Journal of Modern Jewish Studies Pub Date : 2020-10-09 , DOI: 10.1080/14725886.2020.1815952 Michael Keren 1
ABSTRACT
On 23 August 1950, Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Jacob Blaustein, President of the American Jewish Committee, expressed their mutual understanding about the relationship of Israel to Jews in the United States and other free countries. Ben-Gurion’s declaration in the exchange that Jews of the United States owe no political allegiance to Israel was naturally seen as a compromise made for pragmatic reasons by the Prime Minister, known for his belief in aliyah, the ascent of world Jewry to Israel. Observing the exchange from a seventy-year perspective, however, I suggest that Ben-Gurion’s statements were rather consistent with a unique conceptual framework he used as a means for the sovereign state of Israel to gain the support of Jews living in other sovereign states, while reducing the danger that they be accused of dual loyalty. I describe that conceptual framework, which stresses the universal messianic mission of the Jewish state, and raise some thoughts on the implications of its abandonment in Israel in later years.
中文翻译:
本-古里安的弥赛亚思想和美国犹太人
摘要
1950 年 8 月 23 日,以色列总理戴维·本-古里安与美国犹太人委员会主席雅各布·布劳斯坦就以色列与美国和其他自由国家的犹太人的关系表示相互理解。本-古里安在交流中宣布美国的犹太人对以色列没有政治效忠,这自然被视为总理出于务实原因做出的妥协,以信仰阿利亚而闻名,世界犹太人向以色列的崛起。然而,从 70 年的角度观察这种交流,我认为本-古里安的声明与他用来作为以色列主权国家获得生活在其他主权国家的犹太人支持的手段的独特概念框架相当一致,同时减少他们被指控为双重忠诚的危险。我描述了这个概念框架,它强调了犹太国家的普世弥赛亚使命,并提出了一些关于它在晚年被遗弃在以色列的影响的想法。