Cultural balance needed

This assessment should be qualified, as international studies do not refer to humanistic aspects of education and certainly not to literature, yet a many observers in the past have found a wide correlation between the cultural, linguistic, and artistic level and the creative spirit that affects society

This effect is not only a result of the weakness of the education system and quality of teachers. It is also partly the result of the depreciation of and contempt directed at social and cultural values such as the spirit of competition and struggle over values both within society itself and also vis-à-vis universal values.

A possible solution for this problem, aside from education budgets, teacher training, and the boosting of the teaching profession, can be found in a search for other ways to present new challenges to the Israeli public as a whole and to youths in particular.

These challenges require balance not only in the face of the common Israeli experience, which generally is premised on pop culture, but also the special essence of the people of Israel, which is concentrated in Israel and abroad.

What are we talking about? Recently we saw the publication of a book by Dr. Arna Golan, formerly a Hebrew literature lecturer at Hebrew University and at many other universities abroad.

The book astounds the reader with the great detail regarding the roots of Hebrew creation, the values of criticism and review, and the spaces of discussion on issues of theme and literary esthetics in the era where the Hebrew language only started to be revived.

Through poverty and meagerness, the trend of reviving Hebrew literature and culture emerged. It would suffice to note that at times, in the endless stream of attempted writings, Hebrew had more writers than readers.

Starting from the early stages and later on, Hebrew creators, including literary giants and those who revived Hebrew journalism, would knock on the doors of Jews to sell their works, so they can buy food. Their situation was that grave.

Dr. Golan spent much time in the national library going through yellowing pages of booklets, books, and magazines featuring astounding spiritual struggles that at times were petty, but eventually led to the revival of the Hebrew language and to trends that advanced the Zionist idea.

Rummaging like this through our past could serve these days too as inspiration for the idea of connecting with overseas communities in order to boost the status of Israeli culture. Of course this is not a proposal for regression and the need to become dependent on those abroad, as the Jewish center in Israel is strong, even if not sturdy in essence.

Old challenge; modern tools

We have a large and magnificent higher education establishment, as well as important and respected authors even in comparison to other western countries. We are also respectably represented among Nobel Prize winners.

Yet something worrisome happened here, something bothersome spiritually and in terms of the meagerness of the spiritual and culture challenge. It is here that we can find salvation by using the example of the formation of our entity through sources that were mostly located outside the borders of Israel.

The current inadequacy and regression in those areas raise the possibility of creating the same challenge anew, using modern tools, and that same competition for the nation's soul through the encouragement of creation, study, and research into humanistic fields, including Hebrew creation - through Jewish communities abroad.

The spirit of progress, creation, and expansion of the universal cultural effect using Hebrew tools aboard can be sparked in order to identify a melting pot of competition and feedback, which would be a blessing for Israeli society as a whole and affect its future.

Through those centers of seemingly "artificial contrast" of Israel as the centre of Jewish culture aspired to by Ehad Ha'am, we can boost competition and originality among Jewish communities and in Israel itself also through institutional means, and recognize the fact that the State of Israel isn't unique to the cultural tradition of the people of Israel overall.

This spirit and progress, using Hebrew tools, will provide a push for reviving the tradition of Jewish uniqueness among nations of the world in a fundamental and practical way.