I. ¹ (part 1 of 2)
London: Printed For The Author, ... 1804. (Entered at Stationers-Hall.)
(8º. xx. + 511 pp.) [I. S.]
¹ The pagination is consecutive, but Part II. is dated 1803.
XLVI.
“OBSERVATIONS ON MR. BICHENO’S BOOK,” BY THOMAS WITHERBY
Dedicated to the Jews.
Observations on Mr. Bicheno’s Book, Entitled The Restoration Of The Jews The Crisis Of All Nations:
Wherein the revolutionary Tendency of that Publication is shewn to be most inimical to the real Interest of the Jews, who are not to expect the Restoration to their own Land until they are, by the free Grace of the God of their Fathers, enabled to acknowledge his Justice, Righteousness, and Mercy, in their long-continued Dispersion, and in the Preservation of their Nation amidst those awful Sufferings which they have endured under his righteous Judgments.
Together With An Inquiry Concerning Things To Come;...
London: Printed For The Author ...
(8º. xx. + 323 pp.) [I. S.]
Page iii.: (Dedicated) “To The Jews. Distinguished Nation.... Thomas Witherby. Enfield, Middlesex, Aug. 22, 1800.”¹
¹ Gentleman’s Magazine, 1801, vol. lxxi., pp. 830‒836.
XLVII.
“LETTERS TO THE JEWS,” BY JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
Letters To The Jews; Inviting Them To An Amicable Discussion Of The Evidences Of Christianity.
By Joseph Priestley, LL.D., F.R.S....
Birmingham, ... MDCCLXXXVII. [Price One Shilling.]
(8º. 2 ll. + 54 pp. + 1 l. (Catalogue.) [I. S.]
Letters To The Jews. Part II. Occasioned By Mr. David Levi’s Reply To The Former Letters.
By Joseph Priestley, LL.D. F.R.S.... Birmingham, ... MDCCLXXXVII. [Price One Shilling.]
(8º. iv. + 56 pp.) [I. S.]
Page 56: “Your brother in the sole worship Of the one only true God, Joseph Priestley. Birmingham, July 1, 1787.”
XLVIII.
“AN ADDRESS TO THE JEWS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE WORLD,” BY JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
A Comparison Of The Institutions of Moses With Those Of The Hindoos And Other Ancient Nations;
With Remarks on Mr. Dupuis’s Origin of all Religions,
The Laws and Institutions of Moses Methodized,
And An Address to the Jews on the present state of the World and the Prophecies relating to it.
By Joseph Priestley, LL.D. F.R.S. &c....
Northumberland:¹ ... MDCCXCIX.
(8º. xxvii. + 428 pp. + 2 ll. (catalogue).) [B. M.]
pp. 393‒428: “An Address To The Jews.”
¹ Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
XLIX.
“LETTERS TO DR. PRIESTLEY,” BY DAVID LEVI
Letters To Dr. Priestly, In Answer To Those He Addressed To The Jews; Inviting Them To An Amicable Discussion Of The Evidences Of Christianity.
By David Levi, ... London, ... MDCCLXXXVII.
(8º. 2 ll. + 99 pp.) [I. S.]
Second Edition MDCCLXXXVII. (103 pp.) [I. S.]
Third Edition, M,DCC,XCIII. (2 ll. + 99 pp.) [I. S.]
L.
“A FAMOUS PASSOVER MELODY,” BY THE REV. F. L. COHEN
“... Isaac Nathan, a fashionable singing master of London ... conceived the idea of imitating the ‘Irish Melodies’ of Thomas Moore (batches of which had been published since 1807, with the greatest success).... Less fortunate than Moore, Byron’s verses were not wedded to melodies of the national type they professed, because even before Nathan had thus exhausted his choice, he had made a most superficial search through the repertory of the Anglo-Jewish synagogues of his day, which, by the way, had not yet experienced the inspiringly melodious influence of ‘Polish’ Chazanuth.... The opening poem, ‘She walks in beauty,’ for example, he set to a tawdry Lecha Dodi.... But among the six actually ‘Hebrew’ melodies, there were one or two exceptions to the general inferiority of the music; and prominent among these was the tender and expressive air to which, by a happy inspiration, Nathan set the verses:――
‘O weep for those that wept by Babel’s stream.’
Here, at least,
‘Music and sweet poetry agreed, As well they should, the sister and the brother’;
and the result became world famous as a type of what Hebrew melody might be. It has often been republished; and has also appeared in other settings, as by the Rev. M. Hast to Ibn Gabirol’s hymn:――
‘At morn I beseech Thee,’
or by Ernst Pauer in his Traditional Hebrew Melodies. But what is more especially known to and prized by musicians, it forms the only pianoforte composition of Robert Franz, the great songwriter, under the title
‘Beweinet, die geweint an Babel’s Strand,’
and as such, it has become famous.... The origin of the melody is ... simply the old chant of the Cohanim on the Festivals, as it used to be sung in London synagogues on the Passover a hundred years ago, with a joyous touch of Pesach tune....”¹
¹ Jewish Chronicle, 1st April, 1904, page 21.
LI.
“REMINISCENCES OF LORD BYRON ... POETRY, ETC., OF LADY CAROLINE LAMB,” BY ISAAC NATHAN
FUGITIVE Pieces And Reminiscences Of Lord Byron:
Containing An Entire New Edition Of The Hebrew Melodies, With The Addition Of Several Never Before Published;
The Whole Illustrated With Critical, Historical, Theatrical, Political, And Theological Remarks, Notes, Anecdotes, Interesting Conversations, And Observations, Made By That Illustrious Poet: Together With His Lordship’s Autograph.
Also Some Original Poetry, Letters And Recollections Of Lady Caroline Lamb.
By I. Nathan, Author Of An Essay On The History And Theory Of Music, The Hebrew Melodies, &c. &c....
London: ... 1829.
(8º. xxxvi. + 196 + 11 pp.) [I. S.]
LII.
“SELECTION OF HEBREW MELODIES,” BY JOHN BRAHAM AND ISAAC NATHAN
A Selection of Hebrew Melodies Ancient and Modern with appropriate Symphonies & accompaniments.
By I. Braham & I. Nathan.
The Poetry written expressly for the work By the Right Hon. Lord Byron....
Published & Sold by I: Nathan Nᵒ 7 Poland Street Oxford Strᵗ. and to be had at the principal Music and Booksellers. [Price One Guinea. (1815.)
(4to. 4 ll. + 133 pp.) [I. S.]
A second edition was published in 1861.
(4to. 2 ll. + 218 pp.) [B. M.]
LIII.
EARL OF SHAFTESBURY’S ZIONIST MEMORANDUM SCHEME FOR THE COLONISATION OF PALESTINE
Lord Ashley¹ to Viscount Palmerston. “ST. GILES HOUSE, “September 25th, 1840.
¹ Succeeded his father in 1851 as the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury.
“MY LORD,
“The Powers of Europe having determined that they will take into their own hands the adjustment of the Syrian Question, I venture to suggest a measure, which being adopted will promote the development of the immense fertility of all those countries that lie between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea.
“The consideration of the person or the authority to whom these territories may be assigned by the award of the contracting Powers is of no importance. The plan presupposes simply the existence of a recognised and competent Dominion; the establishment and execution of Laws; and a Government both willing and able to maintain internal peace.
“These vast regions are now nearly desolate; every year the produce of them becomes less, because the hands that should till them become fewer. As a source of revenue they are almost worthless, compared, at least, with the riches that industry might force from them. They require both labour and capital.
“Capital, however, is of too sensitive a nature to flow with readiness into any country where neither property nor life can be regarded as secure; but if this indispensable assurance be first given, the avarice of man will be a sufficient motive, and it will betake itself with alacrity to any spot where a speedy or an ample return may be promised to the speculator.
“An inducement such as this is sufficient to stimulate the mercantile zeal of every money-maker under Heaven, and it would be advisable that the Power, whoever he may be, to whom these provinces may fall, should issue and perform a solemn engagement to establish, in his laws affecting property, the principles and practices of European civilisation: but, in respect of these regions now under dispute, there are, so far as a numerous, though scattered, people is concerned, other inducements and other hopes, over and above those which influence the general mass of mankind.
“Without entering into the grounds of the desire and expectations entertained by the Hebrew Race of their return ultimately to the land of their fathers, it may be safely asserted that they contemplate a restoration to the soil of Palestine. They believe, moreover, that the time is near at hand. Every recollection of the past, and every prospect of the future, animates their hope; and fear alone for their persons and their estates represses their exertions. If the Governing Power of the Syrian provinces would promulgate equal laws and equal protection to Jew and Gentile, and confirm his decrees by accepting the four Powers as guarantees of his engagement, to be set forth and ratified in an article of the Treaty, the way would at once be opened, confidence would be revived, and, prevailing throughout these regions, would bring with it some of the wealth and enterprise of the world at large, and, by allaying their suspicions, call forth to the full the hidden wealth and industry of the Jewish people.
“There are many reasons why more is to be anticipated from them than from any others who might settle there. They have ancient reminiscences and deep affection for the land;――it is connected in their hearts with all that is bright in times past, and with all that is bright in those which are to come; their industry and perseverance are prodigious; they subsist, and cheerfully, on the smallest pittance; they are, almost everywhere, accustomed to arbitrary rule, and being totally indifferent to political objects, confine their hopes to the enjoyment of what they can accumulate. Long ages of suffering have trained their people to habits of endurance and self-denial; they would joyfully exhibit them in the settlement and service of their ancient country.
“If we consider their return in the light of a new establishment or colonisation of Palestine, we shall find it to be the cheapest and safest mode of supplying the wants of those depopulated regions. They will return at their own expense, and with no hazard but to themselves; they will submit to the existing form of Government, having no preconceived theories to gratify, and having been almost everywhere trained in implicit obedience to autocratic rule; they will acknowledge the present appropriation of the soil in the hands of its actual possessors, being content to obtain an interest in its produce by the legitimate methods of rent or purchase. Disconnected, as they are, from all the peoples of the earth, they would appeal to no national or political sympathies for assistance in the path of wrong; and the guarantee which I propose, for insertion in the Treaty to be carried out by the personal protection of the respective Consuls and Vice-Consuls of the several nations, would be sufficient to protect them in the exercise of their right.
“The plan here proposed may be recommended by the consideration that large results are promised to the application of very small means; that no pecuniary outlay is demanded of the engaging parties; that while disappointment would bring no ill-effects except to those who declined the offer, the benefit to be derived from it would belong impartially to the whole civilised world....
“I have the honour to be, my Lord, “Your Lordship’s most obedient, humble servant, “ASHLEY.
“THE VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, M.P.
Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.”¹
¹ The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, K.G., by Edwin Hodder, 1866, vol. i., pp. 313‒315.
LIV.
RESTORATION OF THE JEWS
[The annexed documents have just appeared in a periodical entitled Memorials concerning God’s Ancient People of Israel, and are probably as yet but little known to the world at large:――]
MEMORANDUM.
To the Protestant Powers of the North of Europe and America――Victoria, by the grace of God, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland; Frederick (William) III. King of Prussia; William (Frederick), King of Netherlands; Charles (John) XIV., King of Sweden and Norway; Frederick VI., King of Denmark; Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover; William, King of Wurtemberg; The Sovereign Princes and Electors of Germany; The Cantons of the Swiss Confederation professing the Reformed Religion; and the States of North America, zealous for the Glory of God; grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
“High and Mighty Ones,
“The Most High God, who ruleth in the kingdoms of men (Dan. iv. 32), by whom kings reign and princes decree justice (Prov. viii. 15), having in these days granted a season of repose to his witnessing church (Acts ix. 31; Rev. xii. 16), planted in the lands whereof ye are kings and governors (Isaiah xlix. 23); the vine of His planting among the Gentiles (Acts xxviii. 28) hath extended her boughs unto the seas and her branches unto the rivers (Isa. xlix. 6), that now in nearly all the world the gospel of the kingdom is being lifted as a witness unto all nations (Matt. xxiv. 14), and in the isles afar off. The days are drawing near (Rev. xxii. 20) when the dominion, and the glory, and the kingdom, with all people, nations and languages, shall serve Him, who cometh in the clouds of heaven (Dan. vii. 14, Rev. i. 7), whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed (Psalm xlv. 6). Blessed be He! He hath given his waiting people to hear the sound of His approaching footsteps, and to mark the signs of His drawing near (1 Thess. v. 4). The fig-tree putteth forth her leaves again (Matt. xxiv. 32). Israel’s sons are asking the way to Zion, by which we know that summer is at hand. Blessed are all they that wait (2 Thess. iii. 5), and hold fast (Rev. iii. 11), for quickly He cometh. Amen.
“In the prospect of the Christian Church, of the speedy appearing of her glorified head, the zeal of the Lord’s servants hath been stirred up (Rev. iii. 2) to a multiplied diligence in those labours of faith and love which were devolved upon her (Matt. xxviii. 19), when the Son of God, as a man taking a journey into a far country, bade his servants occupy, until he returned again (Luke xix. 13). With other responsibilities, the circumstances of one peculiar people, whom the Most High hath separated (Gen. xii. 1) and taken into covenant with him (Gen. xvii. 7; Exod. xxxiv. 7), and which covenant no act of theirs, however iniquitous or rebellious, can repeal or destroy (Mal. iii. 6), whom he hath scattered in all lands as witnesses of his unity and power (Isa. xliii. 9), connected with whom the welfare of mankind is bound up, and in the lifting up of whose head the most stupendous consequences are made to depend (Rom. xi. 15), are presented at this eleventh hour for the repentance and faith of Christendom, that the blood of our brethren of circumcision which has been unjustly shed may be atoned for in the blood of the Lamb (Isa. i. 18), and the fruits of forgiveness be manifested (Matt. iii. 8) in presenting the children of this people continually at the throne of grace (1 Pet. ii. 5; Ps. cxxii. 6) for the atoning sacrifice of Christ to cover them (Joel ii. 17); and as the Almighty, in his providential appointments, shall make the way plain to present the children of Israel who may be willing to go up (Ps. cx. 3) as an offering to the Lord of Hosts in Mount Zion (Isa. xxviii. 7).
“For 300 years the testimony of the churches, planted in the lands over which Almighty God hath made you rulers, hath been lifted up against that apostacy which hath usurped the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ in the earth (Rev. xxii. 5, and xxiii. 5) daring presumptuously to assert power over nations (Rev. xviii. 7), and over kingdoms, to root up and to pull down, to build, to plant, and to destroy (Dan. vii. 20, Rev. xiii. 2, 7). The millstone which shall sink the Great Babylon in the abyss of an unfathomable perdition (Rev. xviii. 21) when her hour arrives (and it is very near!) with the judgment under which she hath long lain, for being drunken with the blood of the saints and of the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. xvii. 6), shall include the avenging of the wrongs of God’s ancient people (Isa. li. 22, 23), and a terrible account it is; and the issue shall be joy and gladness to the whole earth, for it is written, ‘Rejoice, O ye nations, with His people; for He avengeth the blood of His servants, and shall render vengeance unto his adversaries, and will be merciful to His land and to His people’ (Deut. xxxii. 43). ‘Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help and the sword of thy excellency? and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread on their high places’ (Deut. xxxiii. 29).
“In the events, on which the eyes of nations are fixed, taking place around, whilst the continuance and stability of your thrones and sway, O kings, is the earnest prayer of the Christian church (1 Tim. ii. 2), she cannot but uphold the witness that the days draw nigh, when, under the hallowed sway of Messiah the Prince, the now despised nation of the Jews shall possess the kingdom (Dan. vii. 27), and she directs, with reverential awe, your eye to that mighty empire in the east which is crumbling to dust, and drying in all her streams (Rev. xvi. 12) to make way for the event. Palestine hath been a burdensome stone (Zech. xii. 2) unto the followers of the false Prophet (Rev. xvi. 13), as it was to the ancestors of many of you, O Princes, when, under the banner of the Popish Antichrist, their mistaken zeal sought to recover the Holy City from the Saracen’s grasp. But the fulness of the Gentiles is at hand (Romans xi. 21) and unto Israel the dominion shall return (Micah iv. 8).
“The apostate Julian sought to plant the children of this people in the seats of their fathers, in despite of the holy faith, one of the external evidences of whose trust was, that their house was left unto them desolate, until they should say ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord’ (Matt. xxiii. 38, 9). But is it anywhere declared in the word of our God, that the children of Israel, scattered and peeled, humbled and dispirited, impoverished and broken down, should not be presented as an offering in faith to Jehovah of Hosts in Mount Zion? that there they may be pleaded with face to face by the God of their fathers (Ezekiel xx. 13), that there the veil may be rent (Isaiah xxv. 7) which is over their hearts (2 Cor. iii. 15), that there they may look on him whom they have pierced (Zech. xii. 10). Your attention, high and mighty ones, is directed to the recorded fact that such an offering is expected. And before that full and final gathering which follows the judgments poured out on all the earth (Isaiah lxiii. 15, 16, 20), a power, and that power a northern one (Jer. iii. 12, xxxi. 6, 9, xxxiii. 7, 8――Isaiah xliii. 6, xlix. 12), shall be employed to lead a people wonderful from their beginning hitherto――a nation expecting and trampled underfoot――whose land rivers have spoiled, unto the name of the Lord of Hosts in Mount Zion (Isaiah xviii.). These designs and purposes of the Lord God of Israel, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, are declared unto you, high and mighty ones, his servants (Dan. v. 23), that you may ponder them, and know His will, from the voice, with which He is about to speak unto nations and unto men (Haggai ii. 6――Isaiah i. 10), for the time is at hand (Rev. i. 3).
“Your wisdom hath been exercised to mark the boundaries of kingdoms, and to define the limits of empires; and has not the aggressor overleaped all barriers, and the strength of treaties snapped asunder as tow? And why? Because when the Almighty awarded to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel (Deuteron. xxxii. 7, 8). By an unrepealed covenant, the Lord God declared unto Abram, concerning the land of Palestine, ‘Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates’ (Genesis xv. 18). This gift was ratified unto him for an everlasting possession, and to his seed after him, when the Almighty gave him the covenant, and changed his name to Abraham (Genesis xvii. 4, 8) . For the purposes of infinite wisdom fast hastening to maturity, the Lord God hath scattered his inheritance to the four winds of heaven. But hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off. He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock.
“As the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia was stirred up to build the Lord’s Temple, which was in Jerusalem (ii Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23), who is there among you, high and mighty ones of all the nations, to fulfil the good pleasure of the holy will of the Lord of Heaven, saying to Jerusalem, ‘Thou shalt be built’ and to the Temple, ‘Thy foundation shall be laid’? (Isaiah xliv. 28). The Lord God of Israel will be with such. Great grace, mercy, and peace shall descend upon the people who offer themselves willingly; and the fire offerings of their hearts and hands shall be those of a sweet-smelling savour unto Him who hath said, ‘I will bless them that bless thee (Genesis xii. 3), and contend with him who contendeth with thee’ (Isaiah xlix. 25).
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. Signed and sealed in London, 8th of January, in the year of our Lord, 1839, in the name of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, on behalf of many who wait for the redemption of Israel.”
(Copy 1.)
“LONDON, January 22nd, 1839.
“May it please your Majesty,――I have the high honour of laying at your Majesty’s feet the accompanying memorandum relating to the present condition and future prospects of God’s ancient people, the Jews. Your Majesty’s pious feelings, I doubt not, will be excited to give the Scriptural hopes and expectations therein set forth your earnest attention, considering the high station it hath pleased Almighty God to call this Protestant land to, as the great seat of the church.
“According to the petitions of this peculiar people at a throne of grace, that in your Majesty’s reign ‘Judah may be saved and Israel dwell safely,’ is the prayer of your Majesty’s dutiful subject and servant.
“Her most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.”
(Copy 2.)
“January 19th, 1839.
“MY LORD,――I have the honour of transmitting through your Lordship a document which it is the desire of some of her Majesty’s subjects should be laid at her Majesty’s feet, relating to the Scriptural expectations of the church, connected with the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, the land of their fathers.
“I am induced to solicit your Lordship’s good offices in being the medium of communicating this document to her Majesty, as the substance of it relates to the present rights of an ally of this country――namely, the Sublime Porte.
“But I would respectfully press upon your Lordship’s attention, that, in holding forth the Scriptural hopes of God’s ancient people, those who emanate the accompanying document never for one moment dream of political force to accomplish the end desired. When the hour comes of Israel’s planting in, doubtless Almighty God will not fail to raise up chosen instruments, who, with willing hands and hearts, shall accomplish the good pleasure of His will.
“If we are wrong in the course we have taken to bring the memorandum before Her Majesty, we will be happy to be set right. Should your Lordship undertake the duty, desiring the glory of God in this matter to be furthered, the Lord God of Israel will not be slack to reward the labour of faith and love proceeding from a desire to honour His name.
“I have the honour to be, &c.,
“THE RIGHT HON. LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON.”
Lord Palmerston’s Answer.
(Copy 3.)
“FOREIGN OFFICE, March 14, 1839.
“I have to acknowledge your letter of the 19th January, enclosing a letter and a memorandum from some of Her Majesty’s subjects, who feel deeply interested in the welfare and future prospects of the Jews; and I have to acquaint you that I have laid those documents before the Queen, and that Her Majesty has been pleased graciously to receive the same.
“I am, &c., “PALMERSTON.”¹
¹ The Times, Wednesday, August 26, 1840, pp. 5‒6.
LV.
ANOTHER ZIONIST MEMORANDUM――RESTORATION OF THE JEWS
“To the Editor of The Times.
“SIR,――The extraordinary crisis of Oriental politics has stimulated an almost universal interest and investigation, and the fate of the Jews seems to be deeply involved with the settlement of the Syrian dilemma now agitating several Courts of Christendom.
“... The peace of Europe and the just balance of its powers being therefore assumed as the grand desideratum, as the consummation devoutly to be wished, I peruse with particular interest a brief article in your journal of this day relative to the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem, because I imagine that this event has become practicable through an unprecedented concatenation of circumstances, and that moreover it has become especially desirable, as the exact expedient to which it is to the interest of all belligerent parties to consent.
“The actual feasibility of the return of the Jews is no longer a paradox; the time gives it proof. That theory of the restoration of a Jewish Kingdom, which a few years ago was laughed at as the fantasy of insane enthusiasm, is now calculated on as a most practical achievement of diplomacy.
“It is granted that the Jews were the ancient proprietors of Syria; that Syria was the proper heart and centre of their kingdom. It is granted that they have a strong conviction that Providence will restore them to this Syrian supremacy. It is granted that they have entertained for ages a hearty desire to return thither, and are willing to make great sacrifices of a pecuniary kind to the different parties interested, provided they can be put in peaceful and secure possession.
“It is likewise notorious, that since the Jews have been thrust out of Syria that land has been a mere arena of strife to neighbouring Powers, all conscious that they had no legitimate right there, and all jealous of each other’s intrusion.
“Such having been the case, why, it may be asked, have not the Jews long ago endeavoured to regain possession of Syria by commercial arrangements? In reply it may be said, that though they have evidently wished to do so, and have made overtures of the kind, hitherto circumstances have opposed their desires....
“Now, however, these obstacles and hindrances are in a great measure removed; all the strongest Powers in Europe have come forward as arbitrators and umpires to arrange the settlement of Syria.
“Under such potent arbitrators, pledged to the performance of any conditions finally agreed on, I have reason to believe that the Jews would readily enter into such financial arrangements as would secure them the absolute possession of Jerusalem and Syria.
“I know no reason, under such powerful empires, why the Hebrews should not restore an independent monarchy in Syria, as well as the Egyptians in Egypt, or the Grecians in Greece.
“As a practical expedient of politics, I believe that it will be easier to secure the peace of Europe and Asia by this effort to restore the Jews, than by any allotment of Syrian territories to the Turks or Egyptians, which will be sure to occasion fresh jealousies and discords....
“I believe that the cause of the restoration of the Jews is one essentially generous and noble, and that all individuals and nations that assist this world-renounced people to recover the empire of their ancestors will be rewarded by Heaven’s blessing. Everything that is patriotic and philanthropic should urge Great Britain forward as the agent of prophetic revelations so full of auspicious consequence....
“Your very obedient servant, “F. B.¹
“Aug. 17.”
¹ The Times, 26 Aug., 1840, p. 6.
LVI.
EXTRACTS FROM AUTOGRAPH AND OTHER LETTERS BETWEEN SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE AND DR. N. M. ADLER
MY hearty thanks are due to my friend Mr. Elkan N. Adler for giving me access to his father’s letters. It may be mentioned that, although Dr. N. M. Adler was never able to visit Palestine, all his three sons went there. Palestinian activity has practically been a tradition of the Adler family. Mr. Elkan Adler originally visited Palestine in 1888, 1895, 1898 and 1901, in connection with the Montefiore work. His first visit was a professional one, undertaken on the instructions of the Council of the Holy Land Relief Fund. Its object was to clear up certain legal difficulties which had arisen on the land at Jerusalem and Jaffa purchased in 1855 by his father and Sir Moses Montefiore out of the funds of the Holy Land Appeal Fund and the Judah Touro Bequest. At that time their only buildings in Jerusalem were the Judah Touro Alms-houses and the Windmill. The vacant land adjoining had been jumped after the death of Sir Moses Montefiore by about three hundred poor and desperate Jews, who claimed that it had been originally intended for the poor, and they were poor.
The journey was successful. The squatters were removed, and their place was taken by industrious settlers, who, through the agency of the building societies, financed by the Sir Moses Montefiore Testimonial Committee, erected hundreds of pleasant little dwellings in the place of the rude, uninhabited shanties which stood there in 1888.
In 1894 Mr. Elkan Adler became a member of the “Water for Jerusalem Committee,” of which Sir Charles W. Wilson, K.C.M.G., was Chairman and Sir Edmund A. H. L. Lechmere, Bart., M.P., and Sir (then Mr.) Isidore Spielmann, C.M.G., Honorary Secretaries. The Turkish Government and the Jerusalem Municipality had sanctioned the scheme, but bureaucratic dilatoriness prevented its ever maturing. Its object was to secure, under a concession, for purely philanthropic purposes, a modern water supply for Jerusalem from King Solomon’s Pools.
Mr. Adler was also one of the founders of the London Chovevé Zion, and as Honorary Solicitor drafted its Constitution, which was settled by the Right Hon. Arthur Cohen, K.C.
* * * * *
“Grosvenor Gate, Park Lane, “London, 28th Hesvan, 5602. “12 November.
“My dear and much esteemed Sir,
“.. . I am most highly gratified, my dear Sir, by the very kind manner in which you have been pleased to notice my feeble exertions in favour of our unfortunate and persecuted Brethren in the East....
“Believe me to be, “With sincere Respect and Esteem, “My dear Sir, “Your obedient Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.
“The Reverend Doctor N. Adler, Chief Rabbi, &c. &c. &c.”
* * * * *
“Alliance Office, “Bartholomew Lane, “31 May, 5614.
“My dear and respected Sir,
“... I hope to find the amount of Contributions much increased from your admirable Letter having at last found its way in the hands of the several Seat-holders of each Synagogue, and I am sure if they respond to it with the same liberality as our Christian fellow-subjects have evinced for our suffering Brethren in the Holy Land I am confident you will rejoice at the success which has attended your benevolent exertions....
“I am with great respect and esteem, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.
“The Revd. Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi, &c. &c.”
* * * * *
“East Cliff Lodge, “Ramsgate, “17th August, 5614/1854.
“My dear and respected Sir,
“... I am obliged to you for the information which Mr. Albert Cohn’s letter has afforded me and believe me I am most truly thankful to the God of Israel that my days should have been prolonged to see the welfare of our unfortunate Brethren in Jerusalem cared for by so wealthy and powerful a family as the Barons de Rothschild. May the institutions which they propose diffuse all the advantages we hope for. I will endeavour to write this evening to Lord Clarendon and will take the earliest opportunity to communicate the result after I shall have had an interview with his Lordship. I have requested Mr. Green to forward all the letters to you that have arrived from the Holy Land. I shall take no step regarding the Hospital but with your concurrence. You may rely that there will be no opposition in any way on my part, and I am only too happy to see that Jerusalem is not forsaken....
“Believe me, “With the greatest esteem and respect, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.
“To the Reverend Doctor Adler, Chief Rabbi.”
* * * * *
“Alliance Office, “Bartholomew Lane, “Wednesday Morn, “23 Augt., ’614.
“My dear and respected Sir,
“... I now beg to trouble you with the enclosed letters which Dr. Lowe has written to the Holy Land with a remittance of £1200 divided in the following manner.... I have not thought it proper to send anything to the Portuguese at Jerusalem as they have not yet complied with your request in the mode of distribution or forwarded any particulars whatever. I therefore hope you will be satisfied with the arrangement that this will bring the Portuguese to a sense of the necessity they are under to conform to your instructions, or they will receive no more money from England....
“To the Revd. Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi.”
* * * * *
“Buxton, 15th Septr., 5614/1854.
“My dear and respected Sir,
“... I have felt much vexed at M. Albert Cohn’s having taken the liberty of using your name as well as mine as having deputed him to carry out his schemes in the East....
“Believe me to be, “With great regard and respect, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.
“The Revd. Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi, &c. &c.”
* * * * *
“Alliance Assurance Office, “Bartholomew Lane, “Monday Evening, “26 Jany., 5617.
“My dear and respected Sir,
“Having this moment heard from Lady Montefiore that you expressed a desire to Visit the Holy Land, and well knowing the lively interest you have ever evinced in promoting the prosperity of Jerusalem, I beg to assure you that nothing could be more gratifying to my feelings, than to be honored with your Company during our intended Tour. We had fixed in our minds the 10th day of February for our departure, but to enjoy the honor of your Society, we would postpone it to meet your Convenience to any day that would enable us to reach Jerusalem for Passover.
“Hoping to have the gratification of a favorable reply from you.
“Believe me to be, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.
“To the Reverend Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi.”
* * * * *
“East Cliff Lodge, “Ramsgate, “14th September, 5619.
“My dear and respected Sir,
“... With respect to the Jaffa farm I hope in a few days to have an opportunity of speaking with you. I think it was your wish that our co-religionists should be employed on it....”
“Believe me with great esteem, “Your faithful Servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.
“To the Reverend Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi.”
* * * * *
“To the Rev. Dr. ADLER, Chief Rabbi, etc. etc. “East Cliff Lodge, Ramsgate, May 15th, 5614‒1854.
“REVEREND AND RESPECTED SIR,
“For the sake of Zion I cannot remain silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I cannot rest, until the whole house of Israel have been made acquainted with the lamentable condition of those of our brethren who devotedly cling to the soil, sacred to the memory of our patriarchs, prophets and kings.
“Thrice having visited the Holy Land, it was my earnest desire to fully inform myself as to the condition of our brethren there....
“Aware, however, reverend Sir, of your great anxiety for the physical amelioration of our suffering brethren, and how watchfully you note their spiritual welfare, I am induced to put you in possession of the documents and appeals which I have received from the Holy Land, with the assurance that your powerful co-operation, in the shape of a pastoral letter addressed to the Jews of Great Britain and America――or the exercise of the same in any other mode your wisdom may dictate――will, with God’s blessing, not only tend to remove the present appalling misery of our starving brethren in Zion, but spare us the humiliation of its recurrence.
“I have the honour to be, reverend and respected Sir, “Your faithful servant, “MOSES MONTEFIORE.”
* * * * *
“TO SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE, Bart., etc. etc. “Office of the Chief Rabbi, London, 18th May, 5614.
“MY DEAR AND ESTEEMED SIR,
“.... Although I should have much preferred that the duty of addressing our co-religionists on behalf of the afflicted had been assumed by yourself, as you would have made a far deeper impression than I can hope to do, from the well-known fact that you have devoted a great portion of your life to the amelioration of the condition of our brethren in Palestine, and this, too, at the risk of much personal suffering and danger, yet, to avoid all delay in the present emergency, I have to-day written a letter to the congregations under my charge, a copy of which I beg to enclose; and I fervently pray that the Lord may strengthen my feeble words, and incline the hearts of our brethren to this good work of charity.
“I am, my dear Sir Moses, “Yours very faithfully, “N. ADLER, Dr.”
* * * * *
“PASTORAL LETTER
“To the Wardens, Members, and Seat-holders of the United Congregations of Great Britain.
“Office of the Chief Rabbi, London, May 18th, 5614.
“Beloved Brethren,
“... the present condition of our poor brethren scattered through the four cities of Jerusalem, Zaphed, Hebron and Tiberias, is absolutely heart-rending. This is no exaggeration but a stern and dreadful reality. The almost total failure of the last harvest, which raised the price of all the necessaries of life to an unparalleled height; the present war and general political disturbances; the diminution of the usual resources for the poor, especially those derived from Russia, which has hitherto contributed the most, have brought about an awful famine.... While all surrounding nations make that spot the object of their deepest concern, expending vast sums thereon, should we be unmindful of that land with which our past glory and future hope are inseparably connected? ... It may be thought by some that the unfortunate state of the Jewish residents of Palestine might have been brought about ... by their reliance on fixed pensions and casual alms without the exercise of industry, either in agriculture, commerce or other employments;... Why, therefore, continue a life of pauperism, which will endure until the springs of poverty are stopped――and what will be the use of a collection, which can but mitigate the evil for a moment?
“My dear brethren,――Before you accuse the sufferers of indolence, and their leaders of neglect, let us assure you that the people are most anxious to free themselves from the thraldom of dependence; that the Rabbis and the heads of the Congregations have proved to Sir Moses Montefiore, who has been at all times the strenuous advocate of industrial pursuits, the willingness of the people to till the soil, if only it could be done with security. But hitherto the great impediment to agriculture has been not alone the want of pecuniary means, but the want of protection on the part of the Government, it being absolutely impracticable to labour outside the walls of the cities, owing to the depredations of the roving and lawless Bedouins, for whatever the inhabitants sow is speedily seized by others.
“Without, however, alluding to the happy restitution that we anxiously look for, which lies in the hand of the Lord who commandeth us ‘not to stir, neither to awake His love, until He please’――the present war may, by the Divine blessing, bring about a great and beneficial change in the Holy Land. It is more than probable that the Government of the Porte will concede to our brethren in Palestine the right of holding land; and that this right will be placed under secure protection. It will then become the duty of our leading men to organise a proper plan of operations, put themselves into communication with the different Committees abroad, to raise the necessary means, to send men of ability, properly authorised, to Jerusalem, to bring about a unity of action among the different congregations there, to purchase land, to establish farms and factories, and to devote a portion of the money annually collected, as wages to those who will labour therein under the charge of the persons superintending those undertakings. The time for the realisation of such a scheme may not be remote, as the munificent legacy of the philanthropist Judah Touro, New Orleans, was bequeathed for this very purpose, which bequest will have an important bearing on the improvement of the Holy Land.
“... I remain, yours very faithfully, “N. ADLER, Dr., Chief Rabbi.”¹
¹ An Appeal on behalf of the famishing Jews in the Holy Land. Donations will be thankfully received by The Rev. The Chief Rabbi, 4, Crosby Square, and Sir Moses Montefiore, Bart., Alliance Assurance Office, Bartholomew Lane. Rev. Aaron Levy Green, Hon. Sec.
London: Printed by Wertheimer and Co., Circus Place, Finsbury Circus.
1854 (8º. 16 pp. in printed wrapper), pp. 3‒7.
In February, 1855, Dr. Adler and Sir Moses published their first Report enumerating the appropriations of money they had made and the sums set apart for the establishment of institutions designed to relieve distress, and to encourage and promote industry.
In May, 1856, Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore set out on a mission to the Holy Land to organize means for the appropriation of the funds “with a view to the utmost benefit of the supplicants.”
The Trustees resolved to attempt the organization of some industrial scheme, and, says their Second Report, dated 1856: “In a land naturally so fertile as Palestine, offering so prolific a return for industry, but altogether wanting in commercial resources, agriculture must of necessity be the first object of attention, as likely to prove the most powerful auxiliary in bringing about a healthful reaction, by alleviating distress, by promoting industry, and by exciting a feeling of self-reliance.” The Trustees were confirmed in their views by the opinion of experienced agriculturists in the Holy Land, and by the valuable suggestions of munificent donors.
“On the 17th June Sir Moses had an audience with the Sultan, and on the 27th July the first meeting was held with the representatives of Zapphed.
“The desirability of cultivating land was discussed at this sitting, and the great probabilities of success in the undertaking were shown by the mention of numerous well-authenticated facts. The views entertained by the Trustees having been confirmed by the best evidence, a Committee of practical agriculturists――men distinguished by their probity, and of acknowledged skill――was, without further delay, appointed to aid in the selection of land, and to advise as to the fitness of the parties to be employed in its cultivation. Assisted by this Committee, Sir Moses selected thirty-five families from the Holy City of Zapphed, provided them with means to commence agricultural pursuits, and also secured for them local governors. Some orphan lads were also provided for, by being placed under the care of the Committee, to be trained as agriculturists. A district in the vicinity of Zapphed, called the Bokea, having been pointed out as a most desirable spot for agricultural purposes, sufficient means were granted to give employment to fifteen families, to be engaged in the cultivation of that fruitful district; the whole being placed under the supervision of the Agricultural Committee at Zapphed. The claims of Tabaria were next considered ... and means afforded to thirty families to enable them to engage in agricultural pursuits. At Jaffa some land, with a house, and well affording an abundant supply of excellent water, was purchased, and a number of our poor co-religionists are already engaged upon such land.” An establishment for weaving was instituted.
“Sir Moses eventually succeeded in purchasing a tract of land to the west of the Holy City, in a most beautiful and salubrious locality, within a few minutes’ walk from the Jaffa and Zion Gates. Here a considerable number of our co-religionists and others at once found employment on the land and in the building of the boundary wall.” A windmill was erected on this site to supersede the expensive method used at Jerusalem for grinding corn.
LVII.
THE FINAL EXODUS
“AND what now is the aspect of Palestine? Still, truly, it is a land rich in the grandeur and beauties of nature’s handiwork――still, in some parts, ‘... hills, plains, and valleys, fields of wheat and barley, vineyards and olive-yards, are spread out before you as on a map’――still does the benign influence of the sun’s warmth engender in the bosom of the earth the germs of fruits and flowers, that languish for want of culture, and never arrive at perfection――still do the hills uplift their heads amid the clouds, which drop down, as though with tears of sorrow, upon their barren and exposed sides, once covered with artificial soil and by the hands of a favoured race rendered fruitful as the vale beneath. The mountains remain unshaken, but where are the countless flocks? the stones of the water-course are there, but where is the limpid stream? Alas! the promised blessing has been withdrawn from the land; the flocks no longer multiply as heretofore, neither as in former days do springs and fountains burst forth everywhere out of the valleys and the hills; and her cities are desolate and forsaken, and of many even the site is not accurately known; literal, indeed, has been the fulfilment of the prophetic declaration ‘the land shall be desolate.’ Solitude now reigns where once the busy hum of voices enlivened many a glad city, ay, even in the wilderness――ruins now mark the spot where once rose the sound of harp and tabret, and where heart joined with hand in mocking with merriment the threatened desolation....”
“... But more than this――Britain! rejoice! it is for you to lead back to their beautiful land the long-dispersed members of Judah’s neglected race, and by planting in their native country a colony of whose attachment to its protectors there could be no doubt,...”
“... Jerusalem shall, indeed, become again the glorious city among the nations: no longer shall her name be Jerusalem, but ‘the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel,’ for there shall be holiness,’ and in the midst of her ‘the King of Israel, even the Lord;’ ... Her walls shall be called ‘Salvation,’ and her gates ‘Praise’; and her children shall enjoy the former and the latter rain; ‘the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them....’
“Among these there are many whose wealth――... has caused the name of the Jew too often to be coupled with the idea of sordid gain...: but it will be well for the few, who by ... prosperity, . .. occupy now an elevated ♦position, ... prepare to head with energy every warrantable occasion for furthering the restoration of their unhappy people to Palestine. Providential is it for them, that among them are men possessing influence and wealth sufficient to become their leaders....”
♦ “postion” replaced with “position”
“Once again――Britain, beware! and hasten to exert the means which, lying at your disposal, may be made use of as a defence for your valuable possessions in the East, and for the advancement of God’s glory, by the return of His people to the land whither He has said He would bring them again ‘that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.’”¹
¹ The Final Exodus; or, the Restoration to Palestine of the lost Tribes, the result of the present crisis; with a description of the battle of Armageddon, and the downfall of Russia, as deduced wholly from prophecy. London ... 1854.
[8º. 30 pp.] pp. 4‒5, 13‒14, 27, 30.
LVIII.
DISRAELI AND THE PURCHASE OF THE SUEZ CANAL SHARES
THE story of the purchase of the Suez Canal shares by Lord Beaconsfield has been told many times, but Mr. [afterwards Sir] Henry Lucy, in “Sixty Years in the Wilderness,” throws fresh light on the subject.
“On a certain Sunday night in the spring of 1875 he¹ chanced to be dining in Bruton Street with Henry Oppenheim, one of the original proprietors of the Daily News. During a residence in Paris and Egypt that gentleman, just settling down in London, was brought into close connection with Egyptian financial affairs. On the previous day he heard of the intention of the impecunious Khedive to sell en bloc his holding in the capital of the Suez Canal. Greenwood instantly saw the opportunity for a great stroke of State. On leaving Bruton Street he went direct to the private residence of the Foreign Secretary (Lord Derby) and told him of the rare chance. Lord Derby informed the Prime Minister, whose Oriental mind glowed at the prospect of so stupendous a deal. Inquiry secretly made at Cairo disclosed the fact that the Khedive would ‘part’ for a sum of four millions sterling. But it must be money down.
¹ Frederick Greenwood, one of the ablest journalists of his day.
“It was, Greenwood told me, on Lord Beaconsfield’s personal suggestion that the difficulty, at the moment apparently insuperable, was overcome. The consent of Parliament was necessary to confirmation of the deal. That involved both delay and publicity, either fatal to success. Late on the Thursday night following the Bruton Street dinner, the Premier sent his private secretary, Monty Corry,¹ to call upon Baron Rothschild, the Sidonia of ‘Coningsby, ’ at the time head of the great financial house. Even a Rothschild did not happen to have about him at the moment a trifle of four million sterling. Nor was it possible, in accordance with the traditions of the house, that such a transaction should be entered upon without having been considered in family council. Corry accordingly returned to the Premier without definite reply. It came promptly on the following morning, the terms being that the money would be advanced on a commission of 2½ per cent.
¹ Afterwards Lord Rowton.
“These terms were pretty stiff, involving a payment of £100,000. The City heard of them with envy, and they were discussed with much severity when the matter came before the House of Commons. The Rothschilds and their friends defended them on the ground that the colossal transaction involved a certain measure of risk. There was absolutely no security beyond the influence of the Premier, still master of a majority in the House of Commons, and pledged to invoke its aid in order to obtain Parliamentary sanction. The whole thing happened between two Sundays. On the first Greenwood dined at Bruton Street; on the second, calling on Lord Derby, he learned that the transaction had been successfully carried through, and was invited to say what form his personal recompense should take. He declined to specify a request, protesting he had done nothing but his duty, and was content that its accomplishment should be his reward....”¹
¹ Cornhill, January, 1912, pp. 64‒65.
LIX.
CYPRUS AND PALESTINE
THE Anglo-Turkish Convention had given a new and unexpected addition to the already extensive list of British territorial responsibilities. It is true that a “conditional” element ... enters into the connexion formed with the Turkish Government; and the claims to interpose between the Sultan and his subjects, as well as the circumstances which would render interference necessary, are not very clearly defined. But the British Government, not only by entering into the Convention, but by the prominence with which important events invested that treaty, as also by its positive acquisition of the island of Cyprus, stand pledged before Europe and the world to secure to the populations of Asiatic Turkey a deliverance from the corrupt rule which has hitherto burdened them....
“In the minds of all thoughtful men there is a strong belief that this country is the instrument by which freedom, peace and true religion will be carried to the uttermost ends of the world. If that be so, there is assuredly no portion of the earth’s surface which more needs the possession of these blessings, or from which can come in keener despair the cry ‘Come and help us.’ The countries of Asia still remaining ... include those whereon the earliest progenitors of the human race appeared, and those which are familiar to us in Biblical records, or interesting as the platform upon which mighty nations strove, and empires fell in the strife which was raging then as now between the powers of Good and Evil.”¹
¹ Cyprus and the Asiatic Turkey, by J. M. London, 1878, pp. v.‒vii.
LX.
