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"Next Wedpgéda§ the State 9f Israel will be ceiébrafiné the
fourteenth anniversary of5its féundationh
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In Israel itself this
,‘Ifidependence Day ;‘¥gm'flgaitzmagt as it is called in Hebrew A has
:become fine of fiheiéréétes%,occééions of fine year.
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It is
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gs a patipnéllfestivgl find even, t§.éomg extehf, as,a feiigfious
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féstival on whiCh.the adstérmfiy traditionally observeé~during the
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,period of thé bounfiinfi‘of fihé Omér is set aside with the sanctipn of the Rabbinic Aufihérities. Outsde Israel also —Vin Sfigléfid afid elsewhere ~ fiber? wgll bg‘man& syecial gatherings and‘cnmzefionatidn
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sérvidqs.“’3um, as the'Jewish Chronicle paints out today; Anglo—Jewry
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has not ypt raised Yom fia—Atzmaut to thé étatus a: a religious fegtival rhélaing‘XXKK an;officia11y recognised place in the Jewiéh calendar.
Ifi the opinion of the Editor the téme has now come to take that sfiep.' Do you agréé? ‘Do you fihink that we shofild accerm‘ggfi_fla~Atzmauj
new iewish festival, op’g par with Paséafier, Pentecost and Taber— vrnaclééq or at leastflofi a pap witthapukkqh ana‘Eurrm? ‘Thgt is an ‘was a
qxtremeiy éofiplex 9nd vexed fiuéstion, and in the few minutes at our ,dispasal I pafil§nly throw out a few thoughis which shou;d enter‘into ité consiaeration. Let E? ggy first of al; that in m& View it would 5? wrong to ignore Y m figkAyé@a t alfogethéral For fine estdblishmen$ of the Skgtg '
of Israéi wag, from any joint qf View, one of the most gmpo5tafi% évents V
in Jewish hiéfibfy}iiwe may regard it as an even? to be‘afiplaudéd .hhreservedlyé or we may look upon it as a necessfity forced upon Jewry
by externai‘circumstangeswnperhaps predominantly for good, perhaps
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biedominéntly;fog ill. ‘Bfit whate§er on; verdict, vé canfiot deny that: ‘it was}, in the nidst‘ literal Sense, anVefioch—maki‘ng evehfi.
The State of israel has absorbed hufiareds of thousands of Jewish refugees; many of fihom might have pefished withofit’it; It continues ‘
to receivé Jewish refugees with a fielcome wh;ch they can expect
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nowheré élse. 'It has revived the Hebrew langfiage and brought aboufi a refiaissance of Hebrew literature and art unparallelled since the
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VMiddle Ages and perhaps since fhe.dayé-of ihe hible. It‘hés oonfiucted, especially in the Kibhutzim; soéial §Xperimants of”far-régghifig ethical!" s'g fiificancgfi 'Bécause it is the only eouhtry in vhe“wor;a which fiasiw Jewish fiajority and a Jéwish government it ekerts, for goofl or i119V a
=' 'an‘internahiona; infiuehce far exceeding that of any other Jehisfi
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community.: For ali these reasons, anfi otfiers, it has transfgymed the
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becbme.such ag important centre of gravity that it is legitimate and realistié to speak-of world Jewry as cdnsistigg of twé‘parté, Israel and.the rest, lumping together all thé other
Jewish wormd.
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JewiSh cohmunitigs under thé one heading of Diaspnra. And the welfare: ‘of Difisfioré Jewry is; whéther we like ifi of not, inseparably bound ufi rig ‘rwith hhe‘bhahfiing‘forthfies of fine State
ofjsraelm
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Becausé 6f all thatJ it seems to me eniirely right and bropérx that we who live in;the Diaspnra shfiuld take the ciosést infierest in the Staté of Israel; its paliticai, cultural and religious life; ‘that we ghould give constant and earnesfi thought to ofir :
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relationship
with thé state of Isréel; and that wé should mark ifis birthday éach yea? by giving public expressiofi to these thhugfifis and conéerns,
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It seems to me quite in order, fpr exampie, #0 hold special meetings,
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perhaps even commemoratifin services, and to make reference to Ynm Ha—Afzaméut on the preceding Sébfiafih, aE'I am doing tbnighf.
