The very character of a movement like Hehalutz means action, not formula. Ideas, convictions, programs, - whatever may be their character - are here not to be preached, but to be lived up to. Nothing more, nothing less. Zionism is neither a political platform to which one subscribes, nor a social club which one joins, nor a fundraising machinery, nor even a party organization for its own sake. Zionism is primarily the movement of those whose belief in the future of the Jewish Nation in Palestine is strong and sincere enough to make them throw their own lives into the scale, wherever they are called upon to do so.
Zionism is not the result of needs that change constantly nor of casual circumstances. It is the outcome of deeply rooted, historical forces affecting Jewish life. It has outlived tyrannies and regimes; it has overcome many temporary setbacks and critical periods. Turning Zionism into reality cannot be achieved by mechanical devices within a specific period of time. There will be a fifth, a ninth, a tenth Aliyah. There will be a fiftieth anniversary of Hehalutz. And the movement will live on. Once it has risen, it cannot come to a standstill until its aim is achieved and a free, laboring Jewish People is rooted in Palestinian soil. Is not the rise of a movement like this in itself proof of the amazing vigor and vitality, a sign and promise that we shall live and not die?
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