The Maccabaean

THE victory which has been won is the victory of all the positive forces in Jewish life, of all those who affirmed rather than doubted or denied, who were determined in their allegiance, who were definite in their views, who had the courage of their convictions and had the gift of vision. And the lesson is that to falter is to fail, to hesitate is to be lost, to compromise is to stultify a cause, and that nothing is to be feared so much as—fear. The lesson should not fail to be enforced even amidst the celebration of victory, for the great structure of our national future is yet to be reared and the same positiveness of purpose, firmness of decision, clearness of outlook and boldness of conviction which have brought us thus far, will be required in the work of reclaiming and rebuilding our land.

A people lives because it wills to live and this will asserts itself through the positive forces of life, through ideas which stand for conservation, through dreams which reflect reality, through plans that have a constructive object. The philosophy of negation is a negative philosophy. Doubts as to our future, questions as to our identity as a people, discussion as to our rights, attempts to diminish our own strength and importance, were the expressions of weakness and weariness, symptoms of decay and incipient dissolution showing signs of atrophy in the Jewish body politic. The voices of doubt and fear and uncertainty did not emanate from the active, pulsating forces of Jewish life and did not reflect the wholesome mind of the people, who, living the life of Jews, thinking in terms of reality and imbued with positive ideals could only be influenced by objects and purposes which conform to the idea of the persistence of the Jewish national identity.

An American essayist has written a book to show that what he 64115 the “Affirmative Intellect” exercises the greatest influence in human existence. Without going into the philosophical implications of the work, it is clear that any people having the desire to persist as a nationality, expresses itself through the positive forces in its life, the forces making for integration rather than for disintegration, the ideas and projects which will assure its development and perpetuation. The masses of Jews animated with the people’s will to live, have voiced their feelings and sentiments through those who have affirmed the existence of the Jews as a nationality, who had positive views, who projected constructive ideas into Jewish life and who in presenting the predominating beliefs and aspirations of the masses in Jewry, have spoken for the largest numbers of our people. He who speaks the people’s mind represents the people; for democracy is more a matter of spirit than of form and the test of true leadership is the closeness with which the spokesman approxi- mates to the cherished beliefs and definite opinions of his constituency.

Back of the positive view of Jewish life was the whole heart and mind of the Jewish people and the triumph of the moral and intellectual positive Jewish forces is the triumph of the whole people. But the whole people does not organize the national work, does not formulate the ideas, does not plan and carry

out the task of rehabilitation. It is always left to the active forces within the people to make projects and to carry them to realization. The Zionists, representing the active and positive forces in Jewish life, reflecting the wholesome feelings and thoughts of the masses and thus being truly representative of the people, have given form, substance and concreteness of expression to the people’s will to live, as a nationality. In organizing and assembling our forces, mustering all our resources, the Zionist Organization has, through the victory of the positive forces, led a whole people to trinmnh.

And even as positiveness of position, so has definiteness of view won the day. The Zionists have formulated the Jewish aspirations and demands in such a way as to make the Jews and their desires comprehensible to the world. The mute, inarticulate masses found a voice so clear and convincing as to dissipate all prevailing confusion and doubt and as to make the world understand. It is not a mere matter of accident that the non-Jew, once made acquainted with Zionism, invariably takes a friendly attitude. The explanation is that the Zionists are the most understandable of all the Jews. The inherent logic of the position is irresistible and once stated, puts all of -the tortuous contradictions of the assimilationist to flight. The affirmative point of view aided by the overwhelming logic of the position, was bound to win. The Zionists having spoken for the Jewish people, the world understood.

And even as the positive forces of Jewish life have won within Jewry, so has the affirmative position and the courageous attitude won within Zionism. This is no time to indulge in the satisfaction of having one’s particular point of view vindicated and writers for our party press have, with notable graciousness, refrained from enlarging upon the distinct triumph of the political idea in Zionism. Yet for the purposes of guidance in our future course and to the greater honor of the immortal founder of modern Zionism, it shguld clearly be recorded, that it was the larger andbolder conception of the Zionist idea that made-‘fts appeal to the political world and that opened 116/87 for the realization of our ideal. Inherently, the people were always Zionistic, but the political idea represented more than anything else a special method of attaining the Zionist aim, a method which, due to the lack of political education, was not easily understood. This threw all the more obstacles in the path of the “politicals.” The program of practical work was more appealing to the masses and hence many of the difficulties of the movement. But in spite of almost insurmountable obstacles, amidst numerous temptations to temporize, to modify the Zionist program and to accept half-way measures, the adherents of the political idea stuck to their guns until new and powerful supporters came tc the aid of the cause. Now their wisdom is fully vindicated and, even though as good Zionists we all work harmoniously together, we should not fail to enforce the lesson that it was the positive position, the uncompromising attitude, the larger conception of Jewish polity that won our first great victory and will lead to the ultimate realization of the great dream of a great and long-suffering people.