DISRAELI AND HEINE
“DEUX noms, dont le rapprochement peut sembler d’abord inattendu, me viennent sans cesse à l’esprit lorsque j’embrasse d’un coup d’œil cette physionomie singulière d’homme d’état et d’écrivain, et ils aident, si je ne me trompe, à en démêler la signification. M. Disraeli me fait souvent penser à Henri Heine. Chez tous les deux, en effet, même vivacité d’intelligence, même pénétration, même promptitude à saisir toutes les idées et à s’approprier pour un instant toutes les doctrines, même vagabondage d’imagination, même indiscipline de génie, même mélange bizarre de fantaisie et de pensée, de frivolité et de profondeur.... M. Disraeli a eu la chance, qui n’échut pas à H. Heine, de vivre dans un milieu oû certains excès n’eussent jamais été tolérés.... Il n’a pas connu non plus les souffrances morales, les âpres soucis, les angoisses, les sérieuses épreuves, qui répandent l’amertume dans l’ironie du poête allemand, et lui arrachent, parmi ses éclats de rire, des cris si poignans: mais comme il tranche néanmoins sur la société anglaise,... Quelle perturbation il jette dans son parti, quelle inquietude il y sème par les saillies de sa verve goguenarde,... De quel doigt irrespectueux il lève tous les voiles et touche aux institutions qu’il prétend défendre! Ici, comme chez H. Heine, on ne saurait méconnaître l’influence persistante de la race. L’un a fini par embrasser le catholicisme, l’autre est né dans l’eglise anglicane; mais ils restent Juifs, et pour sa part M. Disraeli, courageux avocat des Juifs à la chambre des communes et dans ces livres, n’a jamais désavoué sa parenté avec eux. L’eût-il essayé d’ailleurs, que le sceau de la race, vivement empreinte dans son génie et dans son caractère, l’aurait trahi. Malgré son torysme d’emprunt, on sent, il faut le dire à son honneur, dans le langage de M. Disraeli une sympathie de cœur pour les déshérités qui n’est guère une disposition anglaise et aristocratique: c’est bien plutôt un souvenir de l’égalité juive et un sentiment puisé dans la législation républicaine de Moïse; mais ce qui est plus juif encore, c’est ce fonde de cynisme, dernière défense d’une race trempée de longue date par la persécution et le mépris, bronzée par l’habitude de l’outrage. M. Disraeli n’est pas plus exempt que H. Heine de cette audace qui défie le ridicule et qui même sait en tire parti....”¹
¹ Le Roman Politique en Angleterre: Lothaire de M. Disraeli, par M. P. Challemel-Lacour, pp. 445‒447. Revue des Deux Mondes ... 15 Juillet ... Paris ... 1870.
LXI.
DISRAELI’S DEFENCE OF THE JEWS
DISRAELI supported the emancipation of the Jews in England on religious grounds:――
“... The very reason for admitting the Jews is because they show so near an affinity to you. Where is your Christianity if you do not believe in their Judaism?... The Jew was necessarily a religious being, but not a proselytising one, and so would support and not undermine the Christian Church.... What possible object can the Jew have to oppose the Christian Church? Is it not the first business of the Christian Church to make the population whose minds she attempts to form, and whose morals she seeks to guide, acquainted with the history of the Jews? Has not the Church of Christ――the Christian Church, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant――made the history of the Jews the most celebrated history of the world? On every sacred day you read to the people the exploits of Jewish heroes, the proofs of Jewish devotion, the brilliant annals of past Jewish magnificence.... Every Sunday――every Lord’s day――if you wish to express feelings of praise and thanksgiving to the most High, or if you wish to find expressions of solace in grief, you find both in the works of Jewish poets.... In exact proportion to your faith ought to be your wish to do this great act of national justice. If you have not forgotten what you owe to this people, if you were grateful for that literature which, for thousands of years, has brought so much instruction and so much consolation to the sons of men, you as Christians, would be only too ready to seize the first opportunity of meeting the claims of those who profess this religion.”¹
¹ The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, by William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle. Volume iii. ... London ... 1914, pp. 68‒69.
LXII.
A HEBREW ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA (1849)
TRANSLATED Extract from an Address of Russian Jews in Safed on their coming under England’s protection, 1849.
(After compliments to the Consul in Jerusalem.)
“We acknowledge to the Lord and praise Him that He has put it into the heart of the Glory the Pity of the mighty Crowned Queen, the pious, the precious, the upright who reigns over the provinces of England and its dependencies, to do good to the people of Israel and to succour them with every kind of aid, for great and small, and to defend them from those that rise up against them.
“With a perfect heart Of mercy and loving kindness; And with the tips of the wings of Mercy And the grace of her Righteousness She has extended and caused to shine upon us, Who dwell in our own land, The holy (be it established in our days,) Us, who are burdened with troubles―― Sinking into distress, Poverty and calamity, But loving the land of our Fathers, The place of our honour. We here are those Who are the sons of the provinces of Russia, And this is the day we have looked for: We have found it, we have seen it―― For she has bent down her pity to receive us Under the shade of her wings of compassion, And to comfort us with shade of her mighty rule, For a name, for a praise, and for glory! Yea, our souls within us are bound To implore Him, who is fearful in mighty acts, With praises and prayers, That He may prolong her days In rest and satisfaction; That the Lord may hedge her in, And all that are hers: The princes around her, With her nobles, And all those comforted in her shadow May they rise on wings of elevation, of prosperity, In fulness of joy; And may her kingdom be established Like the Moon, for ever and ever, Until the coming of Messiah! May the Lord bless their lives and their substance, And increase their honour, And crown their praise! Amen, so be Thy will!”¹
¹ Stirring Times ... of 1853 to 1856, by the late James Finn ... vol. i. London ... 1878, pp. 130‒132.
LXIII.
AN APPEAL BY ERNEST LAHARANNE (1860)
“OH! que de proscriptions, que de larmes, que de sang dans cette période de 18 siècles, et vous êtes encore, fils de Juda!
“Contre la haîne, le mépris, le dédain, le dégoût vous avez franchi ces obstacles, sans nombre, que les bourreaux des siècles d’aveugle foi tendaient à votre passage, et l’éternelle main vous conduisait sans cesse!
“Mais la France vous a faits libres!...
“Vous avez été citoyens et vous êtes nos frères!
“L’an 1789 a été pour vous la première étape de la réhabilitation, si la réhabilitation est là où il n’y a pas la honte et infamie, mais là où il y a eu un malheur!
“Marchez alors sous l’égide sacrée de cette France émancipatrice! Dans sa mission libérale, son étoile de salut distingua échelonnés, sur la route des peuples, toutes les races proscrites et tous les parias du monde. Et vous étiez sur ce grand chemin, et l’opprobre et les malheurs ombrageaient seuls l’épineuse et brûlante voie!”
“Elle vous appella dans ses assemblées, dans ses triomphes, dans ses joies, dans ses malheurs; et au jour des délibérations, vous avez parlé, et au jour des marches triomphales vous avez applaudi, et au jour de nos malheurs, vous avez pleuré!...”
“Nous nous inclinons devant vous, hommes forts! Car vous fûtes forts durant votre histoire antique; vous fûtes forts, depuis le drame de Jérusalem; vous fûtes forts au temps du moyenâge, alors qu’il n’y avait que deux noires puissances: l’inquisition avec la croix, les pirates avec le croissant!
“Mais vous ne nous êtes pas arrivés tous jusqu’à nous. Combien n’en a-t-il pas fallu pour payer l’immense tribu de 18 siècles!
“Mais, ceux qui restent, vous pouvez grandir encore et rebâtir la porte de Jérusalem.
“C’est votre tâche. Dieu ne vous aurait pas conduits jusqu’à nos temps s’il n’avait pas voulu vous réserver la plus sainte des missions....”
“Une haute mission vous est réservée. Placés comme un vivant trait d’union entre trois mondes, vous devez amener la civilisation chez les peuples inexpérimentés encore, vous devez leur porter les lumières d’Europe que vous avez recueillies à flots.”
“Vous servirez d’intermédiaires entre l’Europe et l’extrême Asie, et vous ouvrirez les grandes voies qui mènent aux Indes et à la Chine et aux archipels encore inconnus, mais qu’il faudra explorer.
“Vous arriverez aux champs de Juda, avec la couronne du martyre et les cicatrices des longues douleurs, et le monde s’inclinera et les fronts se découvriront, comme devant un aîné des peuples!...”
“Vous avez assez aidé à civiliser les peuples, en Europe, à faire avancer le progrès, à faire et à favoriser les révolutions; vous devez maintenant songer au vallées du Liban et aux grandes plaines de Génézareth.
“Marchez! Dans votre œuvre rénovatrice, nos cœurs vous suivront et nos bras vous serviront d’aide!
“Nous le ferons! Vous avez en vous-mêmes de ces hommes si rares en nos temps, qui out fait appel à vos sympathies, et à vos secours, pour venir soulager nos frères dans le malheur!¹
¹ “L’illustre M. Crémieux, dont le nom, en ces circonstances, ne saurait être jamais assez, non pas glorifié, mais béni....”
“Cette voix que nous entendons encore a retenti d’un bout à l’autre du monde. Et qui ne serait pas reconnaissant aujourd’hui du généreux élan qu’a provoqué le grand homme?
“Marchez, Juifs de tous les pays!... L’antique patrie vous appelle, et nous serons fiers de venir rouvrir vos foyers!”
“Marchez, fils de martyrs!...”¹
¹ La Nouvelle Question d’Orient. Empires d’Egypte et d’Arabie. Reconstitution de la Nationalité Juive. Paris ... 1860. (8º. 47 pp.) pp. 39‒41.
LXIV.
STATISTICS OF THE HOLY LAND
A FOLDED page with which the Addenda (Extracts from some of the reports, letters, and addresses on agriculture in the Holy Land received by Sir Moses Montefiore, F.R.S., etc. etc., during his sojourn there. Translated from the originals, by Dr. L. Loewe) to Lady Montefiore’s Notes from a Private Journal, 1844, concludes, is entitled:――
“A form of the lists giving a statistical account of the Children of Israel dwelling in the Holy Land. In the Year 5599/1839.” These are the names of the worthy persons fearing God, who resided in the Holy City, in the year 5599‒1839.
The form is divided into seventeen columnar sections, headed with the following queries:――
Number in Family――Names――Where born――Age――Date of arrival in the Holy Land――How Situated――Occupation――Married――Single――Names and number of children――Age above 13――Age under 13――Names of Widows――Age――Names of Orphans――Age――Remarks.
Sir Moses, accompanied by his wife, first visited the Holy Land in 1827, and the urgent necessity and vast importance of statistics must have deeply impressed him, for we find that on his second pilgrimage, eleven years later, he caused forms similar to the above, which were also in Hebrew, to be distributed in the Holy Cities of Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias, Hebron, and in other towns and villages. The information furnished was signed, countersigned and sealed by the Heads of each Kahal.
Forms applicable to synagogues, colleges, schools, and various other institutions were also circulated, requesting particulars as to situation, the names of the ecclesiastical and lay heads, and other officials. The purpose of each organization, its income and expenditure, and a number of other minor details.
This information――collected for thirty-six years 5599‒5635 = 1839‒1875――was compiled and arranged by Dr. Louis Loewe (the life-long friend of Sir Moses, whom he accompanied on thirteen of his missions abroad) and transcribed in fifteen imperial folio volumes, a model of Hebrew calligraphy.
In addition to these particulars of a personal nature, this invaluable thesaurus contains information dealing with land, agriculture, buildings, industries, cotton, oil, fruit-trees, and the condition of the country in general. The volumes are now deposited at the Jews’ College, Queen Square House, London, but form part of the Library of the Judith, Lady Montefiore Theological College of Ramsgate.
A wealth of material lies at the disposal of future historians and statisticians, and it is devoutly to be hoped, that this great work will find its proper resting-place in the Archives of Jerusalem.
LXV.
AN OPEN LETTER OF RABBI CHAYYIM ZEBI SNEERSOHN OF JERUSALEM (1863)
“THERE were hundreds of Jews, preferring labour to starvation, to be seen working for their daily bread at one shilling per day in the fields of the so-called ‘Industrial Plantations for Jews,’ then under the auspices of Mr. Finn, late English Consul for Palestine, and up to the present time there are many Jews engaged in performing even the most menial offices and doing their best to provide food for their families. The other day a meeting was held by the Chief Rabbi, Haim David Hassan, and many other notabilities of the different congregations, at which I also attended. The subject proposed was an enquiry to ascertain the number of those who are likely to devote themselves to agricultural pursuits and to draw up a plan in which way they could be helped in order to attain the object desired. The result was that up to the present about one hundred heads of families declared their readiness to go and till the ground of their fathers. The result of the preliminary discussion on the plan to be adopted was to get a hodjet, or secure possession from the Government or possession of cultivated ground, consisting of gardens, olive trees, vineyards and fields.”
Palestinian Rabbis were quick to recognize the activity of the British Consul. James Finn was indeed an English pioneer of the idea of colonization of Palestine and of Britain’s protection of Palestinian Jews. He was appointed Consul before the death of Bishop Alexander (who was a converted Jew and the first Bishop appointed by the British Government in Jerusalem), in 1848, and the chief reason for his appointment was his known love of the Jewish cause. He was at the time a member of the London Society’s Committee, had published an interesting and learned work on the History of the Spanish Jews, as well as a tract upon the Chinese Jews, had devoted himself with great zeal and rare success to the study of Hebrew, which he spoke and wrote with fluency, and was considered on this account to be particularly well qualified for the post of Consul at Jerusalem (another proof of the great appreciation of the national Jewish character of Palestine on the part of the British Government at that time). Finn went out as a devoted friend to the Jewish cause, and such he proved himself throughout. Though an ardent Christian, he won the sympathy of the most orthodox Jerusalem Rabbis, and their moral support for the colonization of Palestine.
Palestinian Jews themselves advocated the establishment of Jewish agricultural colonies in 1863:――
“Behold, we are now awaking to a sense of the profound degradation which systematic dependence on charity must produce and to the awful demoralization which must be the necessary consequence of its precariousness. The increasing prosperity of those around us makes us the more deeply feel our own unutterable misery: while European ideas, gradually penetrating to us, are rousing us from our apathy and inspiring us more and more with the wish to wipe away from us the disgrace of sloth, with which we are but too often stigmatized. We want to work, and to work hard, in order to support ourselves by the sweat of our brows. But there is in Palestine no other source of employment capable of giving bread to a community consisting of thousands of individuals, save agriculture. You dole out to us annually thousands of pounds, just enough to keep us, year after year, on the brink of starvation. This has now been going on for centuries, with the result which we have seen. Now try whether a change for the better could not be brought about. Lay out, by way of experiment, and on a small scale, just to begin with, a portion of the funds destined for the Holy Land in productive labour. Some of us, at least, will, instead of being maintained in involuntary idleness, see what our handiwork can produce, whereby you give the mere consumer of to-day a chance of becoming the producer of to-morrow, and in time you may have the satisfaction of seeing the country dotted with self-supporting agricultural colonies of happy Jews――the very same who are now a burden to you, and whose cry of distress every now and then resounds through the countries of the West.”
Rabbi Sneersohn was on a visit to Melbourne in 1861, and addressed (in Hebrew) a “Meeting of the members of the Jewish Faith (to which persons of other denominations were also invited) for the purpose of adopting measures to assist in building houses of refuge on Mount Zion” (The Salvation of Israel, an address, etc., by Rabbi Hayim Zwi Sneersohn, Melbourne, 1862).
LXVI.
THE TRAGEDY OF A MINORITY, AS SEEN BY AN ENGLISH JEWISH PUBLICIST (1863)
“THE whole Tragedy of our People is to be found in the fact that we must everywhere be in the minority: and no matter how just our cause may be, we shall always have to complain of slights and insults, of being overlooked by accident or design, of being scorned by many, and denounced by zealots or infidels, all for the sake of being a minority.... But once again blessed with a Government of our own, though only a small portion of Israelites should be found in their own land, while the many would prefer to remain in the countries where they now sojourn, and the advantages of which they might not wish to give up, the feelings of the world would necessarily undergo a great change, and the treatment meted out to us would not be what it is now. If we have our agriculturists, our statesmen, our mechanics, our public teachers, equal to the best found anywhere, who would dare to insult us by stating that he knows us only as pedlars, bankers and merchants: and class us as a whole among petty traders and men of low pursuits? No effort which we can make, situated as we are all over the world, will readily change the long habit which was forced on us to depend on commerce, large and small, in all its branches, in which the meaner necessarily predominated, owing to the exclusive laws to which we were subjected: and therefore it will be centuries before the unjust prejudices against us die out, if ever they can, in case we ever succeed in divesting ourselves of that habit. If our land be restored to us, and we to it, how nobly will our character, which is now concealed and obscure, burst forth in all ancient vigour and beauty, and we shall naturally present to the world again examples worthy of imitation, and the harp of Judah, which has so long hung mute on the willows of many a Babylon, will again resound to the master-touch of the inspired poet. He will again sing aloud the praises of the Most High. Our judges will sit on the judgment-seat of our ancient counsellors, and decide for the lofty and the lowly according to the demands of the Mosaic legislation: and the wisdom which had its chief residence on the hills of Jerusalem will evermore be diffused to enlighten a suffering world, and will prove its strength in contrast with the failures of antagonistic systems.... Will this dream be speedily realized? We cannot tell indeed: events occasionally creep slowly over the face of the world, but at other times they rush rapidly forward, and one great development follows closely on the heels of the other. The same may be the case with the now apparently distant restoration of Israelites to Palestine. The world is becoming rapidly peopled: the boundaries of nations in the meanwhile are frequently changed: jealousies of one people against another are constantly developed: the balance of power, a vain desire to preserve peace among men, is constantly vibrating to and fro. Is it then so unlikely that an effort will be made to place in Palestine and the neighbourhood an enterprising race which shall restore it?”
LXVII.
הברת ישוב ארץ ישראל ודרישת ציון בלאנדאן הבירה׃ LONDON HEBREW SOCIETY FOR THE COLONIZATION OF THE HOLY LAND
PLANS
“THE London Society for the Colonization of the Holy Land intends:――
“1. To collect funds for the purchase of deserted and desolate towns, and fields and vineyards in the Holy Land, and to prepare Hebrew Persons able and willing to work, so as to fit them for agricultural labour in the Holy Land.
“2. All Israelites, expert in sacred scripture and the Hebrew language, who are members of this society for six years, and prove their ability in agriculture, honest, and of respectable behaviour, able and willing to work, will be sent out to the Holy Land by this Society.
“3. On those sent out by the Society the sacred duty devolves to fulfil faithfully the commandments of the תורה not to work――or cause to work――on Sabbath, Festivals, Schemita, and Jobal, as well as to observe לקט שכחה ופאה and all other commandments relating to the cultivation of the soil in the Holy Land.
“4. All Israelites having lived uninterruptedly for three years in the Holy Land will be considered as free members, and, after passing proper examination, can enjoy the same rights as those who have contributed.
“5. A house, with adjoining land, and cattle, implements and all other requirements for agriculture, and all necessaries for himself and his family shall be provided by the Society until the soil is fertilised and productive.
“6. In each colony the Society shall establish a Synagogue with all its requirements as ס׳ת, etc., schools for children and adults, appoint and pay Rabbis, readers and the other officials, provide books, &c.
“7. The Rabbi must not only have thorough knowledge of the Hebrew language and Theology, but must also be expert in other sciences and languages, especially the language of the country.
“8. Every colonist has the preference, after the stipulated time, to farm the land fertilised by his labour, which land remains the property of the society.
“9. The colonists will be placed under the protection of the great European powers.
“10. Co-religionists trained to the use of arms will be appointed by the society, to protect the colony from the attacks of the Bedouins; also police to enforce the laws and to maintain order.
“11. Israelitish co-religionists of all countries and of either sex will be accepted as members of the society.
“12. Those of other religions can only be accepted as honorary members.
“13. Boys and girls from 13 to 20 years of age, and persons more than 50 years of age can be members of the second class only.
“14. Children under 13 years of age are members of the third class.
“15. Communities forming societies among themselves will be accepted as branches of this society.
“16. Members, who bequeath money or property, according to their means, for the benefit of the society will be constituted perpetual members.
“17. Any member desiring to perpetuate the memory of deceased relations or friends, can do so by paying a certain sum, according to his means, to have them inscribed as perpetual members.
“18. Each member to pay an entrance fee of not less than 1s. 6d., one-third of which fee must be paid at the time of entrance.
“19. This third part will be used to meet the expenses of stationery, printing, advertising, rent of lecture hall, management, &c., and for the assistance of those persons preparing themselves for agriculture.
“20. Each member agrees to pay a certain voluntary contribution towards the funds of the society, which sum has to be paid to the committee every ראש חדש for which he will receive a receipt.
“21. A public meeting will be held every ר׳ח when the names of the members and the amount of their contributions will be published.
“22. General meetings will be held three times during the year, at such time and place as the monthly meetings shall appoint.
“23. Admission of non-members to the monthly meetings by ticket, to be had gratis.
“24. None but members will be allowed to address the meeting. Non-members can submit any question in writing, which will be communicated, and if necessary discussed at the meeting.
“25. To explain and to illustrate the principles of the society, lectures will be delivered every Sabbath in the hall of the society, to which members have free admission, non-members by ticket, sold for the benefit of the society.
“The land will be divided by ballot, for which members of the first class only are qualified. For assistance and for instruction every member of six months standing, in the first and second class, has a claim.
“Members who shall have obtained a plot of land and should not desire to emigrate, can convey the same to another person, provided he be qualified as described in Rule 2.”¹
¹ כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל The Hebrew National. A weekly Journal [Edited by Herschel Filipowski] ... London, vol. i., No. 2, Feb. 22nd, 1867, pp. 29‒30.
An appeal from this Society “By order of the Committee, E. I. Polak, Secretary (pro tem.),” appeared in a specimen of a unique newspaper lent to me by Mr. James H. Lowe, entitled יידיש דייטשע צייטוננ׃ London Jews’ Weekly Times, No. 4, 31st May = 26 Iyar, but the year is omitted. The advertisements were printed, but the news was lithographed. The offices were situated at 4 Sun street, and the paper was published by Harris Leyserowich of No. 3 Sweedland Court, Bishopsgate Street, City.
LXVIII.
AN OPEN LETTER OF HENRI DUNANT (1866)
“THE disquieting circumstances in which Europe finds itself should not let us forget that the Eastern question, which has already troubled the Governments and peoples, may speedily reappear and complicate a position grave enough in itself. Instinctively every one feels that the day when this question will call for a definite solution, all Europe will perhaps be in inextricable difficulties.
“Diplomatic difficulties can only end in barren expedients, but the present, which is averse to a system of forcible conquest by fire and sword, has a much more powerful weapon at its disposal――that of pacific conquest by civilization.
“What is therefore to be done in order to prevent grave complications, and regenerate the East by rousing its vital forces and infusing into it the spirit of Western civilization?
“One of the most powerful means would be the formation of a large society, having an eminently international character, and which would have thereby the merit of reconciling the particular interests of the several European Powers with those of civilization. This Society would open for the West new and abundant sources of wealth: it would become for the East an efficient means of moral regeneration: and lastly would be for all nations co-operating in the matter a great honour and a great profit.
“The following is the manner in which such an association may be presented to the European public:――
“Objects of the Eastern International Society:――
“To promote the development of agriculture, industry, commerce, and public works in the East, and especially in Palestine. To obtain from the Turkish Government privileges and monopolies, whether in Constantinople or the rest of the Empire: notably the concession and the gradual abandonment of the soil of Palestine. To distribute for pecuniary considerations such portions of the land, the concession whereof might have been acquired or received by the Company, and to colonize the more fertile valleys of the Holy Land.
“The Turkish Empire contains virtues of all kinds, which, if they were utilized by a powerful company, would yield considerable results; but the Porte neither possesses the resources nor the necessary forces in order to create and lead to a favourable issue the works of public utility, which the internal development of the Ottoman Empire so urgently demands: left to her own resources she can neither augment her revenues nor form new ones, she is unable to give energetic support to either agriculture or industry, which are the only means of increasing public wealth and prosperity.
“It is therefore for the West, which possesses the capital and where the creative forces are superabundant, to turn to an account the real advantages presented by Turkey, and to take in hand a work capable of yielding excellent results. Skilfully conducted, operations in this new country bring in a very high interest: but new combinations must be devised, which should enjoy both the approval of the European Powers, and the support of the Sultan’s Porte. Therefore, in order not to weaken its forces, the Society must utilize certain special circumstances in which Turkey is now placed, and Palestine offers itself at first sight to the mind as the earliest field of activity.
“Palestine, as known, only wants human labour in order to produce abundantly: it is one of the most remarkable and fruitful countries on the globe: products of all latitudes are to be met with there, and emigrants from Europe find there the climate of their country. Commerce and private industry completing the work of agriculture, will draw hither in numbers merchants, colonists and capitalists. This resurrection of the East, uniting with the new rise of religious sentiment, will be aided by the co-operation of Israelites, whose valuable qualities and remarkable aptitudes cannot but prove very advantageous to Palestine.
“Having established commercial undertakings at Constantinople and other cities of the Turkish Empire, the Society will construct at Jaffa a port and a good road, a railway from this city to Jerusalem. The territory through which the railway runs should be granted by Turkey to the Society, which might sell it to Israelitish families. These in their turn would create colonies and make them prosperous, with the help and the labour of those of their Eastern brethren whose love for their ancient country has maintained itself as ardently as formerly. Special committees might at their cost send Israelitish emigrants from Morocco, Poland, Moldavia, Wallachia, the East, Africa, etc.
“The result pursued and obtained by the Society by means of a sincere international understanding, the co-operation of those interested in Turkey, and the establishment of Western populations in Palestine, will infallibly be in a less distant future than might be imagined.
“The reconstruction of Holy Places at Jerusalem, which might be carried out internationally, and in a manner worthy of Christendom: the end of conflicts which are being incessantly renewed between the Great Powers on account of the Holy Places: the transformation of ancient Jerusalem into a new city which shall rival in importance the finest cities in the West: the creation of European colonies which in time will become centres when Western civilization will spread into Turkey and penetrate the extreme East.
“Under the nominal suzerainty of the Sultan the Society will administer with intelligence and equity the territories that might develop upon it. Thus India has long been administered and governed by an English company. The Sultan, grateful for the financial support which will be given to him, might, perhaps, grant to the Holy Land a special administration, which, under the high direction of the Porte, would offer real security to the populations that might repair thither, and guarantees for the funds that might be employed there. Thanks to this combination, which would procure for her valuable resources, Turkey would not be obliged to contract new loans in order to pay the interest on previous ones.
“The rising colonies might diplomatically be neutralized, like Switzerland, and by a treaty which would have some analogy to the Convention signed at Geneva in favour of the amboulance, sanitary bodies, and wounded soldiers. It would not, moreover, be so difficult to neutralize Palestine by an agreement among the Powers, since there exists a remarkable precedent, which is the neutralization of the Lower Danube officially obtained from the Seven Powers, who signed the treaty at Paris. Now the Commission of the Lower Danube has created its flag and a small fleet, it possesses a numerous staff and revenues: it actually seeks to contract a loan, the same as an independent state.
“In order to prepare the organization of an International Eastern Society, it is necessary that the minds should be induced to occupy themselves with these great and interesting questions. It is indispensable for this purpose to form a committee composed of influential and honourable men of different nations and different opinions, having at heart the success of these views in the general interest. For the rest the elements of such a committee are quite clear.
“Its programme, at the same time economic, humanitarian, scientific, etc., is also international: it cannot hurt the susceptibilities of any nation. Influential men in France, England, and elsewhere are favourably disposed to the scheme.”¹
¹ Société Nationale Universelle pour la Renouvellement de l’Orient [Henri Dunant] Paris ... 1866.
LXIX.
AN APPEAL OF RABBI ELIAS GUTMACHER AND RABBI HIRSCH KALISCHER TO THE JEWS OF ENGLAND (1867)
Appeal to Our Brethren
THOU shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall eat them as common things. Jeremiah, chap. xxxi.
And I will raise up for them a plant of renown and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land. Ezekiel xxxiv.
Hear ye generous people, learn ye who take an interest in holy matters, show your tender feelings towards our brethren in the holy land! Think of the abandoned, devastated, sacred soil. Thus voices and signs urgently warn you, pointing out to you that the time long ago vouchsafed has arrived to render them effectual help.
Destructive epidemic diseases and famine ravage in that land in the same awful way this year as they did in the past one and your ever so abundantly flowing gifts and donations are not efficient to alleviate the misery, to satiate the hunger; upon us the needy cast their looks and crave for relief. But there is only one way, one remedy to prevent a recurrence of such distress, and that is: colonization, cultivation and improvements of the Palestine soil.
This proposal, suggested already many years ago, urges now more than ever upon final realization, the soil must be redeemed. The society, “Alliance Israélite,” in Paris, so great in its activity, at the head of which M. Adolphe Crémieux stands as president, has declared itself in favor of this idea and promised its own assistance and interference (sic) elsewhere, to accomplish the object, as we have seen from that society’s recently published half-yearly report.
A letter Sir Moses Montefiore addressed to us after his safe return from Palestine states that the idea has been approved of there also. Sir Moses in the same letter says that from Zephat alone sixty Jewish families addressed to him personally the fervent prayer for a grant of land for agricultural purposes. That the hard tried Israelitish inhabitants of Schabatz in Servia have declared themselves ready to emigrate for the purpose of cultivating the Palestine soil, is known to us already, through the medium of Hebrew periodicals.――To realize the idea in question, money must be raised before anything can be done: the funds in hand are not sufficient, the number of Subscribers must increase, and the subscriptions be permanent. The leaders of congregations should take the matter in hand and every member of a congregation in good circumstances ought to join the society, with a yearly contribution of two Thalers (six shillings), by which they would be instrumental in the performance of the religious commands attached to the sacred soil just as if they themselves had been performing it. To enable members in more humble circumstances to contribute, quarterly payments might be received. But he whom the Almighty has blessed with earthly fortunes and who has the heart for the sufferings of his co-religionists anywhere in the Universe――he should not fail to join the “Alliance Israélite” of Paris, as a member with a yearly contribution of 1 Thaler 10 Sgr. (4 Shillings), and thus further the great aim. Two treasurers have been appointed by us to receive contributions. The well-known Banker, Mr. Seegall, in Posen, is Chief Treasurer, and Mr. S. Fuerst, in Schmiegel, Special Treasurer for amounts up to 100 Thalers (£15). The latter Gentleman has offered to pay all postages out of his own private pocket, and is resolved to go at his own expense to Palestine and to make a beginning with the colonization; perhaps the undersigned Mr. Hirsch Kalischer may take upon himself the expense and hardships of such a voyage, to see there after the strict observance of the religious commands connected with agriculture in Palestine. Were there one at least in every congregation that would zealously take the matter in hand; we would willingly confer upon him the diploma of a Governor of the society and give him the necessary instructions. We are also ready to purchase a priceworthy piece of land in Palestine on account and in the name of any of our wealthier brethren in faith that would remit to us a sum for the purpose, and to have it administered according to their instructions. We hope that with the proper assistance from the congregations of Israel and by the aid of the Omnipotent we shall in a very short time be able to give effect to the idea of Colonization.
Thorn in the month of Marcheshvan 5627. “Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people and for the cities of our God” (2 Samuel x. 12).
ELIAS GUTMACHER, Rabbi in Graetz. HIRSCH KALISCHER, Rabbi in Thorn.¹
¹ כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאַל The Hebrew National, vol. i., No. i., Feb. 15th, 1867, p. 6.
LXX.
ALEXANDRE DUMAS (fils) AND ZIONISM
IN La Femme de Claude, pp. 50‒51, Daniel says:
“Nous sommes dans une époque où chaque race a résolu de revendiquer et d’avoir bien à elle son sol, son foyer, sa langue et son temple. Il y a assez longtemps que nous autres Israélites, nous sommes dépossédés de tout cela. Nous avons été forcés de nous glisser dans les interstices des nations, d’où nous avons pénétré dans les intérêts des gouvernements, des sociétés, des individus. C’est beaucoup, ce n’est pas assez. On croit encore que la persécution nous a dispersés, elle nous a répandus; et nous tenant par la main, nous formons aujourd’hui un filet dans lequel le monde pourrait bien se trouver pris le jour où il lui viendrait à l’idée de nous redevenir hostile ou de se déclarer ingrat. En attendant nous ne voulons plus être un groupe, nous voulons être un peuple, plus qu’un peuple, une nation. La patrie idéale ne nous suffit plus, la patrie fixe et territoriale nous est redevenue nécessaire, et je pars pour chercher et lever notre acte de naissance légalisé.”
Isidore Cahen writes, Le Daniel de la Femme du Claude “... prévoit et prédit une restauration matérielle de la grandeur de Juda, la reconstitution d’un Etat politique juif! M. Dumas va jusqu’à citer le vœu célébre de la Hagadah: ‘L’année prochaine à Jérusalem....’
“Dans ces vœux qui contiennent nos livres traditionelles il n’y a qu’une espérance allégorique un vœu mystique: c’est une Jérusalem idéale, ... et non pas une Jérusalem politique....”¹
¹ Archives Israélites, 1ᵉʳ Fevrier, 1873, p. 86.
... Il faut que je sois bien maladroit et que je dise bien mal ce que je veux dire pour qu’il y ait erreur sur mon appréciation des Israélites. Le jour où j’ai écrit la Femme de Claude, j’ai cru les glorifier. Je ne vois pas que Daniel et Rebecca ne représentent pas un idéal supérieur et si Daniel menace un moment ceux qui pourraient se montrer hostiles ou ingrats de la puissance que ses coreligionnaires out acquise, il a parfaitement raison. Ce n’est pas quand depuis près de deux mille ans une race subit l’injustice et la persécution comme l’a fait votre race, qu’elle va, après de grands services rendus, supporter l’ingratitude et l’hostilité de ceux qu’elle a tirés d’affaire. Il n’en est pas moins vrai que lors de l’apparition de la Femme de Claude, beaucoup de vos co-religionnaires se sont trompés sur mes intentions et que quelquesuns ont organisé une cabale contre la pièce. Je ne leur en veux pas. Je ne ferai jamais entrer une question personnelle dans ce jugement que je puis avoir à porter historiquement et philosophiquement sur toute une Nation.
... Comme j’assiste pendant le temps que je passe sur la terre aux évolutions de l’humanité à laquelle j’appartiens, je m’amuse quelquefois à essayer de prévoir et même de prédire la direction qu’elles peuvent prendre. Comme j’ai bien étudié celles de votre race, que je l’ai vue asservie et persécutée de tous temps et en ces mêmes temps toujours patiente et laborieuse, je me suis, dans mon intérieur, pris de sympathie pour elle, et si j’avais été capable de pratiquer une religion c’est à celle de ces persécutés et de ces laborieux que je serais allé. Quand un peuple a établi toute la morale humaine sur dix petits versets, il peut vraiment se dire le peuple de Dieu, étant donné la conception que les hommes les plus éclairés peuvent se faire, derrière Moise d’un Dieu personnel. Seulement j’ai le tort d’appliquer à ceux que j’étudie et qui m’intéressent les idées que j’aurais si j’étais à leur place..., quand j’ai vu les évènements politiques nous apporter en 1870, en établissant la République et en nous retirant de Rome, vous apporter la revanche de tant d’injustices et d’humiliations patiemment supportées, je me suis demandé quelle mission je me donnerais, si dans les idées où je suis, j’étais membre de ce peuple particulier. Je me suis dit alors que je n’aurais qu’une idée, ce serait de reprendre possession de mon sol d’origine et de tradition et de rebâtir le temple de Jérusalem, sinon sur la place du tombeau du Christ, du moins en face. C’est cette idée que j’ai incarnée dans Daniel. On m’a dit souvent depuis, que je me trompais sur les ambitions des Israélites, qu’ils ne pensaient plus à ces représailles-là, que leur idéal était de vivre en paix avec les différentes nations qui leur out donné droit de cité et qu’ils out renoncé à finir leurs jours dans un foyer à eux. Tant pis pour eux, si c’est vrai. Il est bon d’avoir un idéal, même quand il est irréalisable. Voilà mon cher ami, aussi brièvement que possible, mes idées sur vos coreligionnaires. Ils m’ont toujours inspiré les sentiments que leur courage, leur persévérance, leurs malheurs, leurs efforts de toutes sortes doivent inspirer à des esprits de bonne foi et à des consciences désintéressées....¹
¹ The foregoing are extracts from a hitherto unpublished letter sent by Alexandre Dumas (fils) to a prominent French Jew. It is dated 1873.
LXXI.
APPEAL OF DUNANT’S ASSOCIATION FOR THE COLONISATION OF PALESTINE (1867)
PALESTINE COLONISATION
To the Editor of the Jewish Chronicle.
“... International undertaking for the Rejuvenescence of Palestine. ――Palestine is a rich and fertile country, although now little populated, and therefore uncultivated. A soil greatly subject to a variety of circumstances is the cause of a great variety of meteorological conditions. Hence a great variety of productions peculiar nearly to every latitude; hence also a great facility for every colonist to find in his new country a climate approaching that of his native land.
“It is not to be feared that the colonisation of the Holy Land, judiciously carried on, can lack warm sympathies or labour under a want of colonists. Numerous adhesions from emigrants by the thousand, easy in circumstances and willing to work, have already addressed themselves to the founders of the undertaking for the rejuvenescence of Palestine.”
“The new reforms introduced by the Ottoman Government, the law which authorised strangers to purchase and hold real estate in the Turkish empire, the road now being constructed from Jaffa to Jerusalem, the works projected in the port of Jaffa, the improvements effected in the great lines of communication――all these undertakings and circumstances united seem to indicate that the moment could not be better chosen for commencing the colonisation of Palestine....”
“The capital required for such an undertaking would not long remain unproductive; indeed, the financial operation of the company that should be formed for this purpose would be one of the simplest.
“The uncultivated land in Palestine purchased of the Ottoman Government at a comparatively small price, and with facilities for payment, resold at a higher figure, would bring in an important profit. The increase in the value of this land――a direct result of the colonisation――would be an additional guarantee for the realisation of this expectation.
“The supply to the colony of agricultural and industrial tools, a trade of importation organized on a scale strictly proportionate to the acknowledged wants of the new settlement, would offer to the company a field for a second operation, which, presenting neither risk nor peril, would nevertheless insure from the very beginning undoubted profits.
“The life which begins to stir in the port of Jaffa will take a fresh rise with the development of agriculture and manufacture in colonised Palestine. The rejuvenescence of Central Asia, which England on the one hand and Russia on the other pursue with so much vigour――the former in the way of peace and the latter in that of war――will not fail favourably to react on the trade of the coast of Syria, once so flourishing, and the decline of which only dates from the fall of the great empire of Persia.
“Ancient Phœnicia, the cities of Tyre and Sidon, the richest of antiquity, owed their prosperity only to the intermediate trade carried on between the east and the west. The fall of the empire founded by Cyrus produced in Central Asia so great a moral and material decay that the trade and industrial pursuits of these immense regions perished from inanity. Tyre and Sidon had no longer any basis for existence; their grandeur accordingly gradually declined. Alexander, after these splendid and proud cities, succeeded in forming direct relations with India, which the founder of this empire had brought nigh to Europe. But Alexandria in its turn had to experience fortune’s inconstancy. Since the discovery of the route to India to the day when steamers and the railway to Suez restored to it some life, desertion and oblivion were its lot. The piercing of the isthmus of Suez will end by restoring to Alexandria its pristine importance. The trade of India will once more completely come back to it, but the cities on the coast of Syria and Jaffa in particular will not the less remain mistresses of every commercial market of Central Asia, upon which a new destiny is dawning.
“A great economical revulsion in the old world is preparing, and the coast of Palestine will again become as in days of old, in common with that of Lower Egypt, the centre of all exchange between the old continents.
“The Palestine Company has therefore an immense future, which it is easy to foresee even now, but we must allow events to proceed in the development of its activity beyond the modest limits which we at present mark out for it.
“Paris and Jerusalem, March, 1866 and September, 1867.”
The address of the secretary-general of this undertaking is Paris, 24, Rue de la Paix.¹
¹ Jewish Chronicle and Hebrew Observer, December 13, 1867, p. 6.
LXXII.
EDWARD CAZALET’S ZIONIST VIEWS
“IT was through the armed intervention of England, that, in the year 1841, Syria was transferred from Egyptian to Turkish rule. At that time Lord Palmerston was in office; and his policy, as he explained to the French Ambassador, M. de Bourgoing, was to turn Syria into a desert under Turkish rule, and interpose this desert between the Sultan and his Egyptian vassal. In confirmation of this, which may seem to some an astounding statement, I can only refer you to ‘Guizot’s Memoirs,’ vol. 2, p. 525 ... to Syria assuredly reparation is due on the part of England.... To attempt to improve the Turkish Government of Syria is, for obvious reasons, a hopeless task.... No other country has anything like the same interest in Syria, that we have; besides which, it is to the English nation alone that the population of Syria look for protection and support....
“It was England who handed this country over to the Turks in 1841. Turkey has ever since abused her charge, and it is only just that she should be now called upon to transfer it into more capable hands.”
“The Arabs, who form two-thirds of the whole of the population of Syria, and are for most part lords of the soil, are with very few exceptions completely illiterate, regardless of truth, dishonest in their dealings, and immoral in their conduct. In large towns the greater proportion of the upper classes are both physically and mentally feeble, owing to the effects of polygamy, early marriages, and degrading vices. Out of such elements there is no possibility of creating a ruling class. The other sects are too few in number, and too bigoted and superstitious, to be of any assistance in the government of the country. If, then, the regeneration of Syria is to be attempted, it must of necessity come from without, and can only be brought about by an influx of an industrious and more enlightened people. Fortunately this last resource is not denied to us. The restoration of the Jews to their own land, seems to me the only practicable means by which the regeneration of Syria can be effected. You must not imagine that this event, important though it unquestionably must be, need cause any great perturbation in Europe, or prove in any way a strain upon the resources of England. All that is required is that England should create the conditions under which a large number of Jews would gradually migrate on their own account to Syria and Palestine. The first condition of such a movement is that law and order should be introduced under our Protectorate....
“But there is another influence which would greatly assist the colonization of the country. It has long been a cherished project with the Jews to establish a college in the Holy Land, which would serve as a centre of Jewish philosophy and science. Such an institution would readily meet with support, and incalculably quicken the pulses of their national life. With an extensive literature in their own language, in which every branch of philosophy and science is represented, the Jews would be able to make such an institution a genuine centre of intellectual activity. The leading learned men of the Jewish race would be naturally attracted to such a national centre, and would form a nucleus round which all the intellect of the nation would gather, by means of which the necessary elements of the future government of the country might be formed. I understand that the most suitable site for this college has already been generally agreed upon.
“I have still to show you that these attractions would be sufficient to induce numbers of Jewish families to migrate to Syria. The total number of the Jews throughout the world is variously estimated from eight to ten millions. Of those the greater number――probably six millions ――inhabit Russia and the old Polish provinces which now belong to Austria, Germany and Roumania. The condition of the Jews in Russia is deplorable in the extreme. They are denied civil rights. They are forbidden to hold landed property. They are treated as aliens, and are restricted to limited areas in which they suffer from the evils of over-population. These conditions have induced no fewer than 250,000 Jews to emigrate to America within the last thirty or forty years, and it may be confidently predicted that Syria under our protectorate would offer still greater attractions. The land of Palestine alone, is capable of supporting ten times its present population. It may seem strange to say of the Jews who are scattered throughout the world, that they still consider this to be their fatherland. But, if they are denied the actual possession of it, they still bear it in their hearts. Three times a day every Jew offers up a prayer for the restoration of his race to the land and the temple, from which he has been exiled for eighteen centuries. It is a remarkable fact that this scattered and downtrodden people possess within themselves all the elements which go to form a united nation. They have a code of laws for their own government; they have a literature, a history, a language and a religion, which are peculiar to them. Their education is, with some exceptions, on a par with that of the most civilized nations. Numbers of them excel in all the different branches of mechanics and art; and in trade and finance they are, as we all know, unrivalled. Though last, not least they are a people who would fight bravely in the defence of their country.
“During the last twenty years of the reign of the Emperor Nicholas, the military conscription fell heavily upon the Jews. In proportion to their numbers, for every Russian that was enlisted, five Jews were compelled to enter the service; and during the late Turkish war they bore themselves bravely in the face of the enemy. No one who has any knowledge of the Jewish character can for a moment doubt that if the Jews were restored to their country under an English protectorate they would prove true to our nation, and that Syria would become as firmly united to England as if it were peopled by our own countrymen.”¹
¹ England’s Policy in the East: our Relations with Russia and the Future of Syria. By Edward Cazalet. Second Edition. London: ... 1879. [8º. iv + 32 pp. in printed wrapper.] pp. 22‒26.
