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ences, is now kept up for only
one purpose—to obtain and main
tain power for one’s own group in
the Government and the Histra-
drut and thus obtain good-paying
jobs for individuals and this in
turn gives way to an inept and
often cynical bureaucracy. They
are apt to overlook the fact that
there is still a lot of idealism left
in the kibbutzim, the army, the
youth who are ready at any mo
ment to sacrifice their lives in
defense of their country.
This morning, while preparing
to type this piece I came across a
short article in the “Jerusalem
Post.’’ The author, Sraya Shapiro,
tells of meeting a couple of mid
dle-aged American Jewish tour
ists. They complained to him of
unscrupulous hoteliers, of taxi
drivers who over-charged, of un
comfortable buses, of inefficient
travel office employees. Yet be
fore leaving, they said they were
thinking of coming here again,
“perhaps for good.” Fine, said
Mr. Shapiro, but could they also
bring along their children? No,
answered the couple. They them
selves had memories of their little
hometown in Poland, their school
mates, some of whom had come to
Israel. But their children? They
had grown up in America among
goyim.
And the writer continues:
“We did not understand American
Jews, we said. The young peo
ple, we meant. There were about
a million of them, probably. They
were good Americans, of course,
and would not dream of leaving
America. But they must have
heard about the Jewish State.
They know of the difficulties of
the State. Were there not, in
the whole of the United States,
10,000 young Jews who would
consider that the future of a Jew
ish State was their concern too?
“There was a pause in the con
versation. They realized that the
indictment was a bit harsh: it
gave them, the parents who had
not instilled in their children a
sense of community, of fate with
the rest of the Jewish people,
something to think about.”
Mr. Shapiro then turns around
and chides Israelis for behaving
towards these American tourists
like “Levantine grabbers of tour
ist money-bags.” “Even in Mea
Shearim, where our tourists
wandered one night, prayers
stopped and hands were stretched
out towards the American visitors,
asking for money,” he states, and
winds up his article by declaring
that “the common bond must
work in both directions.”
To this I would only add that
if the common bond is to work
in both directions, Israeli youth
must be taught that they are not
only Israelis but also Jews who
share a common history, a com
mon fate and destiny, with Jews
in America and other Diaspora
Jews, because in their Hebrew
schools here they were taught to
negate the Diaspora, just as too
many American Jewish youths
feel they have nothing in common
with Israel, because they did not
get a Jewish education, not even
a bad Jewish education. Only a
proper education in both coun
tries can create a better under
standing between Israel and
American Jews in the future. !
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