In its November 1961 issue, The Atlantic Monthly published an extraordinarily eloquent essay (“The Kingdom of the Spirit”) by David Ben-Gurion, at that time Israel’s prime minister for 11 of its 13 years of existence.
The essay is a spiritual and political history of Israel, starting 3,000 years ago.
As we head into Shabbat, it is worth printing out and reading. Here is how it starts:
The Jewish people are not only a national and political unit. Since their first appearance on the stage of history they have been the personification of a moral will and the bearers of a historic vision which they inherited from the prophets of Israel. It is impossible to understand the history of the Jewish people and their struggle for existence — both when they were a nation rooted in their own soil and more or less controlling their own destiny, and when they were a wandering people, exiled and dispersed — unless we bear in mind the unique idea which their history embodies, and the stubborn opposition, not only physical, political, and military, but also spiritual, moral, and intellectual, which the Jews have always confronted.
Today, with Israel at the center of the current battle to preserve religious and political freedom from the latest armed totalitarian threat, it is important to remember this essay. Continue reading here.
Shabbat Shalom.
In its November 1961 issue, The Atlantic Monthly published an extraordinarily eloquent essay (“The Kingdom of the Spirit”) by David Ben-Gurion, at that time