LXXIII.
A COLLECTION OF OPINIONS OF ENGLISH CHRISTIAN AUTHORITIES ON THE COLONIZATION OF PALESTINE
1. General Sir Charles Warren’s Views
“MY proposal is simply an arrangement by which, ... Palestine, this unfortunate land may yet be placed in ... a position which may enable her again to take a place socially among the kingdoms of the earth....”
“It will probably at once occur, ‘And what of the Arabs of Palestine?’ I ask in reply, ‘Who are the Arabs?’ They are certainly not Turks in any degree; they are for the most part not Arabs of Arabia, of the Desert. Then who are they? It has long been known, and no person has thrown more light upon the subject than M. Ganneau, that the people of Palestine are of a very mixed race: some of Canaanitish descent, some Jewish, some of Arabia. It is evident that many of them being Moslems are so for convenience,... We cannot, therefore, look upon the natives of Palestine as rigid Moslems of one race; but we must recognize them as descendants of Canaanites, Israelites, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Crusaders, now professing the Moslem or the Christian faith, according to circumstances, but retaining above everything the ancient traditions――yes, and in some instances, I have little doubt, their veritable old religion.”
“Palestine is about the size and shape of Wales, and has now a population of about one and a half millions. Give her good government, and quicken the commercial life of the people, and they may increase tenfold, and yet there be room. The soil is so rich, the climate so varied, that within ordinary limits it may be said that the more people it contains, the more it may. Its productiveness will increase in proportion to the labour bestowed on the soil, until a population of fifteen millions might be accommodated there.
“Let us observe how the country may be improved. It consists of the hill country, or mountain districts; the Shephalah or swelling hills, or wolds; the maritime and Jordan plains, and the tablelands of Arabia.
“All these are most productive naturally; but are, for the most part, at present enjoying a long Sabbath.
“In the hill country, even now the white skeletons of the old system of terracing are visible in parts; but the rich loamy soil is washed down into the wadies, leaving the hillsides bare and desolate, and glaring in their nakedness. A cultivated strip may be seen at the bottom of the wady, subject to being swept away by any storm of rain forming a torrent down the bare hillsides, or withered before its time by the reflection of the sun from the bare rocks.
“Place the valley in proper hands, and note the results. The earth from the bottom will be carefully carried up the hillsides, and laid out in terraces, on which are planted young trees――those of a more delicate nature being placed on the northern declivity, in order that they may suffer less from the sun’s rays. The trees thrive rapidly, as they will do in Palestine; the rain falls, but not as heretofore, rushing fiercely down the bare rocks, and forming a torrent in the valley. No; now it falls on the trees and terraces, percolates quietly into the soil and into the rocky hillside, and is thus absorbed, scarcely injuring the crops at the bottom of the valley. The rain that sinks into the rocks will shortly reissue in perennial springs, so refreshing in a thirsty land. The trees, having moisture in the soil at their roots, spread out their leaves in rich groves over the land. The sun’s rays now do not fall on the ground, but on the green leaves and fruit, by which they are intercepted and absorbed, giving no glare or reflection. The heat of the sun causes a moisture to rise from the trees and soil beneath them, which, on reaching the higher and cooler winds, is condensed into visible vapour, constantly forming as the breeze passes over the grove, so that each grove, so to speak, supplies its own umbrella. The climate is thus changed. Where were hot, glaring sun, dry wind, dry earth, stony land, absence of vegetable products, are now to be found fleecy clouds floating through the balmy air, the heat of the sun tempered by visible and invisible vapours, groves with moist soil, trickling streamlets issuing from the rocks, villages springing up apace, Palestine regenerated.
“This is no dream. I have seen this change take place in Palestine in three years, on a small scale. Why is the Lebanon so different to the hill country of Palestine? In a great measure, because, by reason of its position and conformation, its woods have not been cut down....
“Again, on the east of Jordan, in Gilead, I have seen the same. After riding for miles through the ruins in the glaring summer atmosphere, through a country denuded of trees, nearly choking with the scorching wind, I came upon a district where the ancient woods had not been cut down. Immediately a change was felt: clouds were seen hanging over the woods, the air became soft and pleasant, the sun’s rays beat less fiercely, flowers were seen under the trees, blackberries on the brambles, water gushing out from the hillsides, birds chirping in the shade. This was not due to any change in the atmosphere generally, but was entirely local, and due to the presence of trees. In fact, there are spots where you can, on the same level, change the climate in an hour by passing from the bare land to that which is well wooded.
“This matter I have frequently examined into in Palestine. I mention one particular instance. During the prevalence of hot winds at Jerusalem, I noticed two clouds constantly stationary a few miles off, in an otherwise cloudless sky. On riding over towards them, I found them to be hanging over two large olive groves about seven miles off, recently planted by the Greek convents. Although the wind was blowing briskly, the moisture ascending was condensed as quickly as it rose, and formed an umbrella over these groves.
“In the wolds of Palestine the same process may be continued. Not so much terracing is wanted, but much planting of wood, particularly on the south side――trees of a hardy growth; so that, with a green southern slope opposite, the delicate fruit trees planted on the northern slopes may bring their fruit to perfection.
“The water, which will now be found gushing from the rock, from springs which have long been silent, will be carried in ducts along the hillsides, and used for irrigation purposes, passing thence into the plain, where it can still be used for irrigation, or else assist in filling up the wells near to the surface of the ground――wells which have hitherto been between thirty to ninety feet deep.
“Now again we shall find a difference in the crops in the plain. Hitherto there has been but one season, and then a long interval of desolation, from July to November, when the heaven is of brass and the earth iron. During this long period, scarcely a green blade can be seen over the vast plains――nothing but sticks, and stones, and dust; the monotony relieved only by the noise of the gulgul careering on the wings of the whirlwind....
“The presence of water brought down on the surface from the hills, together with the vast groves of trees to be planted, causes a change. The latter rains of June will be found to fall, giving a second season――a never-ending succession of crops. The fulfilment of the Prophecies will commence taking place――when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed....
“The advance of the rolling sand-hills, which is now overwhelming the fairest of the maritime plains, may now be arrested. The rich ground between Gaza and Ascalon, which the sand has swallowed up, must again be recovered. This can easily be effected, by the planting of coniferæ along the sea coast, as has been done already at Beyrout.... If we examine the Jordan valley, we find even greater changes can be effected: it can be made far more fertile than it ever was....
“The whole valley, however, may be made one vast garden, not merely by rebuilding the great aqueducts, remains of which still exist, and by means of which the great cities were watered, but by means of the Jordan river itself. The Jordan, out of Tiberias, falls ten feet to the mile, or 600 feet in sixty miles.... The waters of the Jordan might be brought out of Tiberias in aqueducts falling one foot to the mile, and thus be brought over the great plain of Basan and of Jericho, and be made to irrigate all the lands which the streams have not touched. At the same time, the streams themselves will have increased exceedingly from the development of the country in the high lands.
“The country can thus be transformed.”¹
¹ The Land of Promise; or, Turkey’s Guarantee. By Charles Warren. London: George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1875. (8º. 24 pp. in printed wrapper) pp. 5‒6, 8, 14‒20.
2. The Rev. James Neil on the Colonization Movement
“At a moment when all eyes are turned to the East, it cannot be unimportant to learn that, after the slumber of ages, Palestine is awakening to new life, and Israel are actually returning to its shores in such numbers, and at the same time in such a way as they have never been known to do, or could have done, since their formal banishment by the Emperor Hadrian, in the year A.D. 135. Many Jews, it is true, driven ruthlessly out of Spain in 1492, found a home in the Holy Land. To go still further back, the celebrated Hebrew traveller, Benjamin of Tudela, tells us in the twelfth century that he found considerable numbers residing in the various towns of Palestine which he visited――descendants, perhaps, amongst others, of some of the 30,000 who joined the arms of Chosroes the Persian in his capture of Jerusalem, A.D. 616, or even of the Jews whom Julian the Apostate restored, A.D. 363, when he vainly endeavoured to discredit Christianity by rebuilding the Temple. But there is this all-important difference between what happened in the case of those who then returned, and those who are now flocking back to the land of their forefathers. While in the former instances, whether under Pagan, Christian, or Moslem masters, they were, as all history shows, equally the subjects of extortion, oppression and contumely: now they are beginning to hold a position of comfort, independence, and power. This remarkable change is in itself significant, and the whole movement should surely be watched by the student of prophecy with eager and expectant attitude....
“... The feeling everywhere seems abroad that the time has at last arrived to restore the desolations of Zion, and to rebuild the waste places of the land of Israel. The very existence of ‘The Syrian and Palestine Colonisation Society,’ which is about a year old, constitutes a striking expression of such a sentiment. This society, according to its prospectus, has ‘been formed to promote the Colonisation of Syria and Palestine and the neighbouring countries by persons of good character, whether Christians or Jews. ’ This it proposes to effect by obtaining information for intending settlers, and making arrangements for their transport and reception; by assisting approved applicants with advances; and by making arrangements for the purchase of land by the emigrants, or securing suitable tracts of Government waste lands, under certain guarantees; and by exerting themselves to improve the communications. Having mentioned this association, let me plainly say, from an intimate experience of this matter, that there are at present a variety of reasons why emigration to Palestine by English people cannot possibly be undertaken with any hope of success, in the same way as emigrants to the United States or to a British Colony. In the first place, the heat of the plains is too great to admit of their labouring during summer with their own hands. The German colonists in attempting this have suffered a fearful mortality. Again, to employ Arab labour to advantage, and to hold any dealings with the people, the peculiar manners and customs of the East must be known, and colloquial Arabic to some extent be mastered. But, above all, the want of thorough protection to life and property so long as Palestine remains in Ottoman hands is greatly against any emigration scheme that does not include European government for the whole colony. Hence the evident wisdom in such a case of the plan put forth by Captain Charles Warren, R.E., in a pamphlet, published last year, entitled ‘The Land of Promise, or Turkey’s Guarantee.’ This officer, who has an intimate acquaintance with Syria, derived from his able work there on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund, proposes that, if only as a solution of the pecuniary embarrassments of the Porte, Palestine should be handed over to a company similar to the old East India Company, to be farmed and governed by such an association for a period of twenty years. He suggests that such a Company should pay to Turkey its present revenues, and to the creditors of Turkey a proportion of the interest due to them, taking for itself six per cent. on its capital and expending the remaining revenue in improving the country. What he considers the ultimate future of the land we learn from his own words. ‘Let this’ (the above arrangement), he says, ‘be done with the avowed intention of gradually introducing the Jew, pure and simple, who is eventually to occupy and govern this country.... Concerning what that settlement is in part to be, I can profess no doubt, because I feel none. It is written over and over again in the Word of God.... Israel are to return to their own land. This event, in its incipient stage, I have shown to be now actually taking place. That which is yet to be looked for is the public recognition of the fact, together with the restoration, in whole or part, of Jewish national life, under the protection of some one or more of the Great Powers....’”¹
¹ Palestine Re-Peopled; or, Scattered Israel’s Gathering. A Sign of the Times. By the Rev. James Neil, B.A.... Third Edition, Revised. London.... 1877. pp. v.‒vi. and 34‒37.
3. Colonel C. R. Conder on Palestinian Colonization
The greatest authority on Palestine in our generation, Claude Reignier Conder, wrote:――
“It has always seemed to me that the future element of prosperous colonisation is to be found among the Jews of Eastern Europe. The thrift and energy of the race are not their only qualifications. Those who mean to thrive in Palestine must not only be prepared to work on the land, but they must be accustomed to the harder conditions of existence which are common in uncivilised countries, and almost unknown in the west. It is true that they will have to encounter the evils due to bad government and corruption, which are mitigated by civilisation; but if the accounts received from America are credible it is doubtful if these evils are less apparent in South America than they are in Turkish dominions. A people which has not only been able to live, but which has prospered more than the native born population, under Russian tyranny, will not find it difficult to prosper as subjects of the Sultan. A people which has lived under one form of Oriental despotism will be less discouraged by another similar condition than Europeans would be. It is from the Oriental, Jewish, agricultural class, expelled from Russia for their religion, that the colonists most naturally fitted for agriculture in Syria may evidently be drawn.
“I have often thought that the words of that famous passage in the Law, which predicts the future of Israel, must have come home with a sad and overwhelming force to the Jews in Russia during the last few years:
“‘And among these Goim shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest, and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night; and shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even; and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning; for the fear of thy heart wherewith thou shalt fear; and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.’
“But what is the other picture which the Law presents of Israel in its own land? ‘Blessed shalt thou be in basket and in store.’
“The proposal so to settle agriculturists, as freeholders tilling their own lands, is in accord with the general tendency of all enlightened statesmanship of the present age. We have too many artisans starved by competition, and too few tillers of the earth. Whether is it better for a man to sell penny toys in the streets of a foggy metropolis, or to till the red corn lands, and make food for himself, for his wife and for his children, for the citizens beyond the seas? Even if the whole of Palestine east of Jordan were covered with cornfields and vineyards, with mulberry and fig gardens, with cotton and maize, and pot herbs, and fruit orchards, there would not be too much produce useful to man. There would be markets in which the growers could compete with ease; and towns would grow up, where manufactories of silk and cotton might arise. There would be rice and indigo grown in the Jordan Valley, where now there are only flowers, and there would be petroleum and bitumen, and other minerals, to be worked near the Dead Sea shores. There would in short be a return of the old prosperity, which once covered this country with great Roman cities, and a prosperity yet greater because of the facilities offered by modern science.
“If then I were asked for advice on this subject I would say: Buy all the land you can get at moderate prices in Bashan and in Northern Gilead, and buy it soon, for the price will go up. Promote as far as possible the making of a railway, which is practicable, and which will bring this region within the pale of civilization. Send out as many fit men as you can, to till the land; and send their wives and children after them. They will be happy, and, if they work, they will be rich. The difficulties are less than those to be expected elsewhere, and the advantages are greater. The movement is not artificial, not merely due to religious sentiment, or to visionary philanthropy. It is a natural and healthy one, which ought to be encouraged, by giving power and money to the organization which seeks to aid it, and to control its direction in a wise course. The case has been laid before you fairly, and the details and precedents have been sufficiently studied. The experience of ten years will be of high value; and the consent of the Sultan, whose country it is, has been gained, both to the construction of a very important line of railway, and to the settlement of Jews, willing to abide by the law of that land as they have obeyed the much more tyrannical laws of the Czar.
“I confidently expect therefore, within a few more years, to see prosperity increasing in Palestine, and the empty lands filling up with an industrious population. And if this be so the Jewish people will have reason to remember with gratitude the name of Baron Rothschild as a generous benefactor, and the Society of the Chovevi Zion, as an organisation which undertook a very important work at a time when help was sorely needed.”¹
¹ Eastern Palestine. A Lecture delivered for the Western Tent of the Chovevi Zion Association. By Claude Reignier Conder ... Chovevi Zion Association.... 1892. (8º. 36 pp. in printed wrapper) pp. 5‒6 and 35‒36.
4. Sir John William Dawson on the Future of Palestine
Sir John William Dawson, Professor of Natural History at Montreal University, the worthy disciple of Lyell and Darwin, in a description of the Holy Land, writes:――
“From the higher parts of Jaffa one may obtain a good idea of the physical characters of the maritime plain of Southern Palestine. Along the shore stretch banks and dunes of yellow sand, contrasting strongly with the deep blue of the sea, and shading off on the east into the verdure of the plain. Near Jaffa this is covered with orange orchards, laden in February with golden fruit of immense size, and which forms one of the most important exports of the place. To the south the plain spreads into the fertile flats of ancient Philistia, interspersed in the distance with patches of sand, the advanced guards of the great Arabian desert. To the north it constitutes the plain of Sharon, celebrated in Hebrew song, and extends for fifty miles to where Mount Carmel projects its high rocky front into the sea. On the inland side, the plain is bounded first by the rolling foot-hills of the Judean range, the Shephelah or low country ... and then by the hill country proper, which, clothed in blue and purple, forms a continuous range, limiting the view eastward from Jaffa....
“The maritime plain was also a granary ... and it still produces much wheat and barley, though large portions of it are neglected and untilled, and the culture carried on is by means of implements as simple and primitive as they could have been in the days of Abraham. In February one found it gay with the beautiful crimson anemone (A. coronaria), which may have been the poetical ‘Rose of Sharon,’ while a little yellowish-white iris represented the ‘lily of the valley’ of Solomon’s Song....
“... Along the shores of the Dead Sea there are springs which produce petroleum; and this when hardened becomes Asphalt.
“Now the valley of the Dead Sea is an ‘oil district,’ and from the incidental mention of its slimepits, or literally asphalt pits, in Genesis xiv., was apparently more productive in mineral pitch in ancient times. It is interesting in connection with this to notice that Conder found layers of asphalt in the mound which marks the site of ancient Jericho, showing that the substance was used in primitive times for roofs and floors, or as a cement to protect brick structures from damp; and it is well known that petroleum exudes from the rocks both on the sides and in the bottom of the Dead Sea, and, being hardened by evaporation and oxidation, forms the asphaltum referred to by so many travellers.
“... Palestine, to the ordinary traveller, appears, especially in the drought of summer, a bare and barren country. Yet the climate and rainfall of Palestine, with the chemical quality of its rocks and soils, rich in lime, alkalies, and phosphates, render it productive to a degree which cannot be measured by our more northern lands. Its plains, though limited in extent and often stony, have very fertile soil. The olive, the vine, and the fig-tree will grow and yield their valuable fruit in abundance on rocky hills which at first sight appear barren and worthless. Whenever culture has been undertaken with skill and vigour, it has been well rewarded. In the olden times the Tirosh (often incorrectly translated ‘wine’), as the Hebrews called the fruit of their hill orchards and vineyards, was one of the main sources of wealth; and the vineyards, with their vines trailing over the warm rocks and clothing the ground with their leaves and fruit, realize the prophetic description of hills running with the grape juice, and of a land flowing with milk and honey, if by the latter we understand the ‘dibs’ or syrup of the grape. In Palestine a few olive-trees on a rocky hill, that in colder climates would be worthless, may maintain a family. There is also an abundance of nutritious pasturage, more especially for sheep and goats, all the year round, on the limestone hills....
“Palestine must originally have been a well-wooded country, and its forests are mentioned in the historical books of the Bible; but they have for the most part perished, and this had tended to make the climate more arid. The wild hill-sides are, however, often covered with an exuberant growth of bushes and young trees, which, if permitted to grow, or if replaced by cultivated trees, would soon clothe the land with verdure, and tend to produce a more abundant summer rainfall. With just laws, well administered, there is nothing to prevent Palestine from becoming as wealthy and populous as we learn from the Bible it was in the days of the Jewish kings, and it seems to have been at a later time under the Roman government....
“In Palestine, ... the country is gay with flowers, especially in early spring, and the conspicuous objects of culture are the vine and the olive. Even in the plains, cultivated fields are few, and much is merely wild pasture. The palm-tree is rare, though it still grows in the plain of Jericho and the sheltered valleys throughout the country, yielding dates smaller than those of Egypt, but of very pleasant flavour....
“That the future of these old lands may be more important than their present, it requires little penetration to see; and the old Book, whose history of these lands in the past we have been considering, has something to say of their future as well. Whatever belief men may repose in prophecy, they cannot doubt that the word of God has committed itself to certain foreshadowings of the future; and though some of these are shrouded in a symbolism to which varied interpretations have been given, others are sufficiently plain....
“We know, however, that physically these lands are still young, and capable of greater things than those of the past, and we may content ourselves with repeating the inspired words of an older Jewish prophet:――
‘For the Lord will comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places, And will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord: Joy and gladness shall be found therein, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.’ Isaiah li. 3.
“The Holy Land is a fine tract of country well defined by natural boundaries, extending from the shore of the Mediterranean to the Syrian desert. It is a compact district, distinct and complete in itself, enclosed by mountain and sea, and consequently offering great facilities of defence against invasion. It has its highlands and its lowlands, its hills and its valleys, its streams and its lakes, its hot springs and its cold springs, a fine sea coast broken by bold promontories, cliffs towering above, beaches spreading out below, and is replete with all the capabilities essential for civilized life. The Holy Land is rich in vegetation, from the time-honoured ‘cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall. ’ Groves of olive and mulberry trees, vineyards of grapes of extraordinary size and richness, interspersed with fields of golden grain, with magnificent hedges of the cactus almost reaching the height of trees; the sycamore with its thickness of foliage――these, and more can be enumerated in a brief outline, are there for the endowment and adornment of the Holy Land. Nevertheless, the wealth of nature is in a great measure of a passing character. The sloping terraces of the hills, made fertile by means of artificial irrigation, and now deprived of the help of the tending hand of man, no longer display that fruitful aspect which was formerly their glory. The land mourns under its present masters. The tillers of the soil do not even sow in tears to reap in joy. With listless fatalism they cast into the ground the seeds of a harvest which they know, as they watch it come into being, shall minister mostly, not to their wants or wealth, but to the greed of unrighteous local administration. And, wherever these people are crowded together in their miserable villages, all is mud, slum, penury, depression, chaos and picturesque misery. A goodly land, the almond tree white in bloom, orange and olive, everywhere lilies, the scarlet anemone; but no system, no industry, no skill, no capital. No nation has been able to establish itself as a nation, in Palestine, up to this day, no national union, and no national spirit have prevailed there. The motley, impoverished tribes which have occupied it, have held it as mere tenants at will, temporary landowners, evidently waiting for those entitled to the permanent possession of the soil.”¹
¹ Modern Science in Bible Lands. By Sir John William Dawson, G.M.G., LL.D., F.R.S., F.G. S., etc.... London: ... MDCCCLXXXVIII. pp. 449‒450, 487, 522, 524, 527, 533, 536.
LXXIV.
PETITION TO THE SULTAN
THE following is the text of a petition to His Majesty the Sultan of Turkey, which was presented by Mr. Samuel Montagu, M.P. (afterwards Lord Swaythling), to Lord Rosebery, with the request to transfer the same to Constantinople. The petition was signed by the officers of the Executive Committee and by the Commander and Secretary of each Tent:――
“To His Imperial Majesty Abdul Hamid Khan, Sultan of The Ottoman Empire.
“May it please your Majesty,
“The undersigned Association of Chovevi Zion (Lovers of Zion) beg humbly to submit to your Imperial Majesty that this Association has been founded to assist a limited number of worthy and industrious Jews to purchase and cultivate land, and to earn their living by agriculture. The Association has purchased some portions of land in your Imperial Majesty’s Dominions on the eastern side of the Jordan, and desires to acquire such other portions of land in the same region as may be for sale, and suitable for the cultivation of corn, vines, fruits, and silk, or to the raising of cattle and horses.
“And the Association desires to send to this land fitting colonists, industrious and peaceable men, provided by the Association with sufficient means to till the land and to erect for themselves houses, and to sink wells and construct roads so that they may be able to reach markets.
“The Association wishes thus to send to your Imperial Majesty’s dominions only such men, with their families, as will with God’s help and under your Imperial Majesty’s protection, increase the prosperity of your Imperial Majesty’s dominion, and become faithful subjects to your Imperial Majesty.
“The Association therefore humbly begs your Imperial Majesty to grant the Association of Chovevi Zion a Firman with the following privileges.
“First: that such persons as may be selected by the experienced men who conduct the affairs of the Association may, when provided with proper certificates that they have been so selected, and that land has been purchased for them, be allowed to settle in your Imperial Majesty’s dominions, and to cultivate land there, and that the privilege be granted to them of becoming naturalised as your Majesty’s subjects.
“Second: That in view of the great expenses attending the beginnings of cultivation, the building of houses, the sinking of wells, and the making of roads, the agriculturists be relieved from the tax of the ‘Tenth’ for a period of seven years.
“Third: that it be graciously permitted to them, under the direction and on the lands of the Association, to build houses and stables, schools for their children, and temples in which to worship the Most High, to construct roads, drainage and irrigation works, and to sink wells, without having to crave special permission in each case.
“Fourth: that on condition that the Association send only men free from disease or illness and approved by experienced Doctors, such persons may freely travel in your Imperial Majesty’s dominions.
“And the Association, reckoning on your Imperial Majesty’s benevolence and wisdom, believes that your Imperial Majesty will confer these benefits on deserving and industrious people, and your Imperial Majesty’s most humble petitioners invoke on your Imperial Majesty, the blessing of the Most High.
President. Honorary Secretary.”
The following reply was received:――
“FOREIGN OFFICE, “11th March, 1893.
“SIR,――I am directed by the Earl of Rosebery to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3rd inst., forwarding a number of petitions, addressed to the Sultan, by the ‘Lovers of Zion’ in favour of the colonization of certain lands on the East of the Jordan by Jewish emigrants.
“His Lordship will enquire of Her Majesty’s Ambassador at Constantinople whether the fact of these petitions being sent in through the British Embassy would be likely to lead to a relaxation of the regulations affecting immigration to Syria.
“I am, Sir, “Your most obedient, humble servant, “(Signed) T. V. LISTER.¹
“Samuel Montagu, Esq.”
¹ Palæstina, The Chovevé Zion Quarterly, No. 3, 1893, p. 7.
LXXV.
(1) CHOVEVÉ ZION AND ZIONIST WORKERS
A GREAT deal of idealism, energy and capacity has gone to the making of the Zionist movement in its earlier and its more recent form. It would be outside the scope of a history of Zionism dealing mainly with England and France to attempt to do justice to the work of all those individuals――mostly Russian Jews――who have devoted themselves to the national revival, in Palestine or in the Diaspora. The purpose of this Appendix is to place on record the services of some of the most prominent workers (not mentioned in the text of this book) in the field of organization, of propaganda or of Palestinian colonization.
Young men of ability and studious habits founded the Bnei Zion Association at Moscow. This Society had indeed concentrated upon and developed most strongly the national and Zionist ideal. The position of the Moscow Bnei Zion was so conspicuous, because that organization was the headquarters of prominent Zionist workers who played a distinguished part in the national revival in Russia and in other countries. Among these the most active and important leaders were: E. W. Tschlenow, M. Ussischkin, J. Maze, A. Idelsohn, T. Brutzkus, B. Mintz, S. Mintz and M. Rabinovitz.
E. W. TSCHLENOW’s life of strenuous work was characterized by calmness and steadfastness on the one hand, and gentleness and high virtue on the other. Since his earliest youth he combined within him the noble spirit of idealism and great capacity for precise work. As a young student, he soon won his way to the foremost rank among the Chovevé Zion workers. The soundness and farsightedness of his views were remarkable. Simple but impressive as a writer, as well as platform orator, his generosity and devotion soon made him a favourite of the Bnei Zion, and brought him prominence as organizer, leader and orator. He graduated at the Moscow University in medicine, and distinguished himself, after further study at other universities abroad, in a special branch of his science. He then settled in Moscow. His successful medical career, however, never prevented him from devoting a considerable part of his time, and when necessary all of it, to useful Jewish public work in general, and to Zionism in particular. After his important and fruitful work in the Chovevé Zion movement he entered the Zionist Organization. He was in Palestine twice, not as a mere tourist but as an investigator. He wrote a great number of pamphlets, reports and articles, and a very good book against Territorialism (Zion and Africa, in Russian, 1903). His second journey to Palestine enabled him to increase his already extensive knowledge of colonization, and he laid down his observations and conclusions in another excellent work, which he wrote in Russian, and which has been translated into other European languages. The conspicuous service which he rendered amid formidable difficulties to the Jewish National Fund, of which he was the manager in Russia, his tact, his calm energy and his counsel were of inestimable value to the Zionist cause. After having been for many years a member of the Greater Actions Committee, he was elected at the Vienna Zionist Congress of 1913 a member of the Inner Actions Committee. He then gave up his brilliant medical career in Moscow to undertake a work of singular complexity and extreme heaviness. In this he won the same measure of confidence as that he enjoyed in Russia, and provided the most important personal link between the East and the West. In 1914 he was delegated, together with the author, for Zionist political work in this country; and he came here again in 1918 notwithstanding his failing health. During his brief but momentous excursus into the regions of politics and diplomacy he revealed the same high qualities which had elsewhere marked his mind and character. In consequence of his efforts, his health, which had some years ago been weakened, broke down, and his tragic death took place on the 31st of January, 1918, in London――the greatest loss Zionism has sustained since the death of Wolffsohn.
M. USSISCHKIN’s career as Chovevé Zionist and modern Zionist is unique as well as remarkable. In some respects, and in some quarters, his influence was far greater than that of anyone else. A strong, perhaps the strongest organizer, possessed of deep nationalistic convictions and of intense Jewish feeling, and endowed with the wonderful gift of being able to impress the masses, he succeeded in establishing a very high reputation when a mere student, and later on as one of the founders and leaders of the Bnei Zion, and subsequently among the Chovevé Zion leaders. He was also a founder of the Bilu. On his long visits to Palestine, in propaganda work for the purpose of raising funds for colonization, and throughout his whole long and fruitful career of nationalist work, he exhibited the most indefatigable activity and greatest courage. Having graduated at Moscow in Technology and Engineering, he settled in Ekaterinoslaw, where his strong, unbending personality, his power of leadership, and the general respect he commanded, soon brought him into prominence, and gained for him a high reputation in Russia, in Palestine, and elsewhere. The very strength of mind, energy, outspokenness and self-reliance, combined with inflexible determination and ardent zeal, distinguish his untiring efforts on behalf of the Zionist Organization. While others faltered and failed, he remained firm; while others despaired, he remained confident, and his zeal and perseverance gained for him the respect even of those who opposed some of his methods, while it increased the admiration in which he was held by many of his adherents. He greatly distinguished himself in his strenuous work for the Zionist financial institutions, and was also the most influential champion of the idea of immediate practical work in Palestine. His pamphlets on Palestine and the Zionist programme are written with admirable cleverness. He has lived now for some years in Odessa, where he is the Chairman of the Society for the promotion of Jewish colonization work in Palestine. Being Jewish Nationalist to the backbone, he naturally takes a great interest in the revival of the Hebrew language.
A. IDELSOHN is the most modern and the most ingenious Zionist publicist in the Russian language. His influence has been underestimated rather than justly appreciated. While, on the one hand, the pathetic devotion and enthusiasm of others are undoubtedly most useful and indispensable conditions for the success of the movement, an analytical mind, as a temporizing element and corrective, is of no less importance. This mind was devoted to the cause by Idelsohn since his youth, and found expression in his writings in the Zionist organ, written in the Russian language, its name being Razswiet and Ievreiskaiu Shisn. A critic, and a somewhat ironical thinker, he never permits an emotional effort to mar his clear intellectual discrimination. In later years he formed, with M. A. Soloveitschik, A. Goldstein, J. Klebanow, A. Seidemann, M. Aleinikow, D. Pasmanik, S. J. Janowski, J. Brutzkus, Ch. Grinberg, J. Eljaschew, I. Gruenbaum, and others who comprised the editorial staff of his paper, a brilliant ensemble of Zionist intellectuals which has recently been augmented by L. Jaffe, who sometimes acted as editor. Idelsohn is an eminent Zionist and a member of the Actions Committee.
JULIUS BRUTZKUS was an active and highly appreciated member of the Bnei Zion. Most gifted and learned, with a clear mind, and generally well informed, he adhered to the national idea from early youth. He graduated in medicine at the Moscow University, and settled for some years in Petrograd, where he became active in matters communal, literary and journalistic. He wrote several excellent articles and pamphlets.
The two MINTZS were also appreciated for their faithfulness, sincere devotion, and excellent and tactful propaganda. B. Mintz has since settled at Rostow, where he takes a leading part in Zionist work. S. Mintz graduated at Moscow in medicine and settled in Warsaw, where he attained a high reputation in his profession as well as in communal activity. A sincere Nationalist, of a serious and studious turn of mind, deeply attached to Zionism, an excellent Hebraist, most active in all movements making for the revival of the national language, he has remained true to Bnei Zion traditions. There are, further, the zealous Alperin, and Michael Rabinovitch, resident at Rostow, a distinguished Zionist worker who was member of the Actions Committee.
The great earnestness and untiring assiduity of the Bnei Zion did not fail to attract attention and to produce a deep impression. The immense zeal for this cause dispelled the apathy of those around them. Thus the Moscow Chovevé Zion and Zionist Group became indeed one of the best, the most esteemed and the most active in the world. Of those in touch with the first pioneers was Kalonimos Wolf Wissotski (1824‒1904), the well-known Chovev Zion and Zionist, a zealous supporter of the colonization of Palestine, a generous friend of Hebrew literature, a patron of learning and learned men. The representatives of his great firm have to the present day remained faithful to the traditions of the founder in a most liberal-minded and far-reaching manner.
The following names are arranged in alphabetical order.
ELIESER BEN-JEHUDA, born in Russia, is a prominent representative of the revival of the Hebrew language and of the national renaissance. As early as 1880 he expounded his political views on Zionism in Smolenskin’s monthly Ha’shachar. In 1881 he went to Palestine, where he became a sturdy and independent fighter for Hebrew as a living tongue and for Jewish nationalism. In 1885 he founded the Hebrew weekly paper Ha’zevi, which he edited for several years, assisted by his wife (Hemda) and his son. Together they formed the first Hebrew-speaking family in the country. He has revolutionized Hebrew style and introduced many new colloquial and journalistic expressions. As a pioneer of modern methods, radically opposed to the old ways of thought and action, he defended his heterodox ideas with energy, became involved in controversies, and was arrested by the Ottoman authorities for his nationalistic propaganda. Many years ago he started the publication of his great Hebrew dictionary (Millon). He was one of the first Palestine Zionists who approached Herzl and devoted themselves to Zionist propaganda in Palestine.
VASSYLI BERMANN (1862‒96) was a young man of high intellectual attainments and endowed with exceptional literary gifts, and would undoubtedly have risen to great eminence had he continued to devote himself to literature. But he gave almost all his time to the Chovevé Zion movement. His name is closely connected with the history of the national Jewish movement in Russia. Born at Mitau, he received his elementary education at the school founded by his father, a capable pedagogue, in Petersburg, and completed his college studies in the same town. Already, as student of the faculty of Law in Petersburg, Bermann placed himself at the service of Judaism, and strove, through the foundation of a suitable association, to spread the idea of the liberation of the Jewish people into wide circles of the community. In the year 1884 he published the compilation Palestine. Even this first work drew general attention upon the highly gifted young writer. At the meeting of the Russian Chovevé Zion at Drusgenik, in 1887, Bermann was considered, by the side of the spiritual father of the national Jewish movement in Russia, Leo Pinsker, as the leader of the “Zionophiles,” as Bermann called the adherents of the national Jewish idea. When it was found desirable to obtain the authorization of the Russian Government for the “Odessa Association for Supporting Jewish Artisans and Agriculturists in Syria and Palestine,” the shrewd lawyer, Vassyli Bermann, employed his utmost energy in order to help in overcoming all difficulties which stood in the way of the foundation of this association. He was one of the members of the first official congress of the Russian Chovevé Zion which was held at Odessa in the year 1890. Once again in Petersburg, Bermann devoted all his zeal to the editing of his continued compilation, which he intended to transform into a year-book. In this way Zion, published in the year 1891, was brought out. It is considerably superior to its predecessor in contents and get-up. Zion, which is dedicated to Pinsker, affords an interesting insight into the phase of development of the national Jewish thought of that time. From Bermann, who was well aware of the influence of historical knowledge upon the strengthening of the national consciousness, came also the initiative towards the foundation of the “Historio-Ethnographic Commission” within the “Society for the Propagation of Culture among the Jews in Russia.” When, in the year 1892, the Petersburg central committee of the Jewish Colonization Association was formed, and the necessity for a scientific basis of the colonization question became evident, Bermann undertook, at the request of the J. C. A., a mission of study, the result of which he recorded in a comprehensive memoir, and thus afforded the central committee valuable material towards the work of colonization. The exertions of travelling had much affected Bermann’s health. But he would not allow that to prevent him from further work in favour of his brethren with the greatest devotion. At last he found himself compelled to seek the mild climate of Egypt. There, on March 18th, 1896, Vassyli Bermann breathed his last. His tombstone bears the inscription: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget (her cunning).” The dying man had wished it so.
GREGOR BELKOVSKY, a distinguished lawyer, born in Odessa, was one of the first pioneers of the Chovevé Zion movement. He was a member of the Societies Nes Ziona and Ezra. In 1895‒7 he was Professor of Law at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. On his return to Russia, he entered the Zionist Organization and came into prominence from the First Congress onwards. He was one of the most notable workers for the establishment of the Zionist financial institutions. He also did important work in connection with the movement in Russia.
JEHIEL BRILL (1836‒86), born in Russia, and taken to Constantinople when he was quite young, was later brought to Jerusalem, where he received a talmudic education. In 1863, with the assistance of his father-in-law, Jacob Saphir, he established the Hebrew monthly, Ha’lebanon, which, after the appearance of the twelfth number, was suppressed by the Turkish Government. He then went to Paris, where he resumed publication of Ha’lebanon. After the Franco-Prussian War he removed to Mayence, where he renewed the publication of his paper. When the Chovevé Zion movement was inaugurated, Brill, who was well acquainted with Palestine, was chosen by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, on the recommendation of Rabbi Samuel Mohilewer, to conduct a group of experienced farmers from Russia to Palestine. He gave a vivid description of his mission in his Hebrew pamphlet Yesod Ha’maalah (Mayence, 1883).
H. BRODY was, when in Berlin, a studious, scholarly worker, and at the same time active in Zionism. Later he was appointed Rabbi in Nachod, Bohemia, and, being a scholar and a prolific writer, he became very active in scientific and literary matters. He has contributed to Ha’magid, Ha’eshkol and Ha’shiloach; has edited (with A. Freimann) a Bibliographical Review, and has written valuable books on Jehuda Ha’levi and Moses Ibn Ezra. In defence of Zionism he has written, under the nom de plume Dr. H. Salomonsohn, an excellent pamphlet, in which he proves that Zionism is an essential principle of Jewish tradition.
MARTIN BUBER, born in Galicia, was a member of the Vienna Kadima who afterwards studied in Berlin. He was closely akin to Berthold Feiwel in aspirations and activity. Buber was one of the founders of the Verlag and one of its principal contributors. He was really one of the authors of the Jewish Renaissance, not a product of it. He has no equal as an inspirer of the Jewish intellectuals in Western Europe. He has been a Zionist since the inception of the Organization, but he has devoted himself mostly to literary work in connection with the Jewish Renaissance. Sweet and pathetic legends, delicate Chassidic sketches, tales of wonder, mystic and philosophical treatises and allegories, profoundly Jewish and reflected in deep Murillo-like shades, such are the subjects of his Story of Rabbi Nachman (1906), Legends of the Baal Shem (1907), Daniel (1914) and other writings.
Rabbi I. H. DAICHES, a great Talmudist, formerly Rabbi of Neustatt Shirvint, and now in Leeds, supported the Chovevé Zion movement, and was afterwards a delegate to the Zionist Congress.
JOSHUA EISENSTADT (BARZILAI), the oldest, and, as far as enthusiasm is concerned, still the youngest among the propagandists in Palestine, a man of high aspirations, who looks at things from the standpoint of a devotee rather than of a critic, exercises considerable influence through his speeches and popular articles. He died in Switzerland in 1918.
Rabbi MORDECAI ELIASBERG (1817‒89), Rabbi of Bausk in Russia, an eminent Talmudist, a profound theologian and a diligent student of history, who wrote valuable books and articles on talmudic subjects, was one of the most ardent advocates of the ideas of the Chovevé Zion. By his numerous contributions to Ha’melitz he helped very much in the spread of Zionistic ideas, and his memory will be cherished as one of the representatives of orthodox Judaism who raised the banner of Palestine.
BERTHOLD FEIWEL, born in Brunn, Moravia, was a member of the Vienna Kadima, but did most of his work in Berlin. A young man of exceptional attainments, he early attracted the notice of Herzl, and was for some time editor of the Welt, for which work he was particularly well qualified. But the work of leader-writing did not satisfy the poetic and æsthetic side of his nature, and he turned to literature. The promise of his early writings, with their beauty and originality, is amply fulfilled in the literary activity which he subsequently developed in the Almanach and in other publications of the Jüdischer Verlag, which was founded by him and his friends. His poems, as well as his excellent translations of Rosenfeld and other works, have won him a lasting reputation. He has also taken an active part in the work of the Zionist Organization, and was a member of the Actions Committee. He was editor of the Welt for the second time in the years 1906‒9, and has written many pamphlets.
The brothers ISAAC and BORIS GOLDBERG hold a specially distinguished place both in Russian Zionism and in the movement at large. Isaac Goldberg has made himself indispensable to all Zionist institutions, and has attained the highest repute in the Zionist Organization, and in Palestine. Boris Goldberg is a very influential member of the Actions Committee, with a thorough knowledge of all matters concerning Zionism and Palestine, and an important contributor to the Zionist press. He was a member of the Zionist Commission of Inquiry which visited Palestine five years ago.
J. GRAZOWSKI has written popular and useful books on general Jewish history, and has collaborated in a Hebrew dictionary. He is now in the service of the Anglo-Palestine Company at Jaffa.
MORDECAI (MARCUS) BEN HILLEL HA’COHEN was even in his early youth an excellent, versatile contributor to the Hebrew and Russian Press. Possessed of great vivacity and a humorous and enthusiastic disposition, an enlivening speaker, with the national idea deeply at heart, he has worked for Zionism, Hebrew and the national idea with considerable success. His writings in Ha’melitz, Ha’zefirah, Razswiet, and other papers and reviews, as well as his own pamphlets, the description of his journey to Palestine, and his reminiscences, written in a brilliant style, have won him a well-merited popularity. After working several years in the Chovevé Zion movement, and in the Zionist Organization, he settled in Palestine, where he is active as one of the most popular leaders of the Tel-Aviv community, and is particularly engaged in educational, communal and literary work.
Dr. WILLIAM HERZBERG (1827‒97), a highly educated writer and communal worker, who, though not writing in Hebrew, greatly influenced the movement, and his work was translated into Hebrew. He wrote the famous book, Judische Familienpapiere (1875‒6). This book made a stir in the Jewish scholastic world. Zacharias Frankel welcomed the book as a modern Kusari. It was only after some time that the identity of the author was discovered, for it was published under the nom de plume of Gustav Meinhardt. Perez Smolenskin was much inspired by the nationalist spirit of this phenomenal literary production, and translated the most important parts of it in the Haschachar (he had made it a rule not to publish any translation, but in this case departed from the rule). Herzberg intended to obtain a professorship in a German University, but, finding that this was impossible for a Jew, he contented himself with a professorship in the Gymnasium. He passed his probationary year in the Gymnasium of his native town, Stettin, but, when his final appointment was recommended by the Head Master, who was much impressed by the fine scholarship of the young teacher, the Minister of Education confirmed it cordially, on the supposition, however, that the candidate had embraced Christianity, as a Jew could not be appointed Professor in a Gymnasium. In 1877 he was induced by his friend, Professor Grätz, to accept the post of Director of the Agricultural School, Mikveh Israel, near Jaffa. Dr. Herzberg remained one year in this position and then accepted the Headmastership at the Von Laemel School at Jerusalem.
ISAAC M. HIRSCHENSOHN, born in Russia, has rendered great services to the progress of the Jews in Palestine as a publisher, bibliophile and Talmudist. He advocates rabbinical ideas, in harmony with the national principle.
Dr. N. KATZENELSOHN, of Libau, Russia, holds an important place in the history of Zionist organization. After having joined the Organization at one of the first Congresses, he soon became a prominent member, particularly in the domain of financial affairs and institutions. One of the devoted friends of Herzl, he accompanied him on his visit to Russia in 1903, and took part in some of his political efforts there. In 1905 he was appointed President of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Colonial Trust, and regularly gave his reports of the activities of this Institution, as well as of those of the A.P.C. at the Zionist Congresses. He visited Palestine in 1907, and particularly investigated the financial and economic situation of the country. He also accompanied Wolffsohn in the same year to Constantinople on a political mission. Dr. Katzenelsohn was a member of the First Russian Duma, and was for many years very active in the work of the I.C.A. for the emigration of the Russian Jews, a question on which he also submitted reports to the Zionist Congresses.
Illustration: 5644 * THE KATTOWITZ CONFERENCE * 1884
Dr. JACOB KOHAN-BERNSTEIN, of Kishinew, was one of the earliest of the Chovevé Zion. His speeches and appeals when he was in charge of the so-called “Post-Centre” were most effective in kindling Zionist enthusiasm. As a member of the Actions Committee he has occupied a high position in the movement.
The late ABRAHAM MOSES LUNCZ (1854‒1918), born in Russia, lived since his early youth in Palestine. He rendered great services to the exploration of the Holy Land from the historical, geographical and physiographical standpoint, by means of his guide-books for Palestine, his Palestine annuals, and his Jerusalem almanac.
