At first there was only a vision, a dream. In fact, if one measures the success
of national renaissance movements, then Israel is most certainly a dream that has been realized. Like most dreams, however, something happened in the process of realization. The dream that was Israel has lost something. Only thirty years
have passed, but we're already paunchy, tired. To many it seems as if our entire
national life is dedicated to the acquisition of the easy chair and the quiet
life: the symbols of petty-bourgeois respectability. We have moved with amazing
speed away from the original vision, the dream of the socialist Zionist movement.
Nachman Syrkin once wrote: "The actual realization of Zionism will mean the creation of an ever more real socialist utopia." The "socialists" amongst us will say that what has actually happened is quite natural. The attempt to build a
utopia will always lead to disappointment. But I tend to agree with the notion
that there is nothing more realistic than utopia. The "realists" are always in
danger of lapsing into sterile pragmatism or, what is worse, of educating an
entire generation towards conformism and conservatism in thought and action. The
realists always forget that the quest for the impossible is what distinguishes
humanity, and that what seemed impossible just yesterday is fact today.
I often ask myself what it is that enabled the pioneers to build what they did and what enabled their successors to continue in their path, establishing and expanding their successes while adapting to new conditions and a different era. The answer is quite simple: labor. Both physical and intellectual labor. Lab our is an integrative process. Human labor is not the same as the instinctive physical activity going on in an ant colony. Human labor is an expression of man's efforts to improve his individual and collective existence. The fruit of human labor is the entire physical world in which we live. But the source of that world is in the ideals of creation, creativity, culture and art. In short, any labor, even that which is designed to produce material products only, has moral value, and intellectual creativity, be it practical or not, is one of the characteristics of the working man. Another characteristic is pride - pride in his achievements and creativity which are no less important to a working man than the salary or wages he receives. There is no contradiction between education and physical labor. A progressive society must strive to ensure that its intellectuals do their share of the physical labor needed and that the workers are educated and knowledgeable in all areas of science and culture.
When I speak about labor, I mean all work in the productive sphere, be it industry, vital services or intellectual labor. All these are vital to the increasing comfort and welfare of humanity. The working community extends from the young apprentice on the factory line to the upper echelons of the scientific community in the most modern of laboratories. Berl Katznelson coined the phrase: "a working people". A working people is equally competent with the hoe and the pen and, when necessary, the gun. A working people is equally comfortable in the laboratory, the fields, the university classroom, the theater. Israel will be Jewish only so long as the Jews here will be a working people. Should they cease to be so, then our very right to be in this land comes into question.
I don't mean that only the fate of the Galil or Negev is at stake. In both these areas there is a burning need for more Jews who will work and create and build. I mean that the whole world outlook of our youth and the nature of the Jewish society he will develop are at stake. Not only we determine the future of the Jewish state. The Arab child of six who collects tomatoes under the watchful stare of the young son of his Jewish employer - the child too determines the fate of the Jewish state.
I often ask myself what it is that enabled the pioneers to build what they did and what enabled their successors to continue in their path, establishing and expanding their successes while adapting to new conditions and a different era. The answer is quite simple: labor. Both physical and intellectual labor. Lab our is an integrative process. Human labor is not the same as the instinctive physical activity going on in an ant colony. Human labor is an expression of man's efforts to improve his individual and collective existence. The fruit of human labor is the entire physical world in which we live. But the source of that world is in the ideals of creation, creativity, culture and art. In short, any labor, even that which is designed to produce material products only, has moral value, and intellectual creativity, be it practical or not, is one of the characteristics of the working man. Another characteristic is pride - pride in his achievements and creativity which are no less important to a working man than the salary or wages he receives. There is no contradiction between education and physical labor. A progressive society must strive to ensure that its intellectuals do their share of the physical labor needed and that the workers are educated and knowledgeable in all areas of science and culture.
When I speak about labor, I mean all work in the productive sphere, be it industry, vital services or intellectual labor. All these are vital to the increasing comfort and welfare of humanity. The working community extends from the young apprentice on the factory line to the upper echelons of the scientific community in the most modern of laboratories. Berl Katznelson coined the phrase: "a working people". A working people is equally competent with the hoe and the pen and, when necessary, the gun. A working people is equally comfortable in the laboratory, the fields, the university classroom, the theater. Israel will be Jewish only so long as the Jews here will be a working people. Should they cease to be so, then our very right to be in this land comes into question.
I don't mean that only the fate of the Galil or Negev is at stake. In both these areas there is a burning need for more Jews who will work and create and build. I mean that the whole world outlook of our youth and the nature of the Jewish society he will develop are at stake. Not only we determine the future of the Jewish state. The Arab child of six who collects tomatoes under the watchful stare of the young son of his Jewish employer - the child too determines the fate of the Jewish state.
The writing is on the wall even if there are those who refuse to read it. Nothing will save us except a courageous reexamination of all our national
and social values. We need radically different conceptions of how to build our social order. Without these changes no new start will be made. As long as
speculators' profits are many times greater than a working man's wages, and the income from financial speculation is greater than the income from investment
in industrial production, there is no chance to heal the sick Israeli society.
Laissez-faire social doctrines are hurting the working man's standard of living,
but also are destroying the dignity of labor itself.
This anti-Zionist counter-revolution began with the establishment of the State in 1948, when too many thought that the goals of Zionism had been realized. The counter-revolution reached its peak with the political upheaval in 1977, which lent it legitimacy. The line that always divided the socialist Zionist camp from the petty-bourgeois, nationalist mystic camp was this very question- is the State the goal and final purpose of the Zionist movement, or is it only an important tool in the permanent revolution in Jewish life which is the basis of the socialist Zionist camp?
The road to victory against the counter-revolution is not an easy one. And let no one delude himself that the failures of the present regime will be enough to guarantee that we regain hegemony in this land. We need to organize our forces and to depend on the care of the working people in this country - the working settlements, both kibbutzim and moshavim. They must break out of their isolationism and return to the center stage of political and social activism, in order to save themselves, but also the great ideals of socialist Zionism, of which they are the prime expression. We have a dual task - to revitalize the dream and to ensure its realization. Our success in this dual task will decide the fate of the working community and the Jewish people as a whole.
If this is utopia - then I am a utopian.
This anti-Zionist counter-revolution began with the establishment of the State in 1948, when too many thought that the goals of Zionism had been realized. The counter-revolution reached its peak with the political upheaval in 1977, which lent it legitimacy. The line that always divided the socialist Zionist camp from the petty-bourgeois, nationalist mystic camp was this very question- is the State the goal and final purpose of the Zionist movement, or is it only an important tool in the permanent revolution in Jewish life which is the basis of the socialist Zionist camp?
The road to victory against the counter-revolution is not an easy one. And let no one delude himself that the failures of the present regime will be enough to guarantee that we regain hegemony in this land. We need to organize our forces and to depend on the care of the working people in this country - the working settlements, both kibbutzim and moshavim. They must break out of their isolationism and return to the center stage of political and social activism, in order to save themselves, but also the great ideals of socialist Zionism, of which they are the prime expression. We have a dual task - to revitalize the dream and to ensure its realization. Our success in this dual task will decide the fate of the working community and the Jewish people as a whole.
If this is utopia - then I am a utopian.
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