When Israel began its great wandering through the ages and nations, Jeremiah proclaimed the following as its duty: "Build houses and dwell therein . . . and seek the peace of the city whither I have exiled you, and pray for it to the Lord, for in its peace there will be unto you peace." To be pushed back and limited upon the path of life is, therefore, not an essential condition of the galut, Israel's exile state among the nations, but, on the contrary, it is our duty to join ourselves as closely as possible to the state which receives us into its midst, to promote its welfare and not to consider our well-being as in any way separate from the state to which we belong. . . . Land and soil were never Israel's bond of union, but only the common task of the Torah; therefore it still forms a united body, though separated from national soil. . . .

Because of this purely spiritual nature of the national character of Israel it is capable of the most intimacy with states, with, perhaps, this difference, that while others seek in the state only material benefits . . . Israel can only regard it as a means of fulfilling the mission of humanity. . . .

I bless emancipation, when I see how the excess of oppression drove Israel away from human intercourse, prevented the cultivation of the mind, limited the free development of the noble sides of character . . . but for Israel I bless it if at the same time there awakens in Israel the true spirit, which, independent of emancipation or non-emancipation, strives to fulfill Israel's mission; to elevate and ennoble ourselves, to implant the spirit of Judaism in our sou

 

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