Michael Oren, historian and then Israeli Ambassador to the United States, wove together the ideas of Theodor Herzl and William Butler Yeats to deliver his central message. Herzl had famously declared, 'If you will it, it is no dream,' during a period of deep despair for European Jews. But Oren argued that Herzl's adage must always be paired with Yeats' axiom — that in dreams begin responsibility. The connection between realizing dreams and accepting the responsibilities that come with them, Oren said, has been a recurring theme throughout Jewish history, from Joseph in Egypt to Moses in the wilderness to Brandeis on the Supreme Court. The graduates were about to exit through the door into the howling darkness, and while their dreams would guide them, the responsibilities those dreams demanded would be their true test.