The Ashkenazi Revolution

171in the nation. Yizhar Smilansky, who is completely bound and enslaved tothe literary method, is a foreign element in this circle.If we stand one next to the other, the human images of the political sectorand the pioneer-worker activism in Zionism and in the nation and, againstthem, the human images of the literary sector, we are likely to be astoundedand shocked. On one side stand those who are of pure heart, clean mindand strong conscience, while on the other side is a gang of crafty, and petty,men. From the standpoint of human stature, the greatest of HebrewLiterature are truly dwarfs compared to the men of politics and pioneerworkers.Biluim, the men of “HaShomer”, the members of Nili, the peopleof the second migration, Herzl, Nordau and Jabotinsky, the pioneers, theheroes of the Underground, Hannah Szenes– how pure and great are theseimages. The lineup of the great men of Literature is, compared to them,like a lineup of defective people: Yehudah Leib Gordon betrayed himselfwhen he opposed the Lovers of Zion, Ahad ha’Am and Bialik were ofsmall faith, and then they migrated, like slithering snakes, on the wagons ofZionism. The ways of Mendele were corrupt. One of the famous critics,Avraham Kariv, saw Brenner as mentally ill. Uri Zvi Grinberg betrayedhis movement in its greatest years, and found himself a safe shelter in thefortress of the “Sanballats”. Wonderful scents waft toward us from thelineup of political men and activists but foul stench comes from thecongregation of Hebrew authors. Uri Zvi Grinberg was a traitor. Bialikwas habitually dangerous. Shin Shalom was apparently a bandit. This istheir face. The men of Hebrew Literature belong to a special type ofhuman that attracts cultural elites and ethical rejects. In contrast, most ofthe politicians, and Zionist activists, attracted people who were the culturalelite and the ethical elite. But despite this, the power of the authors issuperior, and they are the ones who rule over the activist elite, not the otherway around. This superiority, of the literary cult, comes from the Magimagicalinfluence of the Hebrew word and of those who use this magic tofurther, and glorify, their rule.