The Doctrine of Beitar

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For there is a sacrifice in this. They themselves, these mothers, grew up and were educated in "Yiddish" and spoke Russian with difficulty, and their Russian was poor and meager, but in those days they did not want to accustom their children to the "toys of Yiddish," lest, God forbid, their Russian accent be spoiled, – and so, without any benefit, they decided to speak to their children only in Russian, – and this was a shortcut of a kind never seen before, and they did not complain, – of course I know, that the great majority of mothers in the new settlement speak Hebrew with their children without any complaint, and the words of our esteemed ones regarding the Hebrew mother in the Land as a whole are worthy – on the contrary, we all respect and bless the whole, but there are also complainers, and there are also rebels like the "Amderiot," who declare – we are "to build an iron wall between our heart and the child's heart."

I agree on one thing. A kind of Eretz-Israeli ethics must be established, so that everyone will know how to behave with respect to the language. It is foolishness to speak Hebrew with someone who does not understand Hebrew: it is blindness to silence Hebrew in the homes of the Land because of such mediocre beginners who have not yet learned it. All sorts of allowances and leniencies must be made in the initial period for one who is learning the language, but to one who does not even want to learn (there are such people, and they are not few), one must be shown the full honor of public pressure. One cannot demand of people of a certain age that they learn to the point of giving speeches, but from every man and woman who holds a public position in society, one can demand that they learn enough to understand. An "ethics" must be established, to set the boundaries, on the one hand, and against negligence on the other. And it would have been very good if the Teachers' Committee could convene and work out the details of this ethics as an agreement and guide. But there is one main principle, and if you do not recognize it, there is no room for agreement, and the main principle is this: with respect to language, Hebrew Eretz Yisrael is in a state of war. In danger, before it has fought its final battle.

Towards three sides, and the internal side is perhaps the most difficult. In such a war, freedom and politeness and all the other delights of the Garden of Eden – are necessarily subjugated to the needs of the war. No one wishes to needlessly undermine the life of the new world, but we will never agree that the distinction between one who knows Hebrew and one who does not should constitute a change in all those rights.