A Durable Peace (60 page)

This is the great mystery that made the story of the Jews so captivating to Rousseau and Byron, Balfour and Wilson, and to
countless millions the world over. Speaking for these, Mark Twain wondered:

The Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of Stardust lost in the blaze of the
Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent
on the planet as any other people.… He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his
hands tied behind him…. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then
faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed,
and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned
out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was… All
things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?
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This fascination has only grown since the rebirth of Israel. One could point to the scattered fragments of other ancient peoples
in other parts of the world, the sparks of great firmaments dispersed to other lands. Only in the case of the Jews did these
embers not die out when the home fire had ceased to burn. And only in the case of Israel did these sparks come together to
rekindle a new flame.

But now the Jews have entered a new phase in their history. Since the rise of Israel, the essence of their aspirations has
changed. If the central aim of the Jewish people during its exile was to retrieve what had been lost, the purpose now is to
secure what has been retrieved. It is a task that has barely begun, and its outcome is of profound import not only for the
fate of the Jews but for all mankind. In the hearts of countless people around the world burns the hope that the Jews will
indeed be able to overcome the insurmountable obstacles that are strewn along their journey’s path, ford the stormy river
between annihilation and salvation, and build anew their home of promise. If, echoing the words of the prophet Amos, the fallen
tent of David has indeed risen again, its resurrection is proof that there is hope for every people and every nation under
the sun. The rebirth of Israel is thus one of humanity’s great parables. It is the story not only of the Jews, but of a human
spirit that refuses again and again to succumb to history’s horrors. It is the incomparable quest of a people seeking, at
the end of an unending march, to assume its rightful place among the nations.