Faith is a great and deep matter, but proclamations about faith cannot themselves produce it. By demanding faith from one another, we shall not ignite the fire of faith in his heart.
Happy are they who have faith! But, is self-inspired conviction or easy bought belief which proclaims itself as faith, capable of inspiring other people with genuine, true faith?
And if one says, "I believe" -- does he thereby answer all the questions which gnaw at the heart of everyone who bears within him the grief of man in our time and the pain of Jewish suffering in the world today?
We often hear of the wonders of faith and the bliss of the believer. No doubt people know whereof they speak. But it seems to me that the plight of a true believer, whose faith - whatever it may be - is not a mere duty of convention, is not an easy one either. If one believes in a living G-d, who judges the world with mercy, is he not now compelled to tear down the heaven with his outcry? And if one holds his sociological or political views as a faith (and it is in this regard that we are now challenged to believe) he can not but feel that his convictions are under severe strain today. He must demand of his views an answer of life and death, to his questioning and doubt.
Perhaps Micah the Morashtite was right, when he demanded that faith "walk humbly." And if one has really been graced with faith, has he the right to demand of others that they believe as he does? Can we ask of the Youth Leader, standing at the beginning of his way, that he have as firm convictions as our comrades of the Second Aliyah? ... Not everyone has had the good fortune of our fruitful, fortifying experience in Palestine, which teaches us to regard every ill event as something passing and to be able to say, whatever the situation: "Thou hast sown a seed - be of good heart!" Let us not forget that we live in a time when even firm trees have been uprooted from their bed. There is certainty only in the menace which surrounds us on every side. We are threatened by concrete dangers. Consolation? That, each one of us must find in his heart - and that requires stern efforts.