JOSEPH LURIE was born in Russia, and became a prominent nationalist at the Berlin University. He settled later in Warsaw, where he was engaged in educational work, and afterwards edited a Zionist Yiddish weekly paper, published by the Achiasaf. After the suspension of this paper he lived for about two years in St. Petersburg, where he was assistant editor of the Fraind. Thence he went to Palestine, and became a teacher at the Jaffa Gymnasium. Some time afterwards he was elected President of the Union of Teachers (Agudath Ha’morim) of Palestine. He has not, however, given up his journalistic work. His articles on Palestine are unequalled for clearness of exposition and logical argument.
Rabbi SAMUEL MOHILEVER (1827‒1903), of Bialystok, wrote many appeals in favour of the Chovevé Zion movement. He was a lifelong adherent of the national cause, helped to promote colonization, and gave his unqualified adherence to the new Zionism. Even in very advanced age he was still a fighter in the forefront, travelling, preaching, collecting funds and generously spending his own means. At the outbreak of the pogroms in 1881, he took the Jewish refugees to Lemberg. Here he became acquainted with Sir Samuel Montagu (afterwards Lord Swaythling) and Laurence Oliphant, and he sought to win the former for the Palestinian colonization movement. On his return to Russia he called a conference at Warsaw and formed a Chovevé Zion Society. In the same year he undertook a journey to Paris to obtain, through the Grand Rabbin Zadoc Kahn and M. Erlanger, Baron Edmond de Rothschild’s support for the colonization movement. Returning again to Russia, he went on a propaganda tour, agitating in several towns in favour of Palestinian colonization. In 1885 he presided at the Kattowitz Conference. In 1890 he journeyed to the Palestinian colonies and witnessed the founding of the colony of Rechoboth.
LEO MOTZKIN was born in Russia and educated in Berlin. His intellectual versatility made him a leading personality in student circles and Jewish societies, particularly in the Zionist Organization. He soon attracted attention at the Congresses, and was delegated to proceed to Palestine and inquire into the condition of the colonies, on which he prepared a report. As a member of the Actions Committee, he took part in 1914 in a Commission consisting of Zionists appointed to inquire into the state of affairs in Palestine. He has also written valuable books and pamphlets on the Russo-Jewish problem.
ISAAC NISSENBAUM, born in Russia, lives in Warsaw, where he was one of the sub-editors of Ha’zefirah and a lecturer at the Zionist Synagogue. Though not a Rabbi, he belongs by virtue of his education, associations and the nature of his occupation to the Rabbinical world. A learned Talmudist, a powerful preacher and a prolific Hebrew writer, he has a worthy record in all these spheres.
ALFRED NOSSIG, scientist, artist and journalist, was one of the first, perhaps the first in Galicia, to publish pamphlets in Polish in defence of Jewish nationalism. He has pursued a line of his own in Zionism, and from the point of view of the Zionist Organization his activities have often been open to criticism. But he deserves recognition, both as a man of letters and as a strenuous advocate of Palestinian colonization.
DANIEL PASMANIK is a Russian Zionist who has done much propaganda work and proved himself a writer and journalist of extraordinary capability. His book Die Seele Israels (written in Russian and translated into German) is a noteworthy contribution to Zionist thought.
JEHIEL MICHAEL PINES (1842‒1912), born and educated in Russia, a Hebrew writer and Talmudist, was elected delegate to a conference held in London by the Association Mazkereth Mosheh for the establishment of charitable institutions in Palestine in commemoration of the name of Sir Moses Montefiore; in 1878 he was sent to Jerusalem to establish and organize such institutions. Thenceforward he lived in Palestine, working for the welfare of the Jewish community and interesting himself in the organization of Jewish colonies. In his Hebrew book, Yalde Ruchi, and particularly in Part I., Rib Ami (Mainz, 1872), he expounded the Jewish national idea. He was a contributor to all Hebrew periodical publications, especially to those in Palestine.
SAMUEL POZNANSKI pursued his studies at Berlin, and was already, as a young man, a rising representative of the Hebrew Revival. Having graduated, he returned to Poland, where he is now the Rabbi and Preacher of the Great Synagogue at Warsaw. His achievements in the field of Jewish scholarship are great and universally recognized. He has written many valuable books and treatises, all of which are the result of careful observation and patient study, and are distinguished by depth of thought. A devoted Hebraist, he contributes to Hebrew literature and the Press, and as a communal worker he has succeeded in counteracting destructive assimilationist tendencies by the advocacy of a sound traditional nationalism.
Rabbi SAMUEL JACOB RABBINOWITCH, of Sopotkin (now in Liverpool), was first a Chovev Zion and early joined the Zionist Organization. His calm piety and gentle nature won him the hearts of all Zionists. He was for several years a member of the Zionist Actions Committee. He contributed a number of articles to Ha’melitz, which later were published under the title Ha’dat Weha’leumit (Warsaw, 1900). He has also written talmudic works.
Rabbi ISAAC JACOB REINES (1839‒1915) was a great talmudic authority, author of halachic works, in which he taught the rigid application of logic to the solution of talmudic problems, and founder and principal of a modern Yeshivah (Rabbinical College) in Lida. He was an ardent Chovev Zion, and joined the Zionist movement, in which he became one of the most prominent workers, orators and propagandists. He occupied a high and influential position in orthodox Zionism, and was the founder of the orthodox Zionist section, Misrachi.
Rabbi PINCHAS ROSOWSKI, a great talmudic scholar and prominent Hebraist, was an enthusiastic Chovev Zion, and later a member of the Zionist Organization. He wrote articles inspired by the nationalist idea.
JACOB SAPHIR (1822‒86), a Russian Jew, who settled in Palestine, was not directly connected with the new colonization. He was commissioned by the Jewish community of Jerusalem to undertake a journey through the southern countries, in order to collect alms for the poor Palestinian Jews. In 1854 he made a second tour, visiting Yemen, British India, Egypt and Australia. The result of this journey was his Hebrew book Eben Saphir (vol. i., Lyck, 1866; Mayence, 1874), in which work he gave the history and a vivid description of the Jews in the above-mentioned countries. There is in his book a touch of Haskalah (Enlightenment) and even of national sentiment.
His grandson, ELIE SAPHIR, who died a few years ago, was a conspicuous figure among the pioneers of the new colonization by virtue of his great knowledge, especially of the Arabic language and literature, and the laws and customs of the country. A man of keen judgment, he occupied the position of assistant-manager of the Anglo-Palestine Company at Jaffa. The leaders of financial and agricultural institutions were always eager to consult and confide in him. But he was essentially a scholar. His Hebrew writings, and particularly his last work Ha’arez――a physiographic and scientific examination of the conditions of Palestine――are of great value.
M. SMILANSKI, of Rechoboth, has one of the longest and best records of work in Hebrew literature. His writings on Palestinian colonization are as sound as his literary sketches are instructive.
A. TANNENBAUM, of St. Petersburg, was an ardent Chovev Zion and an excellent Hebraist. Of his Hebrew writings, his study on “The Architecture of the Synagogues” (in the first volume of Knesseth Israel) is of enduring merit. This group strongly supported the local Chovevé Zion Society, which was of considerable importance. At that period Rosenfeld undertook with great courage and determination the propaganda in the first Razsweet, which, however, had to be suspended after a period of brilliant journalistic exploits in troublesome and stormy times (in the eighties), in which period the two years of that organization happened to fall. Later on, the late Salomon Grazenberg, a medical man of great knowledge and an ardent Zionist, whose articles were characterized by soundness of argument, took up the same work in a new Russian weekly paper, entitled Boudoushtshnost, which managed to exist a little longer.
VLADIMIR TEMKIN was one of the most important and, undoubtedly, the most popular champion of the Bilu. An idealist, an enthusiast, an attractive personality and a powerful speaker, he possessed a special gift for propaganda, and became one of the chief organizers of colonization in Palestine. He belonged to the Zionist Organization from its inception, was a prominent Congress representative and member of the Actions Committee, and is to-day one of the leading Zionists.
DAVIS TRIETSCH has not always found the appreciation he deserved. He has been frequently drawn into controversies and misunderstood owing to the support he has given to schemes which appeared to be impracticable and fantastic, but in ordinary circumstances would not have given rise to opposition. But he is a man of varied experience and untiring activity, and his advice has often been very useful. He lived for a couple of years in Palestine, where he grappled with many forms of industrial work; he has written books, pamphlets and articles, and is an indefatigable advocate of the idea of colonization. He has given a considerable impetus to the study of Palestine and to many practical ideas.
SEMION WEISSENBERG worked hard with Berman and Temkin in the St. Petersburg Students’ Palestinophile Association, took part in the Odessa Chovevé Zion meetings, and later entered the Zionist Organization, of which he is a prominent member. His bent lies in the direction of work in connection with the Jewish problem in Russia.
DAVID YELLIN (1858), a son-in-law of J. M. Pines, is one of the most eminent Hebraists and educationists in Palestine. The Zionist idea captured him early in life and grew upon him during his many-sided literary and educational career. He has written the best text-books of the Hebrew language, based on the principle of the modern method Ibrith B’ibrith (Hebrew in Hebrew), and has thus helped to make Hebrew a living language. He has been teacher and principal of several Hebrew schools and of the seminary for the training of teachers. He has many connections in England, and is on the Montefiore foundations in Palestine.
In St. Petersburg Zionism has now gained a strong footing, owing to the steady efforts of the distinguished, devoted and indefatigable member of the Actions Committee, Israel Rosoff, Michael Aleinikow, the able and gifted Abraham Idelsohn, A. J. Rapaport, as well as of the very able and devoted workers S. S. Babkow, W. Grossmann, A. Goldstein, S. J. Janovski, A. Seidemann, M. Sachs, and others. As far as Nationalism is concerned the learned and talented historian, Shimon Dubnow, and the group of his followers, are undoubtedly most faithful adherents to this idea, and the same may unhesitatingly be also said of N. M. Friedmann, M. Ch. Bomesch and E. R. Gurevitch, the members of the Duma, and many other leading St. Petersburg Jews. The old Zionist leader, Gregor Belkovsky, a man of high standing in the Zionist Organization, who has already been mentioned, has for many years been very active, his influence being still as great as ever.
The number of the Chovevé Zion societies increased. They watched each other’s activities and emulated each other in brotherly devotion. The University groups were influenced by the literature and the press, as well as by the old leaders; and the old leaders were in their turn again stimulated by the ardour of the younger men. To return to the older Chovevé Zion societies and later Zionist societies, a few of the most important should be mentioned, as, for instance, the Odessa Group (or the Official Society), under the leadership of Pinsker, Achad Ha’am, M. L. Lilienblum, A. Grünberg (who was for some years President of the Society), Ch. Tschernowitz, L. Lewinski, Rawnitzki, S. N. Barbasch, A. E. Lubarski, Frankfeld, J. Klausner, M. Scheinkin, Ben Ami Rabinowitsch, and at a later period, Ussischkin, Bialik, S. A. Benzion-Guttmann, M. Kleinmann, Ch. Grinberg, and others. The Bialystok Group, with Rabbi Samuel Mohilewer, Dr. Chasanowitsch (who deserves an honoured place as a zealous pioneer of Nationalism and a great worker for the Hebrew revival in Palestine, and for his noble, almost life-long efforts for the purpose of establishing his Hebrew library, “Baith Neeman,” in Jerusalem) and Nissenbaum was of great importance during the lifetime of Rabbi Mohilewer and retained a great practical influence later, especially in consequence of the fact that the Bialystok Chovevé Zion themselves took a prominent part in various colonization schemes. The Warsaw Group had a principal leader in Isidore Jasinowski, a man of great sincerity, enthusiasm and love for the cause. An ardent Chovev Zion, he afterwards joined the Zionist movement, and, till the Territorialist split, remained devoted to the cause. The most energetic workers there were Schefer-Rubinoscitsch; J. M. Meyersohn; Eleasar Kaplan, who died recently and was an able and enterprising Nationalist, a most zealous worker, to whom great praise is due in connection with the Achiasaf and other Hebrew literary enterprises; W. Gluskin (one of the most notable workers and leaders), who joined with L. Kaplan in the foundation of the Achiasaf and Ha-Zofe, undertook afterwards the Directorship of the Palestine Wine Company, “Karmel,” and settled in Rishon L’Zion, in Palestine, where he is now one of the leaders of the new colonization); Stawski; Mates Cohn; Dr. Bychowski; Samuel Luria; Dr. T. Hindes (who lived some years in Palestine, and takes a useful part in the propaganda); M. M. Pros; M. Feldstein (the well-known Chovev Zion and supporter of the literary movement, a prominent member and representative of Zionist institutions); J. Lewite; Jacob Braude; Rafalkes; Ginzburg; Friedland; L. Davidsohn; and others.
All these important workers were afterwards active in the Zionist Organization. The development of Zionism gave a new impetus to the Palestine propaganda and to the national movement. The University movement, though most vigorous in other parts of the Russian Empire, had only few adherents in Poland. It is worthy of note that Dr. Zamenhof, the inventor of Esperanto, was, during a certain period of his university career, a Jewish Nationalist of great zest, and a contributor to Rosenfeld’s Razsweet. Meierowitz, the old Bilu pioneer, as well as the pioneer Freimann, came from Warsaw; Mekler, Elie Margulies, Manson (who died young) were the most prominent Chovevé Zion among the Warsaw students in the eighties. Only with the new Zionist Organization a strong movement of a local character came into being with adherents who were natives of the country, and this resulted in the production of literature and a Press in the native tongue. In this respect, the activity of the late Jan Kirszrot was very helpful. A great idealist, an honestly and deeply convinced Zionist, who had been brought to the cause out of assimilated surroundings, a worker of the most generous impulses, and a writer par excellence in the Polish language (like many other young Zionists of assimilated education he had acquired the knowledge of Hebrew), he worked side by side with the gifted and devoted Isaac Grunbaum, who became in later years a prominent leader, a publicist of excellent abilities and a worker of great intellectual integrity; also with the zealous Nahum Syrkin, whose significant activities extended over a large sphere, with the remarkable, energetic, indefatigable worker Leon Lewite, with the keen, persistent and conscientious Zelig Weizmann, the graceful and judicious S. Seidemann, the sound and forceful Isaac Gruenbaum, the talented and consistent Hartglass (for a certain period), the keen and learned Shimon Rundstein, the intellectual and devoted Julian Kaliski, and a number of other young writers and organizers――in connection with older Zionists and men of letters, and together with the general Zionist Organization, particularly with the younger and more progressive element. They had founded a Nationalist group “Safroth,” issued a Zionist weekly in Polish (Prgyszlose), and published a very interesting miscellany in that language. Kirszrot’s life of devotion to the highest ideals and his brilliantly youthful career were unhappily cut short by the hand of death.
But the University nationalist Jewish movement had begun. A change was in process, the extensive scope of which was scarcely noticed by the representatives of Assimilation, to whom it seemed that the small group of students and intellectuals consisted merely of visionaries and dreamers. Yet there obtained in this apparently insignificant group a vitality which was destined to become a powerful factor in the life of Polish Jewry. The evolution of this young movement was the result of the whole Zionist movement, the rapid growth of Jewish cultural life, of Jewish education, of the Jewish literature and press, of which all Warsaw had become a very important centre. At that period we see already the influential Zionist leaders busy with great Zionist work. Zionism, the Hebrew Revival, national education, the defence of Jewish interests and of the national principle in communal affairs, now engaged the attention and support of the generous, experienced, and beloved Abraham Podliszewski, of the acute and energetic H. Farbstein, of the thorough and dignified Dr. Poznanski, of the calm and pacific Dr. Mintz, of the strong, vigilant and inflexible Isaac Gruenbaum, the devoted and popular Nissenbaum, Dr. Klumel, Olschwanger, M. I. Freid, Dr. Hindes, Horodischtsch, Dunajewski, Dr. Gottlieb, Zabludowski, the educational worker and excellent Hebraist S. L. Gordon, and of many others. In this camp we meet again all the Chovevé Zion of bygone days.The same development took place at Lodz, where the able, eloquent Dr. Jelski, Dr. Silberstrom and others had long been at work, and where afterwards a strong Zionist group, with the esteemed and influential Dr. M. Braude as guide and leader, was doing most useful work. In Minsk we find working in the Chovevé Zion movement Joshua Syrkin, the man of faith and energy, whose mind is well stored with treasures of Hebrew literature, and here we also meet with the zealous Neifach, the late Rabbi Chaneles, and the eminently able Wilbuschewitsch family. We come again across them later in Zionism together with the active Zionist workers Kaplan, Churgin, Berger and others. In Pinsk at the Chovevé Zion period, Eisenberg, Rosenbaum, Hiller, Naiditsch, Pinchas Breymar, J. Breyman, L. Berger, Maslanski were the leaders. The aged Reb Dowidel (Friedmann), the great Talmudist, pious and saintly, supported the Movement and took part in the Kattowitz Conference. Among them we can trace Naiditsch, now of the Actions Committee; Eisenberg, the great authority on colonization――in Rechoboth, Palestine; Maslanski, the powerful preacher at New York; Weizmann, a member of the Inner Actions Committee, and S. Rosenbaum, the lawyer, the member of the First Duma, and Lithuanian statesman, who proved his worth during many years as member of the Actions Committee, as legal adviser, as representative of several Zionist institutions, as a great worker in the Organization, and as a defender of Zionism in Russia. In Wilna, the late S. J. Finn, and his son the late Dr. Finn, Joseph Gurland, Ch. L. Markon, Triwusch, Gordon (who settled later on in Palestine), Miriam Zalkind, who founded the Society of the “Daughters of Zion”; Lewanda, Fischel Pines, who attended the Kattowitz Conference; Ben-jakob, Isaac Goldberg, Boris Goldberg, Neuschul and others very early took an interest in the Chovevé Zion movement. In the Zionist Organization, Wilna at a certain period was the centre of activity, from the point of view of organization, propaganda and press. Ben-jakob did good work for the Jewish Colonial Trust, Neuschul is a thorough and devoted Nationalist. Among those in Wilna who succeeded in rising to the height of national importance, doing at the same time great national work of a general character, and useful, indispensable local work in Russia, belong the two excellent and distinguished Zionists: Isaac and Boris Goldberg.
The influence of these Russian and Polish enthusiasts soon spread further. Mention has already been made of the Kadimah of the Vienna University and of Nathan Birnbaum, one of its leaders. Others of its prominent members were: Dr. N. T. Schnierer, the physician, scholar and editor, who was a highly respected member of the First Zionist Actions Committee; the gifted brothers Marmorek, supporters of Herzl and his political Zionism; Schalit, who represented the sympathetic, real Viennese type; the very capable and devoted Werner, who became later one of the secretaries of Herzl and editor of the Welt; the well-known polemical journalist, S. R. Landau; the reserved and learned Berkovitsch; the energetic and faithful Alkalai of Serbia, who has been a member of the Actions Committee since the inception of the Zionist Organization;¹ the devoted worker, M. Moscowitz of Roumania, who was a member of the Actions Committee (he recently died in Palestine, where he was physician of the colony Rechoboth); the enthusiast, Caleff of Bulgaria; Erwin Rosenberger, and many others from different countries.
¹ It is noteworthy that Zionism is an old tradition of the Alkalai family. Rabbi Jehouda Alkalai (died in 1878) was a precursor of political Zionism which he expounded in his Goral L’Adonai (Vienna, 1857; Amsterdam, 1858; Warsaw, 1903). He was the author of Minchath Yehouda (Vienna, 1843) in honour of the Montefiore and Cremieux mission, 1840. He addressed also a special appeal to the English Jews in favour of Zionism and wrote further series of other Zionist pamphlets in Hebrew. There were also other members of the Alkalai family who were closely connected with Palestine and devoted to the idea of its colonization by the Jewish people.
The similarity of their views on Jews and Judaism brought them more and more closely together, and they soon agreed that the fundamental views of the higher-educated Jews of the time were in need of a change, and that a vigorous attack against the theory of assimilation prevailing among Western European Jews would have to take place. They clearly realized that the lever ought to be applied to the academical youth, not only because those circles were nearest to them, but because in their midst the assimilation theory had found most adherents. The assumption seemed justified that the academical youth once converted would propagate the national Jewish idea with all the fire of its enthusiasm and authority among the largest strata of the population. These few young men soon obtained a small addition of courageous fellow-combatants, and a phalanx was at once formed which undertook the foundation of an academic Jewish national union. Their aspirations met with powerful support and advancement from a man whose name shines in golden letters in the history of Jewish literature――Perez Smolenskin. A profound judge of the human soul, an even more thorough investigator of the Jewish national psyche, he at the same time wielded in a masterly way the language of the prophets. He had fought for years in numerous writings, and particularly in his monthly publication Hashahar, against the dissolving tendencies and for the nationalization of Judaism with all the brilliancy of his mind and all the sharpness of his caustic satire. How welcome to him must have been the small band of Jewish university students who undertook to carry his ideas into practical life and to make them the common property of the Jewish academical youth. Until his death Smolenskin was to them a kind and wise leader. Among many other obligations, the Union owes him its name.
At the beginning of the summer term of 1882 there appeared for the first time upon the notice-board of the Vienna University an appeal of a Jewish national society, addressed to the corporation of Jewish students. The sensation produced by this appeal was extraordinary. The Christian students shook their heads incredulously, while most Jewish students poured out upon the innovators a flood of scorn and ridicule. And not only the students but the middle-classes, the official representatives of Judaism, opposed the Kadimah most mercilessly. It was a contest of all against a few. But the few went on, calm and undismayed; engrossed by the magnitude of the idea for which they fought, they unswervingly pursued their aim. The Kadimaner propagated the Jewish national ideal by innumerable lectures, meetings and publications. Their number increased constantly, and by and by a specific Jewish national student life developed at Vienna University, which began to throb with increased intensity when the Kadimah, compelled by the conditions of the Vienna University, was transformed into a fighting, “duel-bound” association. People may hold different opinions about duelling at most Western European Universities, but one thing must be admitted, namely, that it has had a favourable influence upon the physical development of the Jewish young manhood, and that the duelling Jewish student corporation gained the esteem of its Christian colleagues. Partly through this transformation and partly through the growing propagation of the national ideal among the Jewish students, the number of Jewish national academical unions was gradually increased. One association after another came into existence: “Unitas,” “Ivria,” “Gamala,” “Libanonia,” “Hasmonäa,” and others; so that there exists at the present day, at nearly every university at which Jewish students study, a Jewish national student association.
Old Assimilants looked upon this movement at first as a farce. Certainly no one at that time anticipated that the mainsprings of new life perceptible in many different places would soon become a powerful source of cleansing and reviving Judaism. As the preparatory work for creating a clearer conception of things was at first confined to groups of such young men, most opponents looked upon it as a pastime only fit for young, inexperienced schoolboys. Meanwhile, the movement continued to make rapid progress. At the end of the eighties there existed an important association in Berlin, which was at first somewhat theoretical in character, but very soon afterwards became a sister society of the Vienna Association, taking also the name of Kadima. In this organization we come across a great number of workers whose names are inseparably bound up with the history of the Zionist Organization and with Jewish national literature in all languages.
The large number of young men who have been associated with the Jewish National Students’ Association at Berlin would make a list too long for detailed enumeration. But the following must specially be mentioned:――
SHEMARYAH LEVIN was born in Russia. He is an enthusiastic nationalist, a good Hebrew scholar, and as an exceptionally effective speaker he attained considerable popularity already as a young student. He lectured on Hebrew literature and attracted much attention. Having graduated, he returned to Russia, and was Rabbi in Grodno. Later, he lived for some time in Warsaw, where he devoted himself to Hebrew literary work in connection with Achiasaf, and possessing great mastery over the Hebrew language, he wrote books and pamphlets of great value. Since then he has contributed to numerous Hebrew reviews. Some time afterwards he was Rabbi in Ekaterinoslaw and Wilna, and was elected a member of the first Russian Duma, where he distinguished himself as a most able speaker and worker. Then he left Russia and settled abroad. Already as a youth he was most active in the Chovevé Zion movement; later he took a prominent part in the Zionist Organization, and is now a member of its Small Actions Committee and one of the most influential leaders. An excellent orator, closely attached to Palestine, where he has lived for a considerable time, a plodding worker, he has for some years been busily engaged in propaganda work in Europe and America.
VICTOR JACOBSOHN was born in Russia, and brought up from his infancy in an intensely assimilated (Russianized) environment. His father was a judge at Simferopol, but the son became irresistibly drawn towards Jewish nationalism. He was much influenced by the Berlin Students’ Group. An accomplished young man, of splendid literary taste, a lover of fine art, thoroughly impressed with the righteousness of the national cause, he soon became one of the leaders among the students. After having graduated, he returned to Russia, where he took a large and active share in the Chovevé Zion movement, and took up the Zionist Movement from the time of its inauguration. He was very soon elected member of the Actions Committee, but, apart from his work for the Organization as a whole, he was, when still in Russia, a steady and successful local worker. He then moved to the East, living in Palestine and in Constantinople, where he devoted himself entirely to Zionist work, both financial and political. Being a business man as well as a man of letters, a political thinker as well as an able financier, he has become one of the most influential Zionist leaders. He is a member of the Small Actions Committee.
CHAIM WEIZMANN, who was born in Russia, was already in his boyhood very active in the young Chovevé Zion movement. During his studies at the Charlottenburg Polytechnic he took a leading part in the Berlin Jewish National Students’ Association. Of amiable and genial disposition, a pleasant and persuasive speaker, inseparably bound up with the deep national affection and humour of the Jewish home in Russia, young Weizmann soon gained great popularity among his fellow-students. Later he came into great and well-merited prominence at the Zionist Congresses and Conferences. With Feiwel, Buber and others he was most active in the Students’ propaganda, and during his visits to Russia took a prominent part in the propaganda there. Having graduated, he went to Switzerland, and was soon appointed Lecturer of Chemistry at the Geneva University, where he became the central figure of the West Zionist Group. About that time he, with Feiwel, Buber and others, conceived the idea of a Jewish University. At the Basle Congress in 1901 the Actions Committee had included the question of the establishment of a Palestine University in their programme, and Herzl took steps to obtain a concession for the University from the Turkish Government; but, in consequence of the pressure of other problems, this project was lost sight of for some years. The movement in favour of this idea, however, continued to develop, and its inception as well as its popularity is due to Weizmann more than to any other Zionist. The general Zionist activity of Weizmann grew from one Congress to another. He was elected member of the Actions Committee and of several important Zionist institutions. He has been living in England for some years now, occupying a chair in the faculty of chemistry at the Manchester University and taking a leading part in the English Zionist Federation. (The new University Scheme, and Weizmann’s activity in this direction, are described elsewhere.)
LEO MOTZKIN, BERTHOLD FEIWEL, MARTIN BUBER and JOSEPH LURIE, also prominent in this circle, have already been mentioned.
In the Berlin group we also come across Isidor Eliaschew, a refined critic of great artistic culture, an important contributor to Jewish literature――mostly in Yiddish. His talents and information are of the most varied character, for he is the author of charmingly written essays, studies, monographs and sketches extending over a wide sphere of thought. He occupied a leading position in the radical wing of Zionism and among the literary workers of the Renaissance. We also come across Soskin, a clear-minded, enterprising and practical Zionist, a young man of wonderful foresight and an agricultural engineer of renown; further, Berman, whose studies were concentrated on colonizing work. Both of them went to Palestine later, and supervised colonization work there, acquiring in that way much valuable information and experience, which they recorded in various instructive books. We also find there Nachman Syrkin, the radical propagandist, the leader of the Zionist-Socialists; the able and cautious Estermann; Elie Davidsohn, who took a prominent part in discussing the open controversy between the various sections; Wilenski, an active and enthusiastic worker of considerable influence, first abroad and later in Russia; Mirkin, powerful, energetic and highly respected; Meschorer, determined and broad-minded, who, though not identifying himself with the Organization, worked hard in Warsaw when first the propaganda for securing capital for the Jewish Colonial Trust was set on foot, and died recently; Grigory Wilbuschewitsch, one of the family of energetic enthusiasts for and in Palestine; Salkind of Minsk; Kunin, a loyal and devoted worker; Pevsner, who worked zealously; and――last, but not least――Ch. D. Gurevitsch, the excellent Hebrew writer and essayist, novelist and publicist, a contributor to the Hebrew and Yiddish Press, a learned economist who was particularly interested in introducing his economic programme into Zionism, who expounded the idea in a lecture he delivered at a Conference of Russian Zionists held at Minsk in 1902. Then there were also Davis Trietsch and Ephraim Lilien, who have already been mentioned.
In course of time the movement spread steadily and systematically. Similar associations were soon founded in Heidelberg, Munich, Leipzig, Königsberg, Breslau, Berne, Zurich, Geneva, Lauzanno, Montpellier and Galicia.
The Jewish University students, particularly those hailing from Russia, pursued their studies at different universities, often passing from one to another. We, therefore, find some of them changing their places and activities in the Movement. For this reason it is impossible to follow a precisely geographical or chronological course.
At Heidelberg, Joseph Klausner and Saul Tschernichewski were already active before the First Zionist Congress took place. Loeb Jaffe of Grodno, who combined idealism with practical astuteness, wrote emotional Zionist poetry, and at the same time did organization work perhaps more than any other Jewish student who happened to be at Heidelberg. Later he became a great Zionist worker, organizer, editor and member of the Actions Committee in Russia. Gurland of Wilna, Eliasberg of Pinsk, Feitlowitsch, J. Melnik, Blumenfeld and others were the pioneers of the Zionist idea who had rallied around Professor Herman Schapiro, that venerable and cherished veteran, who, aided by his devoted wife, made his home a rendezvous of the local Zionist group. In Munich, the intellectual and kind-hearted brothers Strauss, members of an old noble Jewish family, worked together with G. Halpern, who during his University career had already distinguished himself by his great talents, and who was a good economist, a journalist of great skill, and a devoted Zionist worker. At a later period he was elected member of the Actions Committee. Lew, Izkovitsch, Abramowitsch and Nemzer may be mentioned among others. The last-named had greatly endeared himself to his fellow-students by his sincerity and warm-heartedness. He died very young, in Riga (1906), in a tragic way, a martyr’s death. At Leipzig there was also Loeb Jaffe, working with the devoted Kunin, who became in the last few years one of the pioneer workers in Palestine, as manager of Medjdel; and also Gurland, the engineering student at Mitwreida, as well as others.
It is interesting to glance back upon the various stages of propaganda in order to discover how the Russian Jews influenced their brethren abroad, how Zionism infused new life into the older Chovevé Zion movement, and how the present important representatives of new Zionism gradually appeared upon the scene and took up so strong a position.
A little society for the support of Palestine colonization was already in existence in Berlin as recently as 1871, but there seems to be little on record about it. At the beginning of the eighties there was a venerable, orthodox Rabbi, Dr. Israel Hildesheimer, assisted by his son Hirsch, together with some other members, notably the philanthropist S. Lachmann, Willy Bambus, a devoted Zionist, who travelled in Palestine, and has published many pamphlets and articles, and in connection with a Chovevé Zion of Russia, M. Turow, took an important part in the Chovevé Zion movement, and the late Moses of Kattowitz. We read already, in Dr. Rülf’s appeal of 1882: “Do not divide us; take us to places where we can live together, remain together, and work together as a united community, arranged like any other human society, where we may be Jews, without being interfered with” (this circular was issued in English by Haim Guedalla), and that is a trumpet-call of Zionism. Rülf, the Rabbi of Memel, was a man of genius and thoroughness, who was well known for his talent as an author of philosophical works, a theologian, preacher, and above all a noble character: he afterwards took part in the Zionist Movement and in the Congress. In 1884, a society for the support of a Jewish colonization in Palestine, called “Esra,” was founded in Berlin. In Cologne a Chovevé Zion group was established through the efforts of David Wolffsohn, Dr. M. Bodenheimer, Rubensohn and others. The Jewish National Students’ Association, consisting first almost exclusively of foreigners, gradually attracted the best elements of the local Jewish youth. One of the first and foremost was H. Löwe, a young man of great enthusiasm and energy, of vigorous eloquence, who travelled in Palestine and appeared at the First Congress as a delegate from Jaffa.
Arthur Friedemann, an able student, a member of an old and honoured family; Gronemann, the son of a respected Rabbi, a brilliant student and an excellent Jew; Klee, a keen propagandist and attractive speaker; Jungmann, a humorous, attractive and talented writer; Hantke, who distinguished himself by profound honesty of purpose and love of detail, and as a highly gifted, indefatigable and successful organizer; Jeremias, a faithful adherent to the movement (he died recently); Elias and Israel Auerbach, who possessed, besides their noble Jewish national aspirations, the most excellent literary gifts; Zlozisti, a fine writer and a poet full of wit and humour; Kalmus, a quiet, steady and enthusiastic Zionist worker; Sandler, an eminently able young scholar; Kollenscher, a strong political Zionist; Chamitzer, a faithful and zealous adherent of the Organization; the late Pell, an eminent propagandist and organizer; Leszynski, a quiet, persistent and conscientious member of the party; Witkowsky, an intelligent and active supporter; Oscar Levy; Emil Cohn, an eminently able theologian; Goldberg, a determined worker in the Organization; Edelstem; A. Wiener, a wholehearted, ardent worker; and at a later period, Gideon Heymann, a young man of burning zeal and considerable attainments; Blumenfeld, a propagandist of great eloquence and literary talents; Brunn, Hildesheimer and other medical men, steady workers, who devoted themselves to medical work in Palestine; Salomon, the brothers Treidel, Biram, a studious and very clever pedagogical worker, who recently was engaged together with Tachauer in Haifa, Löwenberg in Jerusalem, and others in national educational work; Richard Lichtheim, a gifted adherent to the cause; Rosenblüth, an able worker; Weinberg; Goitein (the latter died recently), who assisted in the work of the Palestinian Office, and many others――all of them took part in the University movement.
We find most of them joining in later years the Zionist Organization, which was in course of time supported by a representation of the older generation. Otto Warburg, botanist, author and professor, was an active member of the “Esra” for a long time. He then joined the Zionist Organization, and placed his great scientific knowledge at the service of the Movement, especially for the purpose of colonization work. Simple-minded, of high integrity and unassuming, he worked with a quiet determination and an intense love of Palestine. He edited Palästina, Altneuland, founded the Palestine Land Development Company, was elected member of the Small Actions Committee and succeeded David Wolffsohn in 1911. Hantke, so devout in national aspirations and with such great capacity for organization, and an exceptional record of local work for some years, entered the Small Actions Committee at the same time. Dr. Bodenheimer, one of the oldest and most prominent Zionists, was an excellent practical worker in the management of the Jewish National Fund. Dr. Oppenheimer, the famous economist, gave a great impetus to co-operative work in Palestine. Dr. Ruppin, a man of great learning, high intelligence, wonderful energy, and an exceptionally active administrator, had the largest share in the management of practical work in Palestine, and a considerable record of literary work in connection with the problems of colonization. And in the work of organization Julius Simon proved an eminent worker; likewise Dr. Moses, an experienced Zionist; H. Schachtel, indefatigable in important work; Hermann Struck; Wagner, a splendid worker, the well-known painter and Zionist worker of high religious sentiment, and Dr. Frank, the leader of the “Misrachi.”
A similar development took place in all other countries. The revival among the Jewish students at the Swiss universities commenced in the eighties, and there again we come across many who in later years have achieved leading positions in literature, in the Zionist Organization, or in educational and practical work in Palestine. Among the names of note at the Bern University we may mention: Mossensohn, Bogratschow, Jacob Rabinovitscz, Metman-Cohn, Jochelmann, Aron Michael, Boruchow, Isaac, Loeb Boruchowitsch, J. Becker, Chissin, Glikson, Rabin, Salkind, Melamed, Klazkin, Bernstein, Seleger, Robinsohn, Marschak, Meir Pines and many others; in Geneva: Weizmann, Harari, M. and Mme. Aberson, Grunblatt, Stupnitzki, and later Daniel Pasmanik, Ben Ami Rabinowitsch, and others; in Zurich: David Farbstein, Felix Pinkus, Mlle. Reines (later Mme. Davidsohn); in Basle: Ezekiel Wortsmann――and many others.
Switzerland, the favourite place of students and political international workers, became of course a great centre of intellectual Zionist activity. The circumstance that the First Zionist Congress, as well as most of the following ones, took place in Switzerland, contributed much to the importance of this centre. The number of Jewish students from Eastern Europe, particularly owing to the great facilities with regard to university studies in Switzerland at that time in comparison with other countries, has for some time been very considerable. The pressure occasioned by the exceptional restrictions, which interfered with Jewish education in Russia, caused a steady increase in this number, while, as a natural and psychological effect, the baseness and injustice of the restrictions awakened in the Jewish young men a consciousness of their real position and of the necessity for a radical solution. It was there that the battles were fought between the young, enthusiastic champions of the different movements: Socialists, Bundists and various schools of Zionism, conservative, radical, political, practical, etc.
All the aforementioned pioneers could be found at work at those different periods, and afterwards. To mention only a few of them, Weizmann’s activities had considerably developed when in Geneva; Mossensohn, a man of striking individuality and an orator of renown, was a most active propagandist, thoroughly nationalist; he became afterwards professor and subsequently director of the Hebrew Gymnasium at Jaffa; Metman-Cohn and Bogratschow, both widely read and fine scholars, also Marschak and Harari did much to cause a great revival of Hebrew in Palestine; Rabin is a pedagogical worker who did good work in Palestine and Russia; A. U. Boruchow, pre-eminent among Zionist intellectuals, took a conspicuous part in the Poale-Zion movement; Chissin distinguished himself in practical work in Palestine; Klazkin, Boruchowitsch, Melamed and Bernstein are well-known Hebrew writers, most gifted and very active, and regarded as important in the Zionist Movement; Aberson was well known as a smart disputant and propagandist; Stupnitzki is a thoughtful Yiddish publicist; J. Becker, who really belongs to the Berlin group, has for many years been most actively engaged in the Movement, he has been editor of the Welt and has published many reports of the Congresses; in the same direction, and of a similar character, was the activity of Pinkus; Jochelman joined, after years of useful and honest Zionist work, the Territorialist movement, of which he is one of the leaders; Wortsmann is an arduous Zionist writer of inexhaustible energy. David Farbstein of Warsaw was one of the most prominent pioneers. A very learned and discreet lawyer, with a mind stored with useful information, and a good Hebrew scholar, he was highly appreciated at the First Congress, and was able to give valuable legal advice in matters appertaining to financial questions. Daniel Pasmanik developed considerable activity at a later epoch and devoted himself with exceptional sincerity to propaganda work; as a writer and journalist of extraordinary capabilities and of great vivacity, he became an invaluable contributor to the Zionist press, particularly in Russia. Lastly, we must mention the Montpellier group, with its leaders: Mohilewer, Kalwaryjski, Buchmil, Mlle. Imas (later Mme. Buchmil), Einhorn, Katzmann, Miss Ginsberg (later Mme. Krause), and others.
Old Zionists will remember what a significant impression the appearance of the Montpellier delegates created at the First Congress. Later experiences confirmed this favourable impression. Kalwaryjski is now successfully engaged as manager of the Rothschild Colonies in Upper Galilee, in Palestine; Mohilewer, the grandson of Rabbi Samuel Mohilewer, worthily upholds the traditions of his family, and occupies the post of a capable communal Rabbi in Bialystok; Buchmil is engaged in propaganda; Katzmann did good work in America, where he lives; and Einhorn, an excellent agricultural engineer and a fine Hebraist, has written a very useful book on this subject.
In Galicia, the Movement can be traced back to the early eighties, and it was closely connected with the Vienna Kadima. Some of the Galicians belonged to different groups in Germany, Switzerland and other countries. In later years the Universities of Lemberg and Cracow became great centres of the Jewish national movement. Ruben Bierer belonged to the founders of the Kadima, also Birnbaum, who is a Galician. Practically most of the Vienna Kadima students were Galicians, and also a certain number of the Berlin Kadima. To the most distinguished Zionist leaders belongs Mordecai Braude of Lemberg, who graduated at Freiburg, was Rabbi at Stanislau, and only missed by a small minority being elected to the Austrian Diet. He is now Rabbi and Preacher at the Great Synagogue in Lodz, Poland. A man of learning and high character, he showed immense capacity for Zionist work, as also in his rabbinical career.
Stand, Korkis, Zipper, Rabbi Schmelkes, Malz, Schiller (living in Palestine), Thon, Wahrhaftig, Hausmann, Waschitz, Emil Reich, Silbermann, Kornhäuser, Reis, Waldmann, Schorr, Zimmermann, Samuel Rapaport, Balaban and many others――now important Zionist workers――were mostly influenced by the University movement. Stand has a fine record as a brilliant Zionist and politician. He, with Mahler, Straucher and the late Gabel, formed a Jewish National Club, composed of members of the Austrian Parliament. As a political speaker he always strove to spread the truth concerning the Jewish situation in all its purity and strength. Alfred Nossig, mentioned already in another connection, also came from Galicia.
Although Zionism played an important part in Western Europe, Russia has yet always been the most important centre of Zionist propaganda. The penetration of Zionism into University circles began, naturally enough, in that country, where Jewish life is so real, where the knowledge of the Hebrew language and of the national past is so widely diffused, and where the persecutions have always been so strongly felt. There were several centres of the movement; but, while one of those centres was considered the foremost as far as national aspirations were concerned, and others in other directions, there was one that seemed the most prominent from the beginning, and which seemed destined to rank far above the others, namely, Charkow.
A Chovevé Zion group was founded at Charkow in 1882, which was the Bilu――mostly composed of University students. Israel Belkind, the most zealous, true-hearted and indefatigable worker, was one of the first leaders; this group was in connection with another Chovevé Zion Society, which was at that time already in existence in Krementhsug, of which David Levontin (now Managing Director of the Anglo-Palestine Company), one of the first Chovevé Zion of Russia, and one of the first pioneers in Palestine, was the President. The latter Society was in touch with David Gordon in Lyck, and with some other societies which were already in existence in various parts of Russia. They were also in touch with Jehiel Brill, the editor of the Ha-Lebanon, and with M. Pines of Rishnoi. The banker Karassik in Charkow was the Treasurer of the Bilu Society. Joseph Feinberg, an intellectual communal worker and a good linguist, who had graduated in chemistry in Switzerland, was at the time in touch with Dr. Mandelstamm, in Kiew, who was greatly interested in the movement. The Bilu Society sent twenty propagandists all over Russia, with the result that 525 members joined. The central office was in Charkow. The Society eventually came into touch with Dr. N. Adler, Sir Moses Montefiore and Laurence Oliphant. An office was opened in Odessa and another in Constantinople, where an Appeal was issued (see Appendix LXXIX., “The Manifesto of the Bilu (1882)”). After a meeting in January, 1882, Levontin and Feinberg were sent to Palestine for the purpose of purchasing land. The negotiations with Oliphant, who was at that time in Constantinople, having fallen through, the representatives of the Bilu addressed themselves directly to the Ottoman Government, and were received by the Grand Vezir. And Levontin and Feinberg, having found some suitable plots of land in the South of Palestine, negotiated with the Bedouins for the purchase of them.
In June, 1882 (the 7th of Tammus), the first Bilu party, consisting of fourteen persons (among whom was one girl, Debora, the sister of Israel Belkind, now the wife of Dr. Chissin), and later joined by further six persons, arrived in Palestine. Grave difficulties arose, however, in connection with the formalities for the purchase of the land. Meanwhile, a number of new pioneers had arrived also from Roumania.
In Roumania, in 1882, the Zion Society at Galatz had voted ten thousand francs towards the project of the colonization of Palestine. At Jassy a committee, comprised of the most influential members of the Jewish community, was formed to collect subscriptions for the same object. The Palestine Colonization Society at Berlad sent a delegate to the Holy Land to confer with the Governor on the question as to the purchase of land. The office of the Central Committee of the Society for Promoting Jewish Emigration from Roumania (preferably to Palestine) was in Galatz, under the control of M. Samuel Pineles. The President was (in 1882) M. Isaac Löbel, and M. Abeles at Galatz, M. Neuschotz at Jassy, M. Marco Schein, L. Goldberg, Dr. L. Lippe, M. Mattes and M. Weinberg. Dr. Moses Gaster, at that time a young but influential man, strongly supported the movement. On the 4th May, 1882, a general meeting was held at Jassy concerning the Palestine Colonization Scheme. Laurence Oliphant was the central figure of this assembly, and power of attorney was given him by the Committee to negotiate on their behalf at Constantinople. It was also resolved to send a commission to Palestine to purchase land (E. Cohn, Helman, Denirerman). At that period there were forty-nine Palestinian societies in Roumania. A new Society was founded: “The Advanced Guard” (“Chaluzei Yessod Ha-Maala”) (see Appendix XCI.: “The Advanced Guard”), with David Levontin as President, F. M. Halsoferes, Treasurer, A. N. Hillel, A. Lande, S. Sogrisebas of Roumania, as members, and later on S. A. Schulman as Secretary.
