Printer Friendly
REMORSE AND NOSTALGIA
The twentieth century secular Jewish world was characterized by a literature of nostalgia about the origins of secular personages in the religious life and society of the shtetel. Many Jews had turned their backs on Jewish observance and traditional Torah values in favor of a new world of Socialism, Communism, secular Zionism and other then avant garde philosophies and ideals. Later in life these same people were swept by waves of nostalgia and some even by a sense of remorse over what was lost - of the the utopian promises of the future and the “new Jew.”
Chaim Weizmann’s bedroom in Rechovot, where he passed away, shows an open prayer book as his last intellectual exercise. Yitzchak Ben Zvi became a regular synagogue attendee. Zalman Shazar was much more of a Chabad chasid at the end of his life than an idealistic socialist. Nathan Birnbaum, who was a compatriot of Herzl and who gave Zionism its name ended up as the basic theoretician of Agudat Yisrael. Dr. Bernard Revel gave up his revolutionary ideas and devoted his life and great talents to building a Torah community in America. He became the innovative and dynamic head of what today is Yeshiva University. Lev Kamenev, the ruthless Bolshevik comrade of Lenin, was executed by Stalin’s NKVD while reciting the Shma.
There are numerous other instances of such displays that dot the landscape of twentieth century Jewry. A common feature in the lives of all of those mentioned above, as well as of the Jewish world generally, was a familiarity with Jewish observance and practice, even if the people were themselves completely non-observant of Jewish ritual. They had something that, if they wished to, they could be nostalgic about.
However, the secular Jewish world today does not possess that resource - one that could engender a change towards a more traditional life style and value system. There is nothing to be nostalgic about because, in the main, its past is completely devoid of Jewish knowledge, the appreciation of the wonder of Judaism, and the comforting solidity of a traditional Jewish life.
The Socialist Zionist leader Borochov ruefully remarked that “we had hoped to raise a generation of apikorsim – knowledgeable Jews who rebelled against tradition and Torah – but instead we have raised a generation of ignoramuses as far as Judaism is concerned.” The typical baal teshuva today – both in Israel and the Diaspora – does not come from a sense of nostalgia and remorse. Rather, he or she comes from a world of Jewish ignorance, assimilation and confusion as to identity and ultimate purpose.
Today’s baal teshuva movement, strong and vital as it is, carries no memories with it. Since there is no connection to any spiritual Jewish roots, the task of creating the “old Jew” out of this new Jew is infinitesimally more difficult. I have found that remorse is present in this search for self, but tragically there is no nostalgia involved.
In the Orthodox world there is a great sense of nostalgia. But since we now live sixty-five years after the demise of European Jewry, much of this nostalgia is contrived, unreal, even fanciful. It is built around legends of perfect people, idyllic social life and fantastic communities. This type of contrived nostalgia often leads to excessive demands and skewed opinions. The historic truth is often bent to accommodate current political correctness.
A true appraisal of current problems and situations is often rendered impossible because of this adherence to legends and fables. So the problem of nostalgia, its absence and its sometimes overly contrived existence plagues our generation. The educational systems in the Jewish secular and religious worlds both combine to make this problem an acute one. One section of the Jewish world is unaware of the legends that give flavor to Jewish life while another part of Jewish society blindly believes every fantasy and story advanced about our past.
The Jewish world is therefore divided into two camps - one that possesses no nostalgia at all for it doesn't have the knowledge, while another group creates and invents a society, behavior and personalities to be nostalgic about. Maybe exaggerated nostalgia is better than no nostalgia at all. But, I am convinced that truth and accuracy about our past will serve the Jewish people best as we face our current problems and inscrutable future. It will help spare us from future remorse.
Shabat shalom.
Berel Wein
