Towards the end of a film I recently saw, a conclusion was advanced: The talmudic training of the Diaspora prepared the technological successes of the "Startup Nation."
The impression was that, to an extent, one replaced the other, and that was a positive thing.
One further gets the impression that the Jewish state represents the nation's physical survival needs with a somewhat unfortunate inward-looking priority, while the diaspora retains "core Jewish values", like a diverse, liberal, global perspective.
This suggested dichotomy is not unintended and problematic.
The Torah that kept the Jewish nation vibrant in the diaspora is the same that kept the dream of the return to Zion alive.
Significant voices at the time of the creation of the state said it was time to abandon the Torah completely. The dream has been fulfilled.
They were sure that as Torah faded from Jewish national life, the nation would be strengthened both materially and even spiritually.
I came home to Israel half a century ago as one of many diaspora dreamers.
Once home, I was impressed to meet my Israeli kibbutz cousins who farmed and defended the (holy) land of our dreams.
True, they did not observe or respect the Torah that guided me home, but still, I was impressed with what I, in my Brooklyn ghetto, could not accomplish.
The fact that they did not give their children a bar mitzvah, or viewed the "Kotel " as just old stones, not worth fighting for, gave me pause, but who am I to criticize? They built our Jewish state, I thought.
A half century ago, my cousins could not be prouder to be Israelis and would be ashamed to admit that a family member would even contemplate the dirty word, "yerida."(Today it is called "relocation")
These same cousins today have children who have intermarried, and others are doing "very well" in America. No shame; in fact, they are proud.
The "Start-up Nation" is too small to keep down its really ambitious members, the" new Jews". They leave for Big Brother, the one they like to emulate in Silicon Valley.
Why not?
There is a new service industry in Israel today: how to acquire a foreign passport. How to get out.
Jews whose grandparents came here to create a new, improved Jew without the shackles of Torah see no reason to be in the land of their grandparents' dreams.
I came here because of those "shackles."
They leave because that which freed them from those shackles gives them no incentive to stay.
Their new "Jewish moral compass" has brought them even to the point of confusing brothers for the enemy. ("The hilltop youth" are a greater enemy than "Hizbollah")
Growing communities of these Israelis from Thailand to Spain to Los Angeles are the fruits of their grandparents' blunder.
They are indeed the "new Jew", wandering the globe seeking greener pastures.
I am the old Jew, the kind that Torah brought me here and keeps me here.
tour guide and author
"Jews, Israelis and Arabs"
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