl wrote, it would no longer be possible to scatter them all over the world. 'The Diaspora cannot take place again,' he added, 'unless the civilization of the whole earth shall collapse,' and he went on to proclaim, 'Here it is, fellow Jews! Neither fable nor deception! Every man may test its reality for himself, for every man will carry over with him a portion of the Promised Land - one in his head, another in his arms, another in his acquired possessions. But we must first bring enlightenment to men's minds. The idea must make its way into the most distant, miserable holes where our people dwell. They will awaken from gloomy brooding, for into their lives will come a new significance.'
"Referring to those Jews, led by Judas Maccabeus, who had overthrown the rulers of Palestine in the pre-Roman era, Herzl wrote in his closing sentences, 'The Maccabeans will rise again. We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and die peacefully in our own homes.'"
-- Martin Gilbert, Israel: A History (1998)
What can I say? I am partial to the pursuit of Enlightenment values over Medievalist values. Plus, when I read the Bible a few years ago, I was rather moved by the story of the Chosen People, the fall into bondage, the exodus, the building of a home, and then the Roman diaspora. Now, it is like reading the sequel. Even if there were absolutely no history behind it, this would still be a fascinating story. The fact that it is real and ongoing only makes it more so. And it does not get more dramatic than in our present circumstances and conflicts.
no subject
But we strive, and it is left to us to appreciate what we do achieve. I don't think suffering is something to maintain for the sake of whatever specialness it is felt to confer. I believe even Jews have a right to enjoy some of the things you take for granted - your own home and the freedom to pursue your own happiness. I think that's special enough.
no subject
On the second point, however, I'm more cautious. Not that I agree with monks who whip themselves as punishment to feel the same suffering of Jesus. But I get the point. You can push it too far, of course. I don't believe humanity *deserves* suffering or that we're sinful by nature doomed to suffer forever. Suffering is more in the eye of the beholder. It is what makes us human, I think. Getting by with finding happiness. I think that is what disturbs many about religious fundamentalism in general, but Israel in particular here, is that Jewish existence for a thousand years was shaped by factors which we're not really aware of as much now that there is a homeland. The phrase as Passover "next year in Jerusalem" takes on odd significane post-Zionism.
It's a little Jurassic Park-ish where we've gone and done something without real regard for the impact. This idea of a religiously-based state whether Israel or Christian or Muslim has the very real problem of execution. I think the grass is too green on the other side for folks who long for a spiritually based nation. I'm personally more a fan of "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's." LOL A different view of separation of church and state, but same result.