At this period Mr. Moore was the British Consul at Jerusalem, and M. Hayman Amzulak, a respected Jaffa citizen, was British Consular Agent at Jaffa. The Chovevé Zion expected great help from England. M. Amzulak, who was himself a Jew, took a keen interest in the movement and, evidently encouraged by Mr. Moore, went to Constantinople for the purpose of helping to surmount the difficulties. Unfortunately, the war in Egypt had just broken out, and owing to the strained diplomatic relations between Britain and Turkey in consequence of the occupation of Egypt, the moment did not prove opportune for the intentions of M. Amzulak and Laurence Oliphant. It looked as if in that way nothing could be done. At last 3300 Dunan were bought at Rishon, but new funds were much needed. M. Amzulak was elected Honorary President of the “Advanced Guard,” and appeals were sent to England. Meanwhile new groups, which despatched their envoys to several countries, were formed. In April, 1882, M. Hirsch Braun and M. Isaac Temkin of Elizabethgrad, Russia, proceeded to Vienna, Paris and London on behalf of 150 families of Elizabethgrad, comprising nine hundred persons in all, who had raised a fund of thirty thousand roubles for the purpose of migrating to Palestine. But this plan and similar schemes were still in an undeveloped stage, while the Bilu business, which had already been started, was really pressing. The Company wanted a loan of thirty thousand francs. In 1883 M. Feinberg was delegated to go abroad to get this loan. He went first to Vienna, where the Chovevé Zion Society (called “Ahirath Zion”), with Perez Smolenskin, Dr. Schnirer and Kremenezky was already in existence. M. Feinberg was introduced to various committees which promised contributions, provided the Paris Chovevé Zion would head the list. M. Feinberg went to Paris holding letters of introduction from the former teacher, Professor Herman Schapiro, to M. Zadoc Cahn, the Grand Rabbin of France, and was well received by the French rabbi, who got him in touch with M. Michel Erlanger. In that way he was introduced to the Alliance Israélite, and to Baron Edmond de Rothschild, and succeeded in getting the required loan.
This was practically the first colonization experiment of Jewish immigrants. The die was cast. The nucleus of colonization by immigrants had been formed. This pioneer group naturally could not remain very long in that place, because it was badly suited for that purpose. There were no means, skill, method, or experience. Great privation was endured. The little group soon found itself in a deplorable condition; some of them, overwhelmed by hardships, anxiety, disappointment and despair, had to leave; but the “survival of the fittest” prevailed. Some went to Mikveh Israel, where they worked as farm labourers, others to Katra, twenty-five miles south-west of Jaffa, where M. Pines had bought some three hundred Dunam of land for them. But the fact remains that these students and idealists were the first in the field as Palestinian colonizers. The present writer had the moral satisfaction to meet survivors of these pioneers in Palestine six years ago: the old-experienced settlers, M. Tschernow in Rishon L’Zion and M. Leibowitz in Katra, and Israel Belkind, the most enthusiastic worker――all three veterans of the struggle for the survival on the land.
But all these difficulties only stimulated the efforts of other new pioneers. The Bilu stirred up the enthusiasm of all noble-minded Jewish students at the Russian Universities.
(2) MODERN HEBREW LITERATURE
THE necessarily brief outline in the text may be supplemented by some account of the principal figures in Hebrew literature during the last generation. The names are in alphabetical order.
BEN-AVIGDOR (Schalkowitsch, 1866), born in Warsaw, was Secretary of the Bnei Mosheh, for some years assistant manager of the Publication Society, Achiasaf, and founded in 1897 the new Publication Company, Tushiah, which has published hundreds of new Hebrew books, particularly in the domain of education. His idea was to create a popular Hebrew literature, and he has greatly stimulated Hebrew writing and Hebrew education. He is himself a successful and prolific Hebrew novelist.
S. BENZION (Gutman), born in Russia, has done important literary and pedagogical work in Odessa, and during the last few years in Palestine. He is one of the best Hebrew writers of our time; his stories are remarkable for beauty, charm and vividness of language. He has contributed to many Hebrew reviews and newspapers, and has co-operated in the publication of Achiasaf, Tushiah, and Moriah, chiefly in the domain of pedagogical literature. He was also editor of the excellent review Moledeth at Jaffa. A selection of his sketches and tales was published not long ago.
M. J. BERDITCHEVSKI is an original stylist and a prose-poet of great sensibility and mystic beauty, distinguished especially for his gift of allegory. His mode of thought is original, sometimes eccentric, but always spiritual.
SIMON BERNFELD, born in Galicia, and graduated in Germany. He is one of the most prolific and distinguished of Hebrew writers. During the last years of David Gordon’s life he was a regular contributor to Ha’magid, and after Gordon’s death was for a time editor of that paper. At that time he ardently supported Jewish nationalism and the Chovevé Zion. After a couple of years as Chief Rabbi at Belgrade he returned to Germany and devoted himself entirely to literary and journalistic work, mostly in Hebrew. He has been a regular contributor to the Hebrew press all over the world. He has written also a large number of books on history and the philosophy of religion, and many biographies. His vast erudition and his popular style have won him a prominent place in Hebrew literature.
REUBEN BRAININ, born in Russia, has lived in Vienna and in Berlin, and is now in the United States. He is a critic, essayist and publicist. His contributions to the Hebrew press, as well as his biographies of Mapu, Smolenskin and others, have won him a high place in this domain of letters. His style is fresh and easy, and distinguished by correctness and taste. He edited Mimisrach Umimaarav, and has written novels and treatises of great literary value. He was one of the pioneers of the national movement in Vienna, and was in the closest connection with the Kadima and Herzl.
R. A. BROIDES, born in Russia, belonged to the old Wilna school. He had a pure and pleasant Hebrew style, and wrote some novels of value. He contributed to Ha’shachar, and was afterwards sub-editor of Gottlober’s Ha’boker Or in Lemberg. He worked for the Zionist movement in Galicia and Vienna, and wrote several articles for the propaganda of Zionism. He died in Vienna in 1902.
M. M. DOLITZKY, born in Bialystok, Russia, lived for many years in America. He was a contributor to Ha’shachar and Ha’melitz, and wrote several novels and essays, as well as poems full of Zionist enthusiasm. Critics may differ as to the exact literary value of his poems, but there is no doubt as to their depth of feeling and beautiful Biblical style.
DRUJANOW, born in Russia, active in Odessa, in Palestine and in Wilna, belongs to the most prominent representatives of “cultural” Zionism. He was Secretary of the Chovevé Zion in Odessa, lived a few years in Palestine and acquired a high and well-deserved literary reputation as editor of Ha’olam. A conscientious publicist, of consistent and independent judgment, with an admirable mastery of the Hebrew language, he is an intellectual worker in the best sense of the term. Besides his work as a publicist, he has written some excellent essays.
MORDECAI EHRENPREIS, born in Galicia, graduated in Germany, was Rabbi in Esseg, Austria, then Chief Rabbi in Sofia, Bulgaria, and is now Chief Rabbi in Stockholm. He is a Hebrew nationalist of genius and experience, many-sided, with international associations and wide knowledge. He belonged to the Nationalist Students’ Association in Berlin, and has been in the Zionist Organization since the first Congress, at which he played a prominent part. He represents the intellectual and spiritual side of the movement. A man of clear judgment and of strong character, he is very active in important work connected with the international Jewish problem. In Hebrew literature he is one of the best critics and essayists. He writes excellent Hebrew, and has sound literary judgment.
ELEASAR EISENSTADT, born in Russia, was Rabbi at Rostow, and is now official and communal Rabbi at St. Petersburg. As a student at Berlin, where he graduated, he was one of the most enthusiastic of the young nationalists. Endowed with a keen perception, and intimately acquainted with the life of the Russian Ghetto, he is a master of anecdote, and has turned his gift to account in a series of Hebrew tales. A many-sided and energetic communal worker, particularly interested in Jewish education (in which he was formerly engaged at St. Petersburg), he enjoys a wide popularity.
ZALMAN EPSTEIN, of Odessa, now in Warsaw, who belonged to the Achad Ha’am circle, and was Secretary of the Chovevé Zion in Odessa, is an ardent nationalist and a zealous worker for the Jewish revival. He contributed during several years to Ha’melitz and other Hebrew periodicals. His productions are distinguished by a vivid, nervous style, and by a deep earnestness of conviction. An acute controversialist, with a strong predilection for traditional ideas, he has written several articles against the extravagances of modernism.
A. S. FRIEDBERG (Har Shalom), born in Grodno, lived in St. Petersburg and in Warsaw. He was one of the most popular Hebrew writers of his time. He wrote with ease and elegance and was at one time considered the successor of Mapu, particularly for his translation of Grace Aguilar’s Vale of Cedars――into Hebrew, Emek Ha’arazim. He possessed a wonderful Hebrew style, and had the closest acquaintance with current Jewish affairs. A convinced and enthusiastic nationalist, he was a member of the editorial staff of Ha’melitz, afterwards of Ha’zefirah, and of the first volume of the Hebrew Encyclopædia, and became ultimately one of the principal writers of the Achiasaf, for which he wrote a series of popular books.
S. I. FUCHS, born in Russia, graduated in Switzerland, and was a scholar of great versatility and deep learning. As a student he belonged to several nationalist students’ associations and was distinguished by his earnestness and high moral sense. His treatises dealing with Jewish historical and literary topics are of enduring value. He was one of the assistant editors of Ha’magid and had a considerable share in the propaganda of Zionism.
S. J. HURWITZ, born in Russia, a Hebrew writer of marked individuality. A learned Talmudist, with considerable erudition in ancient, mediæval and modern literature, a keen, inquiring and independent thinker, he pursued “Jewish science” and historical studies in a way which often brought him into collision with established and accepted traditions. He contributed to several reviews, and edited his own review, He’atid. He is a devoted champion of the Hebrew revival.
WOLF JAVITZ, born in Warsaw, scholar and writer, is a master of the Hebrew language, in the knowledge of which he has few equals. A student of extraordinary assiduity, he has amassed a vast fund of erudition, which is revealed in the writings of his later years. An enthusiastic nationalist and Chovev Zion, and at the same time an upholder of strict traditional principles, he is the most eloquent interpreter of the national idea in the spirit of traditional Judaism. He lived for several years in Palestine, and has written several books. Many years ago he began writing a complete History of the Jews, of which several volumes――works of great learning――have already appeared.
ISAAC KAMINER, born in Russia, was a physician and a prolific contributor to the Hebrew press. His essays, causeries and parodies are distinguished by skill and “temperament.” His poems are full of fight and an honest zeal for the Jewish national cause. He had an original and entirely free metrical and rhythmical system. A selection of his works appeared posthumously in Odessa (1907), with an introduction by Achad Ha’am.
AARON KAMINKA, born in Russia, studied abroad, mostly in Paris. He contributed regularly to Ha’melitz, Ha’zefirah, and several reviews. He also translated classical poems and wrote original verses. He took a considerable share in the Chovevé Zion movement, preaching with great zeal the spiritual progress of the nation, and emphasizing the importance of a living Hebrew language. He was then appointed Rabbi in Slavonia, afterwards at Prague. He joined the Zionist movement, but left it through a difference of opinion. He has since become Secretary of the Israelitische Allianz at Vienna, for which he has travelled much. He has published records of his travels, as well as a selection of his Hebrew poems.
DR. J. C. KATZENELSOHN (1848‒1917) (Buki ben Yogli) wrote essays and short stories which are literary jewels. His scientific works in Hebrew are unequalled for learning and mastery of style.
A. S. KERSCHBERG, of Bialystok, Russia, is a Hebrew scholar and writer of great ability. He has contributed to Ha’zefirah and Ha’shiloach, and has written treatises dealing with talmudical matters. An ardent nationalist, he has been connected with the Chovevé Zion movement since it began. He has lived in Palestine and has published his observations and experiences in an interesting pamphlet.
JOSEPH KLAUSNER, born in Odessa, a graduate of Heidelberg, is one of the most prominent disciples of Achad Ha’am, whom he succeeded in the editorship of Ha’shiloach. A devoted Chovev Zion and a keen Hebraist, he commenced Hebrew journalistic work in his earliest youth. At Heidelberg and elsewhere he assisted in the formation of the Nationalist Students’ Association, in which he took a leading part. He has done valuable work in the field of Biblical and historical studies. He was for many years lecturer at the Rabbinical College in Odessa. Palestinian nationalism and culture based upon Hebrew tradition are the guiding principles of his numerous publicistic writings. He is a pioneer of Palestinian Hebrew education. The impressions of his last visit to Palestine are given in his Olam Mithhaveh (A World in Evolution).
L. LEVINSKI, born in Russia, lived during the most important period of his life in Odessa, where he was a prominent member of the Chovevé Zion, of the editorial staff of Ha’shiloach, of the Moriah, of the Zionist Synagogue Javneh, and other institutions. His quaint felicity of style, continual flow of wit, and easy, vivacious narrative won him a great reputation as a satirist. He contributed to the Hebrew press feuilletons and reviews of current events, and also wrote some pamphlets of value. A selection of his works has been published since his death by the Moriah.
MORDECAI ZEVI MANE was born in the village of Radoshkevitsch, in Russia. He studied at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, and won distinction as a gifted painter, a Hebrew poet, and an excellent writer in prose. He contributed to He’assif and Knesseth Israel. Though he may not rank among the Olympians, he produced in his modest way many a Zionist poem of enduring worth. He died young, and a collection of his works appeared posthumously (Warsaw, 1907).
DAVID NEUMARK, of Galicia, studied at Berlin, and was one of the most original and prominent figures in nationalistic students’ circles. After having graduated, he was appointed Rabbi at Rakowitz, Austria, where he officiated for a few years. He entered the Zionist Organization and became a loyal and zealous worker, with a strong inclination towards “cultural” Zionism. He soon devoted himself to philosophy, and, besides his History of Jewish Philosophy, first written in German, he contributed a series of philosophical articles, written in an elaborate and exact style, to Ha’shiloach. He also wrote other essays of value. Later he was appointed Professor at the Cincinnati Hebrew Union College, where he has pursued his educational and literary activity.
SAUL PINCHAS RABINOWITSCH (Schefer) (1875‒1911) won a very prominent place among the distinguished pioneers of Zionism in Russia, as well as among the ablest and most popular Hebrew writers and publicists. He devoted many years of his life to the propaganda of the Chovevé Zion movement, and was for many years Secretary of the Warsaw Chovevé Zion. He was an ardent and active Zionist from the very beginning of the Zionist Organization. In close connection with Rabbi Mohilever, Leo Pinsker and Alexander Zederbaum, he often travelled on important missions, maintaining a world-wide correspondence with hundreds of Jewish leaders and writers, and occupied principally with Chovevé Zion affairs, but also with Russian-Jewish affairs generally, particularly during the period of the pogroms. He was a zealous and devoted Jewish national worker, was assistant editor of the Ha’zefirah, 1857‒80, contributor to several Hebrew and other newspapers, editor of the year-book Knesseth Israel, one of the editors of the first volume of the Hebrew Encyclopædia Ha-Eschkol, and author of many monographs and biographies. His greatest work was the Hebrew translation of Graetz’ History of the Jews (with many valuable original additions of Harkavy and of other scholars, as well as of his own).
J. CH. RAWNITZKI, born in Russia, author and educationist, whose activity has lain mostly in Odessa, has for many years been engaged in Hebrew literary work of a nationalist character in the Chovevé Zion movement. He edited Ha’pardes, contributed to several reviews, and is one of the principal editors and authors working for the Moriah in Odessa.
A. J. SLUTZKI, born and living in Russia, was an able and shrewd Zionist publicist. He contributed to Ha’melitz under J. L. Gordon, and actively assisted the Chovevé Zion propaganda.¹
¹ He was killed, together with his wife, in a pogrom which took place at Novograd Sieversk in 1918.
O. TAVIEV, born in Russia, lives in Moscow. He is one of the most prominent Hebrew journalists, authors and educationists. He is one of the originators of the modern Hebrew style. For several years he contributed regularly to Ha’melitz and other Hebrew papers and reviews. He has written causeries and critical essays in an easy and pleasant style, and has also translated some works of belles lettres. His principal services, however, lie in the domain of pedagogy.
JOSHUA THON, born in Galicia, now Rabbi and preacher at the temple of the Jewish Congregation at Cracow, took an active part in the Students’ national movement as a student in Berlin, where he graduated, and distinguished himself by great learning and strength of character. A convinced Zionist and an enthusiastic champion of Hebrew, he entered the Zionist Organization, of which, owing to his oratorical powers and personal influence, he is one of the most active leaders. Besides his numerous writings in Polish and in German, he is a Hebrew writer of value, and his essays, mostly published in Ha’shiloach, exhibit a considerable critical faculty.
CHAIM TSCHERNOWITZ, born in Russia, had a thorough talmudic education, was Rabbi in Odessa, then studied at a German University and graduated in Switzerland. His contributions to Ha’shiloach, under the nom de plume, Rav Zaair (A young Rabbi), attracted attention by the broadminded views and comprehensiveness of historical sense in dealing with religious and ritual matters which they disclosed. He has also written historical and talmudic sketches. He was for several years Principal of the Odessa Rabbinical College. He is in the closest touch with the Chovevé Zion movement, and is one of the leaders of those nationalistic Rabbis who unite faithfulness to the old traditions with a modern spirit of science and critical inquiry.
HILLEL ZEITLIN, born in Russia, active in Wilna, and more recently in Warsaw, was one of the editors of the Wilna Ha’zman, to which he contributed valuable essays and articles. A Talmudist of erudition, an authority on Chassidism, a semi-mystic enthusiast endowed with a poetical imagination, a master of the Hebrew language and of the forms and methods of modern literature, he achieves a degree of pathos and beauty unsurpassed in modern Hebrew literature. He joined the Zionist movement, but afterwards identified himself with Territorialism. In recent years he has gone over to the Yiddish press, of which he is one of the most gifted and influential writers.
Other Hebrew writers worthy of mention are Joshua Steinberg, from a scientific point of view one of the most important of the Hebraists of Russia; Bendetsohn, who exceeded Mapu in biblical purity of language in the form of an idealistic prose; Moses Reichersohn; Mordecai Wohlmann; T. E. Epstein; A. B. Gottlober, the popular poet, superficial yet clear and graceful; Eleazer Ha-Cohen Zweifel, the sweet Midrash-like moralist, homiletical critic and essayist; the wonderful modern novelists Feuerstein, Jehuda Steinberg, Berschadski and Grassin; Eleasar Atlas the sharp-witted critic, M. A. Schatzkes, who notwithstanding his loquacity had a rich style and some good ideas, and his other protagonist in the same field of Agada-explanation; Jehouda Schereschewski, distinguished by his concentrated calm――and their followers; Weissberg; Dubzevitch; Edelman (“Adulami”); Maskileison; the learned and thoughtful Joseph Rosenthal; the serious scholars Jacob Bachrach; A. I. Bruck; David Kahane; Salomon Mandelkern, the industrious scholar and skilled poet who translated Byron’s Hebrew Melodies with masterly skill; Slominsky; Lichtenfeld; Lipkin; Medalie; Barasch; Y. Margulies; Hirsch Rabinovitch; and Sosnitz, who introduced natural science into Hebrew literature; J. L. Kantor; Proser; Silberman; J. Kohn Zedek; Werber; Frumkin; Fischer; Ch. L. Markom; Joseph Brill, masters of journalistic style――all these writers and many, many others were the precursors of the revival of Hebrew. In this connection, special mention must be made of some of the living writers who, though not showing any special nationalistic or Zionist tendency, have greatly contributed to the enrichment and development of the Hebrew language and literature.
Great attention and acknowledgment are due to David Fischmann, the charming poet, the brilliant causeur and essayist, the wonderful critic who deals in a witty way with the most serious questions, the translator of many works of science and fiction; to the old Hebrew novelist and poet, Nathan Samuely, whose poetry is replete with sweetness and harmony; to the greatest of Jewish historians, bibliographers and critics of world-wide fame, Dr. Abraham Harkavy; the learned Israelsohn; the able Abraham Cahan; the Talmudist, N. A. Getzow; the learned and thoughtful Heller; the ingenious scholar and mathematician, Ch. J. Bornstein (who translated Hamlet into Hebrew); the bibliographer, Wiener; the orientalist, Isaac Marcon; the studious T. Ratner, magid; the old writer of lyric impulse, I. L. Levin (Jehabel), a poet and publicist of merit; the critic and essayist, A. J. Paperna, one of the last representatives of the old school; the able journalist and talmudical critic, Benzion Katz; the talented modern novelists: Brenner, Schofman, Berkowitsch, Kaabak; Sneur, the young poet of vigour and ardour, noble spirit and bold fancy, who refreshed Hebrew poetry by a new stream of modern fiction; and Isaac Katzenelsohn, Ben Schimon, Heftmen, Pinski and others, who gave us sunny thoughts and beautiful pictures, in which delicacy of taste is accompanied by versatile and roaming fancy. Shalom Asch, the greatest in the coterie of the artists of the Polish Ghetto, gave us some of his tales in Hebrew; the gifted Abraham Reisin, a master of Yiddish, and the talented Numberg, who masters the Hebrew language, and who besides writing essays and tales of value in Hebrew worked hard and successfully in Hebrew journalism, have contributed very much to the modernization of Hebrew literature. And, as regards the two greatest stars of the Yiddish literature, “J. L. Peretz” and S. Rabinowitsch (“Scholom Aleicham”), whose loss we so deeply lament, and whose undying names belong to the chief glories of our literature of the present age, it is well known that both of them were partly Hebrew poets and writers of considerable genius.
Finally, there are Ben Ami Rabinowitzch (Mark Jakovlevitch), born in Russia, lived in Odessa, and now in Geneva, Switzerland, who is one of the best writers of fiction on Jewish life in Russia. His writings breathe a noble passion of love for the Jewish people, his observations are those of a high-minded man and an artist, and are full of national, noble emotion. He joined the Zionist movement from its very beginning.
Vladimir Jabotinski, born in Odessa, studied in Russia, in Italy and in Austria, and graduated at Petrograd, is a brilliant journalist and an orator of great eloquence and power. He is a contributor to great Russian newspapers, and has established a reputation as correspondent and an essayist of admirable skill. He worked with great devotion and success in the Zionist propaganda. Having acquired a sound knowledge of Hebrew, he translated Bialik’s poems into Russian, and wrote also some articles in Hebrew.
It will also be interesting to mention that the famous Russian-Jewish writer of the last generation, Lewanda, who was one of the representative writers of the period of enlightenment, during his successful literary career adhered in the last years of his life to the national idea, and supported the Chovevé Zion movement.
It is impossible to enumerate all the literary and educational representatives of the National Revival in Palestine; but a few names of note, in addition to those which have already been mentioned, cannot be omitted.
Israel Belkind has given proof of considerable literary ability in a series of pamphlets dealing with Palestine. J. Menuchas, who was born and is still living in Jerusalem, is a prominent contributor to the Hebrew press, as well as an excellent teacher. Ahroni, the zoologian, a scholar of renown, is pursuing his idealistic, scientific work at Rechoboth. Isaac Epstein now lives in Switzerland, but he is in spirit and style decidedly a Palestinian. He lived for years in seclusion, in a rustic tent among the hills of Upper Galilee, and wrote his work by the light of heaven. He remained faithful, as few priests have ever remained to their calling, a priest of the Hebrew language, which was revealed to him in all its beauty. M. Scheinkin, the devoted and popular worker, is a prolific publicist. Freimann, the old settler of Rishon, writes excellent books. Aronovitz, with his contributors, made the Ha-Poel Ha-Zaiv one of the best Hebrew weeklies which have ever existed; the Ha-Omer and the Moledet, splendid magazines, had a real Palestinian charm. (Of the last-mentioned the excellent essayist, pedagogical writer and poet, Fischmann, was recently the editor.) The numerous and various writings of Ben-Zion Guttman have been added to in Palestine; the “Waad Ha-Lashon” (Committee for the Language) at Jerusalem, with Yellin, Ben Yehouda, Zouts, Dr. Mazie and others, has done good work. Nearly all the specialists in agriculture and in medicine write in Hebrew; and Brenner, the most modern belles-lettres writer in Jerusalem.
On the other hand, the new Hebrew schools brought into the country a host of intellectual workers: Metman-Cohn, Bogratschow, Turow, Mossinsohn, Alexander Rabinowitsch, Lurie, Zutta, Segal, Schiller, Ladyshewski, Marschak, Biram, Tachower, Rosenstein, Ziphroni, Feldmann, Mowschensohn, Ozerkowsky, Jehieli, Papper. Others added merely their young modern efforts to the brilliant abilities of a Yellin or of that admirable type of a national educator represented by Vilkomitsch at Yessod Ha-Maaleh. All these pioneers are inspired Zionists, and they are paving the way for a great Revival.
In addition to these writers, the following prominent Hebrew journalists may be mentioned:――
Abraham Loudvipol, a writer of great ability and strength of conviction, who became editor of the Ha’zofeh; Moses Kleinmann, a shrewd journalist, and a publicist of sound judgment; Samuel Tschernowitz (the brother of Chaim Tschernowitz), a journalist of a high order, who worked with great success for Ha’zefirah and Ha’zman; Nahum Syrkin, a wholehearted Zionist, an orator and a publicist of keen observation, and an eloquent exponent of the national idea, author of hundreds of articles, sketches, causeries and speeches¹; N. J. Frenk, a moderate and consistent publicist of wide experience, who takes a leading part in the work of Ha’zefirah; and S. Jatzkan, at present editor of the Haint, formerly a contributor to Ha’melitz and Ha’zefirah, a zealous journalist and fighter: and among those of the older generation, M. Braunstein of Roumania (“Mibaschan”), master of a flowery and elaborate biblical style, author of many pedagogical books, but best known by his innumerable contributions to the Hebrew press; Lazar, the able editor of Ha’mitzpeh in Cracow; M. M. Pross of Warsaw, a judicious writer of causeries and criticisms in the old style; Ch. Z. Zagorodzki of Warsaw, a polished Hebrew stylist, author of several fine sketches, for many years one of the principal collaborators of Ha’zefirah; Shimón Volkov, a talmudical parodist with a peculiar style of his own; Dr. Berkowitz, of Vienna, a Jewish scholar and an excellent Hebrew writer, who was at one time Hebrew Secretary of the Vienna Zionist Organization and a regular contributor to Ha’zefirah; M. Rabinsohn, author of several sketches and translator for Ha’zman and Ha’zefirah; Z. Prilutzki, an old Chovevé Zion writer and worker. These and many others have perhaps done more to make Zionism popular by their everyday work as journalists than many authors of books.
¹ He died in 1918 at Kiew.
Other contributors to modern Hebrew journalism are: Leon Rabinowitsch, who was editor of Ha-Melitz in Petrograd after Zederbaum; S. Rosenfeld, who afterwards came into prominence as a Yiddish publicist; J. E. Triwusch of Wilna; Samuel Leib Zitron of Wilna; the late Hirsch Neimanowitsch and M. Weber of Warsaw; E. Goldin of Lodz; J. D. Berkowitsch, now in New York; P. Lachover of Warsaw; Hermoni of Palestine; and E. D. Finkel of Warsaw. To the new Hebrew pedagogical literature: Ch. D. Tawiow of Riga, Salomon Berman, P. Kantorowitz, A. Libuschitzki of Warsaw, P. Berkman of Lodz, and the two great Yiddish poets Simon Frug of Odessa and Jehoasch of New York have played important parts in the awakening of the national feeling.
LXXVI.
NOTE UPON THE ALLIANCE ISRAÉLITE UNIVERSELLE AND THE ANGLO-JEWISH ASSOCIATION
IN considering the relationship of the Alliance Israélite Universelle and the Anglo-Jewish Association to the Jewish National Movement, regard should be had to the foundation period of these institutions, when not only were those associated with their establishment men of Jewish Nationalist sympathies, but their activities were met by similar criticism to that which has confronted the Zionist leaders of recent years. Time has brought about a change in the personnel of the leadership of the Alliance and the Anglo-Jewish Association, but it is useful to bear in mind that this change is simply personal and that there is nothing changed in principle in the organizations which should prevent them being expressive of that nationalist spirit, characteristic of their earlier days. M. Charles Netter, Dr. Abraham Benisch, Dr. Albert Löwy and Mr. Baron Louis Benas, J.P. (M. Netter, one of the founders of the Alliance, Dr. Benisch, Dr. Löwy and Mr. Benas, associated with the establishment of the Anglo-Jewish Association) were all men of Jewish Nationalist sympathies. M. Netter is permanently identified with the foundation of the Mikveh Israel Agricultural School near Jaffa, the foster-mother of the Jewish Colonies of Palestine. Dr. Benisch, to whom the suggestion of an Anglo-Jewish Association on the lines of the Alliance Israélite was made by Mr. Benas, who had established in Liverpool the first branch of the Alliance in England in 1867, enthusiastically took up the idea and became the organizer of the English institution founded three years later. The formation of the first English branch of the Alliance at Liverpool called forth in 1868 at the end of its first year’s work the highest appreciation of M. Crémieux. Dr. Benisch had in his student days inaugurated with Dr. Löwy and Professor Steinschneider a Zionistic movement, and in the foundation of the Anglo-Jewish Association the two former saw the possibilities of the realization of many of the hopes and aspirations of their youth. Mr. Benas, Dr. Benisch and Dr. Löwy were active propagandists on behalf of the Association. Mr. Benas and Dr. Löwy were members of the International Palestine Committee which was formed in 1878 on the recommendation of the Palestine Section of the International Jewish Conference held that year in Paris, and of which section Mr. Benas was one of the two English representatives, the other being the Rev. S. Jacobs. The Palestine Section undertook to institute an examination of the general condition of the Jews in the East and especially of the Jews in Palestine with a view of effecting such improvements as might be needful, that country being known to several members who had visited it at various times. This section had the advantage of being attended by delegates from both Europe and America. This section of the Conference resolved “That the Alliance be requested to bring about the formation of a special commission on Palestine. This Committee is to be composed of persons of every country who take an interest in the welfare of brother Israelites and in the prosperity of the Holy Land.” On its formation, the Committee was entrusted with the establishment of new schools and particularly the control of the Institution Mikveh Israel. The report significantly added, “in entrusting the control of this Agricultural School to the Committee, with the view of further aiding in the development of that Institution, the Alliance would obtain a solid basis for its civilizing action” (Anglo-Jewish Association, 8th Annual Report, pp. 30, 36). In 1885 Mr. Benas and the late Chief Rabbi, Dr. Hermann Adler, visited Palestine together. En route they had an interview with Baron Edmond de Rothschild in Paris, at whose request materials were collected for a report of the condition of Jewry in the Ancient Jewish Homeland. The late Chief Rabbi gave an oral account of the educational institutions in Palestine to the Executive Committee of the Association. Mr. Benas’ “Report of his Travels in the East” was published as an Appendix to the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Association. The Report, which drew from the historian Graetz a most appreciative letter to the author, disclosing Graetz’ strong Zionistic sympathies, is not only valuable as one of the few historical documents in English giving a contemporary account of the early renascence of Jewish life in Palestine by a Jewish writer, but because of its accurate forecasting of the conditions of future development, the revival of Hebrew as a living language being particularly noted. The following are extracts from the report:――
“Jaffa. Jaffa was reached on April 26th, and I at once, in company with Dr. Adler, visited the Mikveh Israel or Agricultural School. The director, Monsieur Hirsch, happened to be absent at Aleppo, but we were received by the sub-director, M. Haim.
The whole neighbourhood of Jaffa is most charming, full of the choicest exotics, whilst palms, citrons, and oranges luxuriate everywhere. The vines are in splendid condition. Everything seems to flower there in profusion, even wild roses and poppies in the cornfields, whilst the fig takes the place of our bushes and thickets. There are some charming properties about Jaffa.
As far as a model farm and beautifully cultivated garden is concerned, the Mikveh Israel holds its own with any institution of its kind, I would almost say, in Europe, and is a perpetual monument of the efforts of the late Mons. Netter.
There are 240 hectares, mostly under cultivation. They produced excellent wine, which, I am informed, is sold at a good profit. They have oranges, lemons, and various other fruit trees, besides cereals. The technical instructor, M. Klotz, an Alsatian, told me that there is considerable promise for the estate. There are now thirty-five pupils in the school, one of whom is a Moslem. They have a carpenter’s shop, where three boys are at constant work. They have thirty cows――ten giving a full supply of milk; they have eight calves, two horses and ten mules to assist the agricultural operations, and a good supply of water and a complete system of irrigation.
Everything in the establishment is thoroughly well kept. We were shown through the dormitories, and found twelve slept in each room, but the chambers were tolerably large.
Jerusalem. I arrived at Jerusalem on the night of the 27th April. The first thing that strikes the visitor is the fact that Jerusalem is a Jewish city. The Jewish population has so steadily increased as to tower head and shoulders above all others; this can best be noticed on a Sabbath, when almost all the streets and bazaars are silent. The native born Jewish population are in physique superior to their European co-religionists; they are taller, more dignified, and are decidedly of a handsome type. I am indebted for my statistics to M. Nissim Behar and the banker, M. H. Valero, both of these estimable gentlemen being natives of Jerusalem. The total population of Jerusalem is about 35,000. There are conflicting accounts as to the Jewish population; some put it at 20,000, others at 18,000.
There are two Jerusalems, the one within the walls of the city, the other outside the Jaffa Gate, which has sprung into existence during the last five or six years, and inhabited almost exclusively by Jews. I am undervaluing rather than exaggerating when I state that the villas and residences outside the city are quite equal in neatness and in their inviting aspect to some of the best parts of the Cheshire side of the Mersey, which they much resemble.
The Asiatic Jews are wealthy, and have mostly emigrated from the neighbourhood of Batoum, Poti and Tiflis. Their residences might almost be described as attaining a degree of positive comfort. They are a large community, and are quite independent in their means; they have their own rabbi, and give considerable assistance, when required, to their more indigent co-religionists. These Jews are scrupulously clean in their habits, are above the average height, and their flowing robes of spotless white cashmere betoken at once their manners. Credit must also be given to the Montefiore Testimonial Fund Buildings, which, if small, are decidedly clean and well kept, especially those tenanted by the Sephardi Jews――a great number of tenements having been built through the aid afforded by this fund. There are also the buildings of the Meah Shearim, a kind of building society, who have erected a large square block of tenements, which compare favourably with artisans’ dwellings in Lancashire cities.
The Judah Touro houses outside the city walls are fairly well kept, but, of course, the more modern houses have the advantage of superior construction. The defects in earlier constructions have here been carefully avoided.
The Yemen Jews are very poor; they present a most peculiar ethnological type. They have a very dark complexion, almost of a deeper shade than that of the Arabs; they have beautifully chiselled features, lustrous eyes, are most simple in their piety and devotion to the Holy City. They still retain their manuscript prayer books, which Dr. Adler states are most interesting. I saw a Yemen woman with her child working in the heat of the sun at what, in Lancashire, would be termed navvy’s work, and at the close of the day saw the clerk of the works give her sixty centimes as her daily wages. They were in terrible distress at first and slept in caverns, but, thanks to the exertions of Mr. Marcus Adler, who raised a fund in England, they are building cottages on the hillside upon which they work themselves, and owing to their thrifty habits and aptitude for labour, it is to be hoped that their worst difficulties are passed, and that they will attain some degree of independence. There are two sets of tenements being built for them, the one by the London Committee and the other by the help of the Society called Ezrath Nedachim. I may add, the Yemen Jews, both male and female, dress exactly like the native Arabs, from whom they are hardly distinguishable.
When I write upon the Jewish tenements in the interior of the city my report, of course, must be less favourable. I took the means of going alone with M. Valero, when unexpected, into some of the back streets and slums of Jerusalem; I dropped into various houses here and there, and saw matters from a practical point of view. It is most unfair for any one coming from Princes Park, Liverpool, or Kensington, London, or the Champs Élysées, in Paris, instituting a comparison between those neighbourhoods and the lanes of Jerusalem. But I maintain that the old streets of Marseilles and Florence, the Ghetto in Rome, the labyrinths in Naples, and the slums of Venice, are infinitely worse than the worst slums of Jerusalem. Nay, more, I maintain that the old Judengasse in Frankfort, the Judengasse in Worms, and some of the by-lanes in Vienna are decidedly no better than those of Jerusalem. They are more ancient and grimy than dirty; the absence of timber, and the constant employment of stone for building purposes in Old Jerusalem, gives a rough and jagged appearance to the walls, but there is nothing except the absence of drainage (and that is the same in every continental city, whether it be in France, Italy, or Austria) that calls for especial condemnation, nay, the dingy tenements inside Jerusalem, inhabited by the Sephardi Jews, are made presentable by a considerable use of clean white calico hung over the walls and covered over their simple furniture and beddings.
The future prospects of Jerusalem rest entirely with the rising youth, and I shall speak later on of the enormous value and high hopes I entertain of the Lionel de Rothschild School, conducted by the admirable and excellent director, M. Nissim Behar, of whose devotion, ability, and conscientiousness nothing too much can be said.
The Lionel de Rothschild School, or “Institution Israélite pour Instruction et Travail,” contains 140 pupils, all boys. The institution is singularly fortunate in possessing M. Behar as its chief. To be able to effect good work in Jerusalem it is almost imperative to be a native of the city. A teacher from England, France, or Germany who has longings for Europe or his native land, however able he may be, or however zealous, is incapable of infusing enthusiasm in his pupils, and when one is found like M. Nissim Behar, who is a man of great culture, and combines Parisian refinement with an ardent love and patriotism for the city in which he was born, and feels that he has a mission to perform and is perfectly oblivious to pecuniary advantages, it is to have already gained half the victory. Everything is neat, clean, and methodical.
The hours of instruction are from 8 o’clock until 12, and from 1 to 5.
I shall devote my report principally to the course of technical education, with which I believe the future prosperity of the Jews of Jerusalem is bound up.
The Technical School contains a forge, a carpenter’s shop, a cabinet-maker’s bench, a tailor’s department, a shoemaker’s shop, a turner’s lathe, a school of art for modelling, drawing, and sculpture, and a gymnasium for physical development.
Of these schools, the forge, the carpenter’s shop, and the school of art have produced capital results; we saw Jewish lads, who have only been a few weeks at the classes, making some excellent sketches, and in order to test their genuineness gave them several impromptu subjects to execute in our presence, which they did admirably.
The Forge is another successful institution.
Although the French language is the medium of tuition and the general language adopted, Hebrew is used side by side, not only as a language of prayer, but also as a means of conversation. French, as a medium of intercommunication amongst Europeans and officials, is very much required in the East.
The Girls’ School――Evelina de Rothschild Institute――contains 184 girls.
Hebron. I regret to have to report very adversely upon the condition of our co-religionists in Hebron. The pleasure and hopefulness I experienced in Jerusalem present a marked contrast to the disappointment I felt at the abject position of the Jews in the City of Abraham.
I met several Jews on the road who were trading with the neighbouring villages in butter and cheese; of course their profits would be exceedingly small. The soil around Hebron is most fertile, and the natural resources of the immediate neighbourhood decidedly good.
I venture to think that it is not eleemosynary aid that will do any real good for them. Food of all kinds and wine of a good quality is abundant and very cheap. I believe the Jews would work hard if taught what to do. Technical and general education would very soon transform an abject congregation into a happy and prosperous community.”
Mr. Benas delivered a large number of lectures upon the subject of his visit to Palestine and granted many interviews, all of which helped to arouse interest on behalf of the budding Jewish life in the Ancient Homeland. In its earliest days the Anglo-Jewish Association received from members of the Board of Deputies criticism not unakin to that which in later days members of the Board levelled at the Anglo-Jewish Association. In those days the Board was oligarchic, assimilative, and insular in outlook, while the Anglo-Jewish was popular, national and world-Jewish――true to the motto כל ישראל חברים. If to-day, while the Association cannot be called insular there are those who would ascribe to it the characteristic of the Board of Deputies of earlier days, signs are not wanting of a change towards the original outlook, particularly among the branches. It is in fairness due to the Anglo-Jewish Association to bear in mind that the Public Demonstration, the Conference, the International gatherings for Jewish purposes now a phenomenon of everyday life in Jewry owe to the Association and the Alliance their origin. To both no inconsiderable share of the foundation and the interest in the Western world in the foundation of the Jewish colonies in Palestine may justly be credited. Thus the organizations and those who established them merit the recognition and the gratitude of all who hold to the Jewish national ideal and strive for its fulfilment.
[The Reports of the Alliance Israélite Universelle and the Anglo-Jewish Association contain much valuable material for the History of the Resettlement in Palestine.]
LXXVII.
AN APPEAL OF THE BERLIN KADIMA
IN 1891 the Russian Jewish Students’ Colony in Berlin submitted to the International Committee for the assistance of the Russian Jews a memorandum, in which they urged the Committee to use its endeavours to divert the stream of Jewish emigration, and, above all, of well-to-do emigrants, from America to the Holy Land. The document is of very great interest. What is called the wave of emigration, say the writers, is not so much emigration as flight. Only well-organized colonization can prove a remedy in the present calamity. A Jewish peasantry must be founded, consisting not only of the poor, but to a great extent also of the middle and intelligent classes. Palestine is the only country which affords the possibility of attaining that aim, because (1) Palestine itself, and especially Galilee and the land on the other side of the Jordan, and also Syria and Mesopotamia, contain an amount of land ready for sale and scarcely populated. The settlement of Jews there cannot meet with any objection. The Turkish Government will not only tolerate, but favour the immigration, if properly organized. An additional advantage is that in the near future no competition need be feared, because other emigrants, as a rule poor people, are not attracted by an uninhabited, uncultivated country. (2) The soil is fertile everywhere. Where no corn can be grown, wine can be produced. The Jewish wine-growers in Palestine will shortly be able to compete in the markets of Europe, and will greatly shake the monopoly of other wines. The climate of Palestine is as healthy as that of Italy, so that invalids will go there on the recommendation of their physician instead of to Italy. In the colony Rishon Le’Zion, which was founded about nine years ago, there has been up till now only one death, although there are between three hundred and four hundred people living there. (3) It is the only country able to create a peasantry, because there is no trade there. It is true that in other countries also the Jews will at first turn to agriculture; they will watch for anything offering them the means of subsistence. But a great portion will always be anxious to settle in the towns and again apply themselves to trade, whereas in Palestine the colonists will be compelled to persist in agricultural pursuits. Thus, in America, the colonists have gradually returned to the cities after millions have been wasted. But in Palestine the colonies founded by Baron Edmond de Rothschild and by the efforts of the colonists themselves are in a most thriving condition. Of course, the fact that the Jews are animated by love for Palestine and inspired by the many associations connected with the country must not be overlooked. Only in a country where every stone bears biblical reminiscences the labour is sweet to them. This idealistic motive will assist in turning traders into agriculturists. It is to this idea that some twenty larger and smaller colonies owe their existence. It is owing to this motive that the great Palestine Committee in Odessa, under the presidency of Dr. Pinsker, is able annually to give land and tools to Jewish peasants to the value of 200,000 frcs., that there is in Jaffa an Executive Committee, presided over by the engineer Vl. Temkin, that in London enormous meetings are being held in favour of the Palestine idea, that limited companies have arisen, like the Dorsche Zion in Minsk, in Kovno, in Bialystok, in Wilna, as well as in Warsaw, Riga, etc., which intend to buy land in Palestine for their members, to be repaid to them by instalments. (4) The more civilized and intelligent class of Russian Jews will also be induced to go to Palestine for the purpose of following agricultural pursuits.
The students concluded by saying that they were willing to seek for happiness and safety by readily submitting to the harvest labour in the fields of Palestine. “Then we shall be enabled to pass a happy life, for enthusiasm will make our paths straight, and provide us with a healthy courage.” The document bore sixty-four signatures.
LXXVIII.
THE JEWISH COLONIES IN PALESTINE
(The figures are taken mostly from the Report of the Jewish Colonisation Association for 1910.)
