The Ashkenazi Revolution

137known more Hebrew, she would not have done what she did, but she wouldhave found her satisfaction through the waving of words and throughmediation of words, just like all the rest of the wide circle of those whoknew Hebrew, and who were fluent in it.5The Labor movement, the second force, after Hebrew, in the formation ofthe image of the Hebrew settlement in the Land of Israel, is a strangecombination in which were joined ingenious abilities of execution andexceptional tactical aptitude on one hand, and an almost infantileanalytical-political thought process on the other. Within the Labormovement there is not even one philosopher who bares comparison withpersonalities such as Herzl, Nordau, Zangwill or even Jabotinsky. AaronDavid Gordon, the foremost philosopher of the Labor movement, offersnothing new. He only combined humanistic doctrines, which wereaccepted in the 19 th century, and gave them a Hebrew façade. In thedoctrine of Aaron David Gordon are found all the distinctions that arefound in the doctrine of Leonard Tolstoy but without being expressions of agreat personality, as was the personality of the Russian giant. Theinfluence of Aaron David Gordon came first and foremost not from hisown doctrine, but from his being a prophet who went to work every day tocultivate with his hoe. This hoe, which was stuck between the lines of thewritings of Aaron David Gordon, was what gave weight to his doctrine.However, when Aaron David Gordon went the way of all flesh, and onlyhis doctrine remained, its power immediately melted away, as from thebeginning it was limited to a narrow area of time and conditions; it was tiedto the hoe of its creator.Moreover: Aaron David Gordon committed a much more serious sin thanthat of territoriality. He was dishonest and his doctrine was dishonest. “Behonest”, said God to Abraham and this is an obligatory commandment forany philosopher who wants his doctrine to last a long time. Aaron DavidGordon wished to combine his own ethical-monastic humanism with theneeds of pure Ashkenazi nationalism as a subsistence area for the needy