U.S. Zionists Urge Israel to “reappraise” Stand Toward World Jewry

A reappraisal by the State of Israel of its position toward world Jewry was urged last night by Rabbi Irving Miller, chairman of the American Zionist Council, which represents all Zionist groups in this country. Rabbi Miller spoke at the annual pedagogic conference sponsored by the Jewish Education Committee in co-operation with the Jewish Agency. Greetings on behalf of the Israel Government were delivered to the parley by Israel Consul General Simcha Pratt.

Addressing several hundred educators, Rabbi Miller said that Israel must “assume the role for which it was originally intended namely, as the fountainhead of spiritual strength for Jews in lands outside of Israel as well as the actual home for others.” At the same time, Rabbi Miller asserted that “Diaspora Jewry, for its own sake, cannot afford to discard Zionism” warning that “this would be the surest way toward ultimate disintegration.” He emphasized that “without the moral and material support of the Jewish people Israel’s future would still be precarious,” declared that while all Jews Zionist and non-Zionist alike support Israel, it is the role of the experienced and dedicated Zionists “to be the vanguard to set the pace and provide the initiative.”

ISRAEL MUST NOT UPROOT MATURE JEWISH COMMUNITIES, RABBI MILLER SAYS

Rabbi Miller’s address on the relationship of American Jewish community and Israel was seen as of special significance in the light of the position taken recently by Israeli Premier David Ben Gurion that only those who settle in Israel can be designated as Zionists. In his address, Rabbi Miller pointed out that “the dream of our homeland was not built upon the proposition that all Jews of every country would physically reside there.” He further said that it was not the province of the homeland to endeavor to uproot mature Jewish communities which had established a way of life in those nations that welcomed the attributes of their heritage and culture.

“Jews, in particular.” he said, “should be aware that a culture is not necessarily based on the geographical proximity of the individual members of that culture. A culture, or a religion, or a nation, if you will, is primarily a state of mind a consciousness of a common past, a sense of belonging. The Jews have clung to this state of mind over the past decades not by some mysterious social slavism but largely through the ideological power of Zionist philosophy.”

“I hold that the establishment of the Jewish State does not mean the end of that philosophy,” the Zionist leader continued. “On the contrary, it now enters a new stage which promises to become one of the most fruitful and decisive in the history of the Jewish people. In effect, the promised new era will be brought about only by a new outlook on the part of the world Jewish community. Israel is a part of that community; it is not the community. It is the core of the community, its heart and life-giving power, and in the coming years it may well assume its rightful place as its leader.”

Rabbi Miller further maintained that Israel to attain this “must adapt itself to the reality of new conditions. It must recognize that there will always be a world Jewry community of which it is only a part, and that the Jews outside Israel will undoubtedly always outnumber the population of Israel,” adding that “Judaism, like Zionism, is universal and has no geographical borders, only spiritual ones.”

“We must not expect Israel to stand alone, just as Israel must not expect to survive alone. It should be amply clear by now that without the moral and material support of the Jewish people, Israel’s future will still be precarious,” he emphasized.