• 130

Hadar-Betar

"Hadar" — a Hebrew word that is almost impossible to translate into other languages. It includes, of course, various meanings: external beauty, pride, manners, loyalty... But the full "translation" in the language of everyday life must be Hadar-itself, — in one's step and in one's appearance, in one's deeds and in one's speech and in the conduct of one's thoughts. It goes without saying that we still see a great distance from this state, and a people cannot reach it in one generation. But "Hadar-education" must be the daily aspiration of each one of us: every step we take, every movement and utterance, every light sound, every action and even every desire we must perform with devotion and persistence stamped with "Hadar".

This matter is important not only in that every person in general should strive for "Hadar." It is especially important for us, the Jews. It has already been said here that the Diaspora has greatly weakened among us the healthiest instincts of a normal people. And in particular we all suffered because of this in the external forms of our lives. We all know, we all complain often among ourselves, that the average Jew is sometimes willing to watch over his ways or his external appearance, and this is not a "success" at all: for it is one of the main virtues of self-worth, just as a person must care for the cleanliness of his body, not because of "what will they say," but out of simple self-respect — so he is obliged to educate himself as well, and in general, from all his movements and thoughts that supreme recognition of every Jew should be required: his own "kingdom."

Because, every nation has its own "His Majesty." And especially every Jew. If the word "aristocrat" has any meaning, it can only be one meaning: an "aristocrat" is one whose fathers and forefathers, and so on, have always been, for generations upon generations, people of culture, etc., whose lives and ideas were not "just so," but they are capable of delving into noble ideas and adapting the entire course of their lives to lofty ideals. And if so, then we, the Jews, are the most aristocratic people in the entire world. Even the most ancient royal dynasties do not count for more than twenty, thirty generations of cultural life; far from it,