Gross Area. Income. Name. │ Year.│ Hect.│ Pop. │ Francs ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── I. JUDEA. │ │ │ │ Mikveh-Israel¹ │ 1870 │ 225 │ 150 │ ―― Mozah │ 1873 │ 59 │ 28 │ ―― ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Petach-Tikvah │ 1878 │ 2275 │ 1500 │ 466,971 Katra │ 1882 │ 500 │ 150 │ 76,415 Rishon-le-Zion │ 1882 │ 1180 │ 1190 │ 121,213 ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Wady-el-Chanin │ 1882 │ 285 │ 200 │ ―― Jehudie │ 1883 │ 12 │ 15 │ ―― Ekron (Mazkeret Mathya) │ 1884 │ 1275 │ 300 │ 144,918 ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Kastinieh │ 1888 │ 550 │ 150 │ ―― Rehobot │ 1890 │ 1300 │ 600 │ 128,415 Artuf │ 1896 │ 460 │ 50 │ ―― ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Ben Shemen │ 1906 │ 210 │ 100 │ ―― Bir Jakob │ 1907 │ 200 │ 70 │ ―― Ain Ganim │ 1908 │ 65 │ 100 │ ―― ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Hulda │ 1909 │ 182 │ 40 │ ―― │ │ │ │ II. SAMARIA. │ │ │ │ Zichron Jacob │ 1882 │ 1850 │ 1000 │ 183,210 ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Um-el-Dschemal │ 1889 │ 253 │ 80 │ ―― Schweja │ 1891 │ 851 │ 50 │ ―― Hedera │ 1891 │ 1750 │ 200 │ 121,915 ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Kefar Saba │ 1894 │ 635 │ 30 │ ―― Atlit │ 1897 │ 460 │ 50 │ 18,950 Hefzi-bah │ 1905 │ 200 │ 8 │ ―― ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Tanturah │ ―― │ 40 │ 16 │ ―― │ │ │ │ III. GALILEE. │ │ │ │ Rosh-Pinah │ 1882 │ 3800 │ 800 │ 48,096 ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Yessod Ha-Maaleh │ 1883 │ 910 │ 300 │ 29,913 Mishmar Ha-Yarden │ 1890 │ 230 │ 100 │ 27,453 Ain-Seitun │ 1891 │ 509 │ 20 │ ―― ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Metula │ 1896 │ 1350 │ 310 │ 69,685 Sedjera │ 1899 │ 1850 │ 200 │ ―― Mahanayim │ 1899 │ 100 │ 100 │ ―― ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Milhamie │ 1902 │ 1350 │ 100 │ 74,100 Mescha │ 1902 │ 900 │ 200 │ 70,122 Yemma │ 1902 │ 2750 │ 400 │ 91,027 ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Kinnereth │ 1908 │ 550 │ 80 │ 13,300 Delaika │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Mizpah │ 1908 │ 360 │ 40 │ ―― ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Dagania │ 1909 │ 320 │ 30 │ ―― Migdal │ 1910 │ 450 │ 100 │ ―― Merchavyah │ 1911 │ 900 │ 100 │ ―― ─────────────────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────── Poriah │ 1911 │ 350 │ 30 │ ―― │ │ │ │ IV. TRANS-JORDANIA. │ │ │ │ Bene Yehuda │ 1888 │ 315 │ 83 │ ――
¹ The Mikveh Israel Colony is situated outside of Jaffa, to the south. The Alliance Israélite Universelle has here a fine and large agricultural school for Jews. At the time of our visit――in 1914――about 150 pupils were enrolled. Some of them we found in the well-kept garden, weeding and hoeing. Others were engaged in planting through a newly planted vineyard. Still another group were piling brush and rubbish; while a considerable number were in classrooms undergoing just then an examination in the theoretical branches of study. They were a fine and manly-looking lot of young men and boys, mostly Russian-Jews. The glow of health was on their cheeks. They had none of the hunted and depressed look which has been imprinted upon millions of Jews by persecution and oppression. It seemed to us that, in a minor sense, these young Jews were already lifting up their heads because of the drawing nigh of the redemption of their land and their nation. They looked as though it afforded them great satisfaction to till the soil of the land, which some day must be the happy home of their people. There was a quiet modesty, coupled with justifiable pride, in their bearing.
LIST OF COLONIES IN 1913.
│ Year │ Name of the │ of │ # of │ Area in│ Kind of work, colony. │ Start│ Souls│ Dounams│ institutions, etc. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── JUDEA. │ │ │ │ ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Mikveh Israel │ 1870 │ 150 │ 2,612 │ Agricultural School of │ │ │ │ the “Alliance Israélite │ │ │ │ Universelle”; 100 │ │ │ │ pupils, 15 teachers and │ │ │ │ officials. Manager: M. │ │ │ │ Krause. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Rishon le-Zion │ 1882 │ ―― │ ―― │ Plantations. School │ │ │ │ for boys and girls. │ │ │ │ Kindergarten. Religious │ │ │ │ school “Netzah Israel.” │ │ │ │ People’s Hall (Bet Am) │ │ │ │ with library and │ │ │ │ orchestra. Great wine │ │ │ │ cellar and centre of │ │ │ │ the wine trade. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Nachlath Jehuda │ 1913 │ 850 │ 11,402 │ Plantations. Founded in │ │ │ │ commemoration of Dr. │ │ │ │ Leo (Jehuda) Pinsker. │ │ │ │ Dwellings for labourers. │ │ │ │ The colony is situated │ │ │ │ in the neighbourhood │ │ │ │ of Rishon. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Rehobot │ 1890 │ 800 │ 14,193 │ Plantations; vines, │ │ │ │ olives and almonds. │ │ │ │ School for boys and │ │ │ │ girls. Kindergarten. │ │ │ │ Religious school │ │ │ │ “Netzah Israel.” │ │ │ │ Zoological collections │ │ │ │ of Dr. Ah’roni. │ │ │ │ Place of the yearly │ │ │ │ celebration “Chagigah.” ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Wadi el Chanin │ 1882 │ 200 │ 2,793 │ Plantations. School (Ness Ziona) │ │ │ │ for boys and girls. │ │ │ │ Vineyards and gardens │ │ │ │ planted by J.C.A. │ │ │ │ for the labourers │ │ │ │ of the neighbouring │ │ │ │ colonies. Kindergarten. │ │ │ │ Bee-keeping. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Ekron │ 1884 │ 350 │ 12,723 │ Agriculture, Plantations. (Maskeret Batja) │ │ │ │ School for boys and │ │ │ │ girls. Kindergarten. │ │ │ │ Religious school. Most │ │ │ │ of the colonists were │ │ │ │ engaged in agricultural │ │ │ │ work in Russia. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Katrah (Gederah) │ 1884 │ 200 │ 5,632 │ Plantations, Agriculture. │ │ │ │ School for boys and │ │ │ │ girls. Religious school │ │ │ │ “Netzah Israel.” This │ │ │ │ colony was founded by │ │ │ │ the Bilu pioneers. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Kastinie │ 1896 │ 150 │ 5,622 │ Agriculture. Religious (Beer Tobia) │ │ │ │ school “Netzah Israel.” │ │ │ │ This colony was founded │ │ │ │ by the Odessa Chovevé │ │ │ │ Zion. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Dschemama │ 1911 │ 25 │ 6,000 │ In the early stages of (Ruchama) │ │ │ │ colonization. The land │ │ │ │ was bought by two │ │ │ │ companies of Russian │ │ │ │ Jews, and is cultivated │ │ │ │ by a group of labourers. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Bir Jacob │ 1907 │ 25 │ 2,048 │ Colony of labourers. │ │ │ │ Plantations. Was founded │ │ │ │ by Dagestan Jews. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Hulda │ 1909 │ 50 │ 1,890 │ Jewish National Fund │ │ │ │ Domain. In this colony │ │ │ │ the so-called Herzl │ │ │ │ Forest (of olive trees) │ │ │ │ in commemoration of │ │ │ │ Herzl is planted. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Ben Shemen │ 1906 │ 120 │ 2,329 │ J.N.F. Domain and Farm. │ │ │ │ Second part of the │ │ │ │ Herzl Forest. Houses │ │ │ │ for Yemenite Jews. │ │ │ │ Agricultural institu- │ │ │ │ tions and experiments │ │ │ │ (Mr. I. Wilkanski). ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Abu-Shushe │ 1912 │ ―― │ 7,000 │ In the early stages of │ │ │ │ colonization. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Kafruriah │ 1912 │ 20 │ 5,000 │ In the early stages │ │ │ │ of colonization. │ │ │ │ Cultivated by a group │ │ │ │ of labourers. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Artuf │ 1896 │ 70 │ 4,670 │ Agriculture. School │ │ │ │ for boys and girls. │ │ │ │ The first settlers │ │ │ │ were Bulgarian Jews, │ │ │ │ Sephardim. Now property │ │ │ │ of Mr. Isaac Goldberg │ │ │ │ of Wilna. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Mozah │ 1890 │ 40 │ 1,100 │ Agriculture, three- │ │ │ │ quarters of an hour │ │ │ │ from Jerusalem. │ │ │ │ Synagogue. Mill. Vines │ │ │ │ and vegetable-growing. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Dilb │ 1913 │ ―― │ 1,800 │ In the early stages of │ │ │ │ colonization. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Petah-Tikvah │ 1878 │ ―― │ ―― │ Plantations. The largest │ │ │ │ colony in the country. │ │ │ │ Schools for boys and │ │ │ │ girls. Centre of the │ │ │ │ religious schools │ │ │ │ (Dr. Auerbach). Home │ │ │ │ orphans. Soup for │ │ │ │ kitchen for labourers. │ │ │ │ Agricultural school. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Machne Yehouda │ 1913 │2,500 │ 23,837 │ Settlement for Yemenite │ │ │ │ Jews. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Yehoudieh │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Ain Ganim │ 1908 │ ―― │ 762 │ Settlement for labourers. (Fedje) │ │ │ │ Founded by Chovevé Zion │ │ │ │ for the Petah-Tikvah │ │ │ │ labourers (a little │ │ │ │ house and orchard for │ │ │ │ every family). ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Bir Ados │ 1912 │ 40 │ 4,220 │ In the early stages of │ │ │ │ colonization. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Kinnereth Colony │ 1908 │ 25 │ 5,572 │ In the early stages of │ │ │ │ cultivation. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Kinnereth Farm │ 1909 │ 60 │ 3,703 │ Farm of the Jewish │ │ │ │ National Fund. Farm for │ │ │ │ girls of the “Union of │ │ │ │ Women.” ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Dagania │ 1910 │ 45 │ 3,072 │ Farm of the Jewish (Um d’shuni) │ │ │ │ National Fund. Farm for │ │ │ │ girls of the “Union of │ │ │ │ Women.” ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Poriah │ 1911 │ 60 │ 3,703 │ Property of one of │ │ │ │ the American Achuzah │ │ │ │ Companies. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Mispah │ 1908 │ 50 │ 3,420 │ Agriculture. (En Katab) │ │ │ │ ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Hattin │ ―― │ ―― │ 2,000 │ Agriculture. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Lubic │ ―― │ ―― │ 7,082 │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Near Tiberus │ ―― │ ―― │ 830 │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Migdal │ 1910 │ ―― │ 5,000 │ Farms and Plantations │ │ │ │ belonging to a │ │ │ │ Plantation Company. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Jessod Ha-Maaleh │ 1883 │ 225 │ 12,228 │ Agriculture. School for │ │ │ │ boys and girls. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Rosh Pinah │ 1882 │ 650 │ 20,102 │ Agriculture and │ │ │ │ Plantations. School for │ │ │ │ boys and girls. Centre of │ │ │ │ the Baron’s (I.C.A.’s) │ │ │ │ administration for the │ │ │ │ Colonies of Upper Galilee │ │ │ │ (M. Kalvaryjski). ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Machanaim │ ―― │ ―― │ 21,885 │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Ain Zeitun │ 1891 │ ―― │ 6,016 │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Mishmar │ 1884 │ 125 │ 7,596 │ Agriculture. School for Ha-Yarden │ │ │ │ boys and girls. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Metulah │ 1896 │ 325 │ 16,907 │ School for boys and girls. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Bene Yehouda │ ―― │ 50 │ ―― │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── │ │ │ │ JAULAN. │ │ │ │ ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Lands in the │ 1886 │ ―― │ 70,000 │ Belong to the Jewish Jaulan │ │ │ │ Colonization Association │ │ │ │ ――not inhabited. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── │ │ │ │ SAMARIA. │ │ │ │ ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Kafr Saba │ 1892 │ ―― │ 7,321 │ Plantations, mostly │ │ │ │ almonds. Occupied │ │ │ │ by a little group of │ │ │ │ labourers. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Chederah │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ Agriculture, Plantations. │ │ │ │ School for boys │ │ │ │ and girls. In the │ │ │ │ neighbourhood of the │ │ │ │ “Garden of Samaria” │ │ │ │ (Mohilewer) ethrogim │ │ │ │ (citrons) and oranges. │ │ │ │ Baron Rothschild’s │ │ │ │ eucalyptus wood, the │ │ │ │ greatest in the country. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Nachliel │ ―― │ 500 │ 31,355 │ Settlement for Yemenites. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Chederan Ann │ ―― │ ―― │ 1,200 │ In the early stages of │ │ │ │ colonization. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Chefzibah │ ―― │ ―― │ 7,000 │ Property of the Company │ │ │ │ “Agudath Netaim.” Olives │ │ │ │ and almonds. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Kerkur and Bedus │ 1912 │ ―― │ 11,400 │ In the early stages of │ │ │ │ colonization. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Zichron Jacob │ 1882 │ ―― │ ―― │ Plantations, Agriculture. (Samarin) │ │ │ │ School for boys and │ │ │ │ girls. Mostly Roumanian │ │ │ │ Jews. Centre of the │ │ │ │ Baron’s (the I.C.A.’s) │ │ │ │ administration with │ │ │ │ beautiful buildings. │ │ │ │ Library. Hospital with │ │ │ │ 20 beds. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Shveia │ 1888 │ ―― │ ―― │ School for boys and girls. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Bath Shlomo │ 1888 │1,150 │ 30,668 │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Marah │ 1907 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Herbet Menshie │ 1911 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Tantura │ ―― │ ―― │ 300 │ ―― ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Atlit │ 1897 │ 50 │ 6,800 │ Experimental Station. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── │ │ │ │ LOWER AND │ │ │ │ UPPER GALILEE. │ │ │ │ ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Merchavia (Fule) │ 1911 │ 100 │ 9,415 │ Co-operative Labourers. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Sedjera Farm │ 1899 │ 100 │ ―― │ Farm. Co-operative │ │ │ │ Labourers. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Sedjera Colony │ 1900 │ 200 │ 17,717 │ Agriculture. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Mesha │ 1902 │ ―― │ ―― │ Agriculture. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Melhamieh │ 1902 │ 200 │ 16,023 │ Agriculture. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Yemma │ 1902 │ 300 │ 24,422 │ Agriculture. ─────────────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼─────────────────────────── Bet Jen │ 1904 │ 100 │ 4,549 │ Agriculture. (Bet Gan) │ │ │ │
LXXIX.
THE MANIFESTO OF THE BILU (1882)
IN 1882, in a little lodging-house in Galata, Constantinople, a meeting of young Jews was held. Most of those present were students, artisans or scholars. The assembly resulted in the formation of a Society called Bilu, from the initials of the words: Beth Iakob Lechu Venelcha (House of Jacob, come, let us go!). The Society had many branches, each bearing some name well known in Jewish history, as Kreti U’phleti. There was an artisans’ branch, called He’charash Ve’hamasger (carpenters and locksmiths). From headquarters was issued the following manifesto (in Hebrew):――
“To our Brethren and Sisters in the Exile, Peace be with you! “‘If I help not myself, who will help me?’ (Hillel).
“Nearly two thousand years have elapsed since, in an evil hour, after an heroic struggle, the glory of our Temple vanished in fire and our Kings and chieftains changed their crowns and diadems for the chains of exile. We lost our country, where dwelt our beloved sires. Into the Exile we took with us, of all our glories, only a spark of the fire, by which our Temple, the abode of our Great One, was engirdled, and this little spark kept us alive while the towers of our enemies crumbled to dust, and this spark leapt into celestial flame and shed light upon the faces of the heroes of our race and inspired them to endure the horrors of the Dance of Death and the tortures of the autos-da-fé. And this spark is now again kindling and will shine for us, a true pillar of fire going before us on the road to Zion, while behind us is a pillar of cloud, the pillar of oppression threatening to destroy us. Sleepest thou, O our nation? What hast thou been doing till 1882? Sleeping and dreaming the false dream of Assimilation. Now, thank God, thou art awakened from thy slothful slumber. The Pogroms have awakened thee from thy charmed sleep. Thine eyes are open to recognize the cloudy structure of delusive hopes. Canst thou listen silently to the flaunts and the mockery of thine enemies? Wilt thou yield before the might of...? Where is thine ancient pride, thine olden spirit? Remember that thou wast a nation possessing a wise religion, a law, a constitution, a celestial Temple, whose wall is still a silent witness to the glories of the Past, that thy sons dwelt in Palaces and towers, and thy cities flourished in the splendour of civilization, while these enemies of thine dwelt like beasts in the muddy marshes of their dark woods. While thy children were clad in purple and fine linen they wore the rough skins of the wolf and the bear. Art thou not ashamed to submit to them?
“Hopeless is your state in the West; the star of your future is gleaming in the East. Deeply conscious of all this, and inspired by the true teaching of our great master Hillel: ‘If I help not myself, who will help me?’ we propose to build the following society for national ends:――
“1. The Society will be named Bilu, according to the motto: ‘House of Jacob, come, let us go!’ It will be divided into local branches according to the number of members.
“2. The seat of the Committee shall be Jerusalem.
“3. Donations and contributions shall be unfixed and unlimited.
“What we want:――
“1. A Home in our country. It was given to us by the mercy of God, it is ours as registered in the archives of history.
“2. To beg it of the Sultan himself, and if it be impossible to obtain this, to beg that at least we may be allowed to possess it as a state within a larger state; the internal administration to be ours, to have our civil and political rights, and to act with the Turkish Empire only in foreign affairs, so as to help our brother Ishmael in his time of need.
“We hope that the interests of our glorious nation will rouse the national spirit in rich and powerful men, and that everyone, rich or poor, will give his best labours to the holy cause.
“Greeting, dear brethren and sisters.
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and our Land, Zion, is our own hope.
“God be with us!”
The Pioneers of Bilu.
The last survivors of the Bilu still in Palestine are: Israel Belkind, S. Belkind, Mrs. Feinberg (née Belkind), Dr. Chissin, Drubin, Swerdloff, Leibowitz, Hurwitz and Zaladichin.――Of the veterans of the Chovevé Zion Colonization we met in 1914――to mention only a few――Gissin in Petach Tikvah, the Stamper family (Stamper was one of the first, and the most energetic settlers, he came from Roumania); Shalit, Meerowitz, Lubman, Freimann in Rishon; Idelowitz, now in Alexandria, managing the “Carmel” Wine business; Eisenberg, Goldin, Hirschensohn, Mme. Basia Makow in Rechoboth, and of the old “Menucha Ve-Nachla” (the Warsaw Colony) settlers: Bucharski, Padua, Weinstein, Bresner, Rafalkes, Appel.
LXXX.
ZIONISM AND JEWISH ART
IT is somewhat difficult to distinguish between Jewish art, that is to say between art expressing the Jewish national spirit, and ordinary art cultivated by the Jews.
Is Jewish art possible to-day? National art requires a soil out of which to issue, and a sky towards which to unfold. We――present-day Jews――have neither. We are inhabitants of many countries, and our thoughts ascend to different skies. Within our innermost soul we know of no earth and no sky. We have no country to bear our hopes in its lap and lend firmness to the tread of our feet, and we have no national sun to bless our sowings and irradiate our day. National art requires a homogeneous community out of which it arises and for which it exists. We have merely fragments of a community, and as yet there is hardly any stirring of the part to assemble into a whole. But without these premisses national art cannot come into existence; it cannot be made. It is no hothouse growth, but healthy, sapful plant life in a free native atmosphere. No artificial conditions may be created for it, it must come and develop with the progressing renascence.¹
¹ Martin Buber, Jüd. Künst., Lesser Ury.
Another question presents itself. Are, at present, Jewish artists possible, i.e. artists who respond inwardly and in their works to Jewish individuality? If we may answer this question in the affirmative, the inner possibility of Jewish art is affirmed too. Because, as a rule, two elements have to co-operate so that a national artist may be evolved: a strain of national heredity, and a national environment; the former consecutive, not acquired by experience, but brought in unconsciously, the latter rather atmospheric, and up to a certain point consciously experienced. Since, in the most favourable conditions, present-day Judaism contains only the material and the elements of transformation of national environment, a Jewish artist would have to derive his national individuality chiefly from qualities received through heredity. But this would tend to prove that the artistic aptitude of the Jewish race is still aglow like live coal under ashes, and that it only needs personalities gifted with creative energy, and in whom this aptitude concentrates, condenses and transmutes into works, to bring forth Jewish artists. Are Jewish artists possible nowadays? By way of reply it may suffice to show that there are Jewish artists, or rather that with many Jewish artists we have the impression that their art has a national character.
It is very doubtful indeed whether any clear definition can be given of Jewish national art equally acceptable from the standpoint of the nationalist and that of the artist. We shall, therefore, confine ourselves to a brief outline of the evolution of Jewish artistic activity in painting and sculpture in modern times, without entering into the old and much-discussed question of ancient Palestinian Jewish painting, sculpture, architecture, etc., medieval Jewish miniature-painting of a religious or semi-religious character and more or less Jewish origin, and the arts of poetry and music cultivated by Jews since remotest antiquity and bearing undoubtedly in some cases the national character.
The sphere of art, particularly painting and sculpture, became accessible to the Jews at the same time as the realm of modern science and European culture and education, at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The fugitives from the Ghetto began to devote themselves to the study of art with more or less zeal, according to the opportunities afforded and conditions prevailing in the countries in which they lived――in Western Europe at an earlier period and in Eastern Europe somewhat later. Having received their training in different countries, they were naturally influenced by various schools of art. Some attained great distinction and merit, deserving to be placed in the foremost rank of European art, but these repudiated their Judaism, e.g. Munkácsy; others gained locally a high reputation; the majority of them, however, did not rise above mere mediocrity.
Benjamin Ulmann, an Alsatian, born in Strasburg, 1829, was a historical and portrait painter of some merit; Jean Jules Worms, born in Paris, 1832, painted genre-pictures with a good deal of animation; Leopold Pollack, born in Lodenitz, Bohemia, 1809, was a genre-painter of much refinement. He was an artist possessed of various accomplishments, who gained distinction in artistic circles as a “Slav”; Felix Schlesinger, born in Frankfurt O/M., 1814, and educated at Paris, became a famous French painter and was much appreciated as a genre-painter; Emil Lévy, born in Paris, 1826, deserves mention as a painter of idyllic scenery that showed considerable skill combined with simplicity; Louis Neustaeter, born in Munich, 1829 (d. 1899), achieved a reputation as a portrait painter; Felix Possart, born in Munich, 1837, was a most versatile popular painter; Nathanael Sichel, born in Mainz, 1843, was a historical painter of great talent; Eugene Benjamin Fischel, born in Paris, 1821 (d. 1895), was a historical painter (“The Arrival at the Inn” at the Luxembourg Museum since 1863), and devoted himself later on to painting of miniatures; Eduard Bendemann, born in Berlin, 1811 (d. 1889) was a painter of good taste and highly artistic accomplishments: he painted for the most part historical pictures, some of which are hung in German museums; Carl Jacoby, born in Berlin, 1853, distinguished himself among German painters of his time for his remarkable correctness in drawing; Friedrich Friedlaender, born in Vienna, 1825 (d. 1895), displayed the peculiar style of “Viennois” painting of his time; Toby Rosenthal, born in New Haven, U.S.A., 1848, was a disciple of Pilloty, and endeavoured to emulate his master; Herman Junker, Frankfurt (b. 1838); Karl Blosz, Munich; Edmund Edel, Charlottenburg; Julius Ester, Munich; August Gross, Vienna; Tullo Massarini, Rome; Albert Raudnitz, Munich; Ernest Raudnitz, Paris; Emanuel Spitzer, Munich; Ernst Nelson, Berlin, and others are known more or less as painters of various subjects.
The most notable of Jewish sculptors of the earliest period were: Antoine Samuel Adam Salomon, born in La Grete, France, 1818; Max Klein, born in Hungary, 1847; Josef Rona of Budapest; Adolf Huszar of Budapest, among whose important works should be mentioned the famous monument of the Hungarian national poet, Petöfi; Johann Silbernagel of Vienna, famous for his charming little statuettes; Charles Samuel, born in Brussels, 1862, who executed the monument of the great Belgian statesman, Frère d’Orban; Moses Jacob Ezekiel, born in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A., 1844, who established a great reputation in America and in Italy, and others.
It cannot definitely be said that this imposing host of artists belonging to the Jewish people who have enriched Art, during a comparatively short period――proving in that way the Jewish capacity for art――have in their works revealed a pronounced Jewish spirit. Jewish artists and their works are scattered all over the world, and there is no possibility even of bringing copies of their works together in one collection, so as to ascertain ad oculos whether there is, in spite of all the differences of schools and influences of environment, any trace of a special character to distinguish them from other collections of this kind, as the special character can only be distinguished when a number of pictures can be reviewed together. Seeing that the racial element is no doubt a potent factor in art, the work of the Huszars of Budapest, the Massarinis of Rome and the Possarts of Munich must have something in common because, after all, in the depths of their being, they are neither Magyars, nor Italians, nor Germans, but Jews. On the other hand, one may say that these Jews, having become an assimilated unit of the peoples among whom they had lived, been educated and worked, have no longer anything in common with and do not represent any specific school of Jewish art.
Another question is, whether the aforementioned Jewish artists have been engaged in presenting Jewish subjects (which is a question altogether removed from the previous, more fundamental question). This question can be easily answered: Jewish subjects were dealt with by Eduard Bendemann (“Boaz and Ruth,” “The Mourning Jews,” “Jeremias”); Emile Lévy “The Feast of Tabernacles” and other pictures); Moses Jacob Ezekiel (various statues of great artistic value).
Apart from these artists who proved that Jews were capable of becoming more or less important artists, there were even at an earlier period some who not only displayed generally great artistic skill, but also gave evidence of understanding something about Jewish art.
First and foremost among these pioneers was Henry Leopold Levy, born in Paris, 1840, who painted “Joash saved from the Massacre of the Grandsons of Athaliah” (1867), “Hebrew Captives weeping over the Ruins of Jerusalem” (1869), and other pictures. Being, so to speak, a divinely inspired artist, his works give proof of profound emotions and transcendental beauty and force. His mastery of dramatic effect, his extent and depth of passion remind one of an old Hebrew prophet.
Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, who was known as “Professor Oppenheim” of Frankfurt (1801‒82), is not of much importance from an artistic standpoint. In his time he was one of the most prominent illustrators of Jewish patriarchy. His “Pictures of Jewish Life” give the impression of great devotion and have gained considerable popularity through thousands of reproductions.¹
¹ The Jews of the Continent offered a splendid album, bound in marone velvet, inlaid with gilt bronze, in 1842 to Sir Moses Montefiore after his return from the East, in commemoration of his efforts on behalf of the persecuted Jews of Damascus. On each cover is a painting by Jewish artists. About these paintings the authors of the address――which was signed by 1490 subscribers――say:――
“The consecration of Joshua by the legislator Moses, as the leader of the armies of Israel, was the first step towards creating Israel a separate state. The pencil of Professor Oppenheim’s genius has here worthily represented this event. Israel’s mourning at the streams of Babel, painted by the masterly hand of Bendemann, brings in the background before our spirit, Jerusalem in flames, and the house of God in ruins. Thus both representations combine whatever constitutes Israel’s pride and grief; whatever in the pages of history is capable of inspiring the champion of Israel with courage and zeal” (Allg. Zeit. d. Judenthums, 10 September, 1842).
A tragic figure in the annals of art was Simeon Solomon, born in Bristol, 1834 (d. in London, 1905). At an early age he showed signs of artistic ability and――as his biographers say――“came under the influence of D. G. Rossetti.” His drawings and paintings developed the mystical and sensuous tendencies of the pre-Raphaelite school to the extreme. He published a number of designs for the “Song of Songs” and reproductions of the drawings illustrating Jewish ceremonies. Keen critics of art ascribe to his genius a stimulating originality which influenced the whole pre-Raphaelite artistic school.
The pinnacle of Art, speaking generally, was reached by three prominent masters: Joseph Israels (1824‒1911), Max Liebermann, and Solomon J. Solomon, R.A.
It was Joseph Israels who succeeded in representing the twilights of the Dutch atmosphere in all their individuality and tender charm. To understand how to portray Nature and Humanity, and more especially suffering Humanity, with equal care and art, and to bring into relief their organic interaction; to represent rural scenes, not as a stage setting but as an atmosphere, not forcible but imbued with poetic feeling; to invest human nature with a breath of such delicate lyricism that the impression created is one of love rather than of mere beauty; that is the chief characteristic of Israels’ art, which to us seems so entirely Jewish. It is the enchanting melancholy, the gentle, delicate longing, the half-uttered tones, the soft harmonies which are divined rather than seen or heard that make Israels appear so extraordinarily modern. It is not merely because Israels was a Jew, not merely because his greatest works represent Jewish subjects, but because his art was characterized by a rich poetic fancy, by kindliness and melancholy, and at the same time by a priestly solemnity and a great simplicity which harmonize so wonderfully with the deepest emotions of the Jewish Psyche, that we are justified in regarding Israels as a national-Jewish painter. We are acquainted with the Jewish Rabbi, the calm, discerning, introspective thinker, seeking for the great ethos of existence in all the passing phenomena of life. Joseph Israels was a painter-rabbi. He painted with the same fervour as a midrash scholar would teach, with which a Jehuda-ha-Levi would sing. A “Gaon” in the domain of Art, a “Baal-Shem” who works spells, causing angels to appear not by means of prayers and texts; not by means of cabbalistic incantations, but by means of colours, light and shade effects. Where so visible as in Israels, creations are the groups of Divine sparkle flying about the world, the creative embodiment of the “naked souls” thirsting for existence, peace and incarnation of which the Cabbala speaks with so much enthusiasm and of which Chassidism dreams.
In all his paintings Israels succeeded in effecting a concentration in composition which focussed all interest upon the soul, upon sensation. Israels has not been content to fix by the masterly stroke of the brush a moment of dramatic intensity surprised in his model [as for instance, in the Writer of the Law (The Thora-Writer)], or the influences of the moment upon the emotions and expressions of the subject, but the soul itself and the whole soul-state. This directness was attained by Israels through the double study of man and his destiny in direct relation to nature.
Encyclopædias give the names of his masters and types in Amsterdam and Paris. But had Israels been a mere follower of his masters, then his name would not be found in encyclopædias. For decades, for many decades, he, the versatile painter, devoted himself to historical painting. No catalogue has rescued the titles from oblivion. When questioned concerning his early works, he answered the present writer with one of his characteristic subtle smiles: “How should I know where they are?” It was not until he had attained full maturity, or according to general ideas, after he had well passed maturity, that Israels became what he now is: he found himself after the sun of his life had passed the meridian.
Max Liebermann regards himself as a disciple of Israels, but is considered by others to be superior in the brilliancy and versatility of his genius. He was practically the father of the German “Secession,” and is the greatest living painter in Germany and one of the greatest in the world. Solomon J. Solomon is one of the most celebrated English painters. Dignified and serene, he has a wonderfully extensive and many-sided grasp of his art. As to Jewish art, it is a disputable point whether Liebermann’s pictures bear indications of a pronounced Jewish character――some writers having maintained that such is the case. Israels’ “Thora-Writer,” and particularly his “Son of an Old People” ――which is justly supposed to have been inspired by the new national movement――appeal undoubtedly to the Jewish consciousness by their exceptional impressiveness. The picture which established Solomon J. Solomon’s reputation was his “Samson and Delilah,” while his “Allegory” of 1904 is said to depict the triumph of Judaism as the last and only religion of the world.
In closing the review of this epoch, mention must be made of Lesser Ury of Berlin, an artist of great severity and sadness, whose “Jeremias” and other pictures display some originality singularly independent of influences from without――in which fact some critics thought they could trace some visions of Jewish awakening.
A similar change was noticeable in Eastern Europe during the period of transition which began there some decades later than in the West. Here, too, some young Jews entered the academies of art just as others went to the universities for scientific study, but, of course, with that difference in the prospects of success which distinguish art from science, that art depends more on natural gifts than on capacity to study. Some Polish, Galician and Russian Jews pursued their studies in Cracow or Petrograd, some others studied at Munich and Paris. Some deliberately emphasizing their national origin and country, others showing, through their new environment, a leaning towards a diversity of practical and theoretical motives.
Joseph Redlich (1821‒81) was an engraver of world-wide fame during the first half of the century. Alexander Lesser of Warsaw (1819‒91), the son of a Jewish merchant, was described as “the father of Polish historical painting.” Of no importance as a painter, the curious fact remains that this typical Polish Jew was in his time appreciated as a painter of Polish national history (the first and most important publishers of illustrated books and periodicals in Warsaw were Merzbach, Gliksberg, Lewenthal, the son of a Hebrew teacher, and Wolf, who was of Jewish origin).
Leopold Horowitz, born in Hungary in 1831, who lived many years in Warsaw, and since the expulsion of foreign Jews from Russia in Vienna, has the twofold distinction of being an eminent portrait painter of European fame, and a well-known and noble-minded Jew. His Jewish picture “The Ninth of Ab” (the anniversary of the Destruction of the Temple) is a work of grand style, exquisitely finished; his portraits, too, gained highest praise. He is much interested in Jewish matters, and was prominently associated with the foundation of the “Jewish Museum” at Vienna.
One of the greatest painters of the last generation in Russia was Isaac Levitan, born in 1860 (d. 1900), the master of Russian landscape. This Jew of the Russian Ghetto taught Russian artists to abandon mere topography for a poetical treatment of landscape scenery. He did not only paint admirably the rich purple of the northern sunset, the thin clouds, dawn and darkness, but also the very soul of the landscape. A writer in the (anti-Jewish) Novoye Vremia had to admit that “this full-blooded Jew knew as no other man, how to make us realize and love our plain and homely country-scene.” Levitan’s pictures adorn the Tretjakov Museum at Moscow, and have the right of undisturbed shelter in that city that was not unconditionally granted to their originator. Leonid Pasternak, born in 1862, is an important Russian painter, particularly known for his connections with Tolstoi.
The most wonderful romance of Jewish vitality and force of self-regeneration is the story of Mark Antokolski (1842‒1900). Whatever modern critics may think of the special value of his master-works――classical or pseudo-classical――from an up-to-date point of view, the fact remains that this Lithuanian Jew, who was a son of poor parents at Vilna, brought up in the atmosphere of the Cheder (religious school) and the Vilna Schulhof, which is the most typical and best known centre of what is distinctly Jewish, is recognized, as far as sculpture is concerned, in Paris the metropolis of art. He introduced Russian sculpture into European art and his works have been highly appreciated, seeing with what intense delight and admiration they have been regarded by the highest in his native land, where he was entrusted with the task of executing the greatest national monuments, but his works have also received the highest praise throughout the world. Bernstamm Aronson and ♦Ginzburg, distinguished by exceptional maturity in study and powers of concentration, the former an eminent master where powers of imagination and fascination were concerned, the latter of an observant, subtle intelligence, which proved so useful to him in the careful reproduction of details dealing with nature. They are devoted to the art of sculpture in Paris and in Russia.
♦ “Guenzburg” replaced with “Ginzburg” for consistency
All these artists proved that Jews can be artists. Jewish art in Jewish subjects was here and there to be observed. Isidore Kaufmann, a Hungarian Jew, born in 1853, executed some appreciable work in genre-painting of Polish-Jewish life. He displayed in his “Visit of the Rabbi,” “Talmud Students” and other little pictures, a great simplicity and freshness, and a delightful sense of humour, but these pictures, humorous as they are, have merely anecdotes for the outlines of their scheme. A real awakening of Jewish art in a higher sense was left to the present period of the Jewish National Revival and Zionism.
This new period was inaugurated by two Polish-Galician Jewish artists, who, while their respective artistic achievements were of different value, were instrumental in opening new perspectives for Jewish art; these were Moritz Gottlieb and Ephraim Moses Ha’Cohen Lilien.
Moritz Gottlieb, born in a small village in Galicia, about 1860, was a disciple of the great Polish national painter Jan Matejko. Of great imaginative power and intense feeling, a real artist, he succeeded in mastering the intricacies of modern painting. He soon became a favourite of his tutor, and was much admired in artistic circles at Cracow, where his works were immensely appreciated on account of the suave and well-balanced style of his pictures. His prospects of a great future increased with his popularity. It is said――se non é vero é ben trovato――that when he expressed his intention of devoting himself to Polish historical painting, Matejko remarked: “My son, you are a Jew; you cannot weep on the graves of Polish kings; leave it to others.” So Gottlieb devoted himself to Jewish subjects, the most important of which was his admirable “Jew Praying in the Synagogue.” This masterpiece so full of inspiration was more than a picture; it was a message to Jewish artists, one of the most simple and impressive: “You shall go back to your own people; you shall find and see your own greatness and glory; you shall be your own selves again!”
The hand of death removed him in early manhood――at the end of the eighties of the last century――Moritz Gottlieb’s name was cherished by the new generation of Jewish artists as that of a noble pioneer who had ushered in the era of Jewish art.
About ten years later, Lilien, having terminated his studies at Munich, settled in Berlin, and got in touch with the young Zionist intellectual movement. By means of his illustrations in black and white, which combined modernism with archaic forms, permeated by the Hebrew spirit, he soon succeeded in introducing a new element in artistic skill, and played a prominent part in shaping the modern tendencies of a somewhat independent young Jewish art. As to the artistic value and originality of his remarkable and exceedingly fruitful art, opinions may differ considerably, yet there is no doubt, as a master of an unique style of drawing, touch, finish and execution, and as a pioneer and advocate of methods expressing Jewish aspirations, types and ideas, he is unrivalled, and his works have had a far-reaching effect in encouraging Jewish artists to devote themselves to the extension of Jewish art on a self-dependent and self-inspiring basis. The message of Gottlieb and the impulses of Lilien can be easily traced, even among the important Jewish artists who have been their contemporaries or have lived at a later period and have occupied honoured positions in general as well as in Jewish art.
Samuel Hirschenberg, Leopold Pilichowski and Henry Glitzenstein form, with all the distinction of their individualistic and high artistic qualifications, a sort of triumvirate in the realm of art. All these came from the same country――Poland――and from the same district of that country; they were contemporaries in age as well as in their outlook on life, seeing that all these represent the new, emancipated intellectual type of the Polish Jew with a touch of Jewish nationalism of the eighties, who differ so distinctly from the old type of the “assimilation” Jews of a previous period.
Samuel Hirschenberg excelled in the painting of a variety of subjects. His distinctness and fine blending of colours, his skill in creating broad and accurate outlines of figures are indeed remarkable. He was a modest, earnest and most industrious worker of really artistic aspirations. He had a strong predisposition for big canvases and was averse from anecdotal subjects. He was unable to paint anything of a small type. The Jewish people, its suffering, and his persecuted brethren formed the subjects of his brush. “Golus” (copies of which are well known) is a specimen of his art and outlook. Of keen perception, the life-blood of Jewry pulsing through his veins, he painted his “Wandering Jew,” presenting with tragic force the synthesis and the resentment caused by Jewish Martyrdom.
He was one of those who had penetrated most deeply and powerfully the tragedy of the Golus, with all its great and desperate dreadfulness and all its abysmal horror, who felt it within their innermost marrow and blood, who went through life with its sad brand on their brows. The brush with which he painted was the master’s heart, and the colour――his blood, the warm life-blood. The blood which has been flowing for thousands of years from the ever-open wound of the creative genius and of the nation. He dreamt to base the future upon sacred ruins. He deemed as nothing the laurels of the Golus as compared with the feeble light which began to glow more and more vividly far away in the old country and in his bosom, which overflowed with sadness and longing. He was a priest of art and a priest of the Jewish renaissance. During the last years of his life he went to Jerusalem to take part in the art work of Bezalel, and died there――as he had lived――upright and resigned to his fate, hiding from the world the sufferings of a noble soul.
Leopold Pilichowski is quite different in artistic temperament. Cheerful, thorough and pleasant, guided by a truly artistic instinct, he possesses the natural gifts of an eminent artist, being a keen observer of life, of charming personality, and an enthusiastic worker. He achieved a high reputation by reason of his admirable blending of colours, his excellent and attractive style, the life-like expression of his portraits and the careful attention bestowed upon details. In France he attained high distinction, and recently also in this country where his works have found considerable appreciation. But the favourite subject of his art is Polish Jews. His picture entitled “Wearied,” the two figures of old wearied Polish Jewish pilgrims――is in conception and execution a masterpiece; this picture has been so frequently reproduced that it is now one of the most popular and most impressive Jewish pictures of the time. He expresses more forcibly than any other contemporary painter the intense fervour of Jewish prayer. He endeavours to penetrate the secrets of Polish-Jewish pathos in his charming picture “The Feast of our Rejoicing” and in another, entitled “Sorrow” which, probably, no other painter would have been able to understand. He describes and creates an historical record for the type of the Polish Jew as he knew him――in the fervour of his prayers, in the glory of his devotion, in the attractiveness of his misery.
Henry Glitzenstein, who now lives in Rome, is the son of a Melamed (religious teacher) in the little village of Turek, Poland. In Italy and throughout Europe, where his works have at several exhibitions gained highest distinction, he is recognized as being one of the greatest sculptors of the age. In ability, taste, gracefulness, originality and invention, he is a sculptor-poet, who excels all Jewish sculptors that ever lived, and even many non-Jewish artists of standing. It is not presumptuous to assert that Glitzenstein is one of the most modern sculptors, whose modernism does not merely amount to the acceptance of a certain “fad” but means original and constructive ability. He, too, is a dreamer of the Ghetto, but at the same time a master of a living art. His “Messiah,” the incarnation of the mighty, asleep yet about to awaken to any movement towards the Jewish future, is a work of an enormous conception.
Hirschenberg’s “Wandering Jew,” Pilichowski’s “Wearied” and Glitzenstein’s “Messiah,” though undoubtedly independent individual works, have yet to a certain extent been influenced by the new national spirit set aglow by Gottlieb and Lilien, and by the literature of the Jewish Revival.
To this category of Jewish artists belongs Hermann Struck, who combines artistic refinement with orthodox Jewish devotion and Zionist aspirations, a master of the first water, who has executed etchings of Israels’ works and those of other great artists, and has a fine record for original portrait painting, Palestinian landscapes, and other drawings of exceptional skill; Moses Maimon, a distinguished Russian-Jewish painter, the author of the very popular “Marranos in Spain,” and of other pictures of value; Jehuda Epstein, who has given proof of possessing great power of imagination by his great sketch “Maccabean,” a picture made for Herzl, who had it in his studio; Minkowski (Warsaw), whose Pogrom pictures are of really artistic value; Pffeffermann (Pan), a man of considerable artistic achievement, who has been engaged on the teaching staff of the Bezalel; Weinles and Altmann (Poland), who are responsible for various pictures and studies of Jewish subjects; Wachtel (Galicia), who emulated Lilien; and Hochmann (Cracow), who was guided by Glitzenstein’s works. In Russia there are the painters: A. A. Maneritsch, M. L. Schafrom, A. B. Lachowski, and the sculptors: F. Bloch, M. L. Dillon, J. A. Troupianski, of the younger generation, and――of the older generation――Gabowitsch, J. J. Brodski, who represent modern Jewish art. In the important colony of artists and art students in Paris, including Leo Minsenberg, Leopold Gottlieb, Cylkow, Markus, Kramstück, Elie Nadelman and others of Warsaw, a real Jewish awakening has been observed, particularly among the younger members of the colony.
Special mention should be made of the well-known landscape painter Abraham Neumann of Sierpce, Poland, who has a fine long record of artistic work. He participated most actively in stimulating Jewish artistic activity in Poland and Galicia.
With regard to sculpture, Alfred Nossig has also to be mentioned. Nossig can boast, among his various accomplishments, also that of an able sculptor con amore. In some of his works he has dealt impressively with national Jewish subjects.
Another Jewish sculptor of note should be mentioned, viz. F. Beer of Paris (died in 1910). He was an ardent Zionist and a great personal friend of Herzl, and contributed his share to Zionist artistic work (the badges of the Congress).
