Aharon Barak

Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Israel

The National Perspective

I look at the experiences of my life, and I ask: What is the lesson I have learned from all this? To what extent have these events shaped my legal worldview? What effect has Arik Brick had on Aharon Barak? I have no clear answer to these questions. The line between facts and hypotheses is blurred. Yet, what is my answer to these questions, even if there is a rationalization of my past experiences in this answer? My answer is this: there are three main lessons that emerge from my personal history, and what is also the history of my generation of Holocaust survivors.

The first lesson is the centrality of the State of Israel as being the state of the Jewish people. I am convinced that if we had a country of our own, the Holocaust as it happened would not have taken place. Only in Israel are we free to shape our image as a nation and as a state. The existence of the state, its security, peace and well-being are central values for me. Only in Israel are we protected from anti-Semitism; Only in Israel can we exercise sovereign power to defend our very existence; It is only in Israel that we are not a persecuted minority.

Some see the state, every state, as a lesser evil at best, whose power and strength should be curtailed. While I see in the State of Israel the fulfillment of a dream of tens of generations. The fate of this country was entrusted in our hands, the hands of the post-Holocaust resurgence generation. We must do everything we can to protect it, and we must see it as a home for every Jew in the world who wants to join.

This is our historic role. This is our Zionism. Not post-Zionism detaching us from our roots in land; But honest and true Zionism, which connects the fate of the Jewish people to the Jewish state. We must unite in our country all our mental and spiritual forces to maintain our unity as a people. An alliance in blood united us in the past. A brotherhood will unite us now. Many conflicts and controversies divide us, but the lesson of the Holocaust is that our power is in our unity.

The second lesson is the centrality of the individual. The Germans and their allies wanted to turn us into dust and ashes. They wanted to take away our human dignity. They failed. In the most difficult moments in the ghetto, we preserved humanity and the human spirit. The Germans and their allies succeeded in murdering many of our people, but they failed to take the image of God away from us.

Every individual is a world in itself. Every individual is entitled to recognition of their personal human dignity. We must protect the rights of each and every one of us. Some see the right of the individual as an obstacle that prevents the fulfillment of the will of the collective. Whereas I see the freedom of the individual as a central element to our lives in our country.

The revival after the Holocaust is the revival of mankind, the centrality of man and the creative freedom of man, of all mankind – of every man and woman; Of the poor and the rich; Of the observant and the secular; Of the Sephardi and the Ashkenazi; Of the new immigrant and old immigrant; Of those whole in body and soul and of those limited in body and soul; Of the old and of the young; Of the person living in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip and of the person living in Israel. We are all equal. We are all brothers.

Recognition of the individual’s freedom is also recognition of the right of the non-Jewish minority among us. We were a minority in Europe. Our rights as a minority were denied to us. We were discriminated against. In our own country we will treat the non-Jewish minority as we had hoped to be treated. We will not discriminate against minorities. Our state is the state of the Jewish people. The non-Jews among us will also enjoy full equality of rights. This is what is demanded by each of their human dignity; This is what is demanded by our own human dignity.

The third lesson is this: the State of Israel can be maintained both as an independent state designed to solve the Jewish people’s problem, and as a state that upholds the rights of each and every person. This is possible, as a proper balance can be found between these two pillars of our lives in the State of Israel. We should not be forced to choose between one component or the other. A third option in which there is no waiver of fundamental ideals must be available; One where there is a proper balance between the national component and the personal component. I searched for this third component, this balance, during my time and work on the bench, and I continued this search upon my return to academia.

I am a cinder rescued from flames, who was given the breath of life by human spirit. It is a life of sovereignty and independence in our country. It is a life of freedom and recognition of the dignity of every human being. It is a shared life in a pluralistic society. It is a life that strives to fulfill justice and uphold the rule of law. It is a life of tolerance – tolerance for the actions and opinions others. It is also sometimes tolerance towards the intolerant. The individual for the common good and the collective for the good of the individual.

What will we learn from the lessons of the Holocaust? Will we fulfill all that is demanded by these lessons? Will we recognize the uniqueness of our country as a state that is both a Jewish state and a democratic state? Will we defend the security of the State and the freedom of the individual? I do not know the answers to these questions, but the Holocaust made me optimistic. If we could overcome all that we went through, we can surely overcome all our problems in the future. I have great faith in the future of the state, and in the future of the freedom of the individual. I am convinced that if we have the strength to go from holocaust to revival, we will have the strength to bring peace – peace between us and our neighbors and peace amongst ourselves.

Font Resize