The Maccabaean

NELEIEISZNPPY are those that have faith. Of HS Ar the Jewish people, it is the Zionists who MD v are the men of faith. There is no room Le) x) in the Zionist midst for the doubters, Ver 5% for the waverers, for the pessimists. OR =187° Our movement is one of hope, cheer 2 EU and light. There is none who realize the depth of the tragedy of our people more than do the Zionists. The Zionist does not deal with fragments of Jewish history, but has an eye for the whole of Jewish life, that embraces all ages and spans the entire globe. He grasps therefore the profoundity of our tragedy, he realizes the expanse of the “ocean of tears,” in which our people wade. The Zionist, however, does not despond and his proud spirit does not forsake him. Let us not fear to declare openly that Zionism is a task, fraught with great difficulties, which at first glance seem insurmountable. Zionism, viewed from the angle of the trader, is in the realm of impossibilities. But we remain Zionists because we approach the problem from another angle. We see the difficulties, but we feel at the same time the iron will that dominates us and the profound faith that pervades us. We are confident that our will can blast all obstacles and burn them to ashes; that in the furnace of our faith the obstructions will be consumed and turned into white ashes.

It is faith and enthusiasm that always lead to the Goal and we are primarily believers and enthusiasts. Jeers and harangues and syllogisms leave us unconcerned, since we carry the guarantee deep in our hearts that our effort will be crowned with success, and we know that no matter what they of little faith may say, our vision is clearer. They are confined within the span of a day, while our spirit hovers also in the realm of the future.

Doubt and pessimism have never as yet germinated anything worth while. They are only the genii of destruction. Faith and courage, on the other hand, recreated the world and made life worth living. We Zionists are the courageous and the stalwarts of our people. No doubt can shake us, no sophistry, no matter how cleverly spun, can swerve us, can change our attitude. We are not mere philosophers and soothsayers, but men engaged in a great task that spells life and happiness, honor and salvation for our people, that was once great and is to-day deserving of a better fate. We are the liberators of our own souls, and in the liberation of our souls, we liberate the soul of our people. It is not the Zionist that can be charged with forgetting the cage that holds our people in captivity. He may justly claim to have seen not only the cage, but also the lion therein. We believe in Jewish power, Jewish ability, Jewish fortitude, Jewish valor, Jewish idealism,—in a word, we believe in the genius of our people. We do not “whimper about our rights.” That is the way of the opportunists in our midst, who content themselves with feeble complaints of a Jewish soldier failing in promotion, of another Jew working for the welfare of the state failing of admission to the court of King or Kaiser, of the great scientist refused admission into Christian clubs. In reality, it is the assimilator that “whimpers.” We do not complain, though we understand the injustice of these acts., We do not force ourselves into Christian society. And for more than one reason. First, because we have a great

problem on hand that absorbs our whole attention and which gives us spiritual satisfaction. We have, as a matter of fact, no special need now for that society. Secondly, while we do not justify the acts of the “blue- blooded native” who looks down on a man of his own rank or station solely because he is a Jew, yet we consider it below our dignity to dwell on trifles such as these—trifles, in comparison with the great problem that confronts us. We do not make much ado about trifles like these, because we know the cause that engenders them and because we know the remedy that will do away with this diserimination.

We are not "whimper." We are too busy to do that. We are constantly working for the salvation of the people, which, in spite of ages of servitude, yet has managed to save its soul. We are optimistic and look cheerfully into the future that holds out to us rays of light and promise.

We do not believe that Jacob is a worm. Judah is a lion that is caged, Jacob is a giant that is chained. We are now engaged in breaking the cage, in shattering the chains. There will be no pause or weakening till the cage is broken, till the chain is shattered. This work of ours will not be spasmodic, but continuous and relentless. We are confident that the chain will be broken into fragments with the sledge hammer of our indomitable will. We are certain that the fire of our faith will melt away the bars of the cage, that deprives our people of its freedom. That the task is hard, we know, but that does not frighten us. It was not easy for our people to survive two thousand years of ravage, persecution, the lash of the satrap, torture and wanderings, the Auto Defé and the Inquisition. No other people could have survived the suffering and cruelty we have endured. Our people survived, and it was by the power of the will that it did.

There is an old metaphor that compares our people to the mighty rock which rises out of the ocean. Waves dash against it, attempt to shatter it, but are scattered into drops, and foaming, escape to save themselves, while the rock stands, head erect, proud, and crowned with the rays of the morning stars, serenely watching the flight of the eagle in the lofty heavens. A true comparison, indeed, but incomplete. The Jew has not been saved because of his passive strength alone, but because of his readiness to meet all ordeals, because of his watchfulness and because of his readiness to bring sacrifices, and last, but not least. because of his strone will to live.

We survived in spite of the world’s attempt to crush us, and we have not merely survived. We are even now an important factor among the nations. Foe and friend agree that we are a factor to be counted, but the difference is only that our friends hold we are a force for good, our enemies hold we are a force for evil. There is no disagreement on the point that we influence life, that we are not a negligible quantity, in spite of the concentrated effort to destroy us. It is by our will that we survived, and forged our way. It is this will that has already performed miracles and upon which we Zionists hırild.

We will conquer all obstacles and carve our way to liberty and freedom and with the power of our will.