In this country, Will Rothenstein has become very popular through several of his pictures devoted to scenes of Jewish life; Isaac Snowman and his brother Louis [Conrad] are artists of recognized accomplishments, and have painted valuable pictures of this kind. Wolmark is well known as an artist of exquisite taste and idealistic aspirations. His inclination has led him to the rendering of subjects dealing with Jewish life, so admirably dealt with in some of the pictures. He is a strong individualist and truth-seeker, and has in recent times manifested a decided inclination for futurism, of which he is one of the champions. Jacob Epstein is the most representative of sculptors and combines genius with technical skill.
The foregoing survey of Jewish activity forces us to the following conclusions:――
I. The numerous Jewish works of art, especially in painting and sculpture of such marked ability, with no previous history, patronage or encouragement, and produced under most unfavourable circumstances in a comparatively short time, showed that Jewish genius was as much capable of development in the sphere of art as in music, poetry or the drama, and has made its influence felt at every opportunity.
II. The great artistic value――with few exceptions――of the works of these masters who either were acquainted with the older Jewish traditions, like Israels, H. P. Levy, Ezekiel, or who had come direct from the Ghetto, like Antokolski, compared with the Assimilationist Jews who were either satellites or plagiarists, proves that, even during the period previous to the present national Revival, Jewish consciousness (like any other deep racial consciousness) has stimulated the vigour and originality of artistic activity.
III. The beneficial effects of the National movement in Jewish artistic craftsmanship can be observed in two directions:――
(a) in the artistic value of the productions, especially with regard to Jewish subjects, and
(b) in the degree of influence of the artistic activity on the Jewish people.
With regard to the first point, the progress made can be easily gauged by comparing, for instance, Bendemann and Emil Levy with Gottlieb, or Oppenheim with Lilien, and so on. Jewish life at the period of Assimilation, like the literature of that period was presented essentially in apologetic terms and addressed itself always, consciously or unconsciously, to Gentiles, as if to say: “Think of us, we are really not as detestable as you believe us to be, we are rather attractive”; but, on the other hand, national artists say: “We are what we are,” and more than that, seeing that to deal with Jewish subjects from a national standpoint is self-centred, and therefore more of a psychological question. We are what we are, neither better nor worse than others: we endeavour to know ourselves, and we want to see our images reflected in our own art. Oppenheim’s Jews are so idealistically exaggerated that one would not recognize them if one were to meet them in their shops on the “Zeil” in Frankfurt, while Gottlieb’s Jews are so orientally peculiar, that meeting them in the market-place dealing with tapestry one would have the impression that these dealers are descendants of oriental princes, although the artist had no intention of producing this impression.
The second point is still more important. The art of the period of Assimilation, like the active character of Assimilation, is essentially individualistic and aristocratic, while the art of the period is decidedly of a collective and democratic character. Logically and psychologically, there can be no movement of Assimilation in masses, because Assimilation must be opposed to cohesion or a movement for the cohesion of Jews, except for ritual purposes. A Jew becomes a doctor, a lawyer or a painter――the more he succeeds in his career among Gentiles, the less he is brought in contact with the Jewish masses: nobility of character or generosity may make him a philanthropist to the masses whom he may endeavour to patronize; on the other hand, the absence of these qualities will make him wholly indifferent, but anyhow the chain of natural and simple intercourse is broken. This was necessarily the course of Assimilation in every direction, and also showed us the relationship of Jewish artists to the Jewish masses. All those Huszars, Ronas, Schlesingers and Pollacks had no inclination and no possibility whatever of acquiring the artistic education of the people from whom they sprang. In this respect the situation has considerably improved owing to the national movement, Chovevé Zion and Zionism. Now, many Jewish artists live among the people, and are influenced by them. Not only in Russia, where there is now a strong movement for propaganda ♦and mutual help among Jewish artists (under the tutorship of Ilja Ginzburg)――a movement which was unthinkable in the time of the Assimilation tendencies――but even in Paris a tendency has made itself felt in this direction in the Jewish colony of artists in recent times. Among the masses in the East of London, too, there is an Organization called Ben Uri, for the propaganda of art. Lectures are arranged, instruction is given, and popular articles are published on various subjects of art. That popularity is due to the activity of the publishing firms Phœnix, Libanon, the monthly Ost und West, and other publications.
♦ “amd” replaced with “and”
Summing up the effects of relationship between Jewish art and Zionism, we see that Zionism has played its part in the revival of Jewish art. On the other hand, Jewish art has contributed much to the propaganda of Zionism. It cannot be too often repeated that the creative and active forces of Zionism have always been literature, education and art: they have stimulated the people’s hearts and minds, they have opened the people’s eyes and enlisted their generosity. One of the greatest agencies of Zionist propaganda has been the Bezalel, the work of the enthusiastical Jewish artist Boris Schatz, who is in his own art a disciple of Antokolski, but who stands himself, unrivalled, as a pioneer in the propaganda of Jewish artistic activity in Palestine.
It is not hazarding too much to assert, that with an important development of colonization and education in Palestine we are going to see a really original Jewish art. But even in the Diaspora, the awakening of Jewish consciousness will ennoble, popularize and strengthen Jewish art. Jewish artists should not pursue any particular tendency in addition to their own art; they should be only artists, and true to themselves. Art must be free, and being free it will――as a necessary and natural consequence――eventually offer ample scope for the national genius.
LXXXI.
PROGRESS OF ZIONISM IN THE WEST SINCE 1897
1. England
IN England Zionist propaganda was very much hampered for want of an influential and well-supported Hebrew press and literature――which, after all, form the most powerful factor in the national propaganda, and an intellectual weapon in the struggle, the more so because through them can be maintained a direct closer touch and personal relations with Palestine. These two factors have made Zionism in Eastern Europe something more than a formal organization governed by certain statutes; it has now become a living force. Zionist propaganda there has also suffered from want of extensive university groups that have brought a great educational force into the Movement in continental countries. In England, where class divisions are so pronounced, in ideas, language and customs, and where the pressure of the Jewish problem from outside is not felt, the difficulties in the way of Zionist propaganda were naturally much greater. Besides these difficulties, there was another fact that did not fail to influence the position. The centralization of the financial institutions and the greater facility for political organization were no doubt of considerable advantage, as they afforded English Zionism in this respect means of propaganda not accessible to the Movement in other countries. But there was also an important drawback, namely, the Movement has been concentrated on these two appeals. The consequences of such a development manifested themselves in two directions: in the influence upon the Organization, and in the effect on non-members of the Organization. As for the internal influences, although the general Zionist work might have appeared here as elsewhere to be of the greatest importance, nevertheless it must be admitted that the financial institutions necessarily absorbed more energy, and carried more weight, while observers from outside were faced more directly than in any other country with this particular aspect of the Zionist Organization. In Eastern Europe, the public outside of Zionism was also made aware of the existence of a political scheme and financial matters; but what they realized most immediately and forcibly was above all an intellectual activity, a new system of education, a new attitude towards all questions of the day and a new and close relationship with Palestine. In England, outsiders saw little or nothing of what others saw elsewhere. All they realized was a political scheme which they naturally endeavoured to magnify and to exaggerate for the sake of controversy, clinging obstinately to their own opposition to “Utopia,” and looking at the comparatively meagre financial means as something that was unable to impress them to any great extent.
Yet they were greatly mistaken. Zionism in England was in its essentials not in the least different from what it is in Russia or anywhere else. It must be admitted that it has not yet sufficiently developed all the various branches of its activity, but this is not due to a difference in its principle, but to the divergence in local conditions for which the idea is not responsible. If all its potentialities have not yet been developed, there is no reason why they should not be so very soon. Notwithstanding all kinds of difficulties and domestic controversies, Zionism in England was propagated and furthered by a great number of able workers. Among those who took a leading part in the work in England since the earliest period may be found: the Haham Dr. Moses Gaster, Joseph Cowen, Herbert Bentwich, the late S. B. Rubenstein, L. J. Greenberg, Jacob de Haas, Jacob Moser, Charles Dreyfus, the late Rabbi A. Werner, the late A. Vecht, the late A. Lozinsky, the late A. Ginzberg, L. Kessler, Percy Baker, the late J. Massel, E. Ish-Kishor, M. Shire, J. Cohen-Lask, Rev. J. K. Goldbloom, the late Rev. David Wasserzug, Dr. S. Fox, E. W. Rabbinowicz, Miss H. Weisberg, Dr. Moses Umanski, H. M. Raskin, H. Comor, the late H. M. Benoliel, Solomon Cohen, E. Guilaroff, and others.
Somewhat later――not exactly in the literal sense――the older leaders were joined by new workers of influence and eminent ability. The most notable are: Dr. Ch. Weizmann, Dr. Samuel Daiches, Rev. Isaiah Raffalovich, Leon Simon, Harry Sacher, Norman Bentwich, Albert M. Hyamson, Dr. S. Brodetsky, S. Landman, Leonard Stein, Rev. M. H. Segal, Bertram Benas, Joseph Jacobs, Paul Goodman, Israel Cohen, Dr. Joseph Hochman, Samuel Cohen, Israel Sieff, Simon Marks, Dr. Salis Daiches, F. S. Spiers, and others. In University and intellectual circles also important progress in Zionist thought could be perceived. One of the most prominent of the intellectual Zionists is the Haham Dr. Gaster. He was born at Bucharest in 1857. Having matriculated there, he proceeded to the Jewish Seminary, Breslau, where in due course he received his rabbinical diploma. He is also a Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Leipsic. He published numerous important works on the Roumanian language and literature, and on the subject of folklore, on which he is one of the first authorities. He has written text-books for general and Jewish schools in Roumania. His compendium of Scripture history has been adopted as a standard work throughout the country. He produced the first excellent translation of the Hebrew Prayer Book into Roumanian. In 1885 he left Roumania and came to England, where he was appointed Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Congregations in succession to the late Haham Dr. Artom (1887). This office he resigned in 1918. He brought new life into those congregations and largely aided by his valuable literary work in the promotion of oriental studies in England. Gaster was an ardent Zionist long before the First Congress. Profoundly touched by the unfortunate position of the Jews in Roumania, he assisted in establishing the first Jewish colony in Palestine, Samarin (Zichron Jacob)――and organized meetings in Roumania which were addressed by Laurence Oliphant and others. Indeed it was the part he took in these matters that, in some measure, led to his expulsion from Roumania. In England he joined the Zionist Organization from its very beginning. His learned speeches and writings gave a great impetus to the propaganda.
Herbert Bentwich, a zealous and devoted supporter of the Jewish colonization in Palestine, was as well known in the Chovevé Zion movement as he is in the Zionist Organization. He was the organizer and leader of the Maccabean Pilgrimage to Palestine of 1897. In several articles in the English press he answered the attacks made upon Zionism. Being a lawyer by profession his services were invaluable in the foundation of the Zionist financial institutions. A well-known figure at the Zionist Congresses, he is a most active worker in local affairs, especially in the Order of Ancient Maccabeans, in connection with which organization he recently helped to found a land company for the purchase of land in Palestine. He is indefatigable in the propaganda of Zionism, and one of the few English Zionists who succeeded in making Zionism a tradition of his family by means of the closest personal contact with Palestine.
Israel Zangwill may be described as one of the most distinguished propagandists of the Zionist idea during the period 1899 until 1906, when he founded the Territorialist Organization. To this brilliant writer and orator belongs the credit of having contributed greatly towards making Zionism popular in England. An English writer of enchanting dexterity, possessed of a keen sense of humour and capacity to appeal to the crowd, he discredited the old idea of Assimilation. Though his views on the future of Palestine have undergone considerable modification, his pamphlets and early speeches are still useful and appreciated in Zionism.
Mr. Joseph Cowen, who takes a most active and responsible part in Zionist work, particularly with regard to the financial institutions, plays an important part in central as well as in local organization. He was for some years a member of the Actions Committee and one of the most prominent representatives at Zionist Congresses and Conferences. Mr. L. J. Greenberg’s name is found in the Zionist records of the first few years in connection with the movement in England, as well as internationally, and in his work he has always associated himself with Mr. Cowen. He was always deemed resourceful and an energetic propagandist in England, and was for a certain period a member of the central management of the Organization. He was Honorary Secretary of the English Zionist Federation, and a member of the Actions Committee, and in these capacities did admirable work. Both Mr. Cowen and Mr. Greenberg were deeply attached to Herzl, and assisted him in his work in England.
The late S. B. Rubenstein was one of the veterans of the old Chovevé Zion, and as a representative Zionist was very active in the movement since the First Congress. Mr. Jacob de Haas, a journalist of great versatility, combined with great devotion and inexhaustible enthusiasm for the cause, worked hard in England, and now continues his useful work zealously in the United States. Mr. Leopold Kessler, a faithful adherent to Zionism since its inception, has been active, partly in South Africa and partly in England, more especially in connection with the financial institutions and the Actions Committee. The Rev. Isaiah Raffalovich, Rabbi of the New Hebrew Congregation, Liverpool, a native of Jerusalem, an inspired Chovev Zion and Zionist, is doing excellent propaganda work. The late Joseph Massel, of Manchester, a man of great Jewish learning, a Hebrew writer and translator, was a well-known and popular figure at the Zionist Conferences in England, as well as at the Zionist Congresses. He was one of the few Hebraists who introduced an element of Hebrew literature into the Zionist propaganda in England. The late Aron Vecht (1856‒1908), a man of striking individuality, was an ardent Jewish nationalist. He founded the weekly paper, The Jewish Standard, and was one of the founders of the Chovevé Zion Association in London, and later, when Herzl launched the Zionist movement, became one of his most devoted followers.
Mr. Jacob Moser, J.P. (Lord-Mayor of Bradford, 1910‒11), deserves an honourable place among the Zionist leaders. A prominent philanthropist in his city, and a devoted Zionist, he has been for a number of years a leading representative of the Movement and was elected a member of the Actions Committee, and attended most Zionist Congresses, where he gained great popularity. He visited Palestine and became a generous and zealous patron of Hebrew education there. The Hebrew Gymnasium at Jaffa, which is the first and foremost Hebrew educational institution in the Holy Land, was practically founded by him, and owes its existence and maintenance to his exertions and generosity. Dr. Charles Dreyfus, J.P., of Manchester, has associated himself with the Zionist movement now for some years. He has been a member of the Actions Committee and President of the English Zionist Federation.
Some Zionists have worked, and are now working, with great enthusiasm in the sphere of Hebrew education. The method of Hebrew teaching known as “Ibrith B’Ibrith” (Hebrew in Hebrew), which was first introduced by Zionists into Palestine and Russia, was first recommended in England by Mr. David Yellin, of Jerusalem, at public meetings addressed by him on his visits to this country, and was strongly supported by Mr. Israel Abrahams. In the work of encouraging the diffusion of the Hebrew language in England those most active were: in London――Rev. J. K. Goldbloom――and before his removal to the United States Mr. E. Ish-Kishor, and――in Liverpool――Dr. Samuel Fox, an able Hebraist and educator, formerly editor of the Ha-Magid, assisted by a number of efficient Hebrew teachers, Mr. Maximovski (now in America), Mr. Rumianck, Mr. Wassilewsky, Mr. Port, Mr. A. Doniach, the young Hebrew poet Pinski, Mr. Beilin, Mr. Hodes, and others. There are in London, as well as in the provinces, some Hebrew-speaking societies and groups that work for the maintenance of Hebrew as a living tongue. The late J. Suwalski, an able Talmudist and Hebrew writer, edited and published in London for some years a Hebrew weekly, Ha-Yehoudi, under most difficult conditions. After his death the publication of this paper was suspended, but in Hebraist circles a propaganda is again on foot for the purpose of securing the reappearance of a Hebrew weekly.
In tracing the more recent development of Zionism in England, a number of representatives and workers of a prominently intellectual and literary character cannot escape our attention: Dr. Samuel Daiches, Lecturer in Biblical Exegesis and Talmudics at Jews’ College, and author of numerous works on Assyriologian, Biblical Babylonian and Talmudical Babylonian subjects, a scholar of recognized merits, has an excellent Zionist record as a delegate to the Congresses, a Zionist writer, and as a most faithful propagandist of the national idea and the Hebrew language. His brother, Dr. Salis Daiches, Minister of the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation and author of studies on philosophy, is an active member of the Organization. Both are faithful to the traditions of their old rabbinical family and particularly to that of their father, the venerable Rabbi Israel Hayim Daiches of the Great Bet Ha-Midrash Congregation, Leeds, who many years ago, when Rabbi at Neustadt-Shirvint, Russia, was one of the first of the orthodox Rabbis to identify themselves with the Zionist idea.
The beginning of a University movement and the literary activity in connection with Zionism are, undoubtedly, remarkable features of Zionist development in England in recent years and deserve due consideration. Most prominent in this useful and promising movement are: Leon Simon, Norman Bentwich, Harry Sacher, Albert M. Hyamson, Dr. Selig Brodetsky, Samuel Landman, Dr. Joseph Hochman, Leonard Stein, the Rev. M. H. Segal and others, who, as Hebrew scholars and English writers of a highly cultivated literary taste, have founded University Zionist Societies, and are frequently lecturing on Zionist and general Jewish literary subjects. During the four years of the European War, despite the pressure on their time and energies which their non-Zionist duties, in most instances in the service of the State, involved, they produced a Zionist literature remarkable not only in all the circumstances for its quantity, but also for its quality. They established and produced two periodicals, The Zionist Review, the monthly organ of the English Zionist Federation (editors, Mr. A. M. Hyamson and Mr. Leon Simon), in a sense the successor to The Zionist, which ceased publication on the outbreak of war, and Palestine, the weekly organ of the British Palestine Committee (editor, Mr. Harry Sacher). Of books all of a high quality and a permanent character, Zionism and the Jewish Future (editor, Mr. H. Sacher), which immediately became the standard work in England on Zionism, and passed into a second edition which soon became exhausted, Zionism――Problems and Views (editors, Mr. Paul Goodman and Mr. Arthur D. Lewis), Palestine――The Rebirth of an Ancient People (Mr. Albert M. Hyamson), Palestine of the Jews (Mr. Norman Bentwich), and England and Palestine (Mr. H. Sidebotham), published by the British Palestine Committee, have all appeared since 1914. At the same time the same small band of writers have been active in the periodical press, and by means of a number of pamphlets, which deal with different aspects of Zionism and the Palestine question, have had considerable influence on public opinion, Jewish and non-Jewish, throughout the English-speaking world. Some members of this small band have also written on Zionism and Palestine in some of the leading American periodicals. Without being by any means exhaustive, one may mention among recent pamphlets: The Case of the Anti-Zionists (Leon Simon), Great Britain, Palestine and the Jews――(1) Jewry’s Celebration of its National Charter, (2) A Survey of Christian Opinion, What is Zionism? (Dr. Chaim Weizmann and Dr. Richard Gottheil), The Jewish Colonization in Palestine: Its History and its Prospects (S. Tolkowsky), A Jewish Palestine: The Jewish Case for a British Trusteeship (H. Sacher), Zionism and the Jewish Religion (F. S. Spiers), Zionism and the Jewish Problem (Leon Simon), A Hebrew University for Jerusalem (H. Sacher), Zionism and Socialism (Lewis Rifkind), Jewish Emancipation: The Contract Myth (H. Sacher), History and Development of Jewish Colonization in Palestine (L. Kessler), Zionism, its Organization and Institutions (S. Landman), Jewish Colonization and Enterprise in Palestine (I. M. Sieff), Zionism and Jewish Culture (Norman Bentwich), Zionism and the State (H. Sacher), Zionism and the Hebrew Revival (E. Miller), Hebrew Education in Palestine (S. Philipps), British Projects for the Restoration of the Jews (A. M. Hyamson), Cosmopolitanism and Zionism (Arthur D. Lewis), The Jewish National Fund (Joseph D. Jacobs), Zionism in the Bible (N. Sokolow), Achievements and Prospects in Palestine (S. Tolkowsky), Hebrew Education in Palestine (Leon Simon), and a number of the essays of “Achad Ha’am,” translated into English by Mr. Leon Simon.
Of important articles in the principal English weeklies and reviews may be mentioned “Palestine and Jewish Nationalism,” by Mr. Leon Simon, in The Round Table, “The Development of Political Zionism,” by Mr. Israel Cohen in The Fortnightly Review, by Mr. Albert M. Hyamson in the Quarterly Review, and also several other articles by the same writer in The New Statesman and The New Europe. The Times and The Manchester Guardian, not to mention other daily periodicals, have given valuable and frequent support, in their editorial columns and elsewhere, to the Zionist cause.
It is chiefly due to the exertions of Mr. Leon Simon, who stands at the head of the University Zionist Organization, that the revival of interest in living Hebrew has spread among the young intellectuals. It is worthy of notice that this young scholar, who was born and educated in this country, was so strongly inspired by the Zionist idea that he acquired so thorough a knowledge of the Hebrew language that he is now a good Hebrew speaker, as well as a highly appreciated contributor to the Hebrew monthly Ha-Shiloach. The Rev. M. H. Segal, formerly Minister of the Newcastle-on-Tyne Congregation, author of Mishnaic Hebrew and its Relation to Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, who belongs to the same group, is an excellent Hebrew writer. This movement has been greatly influenced by Asher Ginzberg――Achad Ha’am――who lives in London, and whose writings are very highly appreciated in intellectual quarters. Mr. Simon has translated some of his books into English. A great supporter of this movement is Dr. Ch. Weizmann, who is an old worker in University circles.
Evidently Zionism is attracting more and more attention and consideration, and has the moral support and sympathy of distinguished scholars and spiritual leaders, among whom we may mention the Goldsmid Professor of Hebrew at the University of London and Rabbi of the Bayswater Synagogue, Hermann Gollancz, and Dr. S. A. Hirsch, a well-known Talmudist and Emeritus Lecturer at Jews’ College. Dr. Hirsch was one of the distinguished Chovevé Zion, and took great interest in the Zionist movement. He was for a time Chairman of the Joint Committee of the English Zionist Federation and the Maccabeans.
The foregoing sketch, incomplete as it is, gives some idea of the amount of energy and labour expended on the work of Zionist organization and propaganda in England. If it is not as large and vigorous as it might be, and as it is undoubtedly going to be owing to the new development, it cannot be denied that there is in England a strong Zionist movement supported by an ever-increasing number of able, determined and devoted workers.
2. South Africa
In South Africa Zionism is powerful and important. Among the first representatives of the movement there must be mentioned as the most notable: Dr. J. H. Hertz, Johannesburg (he was Delegate to the Fourth Zionist Congress, 1900), who is now Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire. Other staunch supporters were the Rev. Dr. J. L. Landau, Mr. S. Goldreich, the late Rev. D. Wasserzug, Mr. S. L. Heymann, Mr. S. Lennox-Loewe, Mr. R. Alexander, Mr. J. Heymann, Dr. Abelheim, Mr. J. L. Cohen, Mr. H. Lyons, Mr. R. Feigenbaum, Mr. H. B. Ellenbogen, Mr. S. S. Grossberg (Bulawayo), Mr. B. Aaron, Mr. J. Blum, Mr. A. Beyer, Mr. N. Richardson, Mr. J. Kark, Mr. B. J. Chaimowitz, Mr. A. Deremeik, Mr. A. M. Abrahams, Mr. J. Kaplan, Mr. J. Schwartz, Mr. Groimann, Mr. Hersh, Mr. S. Bebor and others. They have a well-organized Zionist Federation, of which the advocate, Mr. Maurice Alexander, is the Chairman. They also have their own Zionist Press, always send delegates to the Zionist Congresses and maintain a strong and successful propaganda in their country. The enthusiasm manifested by the masses is as great as the wonderful generosity with which they support all Zionist institutions in and outside of Palestine. One is simply struck with admiration at the wonderful results they have achieved in the way of contributions.
3. Canada
In Canada the Zionist movement began in 1898 and immediately met with great success. Zionists propagated their principles at mass meetings and soon attracted enthusiastic workers for their cause, and by their help they were enabled to form organizations in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Hamilton, London, Kingston (Ontario), Ottawa, and on the Pacific Coast. (The first Zionist Society in Canada was the Agudath Zion in Montreal.) First and foremost among the leaders is Mr. Clarence I. de Sola, a brother of the late Rev. Meldola de Sola, the minister of the Sephardi Community of Montreal. Both were the sons of Dr. Abraham de Sola, LL.D., who was Professor of Semitic Literature at the McGill University of Montreal, and the leading Jewish Rabbi and writer in Canada. Mr. Clarence de Sola is President of the Federation of the Zionist Societies of Canada. The Rev. A. M. Ashinski (now at Pittsburg), Dr. David M. Hart, the Rev. B. M. Kaplin, Mr. J. S. Leo, Mr. A. Levin, the Rev. D. H. Wittenberg, Mr. H. G. Levetus, Mr. Leon Goldman, Mr. B. Levi, the late Mr. Falik and many others were the principal, untiring workers from the first; and the distinguished Hebraist Rabbi Menkin (Hamilton), the eminent preacher Rabbi Abramowitz (Montreal), Mr. L. Lewinsky (Toronto), Mr. J. Friedmann (Ottawa), Mr. S. Jacobs (Montreal), Mr. Leon Cohn, Dr. Shayne, Mr. David Levy, Mr. Louis Fitch, Mr. A. A. Harris, Mr. S. Frankel, Mr. E. Geffen, Mr. Joseph Finsberg, Mr. H. Nathansohn, Mr. Bernard Lasker and many other enthusiastic speakers, workers and writers contributed to the efforts that made the Federation of the Canadian Zionists a living force in the great movement, and the most active and most respected section of Jewry in that important part of the British Empire.
4. Other Parts of the British Empire
There are also some Zionist groups as well as individual supporters in New Zealand, in Australia and in all other parts of the British Empire. In Egypt Zionism has recently made considerable progress.
5. The United States
The United States of America, with its three million Jews, of whom by far the greater number have migrated there from Russia during the past two generations, has naturally become an important centre of Zionism. It is impossible to give, in a brief outline, a proper conception of the greatness and importance of Zionist activities in America.
America is a world in itself, and this can equally be said of American Zionism. The majority of Zionists may already perhaps, or will very soon, reside in the English-speaking countries. The extent of Zionism in the United States cannot be gauged by the payment of the “Shekel” (the annual obligatory Zionist contribution) , which is not by any means a criterion as far as Zionist allegiance in America is concerned. It is sufficient to mention such well-known names as: Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Nathan Straus, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Dr. Harry Friedenwald, Professor Richard Gottheil, Miss Henrietta Szold, Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen, Professor Israel Friedlaender, Rev. Dr. Pereira Mendes, E. Lewin-Epstein, Zolotkow, Louis Lipsky, J. de Haas, Professor Felix Frankfurter, Leon Sanders, Dr. C. S. Rubensohn, Nathan D. Kaplan, Judge Aaron J. Levy, Judge Julian W. Mack, Dr. H. M. Kallen, Rabbi H. H. Rubenowitz, Louis Robison, Dr. Benjamin L. Gordon, Julius Meyer, S. Abel, A. E. Lubarski, Maurice L. Avner, Rabbi S. Margolis, Rev. Max Heller, Joseph Barondess, Rev. H. Masliansky, Abraham Goldberg, Bernard Richards, B. Rosenblatt and many others, representing all classes, sections and shades of American Jewry――these names enable one to form a slight idea of the greatness of the movement.
Mr. Louis D. Brandeis, Justice of the Supreme Court, stands at the head of the Organization, and his influence in America equals almost that of Herzl in this hemisphere. Dr. Shemaryah Levin, representing the Inner Actions Committee, has done much to stimulate propaganda in America, and is strongly supported by a number of distinguished Zionists who have recently arrived there.
The movement has, however, a long and honourable record in America (where, as in other countries, the Zionist movement was preceded by a Chovevé Zion movement). There have been not only the Shove Zion in New York and the Chovevé Zion in Philadelphia in 1891; the beginning was much earlier. Mention has already been made of the Rev. M. J. Raphall’s activities; but he did not stand alone in his efforts. An attempt to form a Chovevé Zion organization was made at Cincinnati in 1855. In the Occident of Philadelphia, of March 8th, 1860, Mr. Simon Berman, the author of the Hebrew book Massot Shimon (published in 1874), published the details of a Chovevé Zion plan he had then formulated. Still later, Adam Rosenberg worked most energetically in connection with Chovevé Zion in other countries, and with the first colonists in Palestine. Rosenberg attended also the First Zionist Congress.
The Federation of American Zionists was organized on July 4th, 1897, with Professor Richard Gottheil as President, Dr. B. Felsenthal of Chicago, Dr. M. Jastrow of Philadelphia, Dr. S. Schaffer of Baltimore, Dr. J. L. Bluestone, Rev. H. Masliansky, as members; Mr. C. D. Birkhahn acted as Hon. Treasurer, and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise as Honorary Secretary.
The old and highly esteemed Dr. Gustav Gottheil, father of Professor Richard Gottheil, who had formerly been Rabbi at Manchester (and a friend of Professor Theodores), and had just then become Rabbi at New York (where he died in 1903), identified himself with the Zionist movement. Professor Richard Gottheil joined the movement from the beginning. He was a friend of Herzl, a member of the Actions Committee and a prominent figure at the Zionist Congresses. In order to spread a knowledge of the Zionist movement, the first Committee of the Federation resolved to issue a series of publications, and Professor Gottheil wrote his first pamphlet, The Aims of Zionism, in 1897. Five years ago he published an important work on Zionism. For a long time Dr. J. L. Magnes was most actively engaged in Zionist work, and he is still most active in the work of organizing Hebrew education in the United States.
The late Dr. Marcus Jastrow, who served on the first Committee, was an orientalist and a rabbi, pre-eminently known as a man of genius and thoroughness, and as an author of a great dictionary of the Aramaic-Talmudic language, and of other works of great value. It is not generally known, and therefore worthy of notice here, that when he was preacher at the Great Synagogue in Warsaw at the beginning of the sixties at the time of the Polish Insurrection, he was an enthusiastic friend of the Poles in their struggle for national liberty. Poles and Polish-Jewish patriots still cherish his memory with deep reverence.
The present Zionist movement in America, as compared with the earlier one, is of course much stronger and healthier, but it is interesting to observe that the movement in America is not one that sprang up only recently.
During the present war American Zionism has come providentially to the succour of Palestine with an enthusiasm and a generosity unequalled in history, and it is undoubtedly qualified and destined to play a prominent part in the Zionist solution of the Palestinian problem.
6. Germany
The geographical position of Germany――its proximity to Russia and Austria――the numerical strength of its Jewish population, and their long tradition of Jewish learning and Jewish activity, have combined to make that country favourable soil for the growth of Zionism. Nor must the prevalent anti-Semitism be left out of account as a factor making in the same direction. Whereas, for instance, the Jewish University student in England is welcomed in the various students’ associations and clubs, the Jewish students at a German University are practically compelled to form an organization of their own. This is one of the causes of the remarkable growth of the Zionist Students’ movement in Germany――a movement which, while it is not free from the besetting sin of over-organization, has undoubtedly done a great deal to transform the spirit of German Jewry. But from the earliest years, even before the growth of the Students’ movement, Zionism has always been in Germany a serious intellectual movement, contending for supremacy with the “Reform” theory of Judaism, and never failing to hold its own. The first official paper of the movement was Die Welt, and the Jüdischer Verlag in Berlin was for long the most important Zionist publishing concern; while in the extent of its Zionist literary and artistic output Germany is probably second to no other country. Yet it is characteristic that a Zionist Congress has only once (Hamburg, 1911) been held in Germany, though the headquarters of the movement were for a time at Cologne and afterwards at Berlin, and though Germany has been the home of such distinguished Zionists as Dr. Max Bodenheimer, for many years at the head of the Jewish National Fund, Dr. Franz Oppenheimer, the expert in co-operative colonization, and Julius Simon, to say nothing of members of the Inner Actions Committee like Wolffsohn, Hantke and Warburg.
7. Smaller European Countries
Holland gave to the movement one of its earliest leaders, Heer Jacobus Kann, who was associated with Wolffsohn in the administration after Herzl’s death. It has now a well-organized and active Zionist Organization, to which a great impetus was given by the Eighth Congress at the Hague, 1909. Dutch Zionists take a very active part in the general organization work and in that of the Jewish National Fund, the headquarters of which are at present at the Hague. The Dutch Zionist Federation has an excellent weekly paper, De Joodsche Wachter, which has appeared regularly for several years. Zionism in Holland has had for several years a University Movement. In connection with Holland, a place of honour in Zionist history belongs to Belgium, and particularly to Antwerp, which has been for several years an important Zionist centre. M. Jean Fischer, most noteworthy of the Antwerp group from the point of view of the organization, is a member of the Actions Committee and of the great financial institutions of Zionism. He and his friends have taken an important part in colonization undertakings in Palestine. Switzerland, the land of Zionist Congresses, has a good organization with many zealous and able workers. In Denmark and Sweden the Zionist organization has lately developed great activity, owing to the Zionist Office which has been established at Copenhagen. Rumania (which was almost equal to Russia in the Chovevé Zion movement) and Bulgaria are still more important as centres of Zionist activity.
LXXXII.
THE INSTITUTIONS OF ZIONISM
The Zionist institutions――A. General: 1. The Congress――2. The Actions Committee――3. The Annual Conference――4. The Federations in various countries――5. The English Zionist Federation ――6. The Order of Ancient Maccabeans――7. The Palestine Society. ――8. The Poale Zion――9. The Mizrachi――10. Women Zionist Societies――B. Financial: 1. The Jewish Colonial Trust ――2. The Anglo-Palestine Company――3. The Anglo-Levantine Company――4. The Jewish National Fund――5. The Palestine Land Development Company――6. The Kedem Company――7. The First London Achuzah Company――8. The Maccabean Land Company ――C. Institutions in Palestine――_D. Miscellaneous Institutions_.
A. GENERAL:
1. The Congress
THE Zionist Congress is the supreme authority in the Movement. Until the fifth Congress, Congresses were held annually, but since the sixth Congress they have been held biennially. The first Congress was held on the 29th of August, 1897, at Basle, Switzerland. Most of the subsequent Congresses were held at the same place: the second in August, 1898; the third in August, 1899; the fifth in December, 1901; the sixth in August, 1903; the seventh in August, 1905, and the tenth in September, 1911. The fourth Congress was held in London in August, 1900; the eighth took place at the Hague in August, 1907; the ninth at Hamburg in December, 1909, and the eleventh at Vienna in August, 1913.
The Congress consists of delegates representing the shekel payers throughout the world, who assemble for the purpose of international discussion of the Jewish question and decisions concerning the world-wide Zionist Organization. The Congress, as the controlling body of the movement, interprets the programme of Zionism, settles the details of organization, elects the executive and examines the financial affairs of the movement. The officials and committee of the movement are responsible to the Congress. The Zionist banking institution, the Jewish Colonial Trust in London, is also controlled by the Congress, as only members of the Actions Committee can become members of the Council of the Trust. A deciding voice in the control of the Jewish National Fund is secured to the Congress, as only members of the Council of the Jewish Colonial Trust can become members of the Jewish National Fund. (See below as to the Jewish Colonial Trust and Jewish National Fund.)
Only shekel payers (paying a sum of one shilling or a corresponding sum in foreign coinage) have the right to elect delegates to a Congress. The payment of that sum by a person who accepts the principles of Zionism as adopted by the first Congress entitles him or her to membership of the International Zionist Organization.
The last Zionist Congress, which was the eleventh, was attended by 538 delegates, who represented the Zionists in the following countries: Russia, France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, United States of America, Canada, Turkey, Belgium, Holland, Roumania, China, Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary, Serbia, Australia, South Africa, Greece and England.
2. The Actions Committee
The Executive power of the movement is vested in the Greater Actions Committee, consisting of twenty-five members, and in a Smaller Actions Committee, consisting of six members. The members of the present Greater Actions Committee are:
Dr. Max Bodenheimer, Jean Fischer, Dr. Frank, Dr. Friedemann, B. A. Goldberg, Dr. H. G. Heymann,¹ A. Idelsohn, Jakobus Kann, L. Kessler, Dr. Klee, J. Kremenezky, Dr. Alexander Marmorek, Leo Motzkin, J. A. Naiditsch, A. Podlischewski, Dr. Leon Reich, I. A. Rosoff, S. Rosenbaum, Heinrich Schein, Julius Simon, Adolf Stand, Robert Stricker, M. Ussischkin, Dr. Chaim Weizmann,² and David Wolffsohn³
¹ Died in 1918.
² Dr. Chaim Weizmann was recently elected a member of the Smaller Actions Committee.
³ Wolffsohn died in 1914.
The members of the present Smaller Actions Committee are:
Professor Dr. Otto Warburg, Dr. Arthur Hantke, Dr. Victor Jacobson, Dr. Shemaryah Levin, Nahum Sokolow, and the late Dr. E. W. Tschlenow.¹
¹ Dr. Tschlenow died in London in 1918.
The Greater Actions Committee is the executive body of the Congress according to its constitution, but it is only convened to decide on important questions. It meets several times in the year, and must meet not less than once a year. Only the Greater Actions Committee is competent to consider and decide questions relating to the Zionist organizations in the various countries. The Committee has also the right to inquire into and examine the work of the Smaller Actions Committee.
The Smaller Actions Committee is the superior Executive of the whole Zionist Organization, and is entrusted with the management of all branches of the Zionist movement and activities all over the world.
3. The Annual Conference
The name of this institution is somewhat misleading, as the conference called Annual Conference is really a biennial conference held in those years in which a Zionist Congress does not take place. The holding of such conferences was decided upon by the fifth Congress. This conference is in reality an extended meeting of the Greater Actions Committee, and is attended not only by all members of that Committee, but also by the president and vice-presidents of the last Congress, the presidents of the permanent commissions, the presidents of the federations and amalgamated organizations of the various countries, the directors of the banking institutions, the members of the Congress tribunal, the legal adviser of the Congress and the auditors. The conference is somewhat limited in the scope of its activities, as it may only examine the accounts of the organization, accept resolutions, and draw up a programme of activity for the next period of administration. The conference has no right to carry out elections of committees or officials or to alter or modify the Zionist programme.
4. The Federations in Various Countries
The name “Federation,” as far as the Zionist movement is concerned, is frequently synonymous with the amalgamated organizations in any particular country. But, on the other hand, it sometimes designates an organization consisting of a number of societies and groups which have federated, for the purpose of propagating Zionism on certain defined lines. The Smaller Actions Committee is authorized to grant recognition to a federation in any country, providing such a body comprises not less than 3000 shekel payers and satisfies them as to such other requirements as the Smaller Actions Committee may impose upon it.
5. The English Zionist Federation
The English Zionist Federation was established in 1898, and according to its constitution, amended and revised in 1907, its object and constitution are:
“The English Zionist Federation as ‘Landes Comité’ of United Kingdom shall carry on its operations in accordance with the constitution adopted by and in sympathy with the decisions arrived at from time to time by the Zionist Congress.
“The Federation shall consist of such Jewish Associations and Bodies in the United Kingdom as desire, subject to the general sanction and direction of the Executive Committee, to promote the acquisition of a publicly recognized legally secured home in Palestine for the Jewish people, or in addition thereto, any of the following objects:
(a) The fostering of the National idea in Israel.
(b) The support of the regular International Congress of duly accredited representatives of the Jewish people, for the consideration of the position of Jews in the different countries of their dispersion, and for taking such measures as may be deemed conducive to their general welfare.
(c) The support of existing colonies, and the founding of new colonies by placing as many Jews as possible living in Palestine as settlers on the land, and encouragement, guidance and assistance of new settlers anxious to establish colonies, or any handicrafts, industries or arts in Palestine and neighbouring lands.
(d) The study of Hebrew literature and the use of Hebrew as a living language.”
The functions of the Federation are: to be the medium of communication between affiliated societies and the Executive Council (Actions Committee) and with Zionist Associations in other countries; to advise on the steps necessary for the furtherance of the general movement, and adopt such means as may be approved for carrying into effect the resolutions adopted by Congress held from time to time; and to initiate, in connection with the various objects of the Federation, propaganda, which shall partake of one common character throughout all the federated bodies.
The Constituent Societies affiliated to the Federation now number sixteen in London, twenty-seven in the Provinces, and four in the Dominions and Colonies. Of these forty-seven ten are Women’s and Girls’ Societies and six Junior Societies.
The general government of the Federation is vested in a Central Committee, consisting of delegates from all the federated societies. The Executive Power of the organization is vested in a Council consisting of a President, two Vice-Presidents, Honorary Secretary and twenty other members of the Council.
For the purpose of carrying out the work of the Federation a number of sub-committees deal with various special matters (Propaganda, Literature, Palestine, Finance, etc.).
6. The Order of Ancient Maccabeans
This is a Friendly Society, established in 1894, and registered on the 8th of May, 1901, under the Friendly Societies’ Act, 1896. When Herzl came to England before the first Zionist Congress the members of the Society, who then belonged to the “Lovers of Zion” movement, pledged their adherence to the Zionist cause. The Society is an avowedly Zionist Order, and every member on admission has to declare his willingness to be a Zionist, to pay the shekel and to assist generally through the Order in the work of resettling the Jews in Palestine.
Since the Zionist Congress of 1909 the Society has been recognized as a separate Federation, having a membership of over three thousand, as required by the regulations of the Zionist Organization.
The Executive Power of the organization is vested in a Grand Council.
7. The Palestine Society
The Palestine Society is an association of Jews who desire the establishment in Palestine of a centre of Jewish life, which shall offer a full opportunity for the free development of the Jewish religion, Jewish ideals and Jewish culture. It is not formally associated with the Zionist Organization.
The activities of the Society include the following:
(a) Propaganda for the purpose of creating among Jews and Jewish Institutions in England a public opinion favourable to the furtherance of Jewish activities in Palestine.
(b) The collection and dissemination of information concerning the work that is being carried on by existing Palestinian institutions.
(c) The support of Palestinian Institutions and activities.
(d) The organization of visits to Palestine.
In the spring of 1912 a Palestine Exhibition and Bazaar was held in London, in aid of two Jerusalem institutions――the Bezalel and the Evelina de Rothschild School. The Exhibition had the effect of exciting interest in Palestine among all sections of English Jews. It was then felt that a systematic effort should be made to press the claims of Palestine upon the Anglo-Jewish middle-class. Accordingly a body known as the Palestine Committee was founded for this purpose. This Committee held a series of drawing-room meetings, which met with a fair measure of success.
In order to undertake activities of a more extensive and more varied kind, a properly constituted society――the Palestine Society――was formed in the autumn of 1913. During its brief existence it performed useful work, as, for instance, the arrangement of a series of drawing-room meetings, at which lectures were delivered by eminent speakers. The speakers and chairmen included: the Chief Rabbi, the Rev. M. Adler, the Rev. A. A. Green, the Rev. Dr. J. Hochman, the Rev. Morris Joseph, Dayan H. M. Lazarus, the Rev. W. Levin, the Rev. E. Levine, the Rev. D. Wasserzug, Lady Swaythling, Dr. A. Eichholz, Mr. H. R. Lewis, Mr. J. Prag, and Mr. Israel Zangwill.
Fifteen of the London Jewish ministers are members of the Society, and have preached a number of sermons with sympathetic references to the Society and its aims.
In the course of the year 1914 the Liverpool Bezalel Association became affiliated to the Palestine Society. A branch of the Society was also formed at Glasgow, and when the War broke out branches were in course of formation at Leeds, Brighton and in several of the suburbs of London.
At the outbreak of the War the membership of the Society numbered approximately 250, though no widespread propaganda was ever attempted either for the enrolment of members or for the collection of funds, as it was intended from the outset that the work of the Society should be limited to those circles which other agencies had not succeeded in reaching.
Among other activities of this Society were:
(1) An effort to induce literary and kindred societies to include a discussion of the Palestine question in their programmes for the 1914 to 1915 session, the Society providing the speakers, of whom it had compiled a list.
(2) An attempt was made to organize a tour to Palestine in the spring of 1914. Owing to difficulties that arose in respect of the choice of date and the time available, an organized tour on a large scale had to be abandoned; three members of the Committee, however, visited Palestine during that year. A tour was projected for the spring of 1915; that had, of course, to be abandoned owing to the War.
(3) The first two pamphlets of an intended series were prepared, dealing with the agricultural colonies in Palestine and the work of their educational institutions respectively. A summary account of general Jewish activities in Palestine in 1913‒14, and of the measure of support it had received from English Jews, was also in preparation when the War broke out. It had been intended to publish all this matter in a Palestine Annual, and to reprint most of it separately in due course.
There is reason to believe that in the brief period of its active life (it suspended activity on the outbreak of the War) the Society succeeded in arousing an interest in Palestine as a centre of Jewish aspiration among a large circle of Jews whom other agencies have left untouched, and in creating in certain quarters an atmosphere more favourable than had existed heretofore. It must be added that the Society has merely suspended its activities and not abandoned them. This was explained in a letter from its President, Dr. Eichholz, which appeared in the Jewish Chronicle of December 3rd, 1915.
