From Livni’s broad perspective, recent historical events are a necessary fulfillment of the prophecy of old, with all of its paradoxes. “History is not the product of chance, and it is not chance that brought together, in a single instant, the extreme opposite dimensions of human existence, death and birth, despair and hope, abject Satanism and pure idealism. The creation of the State of Israel and the Holocaust, that both began well before 1943, correspond to historical dynamics diametrically opposed… One would have to be blind not to see that a mysterious Providence brought these two events together, as if to make of them the opposite sides of the same giant milestone. Providence was present in the Holocaust just as it watched over the creation of the State of Israel. Jewish faith cannot claim the contrary.”
Israel’s mission can only be accomplished by demonstrating to the world how to become a nation that is based on Divine moral principles. “Israel is called upon to establish itself in the Holy Land, in order to put into practice this teaching and spread its message throughout the world. Between the prophetic event of the revelation of Sinai and the dissemination of this teaching from Jerusalem are situated, therefore, not only the entire mission of Israel but all of the history of mankind as well… Sinai would lose its meaning completely if it were not linked to Zion. It would be as if the seed refused to sprout and grow, this would be a refusal of history, of its development and maturation, a shirking of responsibility.”
Abraham Livni’s The Return of Israel and the Hope of the World is a thought-provoking work which has the power to bring into sharp focus all of the events of past history and mold them into a uniform framework that can serve as a guide for future action. It is an exciting book, recommended reading for all serious participants in the historical process, Jew and non-Jew alike. As Abraham Livni writes in his summary, “Zionism has a specific role to play in the metahistorical framework of the great Return, whose universal dimension was clearly shown, long ago, by all the prophets… Now, time is running out. The juxtaposition of the Nazi genocide and the establishment of the State of Israel is no simple accident of history. Now that the dream of Return has become a reality, it is no longer possible for the Jewish people to remain on the sidelines, ignoring their predestined mission.
“It is the Jewish people’s destiny to break loose from all the restraints imposed upon them by their exilic condition, woven from all the alienations of a world incapable of finding the key to its salvation. The Return does not concern the Jewish people alone. It concerns all peoples. The Return of Israel is, in truth, the hope of the world, the only path to its salvation.”