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Bufi to raiée it
tthexéfatu§v f
a fixed fésbivfil of the inteénntiénél
Jewish calendab is anqtten mgtfieb, concerding Which We should‘feei} at‘ @ lgast, considerable dofibt- And in paffiicular for three rgasnfis. First,xr‘ =
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there is still; and there will remain far a long time to come, a onnéidaryé ‘T pre‘ise able division of opinion among Xfififi Diaspora Jews as to the/significagce 7‘. westablishment of the of_the/State‘of Israel. There are those, prnbably the majafity? whn regard‘ ”
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it, as I havg already indiéated, as an finmiXed blegsing;
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fibere are
gotfiers, no legs sincefe,‘fiho are éxtremely worried by the secular nationalism which was so largely reSaEible for bringing thé State
mammal
of Iéfael»into‘existsfice};fihich cdntigfies to be such a flowerful influence
boui- there and in thé Diaspora! and which; though
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may
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dpfie muéh t9 stimulate Jéwfiéfi céfisé;nuefiess, has also done sq much; and‘
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may 96 still mo£e13t6‘se§uia§ise Jawisp life everywhere. As long as ‘thi§ diviéién 9? opinion persisfié the;e is no chance; even if i; were“ 7
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désirable; t0‘esfiablish :QQ;§§5A€gm§ut-as é permanent Jewish geativél with ahy ufi;feraa1ityrd£ obsérQafiéégiand the attempt hay thereforé db
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mbre harm thén good.‘ It wéfild preefibpoée'an idéntity, or near¥iaentity3 of bpinidn and reelifig abnut the Stategof Israel which Goes not exist, ‘gfié Which cafinotrbé craéteq artifidiéll}; énd it Wfiulé accentuaté fine
lexisiting differences.
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flSpcondly;‘yhatever may Be said,abnu$ the Jewish community in the‘ State of Israel i¢se1f, a festival obeeffefi 5y all Jews must bé a réligibus
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feétival becauée the Jews are, or should be, if not equsiveiy, eta at any rams preLeminént1y5 a religiqfis‘hhmmunityx And it muét be_d6ubtéé~r ‘
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whefifier Egg fig—Atzmgfifi iends itself £ofé purely or éven predominantiyJ' religious interpretatiph, Even the tragitianal Jewish festivals, iike Paesbver and Chanukkah, hgve been to a large éitent nationalised in the Staterpf Israei.
tind
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mfia+At§magt,, which
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religibue trédition
it, is obséryédltfiere almost gntirgly as a natiwnai fegtivéi.:
“Inéeed it is ébservedrfiuére;avéfiy findeféfiafiaabiy,~in much the samé wéfi as any other country’s ifidependegcedpag of thg eqduivaient, iike Béétmlle Dgy in France or Thanksgiving Day in the Uniied States} And itiwill: ‘
always céntinue to be so opéerved in the State dfrlsraél» And therefore ‘
it is difficuit to see how it can ge‘abserved very differently in the
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Diaspora, how the dangef:éan be aVoidgd of giving the impression, t6 “J§ws,and nohnws_a1ik , that' e look éOWérds fhe Stafie of Israel wiflh‘ 1 “something akinito thévpoiitficaI allegiance qekfirgetéEritorial na¢i§fiél§L ‘Afid it is ifi
my View tremendously impdrtant £0 avéfid this danger, not
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so much beéausé the patrigtism of fine Jews towagds the countries ifi
-which they life may:becpme suspect, for this is grébébl} g negligiblé
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and mfich exaggerated risk; bfit because the conflusion»whic;;a1ready XXXKKE so widegpread abbqt the true fiature of the Jewish éeople,‘as a religious rather than.racia1”ofi fiationa; group; wouid he worse”
'”eonfodnded; and it is eééential torthe fulfimment of oufi histOric ‘
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?task and migsion thaw wé should b9 khown to be.§fe~§minéntly, whatevef fieisé we may also be; a péopie of religion, é pedpleléifih a fieligiofis raison‘d'etre and a reiigious message to mankindif Finally, to raise KEKWEKK
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Haigpémaut~to thé level of Pesgbh
or Chanukkah is bound t9 be widely interpreted as ascribing to the.
establishment of the Stafie,of Israel a significance camparable withfl 4‘
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‘thé Exodus from Egypt ahé the deliveranéé from Syrian oppression} as \
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an event to fie finderéiooq’iargely ip terms of the redémptive activity of. God himself. Indeed many people will and do go further, ascriving “ the beginning of, eeeipg'in to significance the event, ia/the fulfilment, under Mgsséapic ‘
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aiviné providence, of anqient prophecies abbut"the end 6f days", I ém 'notréaying tfiafiwthig interpretatiofi isgnécessarily:wrongy 'It may be right,’ fifit I dnfibtlvebyimuph whether the time has come to make éuch a stupendbus
judgment.
WE gre tab élqée to hhe event; the circumstances and motiVes
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which brought it about,fieré ténsmixed; the consequences canxot yet be 'clearly seen; Thgrefo#é my énnclusioh is? Let us wéit.n passively,
of course5 for we shoulq pander constantly and deeply about this épbéba
making event which took blace in our lifletimei Neverthelesé let us wait 'V andore unanimously :‘ H ; until we can see more clearly/what its true significance was. Thafi is my _,"‘~ ‘V. conclusion; What is ydursa. ’
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