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are linked with the human maternal act of giving birth. The inner
turning of the prophet is an actual rebirth, and the educator, who
brings the precious ore in the soul of his pupil to light and frees it from
dross, affords him a second birth, birth into a loftier life. Spirit begets
and gives birth; spirit is begotten and born; spirit becomes body.
Even today, in spite of all deterioration, the spiritual life of Jewry is not
merely a superstructure, a nonobligatory transfiguration, an object of
pride which imposes no duties. Rather, it is a binding and obligatory
power, but one which attains to earthly, bodily reality only through
that which it binds to the obligations of Jewish spiritual life. So
profoundly is the spirit here merged with the physical life that even
the survival of the community in time can be guaranteed only by both
operating together.
But if we are serious about the simile of generation, we must realize
that in spiritual as well as in physical propagation, it is not the same
thing that is passed on, but something which acquires newness in the
very act of transmission. For tradition does not consist in letting
contents and forms pass on, finished and inflexible, from generation
to generation. The values live on in the host who receives them by
becoming part of his very flesh, for they choose and assume his body
as the new form which suits the function of the new generation. A
child does not represent the sum total of his parents; it is something
that has never been before, something quite unpredictable. Similarly,
a generation can only receive the teachings in the sense that it
renews them. We do not take unless we also give. In the living
tradition, it is not possible to draw a line between preserving and
producing. The work of embodiment takes place spontaneously; and
that person is honest and faithful who utters words he has never
heard as though they had come to him, for it is thusand not as if he
had created themthat such words live within him. Everyone is
convinced that he is doing no more than further advancing that which
has advanced him to this point; yet nonetheless he may be the
originator of a new movement.
That this holds for Jewry is due to the intensity which time and again
characterizes the encounters between generations, involving mutual
and radical interactions and bringing forth changes in values as
though they were not changes at all. In these recurring encounters
between a generation which has reached its full development and one
which is still developing, the ultimate aim is not to transmit a
that true autonomy is one with true theonomy: God wants man to
fulfil his commands as a human being, and with the quality peculiar to
human beings. The law is not thrust upon man; it rests deep within
him, to waken when the call comes. The word which thundered down
from Sinai was echoed by the word that is in thy mouth and in thy
heart (Deut. 30:14). Again and again, man tries to evade the two
notes that are one chord; he denies his heart and rejects the call. But
it has been promised that a time will come when the Torah will be
manifest as the Scripture present in the hearts of all living men, and
the word will fulfil itself in the harmony of heaven and earth. In Jewry,
the way which leads to that promised time, the way of mans
contribution to ultimate fulfilment, is trodden whenever one
generation encounters the next, whenever the generation which has
reached its full development transmits the teachings to the
generation which is still in the process of developing, so that the
teachings spontaneously waken to new life in the new generation.
We live in an age when deeds tend to assert their superiority over the
teachings. The present generation universally believes more and
more unreservedly that it can get along without the teachings and
rely on a mode of action whichin its own opinionis correct. In an
address I delivered years ago at a Zionist congress, in memory of our
teacher Ahad Haam, I drew attention to the fact that it is not only the
official state politics that is freeing itself from spiritual teachingsthat
has, on occasion, happened beforebut the internal popular
movements, and national groupings, are also stressing their
independence
from
spiritual
teachings,
and
even
regard
independence as a warrant of success. And, I went on to say, they
are not entirely mistaken. The conduct of life without the teachings is
successful: something is achieved. But the something thus achieved
is quite different, and at times the very caricature, of what one is
striving for at the bottom of ones heart, where the true goal is
divined. And what then? As long as the goal was a pure goal, yearning
and hope were dominant. But if in the course of being achieved, the
goal is distorted, what then?
The implied warning I intended for Jewry passed them by almost
unnoticedas was to be expected. Although we are less able to get
along without the teachings than any other community, a widespread
assimilation of the errors of the other nations has been rampant
among us for a long time. It is not my office to discuss what may
happen to other nations because of their denial of the spirit. But I
know that we, who believe that there can be no teaching apart from
doing, will be destroyed when our doing becomes independent of the
teachings.
A Jewish house of studythat is a declaration of war upon all those
who imagine they can he Jews and live a Jewish life outside of the
teachings, who think by cutting off the propagation of values to
accomplish something salutary for Jewry. A truly Jewish communal life
cannot develop in Palestine if the continuity of Judaism is interrupted.
Let me reiterate that such continuity does not imply the preservation
of the old, but the ceaseless begetting and giving birth to the same
single spirit, and its continuous integration into life. Do not let us
delude ourselves: once we are content to perpetuate biological
substance and a civilization springing from it, we shall not be able
to maintain even such a civilization. For the land and the language in
themselves will not support our body and soul on earthonly land
and language when linked to the holy origin and the holy destination.
Moreover, in this crisis of humanity in which we stand at the most
exposed point, the Diaspora cannot preserve its vital connection,
which has so long defied historys attempt at severance, without
recognizing and renewing the power the teachings possess, a power
strong enough to overcome all corroding forces. For all that which is
merely social, merely national, merely religious, and therefore lacking
the fiery breath of the teachings, is involved in the abysmal
problematic of the hour and does not suffice to ward off decay.
Only the teachings truly rejuvenated can liberate us from limitations
and bind us to the unconditional, so that spiritualized and spirited,
united within the circle of eternal union, we may recognize one
another and ourselves and, empowered by the fathomless laws of
history, hold out against the powers moving on the surface of history.
Concerning the words of Isaac the patriarch, The voice is the voice of
Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau (Gen. 27:22), the Midrash
tells this story. Delegates of the other nations were once dispatched
to a Greek sage to ask him how the Jews could be subjugated. This is
what he said to them: Go and walk past their houses of prayer and
of study . . . So long as the voice of Jacob rings from their houses of
prayer and study, they will not be surrendered into the hands of Esau.
But if not, the hands are Esaus and you will overcome them (Gen.
Rabbah, on 27:22).