The Officers and Committee for 1913‒14 were: President: Dr. A. Eichholz; Vice-Presidents: the Very Rev. the Chief Rabbi, the Very Rev. the Haham, the Rev. Morris Joseph, Sir Isidore Spielmann, C.M.G., F.S.A.; Treasurer: Albert M. Hyamson; Committee: Mrs. A. Eichholz, Miss H. M. Bentwich, the Rev. Dr. J. Hochman, Dr. M. Epstein, Harry R. Lewis, Leon Simon, Robert B. Solomon, F. S. Spiers; Hon. Secretaries: Miss A. Stein and Leonard Stein; Hon. Corresponding Secretary in Palestine: Michael E. Lange.
8. Poale Zion
The national idea forms the premiss of Zionism. To bring this idea to life, to provide a durable foundation for the national unification of the Jews upon their very own, old historical ground, that is the aim of Zionism. In its tendency, therefore, it comprises the whole Jewish people; its immediate object, however, apart from the self-evident conservation of the ideal of national unity, bears upon fragments, so to say, of the people; upon more or less considerable parts of population, individuals, groups, and classes. Their specific attitude towards Zionism hinges on two main points, of which one is more of spiritual, and the other more of material nature. Both must be equally considered, for both are effective, although in varying degree. However, when a particular class is considered in its relation towards Zionism, it behoves to examine first of all the point of view to which this class itself attaches most importance. It may of course be open to discussion whether when forming an estimate of national and social questions the economic aspect ought always to be considered foremost, but there is no doubt that it is so regarded by the working-class. Let us also admit it for the Jewish workmen. If we take class interest into account the workman may speak first, then the Jew within him. It will appear that it is precisely from a closer examination of the class interest of the Jewish workmen and the interrelations between them and the general working-class, that their position towards Zionism results most simply, as we already see this clearly indicated, and as it will be evolved in the near future, given certain conditions.
Jewish workmen may be divided into two categories, apart from several intermediate divisions. The one is nationally indifferent, class interest alone carries weight with it. By entering into the general working-class the workmen of this category are, so to say, engulfed by it; they retain no trace of national needs and wishes. The numerically by far larger category comprises the actual masses of Jewish workmen in Russia, Galicia, and America. These Jewish workmen also join the general working-class, but they occupy within it a very distinctly noticeable separate position. Where the amelioration of the economic condition of the working-class is concerned, the obtaining of higher salaries, the reduction of working time, in short, in all questions falling within the sphere of class interest they hold together with the other workmen. Just as they suffer from unemployment like these, so they make common cause with them on special occasions, for instance, strikes. But beyond the material questions of existence there is much which separates them. They are sociable enough to come together for a short time with the other workmen where need and interest demand it, but they are not sufficiently ♦homogeneous to unite socially with them. They cannot shake off a certain feeling of alienage in the camp of the general working-class. Critical points soon arise on the boundaries of economical questions, deep contrasts become manifest which are not brought about by ill-will, but are rather caused by historical forces which even to-day are still at work. What will it profit if, in order to proceed summarily, one ascribes this segregation of the Jewish workmen to a thousand years of atavism? The disclosure of the cause, whether acceptable or not, does not do away with the fact. And it is a fact that these Jewish workmen wield a strong national and religious influence, that religion is no “private concern” for them, as it is designated by the workmen’s programme, or only private concern inasmuch as religion is prudently left undiscussed by the labour party.
♦ “homogenous” replaced with “homogeneous”
Probably from such differences and sentimental contrasts it is to be explained that voices became loud which demanded the independent organization of the Jewish workmen. Such a demand might be considered by the leading party as an anomaly, since the Jewish workmen are not at all taken into account nationally but pass as appendages of the various nations. And if it was not merely euphemism when the Jews were accorded the same right to exist, when the name or the nation in whose country they became settled was conferred upon them, wherefore an independent organization? Now, the course of evolution of the Jews up to the present, especially its last phase, has revealed that not only the masses of Judaism which are not yet on a high plane of cultural development feel nationally. It is just in the Zionism of the educated Jews that the full justification of the national movement shows itself. We may point out without fear the difference between the conscious Zionistic action and that part of Judaism which is unconsciously national through the power of historic conditions.
The Jewish workmen are the natural allies of Zionism, but they will become the actual and co-operating allies only through independent workmen organizations. The Jewish workmen, independently organized, would go hand in hand with the labour party in all single claims dictated by class interest, but otherwise they would be independent. National as the Jewish workmen are distinctly enough in life, national in consequence of their education, their peculiarities――why should they not be so as a working-class? Do then the workmen of other nations lay aside their nationality when they take their stand to the social question? And do they give up their nationality when they have done for the moment with debate and action? And the Jewish workmen alone should renounce their nationality, they who are not even yet capable of sharing properly in the culture of another nation? Although it is not out of love for Zionism that the Jewish workmen, for the greater part, feel nationally, they may yet in time become national even in a Zionist sense. And that through the natural community of interests, passing from the unconscious to the conscious, which will establish a more and more intimate relation between them and Zionism. The whole political development of recent times has made it clear to the Jewish workmen how powerful the national thought is among workmen. Even in the event of the victory of the collectivistic idea it could hardly become different in regard to race contrasts. And when Eduard Bernstein in the epilogue of the translation of Mr. Webb’s History of the Trade Unions observes: “Class struggles manifest themselves only seldom so acutely as national ones,” we may add that race contrasts may still exist long after class contrasts will have disappeared.
It is evident of what extraordinary importance for Zionism the Jewish working-class would become. The workmen if they became Zionist would, so to say, constitute the solid effective force which could be relied upon at any moment. On the other hand, it can well be assumed that the Jewish nation will meet as far as possible the claims of the working-class. It is only with the attainment of the Zionist aim that the condition for the prosperity and unfolding anew of national life will be realized for the first time. Judaism, united as a nation, will hereby be confronted by the question with the solution of which all civilized nations are so anxiously preoccupied. The difficulties may be ever so great, occasional crises and storms may break forth, but the nations will not be permanently depressed thereby, nor paralyzed. Like other nations the Jews hold the unshakable belief in a continually progressing economical amelioration, in a prosperous development of all. Even that party which has developed class contrasts into a theory of society, is seen to be receding ever more from the revolutionary principle and paying homage to the evolutionary. To the principle of evolution Zionist Judaism also holds fast, and will, surely, as soon as it is nationally consolidated, not be willing to lag behind other nations as regards social legislation. And if one may conclude from the historical past of a nation what its conformation will be in the future, so, doubtless, a breath of that gentle spirit will be felt in the modern Jewish community which pervades the Mosaic legislation. And this not only as regards the future but also the present. The Jewish National Fund is the model of a broad Mosaic-socialistic institution which has for its object the nationalization of the soil.
The Poale Zion was established in 1901. It originated in Russia, and has now adherents in America, Palestine, Austria, Russia and the United Kingdom. At the time of the Zionist Congress at the Hague in 1907 an International Conference of the Poale Zion was held, which led to the establishment of the General Union of the Poale Zion Societies in America, Russia, Austria, Palestine, England, etc., on federal lines. The programme of the organization represents a synthesis of Zionism and Socialism on the basis of the Basle programme.
The principles of the Poale Zion have been fully expounded in a book written by Dr. Pasmanik, entitled The Theory of the Poale Zion. Among its official publications may be mentioned The Jewish Worker, Cracow; The Jewish Fighter, New York; Forward, Vilna.
It is not easy for the Gentile workman to understand and appreciate to the full the position taken up by the Jewish workmen who support the principle of the Poale Zion. The Gentile workmen have no national problem to solve; they have only an economic question to deal with. The Jewish workmen are face to face with two problems, the economic and the national. The Poale Zionists are convinced that although a nation may love its traditions it must concern itself also with immediate economic needs. It is for this reason that they are primarily Zionists, although supporters of Socialism. Unlike other Socialists they deem it their duty to devote themselves mainly to their own national cause. Apart from this, they have a great love for Jewish tradition, and are in the fullest sense of the term nationalists.
9. The Mizrachi
The Mizrachi (a composite word derived from “Merchaz Ruch’ni,” which means Intellectual Centre) is an organization of religiously orthodox Zionists.
After the fifth Zionist Congress, where a lively debate took place on the question of national Judaism on a religious basis, the desire arose among those Zionists who maintained orthodox views on religious questions to organize themselves for common purposes. The object of the Mizrachi is therefore of a cultured and not a political character. It strives to champion, within Zionism, by means of a sound organization, the standpoint of orthodox religious belief, and further, to show clearly that a conservative tendency in religious matters can go side by side with national aspirations. Politically the Mizrachi has no special aim, but desires to work in unison with all other Zionists.
Soon after the fifth Congress Russian Zionists of Mizrachi conviction assembled at a conference in Vilna and officially founded the Mizrachi. Subsequently support was also forthcoming from Mizrachi Zionists in other countries, and at the sixth Congress the organization was represented by a group of over one hundred delegates. From the 19th to the 21st of August, 1904, a general Mizrachi Conference took place at Pressburg. This conference was called by Rabbi I. J. Reines of Lida, Russia, and was attended by a large number of Rabbis from Russia, Roumania, Galicia, Hungary, Germany, England and America. Rabbi Reines was elected president of the entire organization. The regulations of the organization maintain in general the Zionist principle, but lay particular stress upon the necessity of the Mizrachi cultural tendency. Already at this conference three centres of propaganda were created, an East European centre for Russia, Roumania and Galicia, of which Rabbi J. Reines became the president; a West European centre for the other European countries, with its seat in Frankfort, of which Rabbi Dr. Nobel became president; and an American centre at New York, of which Rabbi D. Klein became president.
In addition to the usual shekel and the local contributions, the Mizrachi members pay a further contribution to cover the expenses of an office and propaganda. The Mizrachi carries out its aim by organizing mass meetings, issuing from time to time periodicals, pamphlets and leaflets, and arranging lectures and debates for its members.
The fear expressed on the beginning of the Mizrachi movement, that the Mizrachi as a section might destroy the unity of Zionism, has proved unfounded. From the past activity of the Mizrachi it is now certain that their propaganda is not detrimental to the interests of Zionism――that on the contrary their principal aims, such as the fostering of belief in the laws of our forefathers, the maintenance of ancient rites and customs, and the revival of the Hebrew language, are such as to obtain for them continually new supporters among strictly orthodox Jews.
Among a number of books written to explain the standpoint of the Mizrachi, there should be mentioned _Zionism from the Standpoint of Orthodoxy_ (1904), by Rabbi Dr. Roth of Papa (Hungary); _The Voice of Zion_ (1905), by Rabbi Reines, and Mizrachi (1907), by Dr. Feuchtwanger.
10. Women Zionist Societies
In the measure in which the Jewish national movement had begun to expand the question was raised more and more frequently what the attitude of the Jewish woman would be towards this movement. In the Jewish nation woman occupies a pre-eminent position.
At the time of the existence of the Jewish state the whole inner life rested upon family organization. Woman is the entirely coequal ruler of the home, and truly regal is the description which the Bible traces of her. She is prophetess and bard, the inspirer of all that is good and strong, and the bestower of the prize of combat. She is the first to display that wonderful enduring heroism which is the heritage of the Jewish race. She initiates the great national works; it is significant that tradition traces back the liberation out of Egypt to the merit of noble women. At the time of the erection of a spiritual country after the loss of the homeland, at the time of formation of the Talmud, the high appreciation of woman rose still more. In the writings of that time she appears as the naive leader whose untrammelled and unsophisticated mind grasps the nature of things, and who, quick in discernment, settles matters resolutely. But the highest importance woman attains during the period of the “Ghetto.” Here all life concentrates in the family. Free civic life is replaced by the narrower but pleasurable family life. Here woman becomes the creator of a self-contained family culture. She relieves man of a great part of his business dealings and makes it possible for him to devote himself to his intellectual pursuits. In the midst of the heaviest persecution she inspires him with courage and confidence. She brings up her children to be valiant and steadfast Jews. She carries into the home a wonderful natural freshness which replaces as far as possible the tender verdure of the lost country. The Jewish woman it is who, in this time of suffering, encourages man to persistence in the faith. Spanish-Jewish women urged their husbands to seek death together with them. In all the massacres and persecutions of the Middle-Ages Jewish women gained the highest crown of martyrdom.
But the disposition of the Jewish woman has radically changed since complete or partial emancipation. The cause lies in the change of the whole situation. At the time of the Ghetto the sufferings of the Jew were as unspeakably heavy as his joys were profound and intimate. For good and for evil he was under the shadow of a great fate, and therein he developed. Suffering destroyed his strength, the passive heroism peculiar to him, home happiness, his kindness of heart and joy of sacrifice; both united made him true, true to the past and true to his nation. This grew gradually different. With the advance of so-called civilization persecution became more petty and perfidious; it no longer threatened existence itself at any moment, but it crept into every hour of life, into each everyday activity. The one stab of the dagger had become a thousand pinpricks, out of the great fate which drew heroism out of man, and an abundance of passions, virtues, resolutions, renunciations, struggles and victories of all kinds, a painfully dragging, tortured and harassed existence had come into being. And with lesser sufferings the joys got lesser too. The beautiful unity of home-life became loosened through the great gulf between old and young, such as is not met with in any other nation of the world. The increased struggle for daily life separated married couples and impeded the education of the children, the apparently greater absence of danger operated against the strong national resistance and the welding and segregating special customs.
This state of dissolution was reinforced to a great degree by the declaration of the legal equifranchise of the Jews. Their instinct of self-preservation adapted itself to the new conditions of existence in just as extreme a manner as their seclusion had formerly been extreme. In the now arising fanaticism for assimilation the women, who adapt themselves most easily to their surroundings and assume their nature, shared most intensely. While all strove after non-Jewishness the inner structure of Judaism was crippled, all innate power discarded, Jewish solidarity dispensed with and independent culture destroyed.
The rigid family organization upon which the vitality of the Jewish nation reposed, collapsed under the impact of the extraneous; with Jewish customs the Jewish home began to break up, with the evanescence of fidelity love too faded. An attempt was made to stupefy through an outward life of luxury, as bustling as possible, the feeling of forlornness brought about by the want of inner contentment. Thus it frequently happened that the assimilated Jewish woman became ever more estranged from her sphere of activity. She who had formerly been mistress in her own house was often the slave of her servants; she gave herself up to a dull, nervous idleness; with her the old charitableness of the Jews became snobbishness. The desire for beauty which formerly animated Jewish woman, was distorted by her into a tasteless and unhealthy love of finery, as if someone transformed a beautiful national costume into the gaudy robe of a carnival pierrot. Sincere, devoted faith has gone without making room for a new and strong conception of life; the more burdensome religious practices have been given up, a few easier ones have been outwardly retained, without apprehension of their meaning and without the feeling of their sanctity. The synagogue and the sermon, the only religiously stimulating momenta, which one attended ever more seldom, were not sufficient to counteract a thousand other influences of life and surroundings.
Therefore Jewish woman, more so than man, needed a great, inspiring Jewish ideal. And on the other hand, the realization of this ideal needed the collaboration of woman no less than the collaboration of man. For national rejuvenation in its innermost core can emanate from Jewish woman to a considerable extent. For a nation without a land and for a nation in dispersion, home is the pillar of life. In the Diaspora the Jewish home is the Jewish nation. In the first instance it was found desirable that Jewish woman should become active for Zionism, that is contribute in speech and writing to the diffusion of the national idea, and exhort to self-help. Through her warmth of feeling and freshness of will she is to help to reunite the divergent members of the nation, and from her love of the nation a community of souls is to resuscitate. She must recognize that she can only then become a whole personality if she values highly the peculiarity of her race, and if she tends and develops the Jewishness in her. She will then again make home and family life what they once were: the hub of life and the spring of ever new energy. One will see there Jewish works of art on the walls, Jewish books upon the table, and Jewish customs being practised with deep, gladsome understanding. Then the quiet force which overcomes laughingly everything inimical will again gather in the family. True, living love for the great destiny of the Jewish nation, strong, helpful love for its present, hopeful and cheery readiness to work for the future of this nation, and preparation of this future through energetic collaboration in the Zionistic organization, which acknowledges no difference of duties and rights between man and woman――with this message the modern Jewish national idea appealed to the Jewish woman.
To be sure, Jewish woman did not enter the national movement in numbers, nor at once: nevertheless she joined the first pioneers of the Chovevé Zion as well as the first Zionists. At all Zionist congresses Jewish women took part as delegates, and in Palestine they have unfolded a particularly beneficial activity in the domain of home industry for women.
B. FINANCIAL
1. The Jewish Colonial Trust
The Jewish Colonial Trust is the financial instrument of the Zionist movement, and its main object is the industrial and commercial development of Palestine and the neighbouring countries.
Among the prominent Jews who supported the formation of the Company from its inception were the following: S. Barbasch, Odessa; Herbert Bentwich, London; M. T. Eliasberg, Pinsk; T. H. Ellman, Braila; M. Farbstein, Warsaw; Leopold Kahn, Vienna; Samuel L. Heymann, London; Theodor Herzl, Vienna; Isidor Jasinowski, Warsaw; J. H. Kann, The Hague; Stanislaus Landau, Lodz; Gregorie Lurie, Pinsk; Max Mandelstamm, Kieff; Alex. Marmorek, Paris; Oscar Marmorek, Vienna; Moritz Moses, Kattowitz; Max Nordau, Paris; Samuel Pineles, Galatz; Heinrich Rosenbaum, Jassy; S. T. Sachs, Dwinsk; Leib Schalit, Riga; Moritz Schnirer, Vienna; Heinrich Steiner, Vienna; W. Temkin, Elizabethgrad; E. W. Tschlenow, Moscow; David Wolffsohn, Cologne; and Oser Kokesch, Vienna.
According to the Company’s Articles of Association it was permitted to commence business as soon as an eighth part of its capital, viz. £250,000, had actually been paid up. This stage was reached at the beginning of 1902.
The subscribers to the Memorandum and Articles of Association were: David Wolffsohn, Jacobus Henricus Kann, Samuel Leopold Heymann, Samuel Barbasch, Gregorie Lurie, Salomon F. Sachs, Heinrich Rosenbaum. For the last four the Haham, Dr. Moses Gaster, acted as Attorney. The first Council of the Company consisted of Dr. Theodor Herzl, Dr. Moritz Schnirer, Dr. Oser Kokesch, Dr. Leopold Kahn, Oscar Marmorek, Dr. Max Mandelstamm, Dr. Richard Gottheil, Dr. Israel Jelsky, Isidor Jasinowski, Dr. Max Bodenheimer, D. J. Bernstein-Kohan, Samuel Pineles, J. H. Ellman, Dr. Alexander Marmorek, Wladimir Temkin, Dr. Samuel Schur, Carl Herbst, Dr. E. W. Tschlenow, Dr. Salomon Rosenheck, and M. Ussischkin.
The first directors were the aforementioned subscribers to the Memorandum, and the first Governors were: Dr. Rudolf Schauer, Leib Schalit, Abraham Hornstein.
The first Secretary of the Company was Mr. James H. Loewe, who resigned his post in May, 1903, on his appointment as Manager of the East End Branch of the International Bank of London, Ltd.
For the first business year (1902) Mr. David Levontin was Manager.
The Company carries on ordinary banking business at its Head Office in the City of London (10‒12 Walbrook) and its East End Branch (41 Whitechapel Road, E.), and is registered at Somerset House as bankers, in accordance with the requirements of the law.
The nominal capital of £2,000,000 is divided into £1,999,900 ordinary shares of £1 each and 100 founders’ shares of £1 each. These latter shares are jointly held by those persons who for the time being are the members of the Council of the Company. The members of this Council are appointed by the Actions Committee of the Zionist Congress from the members, and are entitled at any General Meeting of the Company on all questions, with the exception of that relating to the declaration of a dividend, to as many votes as all the holders of ordinary shares present and voting at such General Meeting. The capital issued, including the aforementioned 100 founders’ shares, amounted, on the 15th May, 1916, to £261,658. The Company is controlled by a Council consisting at present of twenty members, who are at the same time the joint holders of the founders’ shares referred to above, and by a Board of Directors consisting at present of thirteen members, of whom four are Governors ( Representatives of the Council). Until his death in September, 1914, David Wolffsohn was President of the Council and a Governor. He succeeded the late Dr. Herzl in these positions on his death in 1904. Previous to that Wolffsohn was Chairman of the Board of Directors, which position he had held since the formation of the Company in 1899.
The members of the present Council are Professor Dr. O. Warburg (Vice-President), Dr. M. J. Bodenheimer (Reporter), M. M. Ussischkin, I. A. Rosoff, A. Podlischewsky, Simon Rosenbaum, I. Naiditsch, J. H. Kann, L. Kessler, Jean Fischer, Dr. V. Jacobsohn, M. Hornstein, Dr. A. Marmorek, Julius Simon, L. Motzkin, Dr. A. Hantke, J. Kremenetzky, Dr. A. Friedemann, Dr. A. Klee. The members of the present Board of Directors are: Dr. V. Katzenelsohn (Chairman), J. H. Kann (Vice-Chairman), S. Barbasch, H. Urysohn, Joseph Cowen, I. A. Rosoff, M. M. Ussischkin, Jean Fischer, Julius Simon, L. Kessler, M. Feldstein, Dr. V. Jacobsohn, J. Kremenetzky. The last four members are the Governors.
2. The Anglo-Palestine Company, Ltd.
This Company was registered on the 27th January, 1902, and began its business operations in the spring of 1903. Its Head Office is at Jaffa, and it has Branches at Jerusalem (Manager: Dr. Isaac Levy; Sub-Manager: S. Gordon), Hebron (Manager: S. Slonim), Haifa (Manager: V. Kaisermann), Beirut (I. Lipawsky, who died in October, 1915, was Manager before the outbreak of war), Safed (Manager: J. Karniol), Tiberias (Manager: Mr. Bentovim).
The Managing Director of the Company is Mr. David Levontin, who is assisted at the Head Office by S. Hoofien, Assistant General Manager, and J. Grasowsky and M. Arwas, Sub-Managers.
The Company is the mainstay of Jewish colonization in Palestine. It advances money to Land Societies for buying land, which is then sold to new immigrants, also to building societies for establishing modern hygienic quarters in the vicinity of towns (Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa, etc.). It also makes advances for the installation of water supplies in the Jewish Colonies, and grants loans on long terms for the development of plantations. It has further organized with its own means Co-operative and Loan Societies for the purpose of buying agricultural implements and selling the products of the soil, especially oranges, lemons and wine. The Company has also elaborated various projects for public enterprises, such as tramways, irrigation works, electric lighting, etc. The Company also carries on every kind of banking business, dealing with all elements of the population regardless of race or creed. Thus the Company has become an important factor in the economic life of the country.
The nominal capital of the Company is £120,000, divided into 120,000 ordinary shares of £1 each. The paid-up capital on the 15th May, 1916, was £99,727.
The Board of Directors of the Company consists of the following members: J. H. Kann (Vice-Chairman), Dr. N. Katzenelsohn, S. Barbasch, H. Urysohn, Joseph Cowen, M. M. Ussischkin, L. Kessler, M. Feldstein, J. Kremenetzky, I. L. Goldberg, D. Levontin (Managing Director). The last Chairman of the Company before the war was the late David Wolffsohn.
3. The Anglo-Levantine Banking Company, Ltd.
This Company was registered on the 8th May, 1908, and has since then carried on banking business in Turkey.
The nominal capital of the Company is £100,000, and the paid-up capital on the 15th May, 1916, was £25,038.
The Board of Directors consists of the following members: Dr. N. Katzenelsohn (Chairman), J. H. Kann (Vice-Chairman), S. Barbasch, Joseph Cowen, M. Feldstein, Dr. V. Jacobsohn, L. Kessler, J. Kremenetzky, D. Levontin, S. Mitrani, H. Urysohn. The Constantinople Managers are: S. Mitrani (Director) and Dr. V. Jacobsohn (Director).
4. The Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was established in accordance with a decision of the second Congress, its object being to acquire land for the Jewish people in Palestine, such land to remain for ever the property of the whole Jewish nation. The management of the Fund has deemed it its duty to promote all undertakings of public utility in Palestine, assisting thereby to the utmost the general progress of the work of colonization. The Jewish National Fund is the most popular of Zionist institutions.
The Jewish National Fund was legalized in this country on the 8th of April, 1907, as an “Association Limited by Guarantee, and not having a Capital Divided into Shares.” By the constitution of the Association the permanent right of control is vested in the representatives elected by the Zionist Congress, who are identical with the holders of founders’ shares and members of the Council of the Jewish Colonial Trust, Ltd. (referred to above).
According to the Articles of Association, only 75 per cent of the assets of the Fund may be invested in Palestine; the remaining 25 per cent must always be left in the shape of money on deposit or investment of an easily realizable nature. The Bankers of the Association are the Jewish Colonial Trust, Ltd. The Fund amounted at the end of the year 1914 to £209,243 18s. 6d.
The means of collecting contributions to the Fund are numerous and varied. They include: General Donations, Collecting Sheets, Collecting Boxes, the Golden Book, National Fund Stamps and Telegrams, Olive Tree Donations, Contributions to the Workers’ Dwelling Fund, etc. The Golden Book has been instituted for the purpose of entering the names of Zionist workers and supporters, on payment of the sum of £10 or more. The first Golden Book, containing 5000 names, has already been filled. It is an elaborately executed work of art, and is generally exhibited at Zionist Congresses. The second Golden Book, now in use, was produced by the Palestinian Art School “Bezalel” at Jerusalem. On the entry of a name in this book, an artistically executed certificate is issued.
A few years ago another book, called “Memorial Book,” was instituted for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of Jews who have defended the honour or property of the Jewish people in Palestine, or have been permanently and successfully occupied in the interest of the Jewish National Fund, or have left by will, according to their means, a considerable legacy for the benefit of the Fund.
The Fund has also received from time to time considerable sums for the purpose of foundations, principally to build homesteads for the workers. The principal contributions under this heading have been: The David and Fanny Wolffsohn Foundation, about £3000, and the Halperin Foundation (Vienna), about £4000. Besides the foregoing sums other contributions towards the Workers’ Homestead Fund, amounting to about £17,000 in all, have been received.
The total income from every kind of contribution to the Fund was about £25,000 for the year 1915, contributions having come from about thirty different countries in all parts of the world.
By the end of the year 1914 the Jewish National Fund had invested in Palestine close upon £150,000――70 per cent of its entire assets.
The members of the Company are the holders of founders’ shares of the Jewish Colonial Trust, Ltd. (see above).
The administration of the Fund is in the hands of a Board of Directors, consisting of five Directors elected by the members, and two Governors appointed by the Controlling Committee. This Committee consists of the persons who for the time being form the Smaller Actions Committee of the Zionist Congress, and its functions are merely those of vetoing or prohibiting any act of the Directors that the Committee may deem to be detrimental to the interests of the Association.
The present Directors are: Dr. Max Bodenheimer, L. Kessler, J. Kremenetzky, and Dr. A. Hantke.
The only Governor is Professor Dr. O. Warburg (the second Governor, D. Wolffsohn, having died in September, 1914). The Secretary of the Association was H. Neumann, and its registered office is at 10‒12 Walbrook, London, E.C.
The Administrative Office of the Association is situate at the Hague, and the principal officials at that office are: Engineer J. Kaplansky, N. Gross and S. Hallenstein.
Central offices exist in many countries for the collecting of contributions and donations to the Fund. The addresses of these officers are:――
Argentine: Federacion Sionista en Argentine, Buenos-Aires, Sarmiento 2086.
Australia: The Brisbane Zionist Society, c/o J. A. Blumberg, Hon. Sec., Brisbane-East, Wellington Road.
The Victoria Zionist Association, “Hatchiah,” Melbourne, 313 Drummont Street, Carlton.
The Sydney Zionist Society, c/o M. B. Michelson, Hon. Sec., Sydney, Pett Street 64.
Belgium: Oscar Fischer, now at Scheveningen, Cornelius Jolstr. 105 Sam. Schmeidler, Scheveningen, Stevinstr. 142.
Brazil: Associacio Zionistat Tiferes Zion, c/o Jaime Horowitz, Rio de Janeiro, Rua Visconte Itanna.
Bulgaria: Comité Central Sioniste, aux bons soins de Mr. le Dr. Benroya, Philippopoli.
Canada: Bureau Committee of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada, Montreal, P.O. Box 912.
China: E. B. Ezra, Esq., c/o the Bank of Territorial Development of China, Shanghai, Nanking Rd. 33.
Denmark: S. Skorochod, Kopenhagen, Bordergade 30.
Egypt: Jacob Caleff, Heliopolis-Le Cairo, Rue Zagazig.
Germany: Jüdischer Nationalfonds, Zentrale für Deutschland, Berlin, W., 15 Sachsische Str. 8.
England: Jewish National Fund Commission for England, 15 New Broad Street, London, E.C. 2.
France: J. Salzmann, Paris, 41 Rue de la Tour d’Auvergne.
Greece: Syllogue Sioniste “Poale-Sion,” Volo.
La Commission Mixte de Fonds National des Sociétés “Bené Sion” and “Nordau” aux bons soins de Mr. J. Usiel, Salonique.
Holland: Alfred Polak, Tilburg, Telegraafenstr. 1.
Italy: Mademoiselle Emma Coen, Verona, 14 Via Gran Czara.
Croatia, Bosnia, Slavonia: Frau Clara Barmaper-Jacobi, Agram, Boskovicg 23.
New Zealand: The Auckland Zionist Society, Auckland Park Rd. 42.
United States of America: Jewish National Fund Bureau for America, New York City, 44 E. 23rd Street.
Norway: Norske Zionist Forening, p. Adr. Aron Grusd, Christiania, Karl Johan Str. 7.
Austria: Jüdischer Nationalfonds, Sammelstelle für Österreich, Wein ii Zirkusgasse 33.
Eastern Asia: Josef Levy, Singapore, 10 Robinson Road.
Portugal: W. Terlo, Lissabon, Rua St. Nicolau 59.
Roumania: M. Heinrich Schein, Galatz.
Switzerland: W. Simon, Zürich, Neugasse 11.
Serbia: Dr. D. Alcalay, Belgrad.
Sweden: J. Abel, Stockholm, Storkyrkobrinken 8.
South Africa: South African Zionist Federation, Mr. B. J. Chaimowitz, Johannesburg, P.O. Box 18.
Tunis: Association Sioniste Tunisienne, Tunis, 52 Rue des Glacières.
Hungary: Zsido Nomzoti Alap magyarorszagi irodaja, Budapest Kiraly utca 36.
* * * * *
In England the collection of funds is entrusted to the National Fund Commission for England. This commission consists of two representatives of the English Zionist Federation and two representatives of the Order of Ancient Maccabeans. The office of the Commission is at 15 New Broad Street, London, E.C. 2, which has a number of sub-commissions in London and the principal provincial towns. It organizes frequently house-to-house collections, flower days, collections at public meetings, places of worship and entertainment, etc.
The English National Fund Commission has recently published a small pamphlet, giving full particulars of its activities. A larger pamphlet, entitled The Jewish National Fund, is now being issued in the English language by the Head Office of the Fund, and by the time that this book reaches the public will no doubt be obtainable at the Office of the National Fund Commission in London.
5. The Palestine Land Development Company, Ltd.
This Company was registered on the 20th of January, 1909. Its main object is to encourage the settlement of Jews in Palestine by the purchase and parcelling out of the land and by preparing the soil for the successful settlement of a larger number of small holders.
The nominal capital of the Company is £50,000, divided into 40,000 ordinary shares of £1 each and 200 founders’ shares of £50 each.
The Secretary of the Company is W. Wolf, and the Office at 10‒12 Walbrook, London, E.C.
6. _Jüdischer Kulturfonds Kedem (Kedem Keren Hatarbuth Hoiwrith), Ltd._
This Company was established for the purpose of developing and promoting and assisting in the development and promotion of Jewish knowledge and learning, the cultivation of Hebrew literature and Jewish history, and the revival and use of the Hebrew language in the prescribed region (which expression means Palestine, Syria and the Peninsula of Sinai). In order to carry out these objects the Company aims at establishing an Academy (Sinhedrijah) as a central institution of Hebrew and Jewish learning. It further intends to publish all kinds of books, useful for its purpose, and distribute them among individuals, academies, colleges, universities, schools and other institutions. It also proposes to establish and maintain all kinds of schools and teaching establishments, to promote the main object of the Company. Among its many ancillary objects are the granting of scholarships, and the subsidizing of funds, pension schemes, etc., for maintaining Jewish authors, teachers and artists.
The foundation of the Company is due to the initiative of Mr. Moses Feldstein of Warsaw, who contributed the sum of about £1500. In commemoration of this fact a Fund was created under the name of “Feldstein Foundation,” which is to comprise the aforementioned sum and all other capital donations given to the Company from time to time towards this Fund. Since the establishment of the Company several other similar contributions have been made to the Fund, but the outbreak of the war has prevented the founder of the Company, Mr. Feldstein, and his co-directors from carrying out the vigorous propaganda which they intended to set on foot in all parts of the world. The members of the Company consist of the joint holders of the founders’ shares of the Jewish Colonial Trust, the Directors of the Jewish National Fund, and the President of the Odessa Committee (the Committee of the Company for assisting Jewish Agriculturists and Handicraftsmen in Syria and Palestine).
The Directors of the Company are M. Feldstein (Chairman), Dr. A. Hantke, Dr. S. Levin, A. Podlischewsky, N. Sokolow, M. Ussischkin, Dr. Ch. Weizmann.
The Secretary of the Company is W. Wolf, and the office is at 10‒12 Walbrook, London, E.C.
7. The First London Achuzah Company, Ltd.
The First London Achuzah Company, Ltd., was founded by Dr. J. M. Salkind, with the assistance of Mr. M. Rosenblum and Mr. T. Z. Teacher, in April, 1913, when fifteen members joined the Company. Towards the end of 1913 the number of members amounted to fifty. It has now increased to eighty, about fifty of whom live in London, fifteen in Edinburgh, one in Russia and the rest in provincial towns in England.
The Company was incorporated as a limited liability company in England at the beginning of 1914. The members decided to pay 25 per cent of the amount subscribed by them (a full member’s share amounting to £300). At the same time the Company sent two delegates to Palestine to make investigations with a view to the purchase of suitable land. This was in February, 1914, after fifty members had paid up an aggregate sum of £4000. The two delegates who proceeded to Palestine were Dr. J. M. Salkind and Mr. H. Sterling. The nominal capital of the Company amounted on registration to £15, 000, but was increased in August, 1914, to £25,000, and it is now intended to increase it again to £50,000. Most of the members have already paid the Company more than one-third of the amount of their shares (£120 on each £300 share). Some of the members have taken more than one share――one and a half, two, two and a half, and in one case three shares. About half of the members belong to the artisan class, while the other half consist mostly of merchants. The Company intends to establish also an industrial Achuzah, for the purpose of encouraging and establishing industrial undertakings in Palestine.
When the delegates came back from Palestine, they proposed the purchase of the second half of Kerkur, the first half of which belongs to Mr. Schlesinger (a Zionist of Chita, Siberia), and covers an area of 5134 dunam (about 1280 acres). The proposal was accepted in May, 1914, and the Company paid half of the purchase price, which amounted to £8850. The purchase was made through the Palestine Land Development Co., Ltd., London.
From that time onwards the membership in London, Cairo, and the two small branch companies in Paris and Antwerp, increased considerably. The progress thus achieved induced the Company to increase the extent of its holding in Palestine, and it purchased in 1914 a large area of land called Rabia, in the neighbourhood of Kerkur, measuring about 4000 dunam (1000 acres), the purchase price being £6030. The first instalment of £2000 has already been paid to the Palestine Land Development Co., Ltd., in connection with this transaction.
Owing to the outbreak of the War, the work of the Achuzah Company had to be suspended, and, consequently, the branch companies in Paris, Antwerp and Cairo collapsed. In the United Kingdom, however, and particularly in Edinburgh, the activities of the Company have recently been revived, and a number of new members have joined, in spite of the unfavourable general conditions. In view of this unexpected success, the Directors of the Company intend in the near future to remove the restriction which prevents the Company from having more than fifty members (it having originally been registered as a private company).
The present Directors are: L. Eisen, W. Kirsch, Ch. Inwald, Ch. Kaufman, H. Teacher, Abraham Bendas, Ch. Warschawsky, Dr. J. M. Salkind (Managing Director).
The land purchased by the Achuzah in Palestine is most favourably situated from the point of view of communication. From the Arabah (Dothan) station it is only one hour’s journey by car to Toul Kerem, a station on the new railway line from Merchawia to Lud and Beersheba. Thus the Achuzah settlement will be in a position to keep in touch with Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, and other places, by means of railway communication.
8. The Maccabean Land Company, Ltd.
The Maccabean Land Company is registered as a limited liability company, with a capital of £52,000, divided into forty founders’ shares (reserved for subscription by the Order of Ancient Maccabeans, its Beacons and Allied Societies) of the value of £50 each and 1000 land shares, offered for general subscription, of £50 each, each entitling to an allotment of land in the proposed Maccabean Settlement. The object of the Company is to enable its members, by the accumulation of small periodical payments, to acquire landholdings in Palestine, either for personal occupation or for profitable development. For this purpose it is proposed to acquire forthwith a large area of land (preferentially in the south of Palestine, in the district of Modin, the ancient home of the Maccabees), capable of being parcelled out in allotments and profitably cultivated. The minimum subscription of £10,000 has already been assured, and the Company proposes to enter into negotiations with one of the existing public bodies engaged in the acquisition of land in Palestine for the purchase of an area of land sufficient to provide allotments for all the subscribing members. Unfortunately, the War has compelled the Company to suspend its activities for the present.
C. HEBREW SCHOOLS IN PALESTINE, AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF THE NEW COLONIZATION
The new Jewish colonization movement in Palestine has led to the establishment of more than fifty primary schools, two high schools, two agricultural schools, one handicraft school and one school of arts and crafts. A polytechnic institute on a large scale, for the training of engineers and chemists, was about to be opened when the War broke out. Particulars concerning the Agricultural Experiment Station are given elsewhere in this volume.
The principal schools under the care and supervision of the Zionist Organization are the following:――
The Hebrew Teachers’ Seminary and School of Commerce at Jerusalem, attended by ninety pupils. This school is situated in the centre of the Jewish Settlement, with sufficient space for classrooms, the teachers’ room, collections of specimens and instruments for instruction in natural science. The garden is used for drill and instruction in botany. All graduates of the Teachers’ Seminary are teachers in Palestine, and some of the graduates of the School of Commerce have also found employment as teachers. The students have organized evening classes for mothers, where they teach them to speak Hebrew, while their children attend the Kindergarten. (The Director is M. David Yellin.)
The Hebrew School for Boys at Jerusalem, attended by 205 pupils, including a great number of Sephardim (55 per cent). This number is continually increasing. Instruction is given in all Jewish subjects, as well as in Mathematics, History, Geography, Botany, Singing, Drawing, Gardening, in the Arabic language and some European languages. (Director: M. Sutta.)
The Girls’ School at Jerusalem is attended by 280 pupils, 55 per cent of whom are Ashkenazim, and 33 per cent Sephardim, the rest belonging to Georgian, Yemenite and Persian Jewish families. The subjects of instruction are: Hebrew, Bible, History, Arithmetic, Geography, Zoology, Botany, Drawing, Singing, Gardening, and Modern Languages. More than half of the regular pupils are boarded at the School.
The School for Kindergarten Teachers at Jerusalem is attended by thirty-three pupils. Here the girls are trained to become Kindergarten teachers. The instruction is practical as well as theoretical.
The Hebrew Boys’ School at Jaffa has eight classes and is attended by about 150 children. Pupils who have passed through this School enter the Teachers’ Seminary at Jerusalem, the Hebrew Gymnasium (High School) at Jaffa, or the Agricultural School at Petach-Tikvah, or take up their parents’ trade. (Director: Dr. Marschak.)
The Hebrew Kindergarten at Haifa is attended by seventy children, and is developing satisfactorily.
The Hebrew School at Haifa has 104 scholars (ninety-seven Ashkenazim, seven Sephardim), and consists of three elementary and four other classes. A preparatory course has also been established, which is attended by twenty-six children. As in all other Zionist schools, the instruction is given in Hebrew. The syllabus is that of a Continental secondary school.
The Agricultural School at Petach-Tikvah has about fifty pupils, children of the local colonists. Besides instruction in Jewish subjects, modern European languages and Arabic, practical instruction is given in agriculture and horticulture. Some of the pupils work with the colonists, and in that way not only acquire a good practical knowledge, but are able to earn their own living. This School has endeavoured to establish a special department for every branch of agriculture, each with its own plot of land for experimental purposes.
The Jewish Music Schools at Jaffa and Jerusalem, called “Shulamit,” and founded by the late Mrs. Ruppin in 1912, are attended by several pupils of other schools, and have gained great popularity in the country.
The Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts is an important element in the Palestinian Hebrew revival, and has already influenced the Jewish communities of Europe and America. Many Jewish homes possess specimens of the new Palestinian handicrafts, which remind them that in the home of the Jewish people deft handicraftsmen, inspired by the Jewish spirit, are giving a new expression to the genius of their race in metal-work and wood-carving, in carpet-weaving and embroidery. Hebrew characters and emblems enter into the woof and the warp of a Bezalel carpet and give character to the design.¹ The School and Workshops, founded by an enthusiastic Zionist artist, Boris Schatz, are supported by several Committees on the Continent, in this country, and in America, and form a means of most successful Zionist propaganda among all classes of the Jewish and Gentile population. Many Bezalel exhibitions and bazaars have been held, one as recently as 1912, in London. The Bezalel includes also a beautiful little museum of Palestinian antiquities and specimens of Palestinian flora and fauna, as well as of modern Jewish art (including Glitzenstein’s masterpiece, Messiah, Joseph Israels’ portrait――one of the last works of his life, painted for the Bezalel, of which this great master, a sincere friend of the Zionist movement, was a patron). This museum has also the largest existing collection of old Jewish coins, described in M. S. Raffael’s (Raffalowitsch) Matbeoth Ha’ibrim Ha’kadmonim Jerusalem, 1913.
¹ Palestine and the Hebrew Revival, by E. Miller. p. 15.
The Jaffa Hebrew High School (for boys and girls), the so-called Gymnasiah Ibrith (Herzliah, founded in 1906), is first and foremost among the institutions of the Hebrew revival in Palestine. No institution has proved so triumphantly the vitality and significance of the modern revival of the Hebrew language and of Jewish national education as the Gymnasiah Ibrith has done with its staff of pioneer-teachers, graduates of various European universities, and its eight hundred pupils from all parts of the world-wide Jewish Diaspora. The great merit of establishing this institution belongs to Dr. Methman-Cohn, who was assisted by the late Dr. Leo Kahn of Kishinew. The most vigilant and generous friend and patron of the Gymnasiah Ibrith, Mr. Jacob Moser, M.P., of Bradford, provided the institution with the means to erect the impressive building which forms the centre of the little Jewish town Tel Aviv, near Jaffa. This institution, equipped with everything that is necessary for the teaching of all branches of science, has attracted the best of the younger Zionist intellectuals, who have made it their life-work to inaugurate a system of national education in a modernized living Hebrew. (The most important workers in this institution are mentioned elsewhere in this volume.)
The Jaffa Hebrew School for Girls (Beth Sefer Le’banoth) was founded by the Odessa “Lovers of Zion” Association in 1894, and is attended by a few hundred girls. The principal is that most able pioneer and Hebrew educationist, Dr. Tourov. It is the best school of its kind in the country.
The Seminary for Women Teachers at Jaffa, also maintained by the Odessa “Lovers of Zion,” was founded in 1913 in a house built for the purpose, the means having been supplied by the Russian Zionist M. Isaac Feinberg, in the shape of a donation.
The Tachkemoni Secondary School at Jaffa, founded in 1905, and attended by a few hundred pupils, is chiefly supported by the strictly orthodox section of Zionists, the Mizrachi, and is doing important educational work on traditional lines, but with a modernized syllabus. Instruction is given in science, Arabic and modern languages. (The school was under the control of Rabbi Kuk and a Mizrachi Committee.)
The Jerusalem Gymnasium (High School), attended by about 150 pupils, boys and girls, was established in 1911 by a group of teachers interested in national education. Although it has not so far achieved its full development, it bids fair to produce good results.
The Odessa “Lovers of Zion” Association maintains Kindergartens in Safed, Tiberias and Jaffa; schools for children in the colonies of Chederah, Bir Jacob, Wadi el Chanin, Artuf, Moza and Kastinie; and schools at Tiberias, Haifa and Gaza. It contributes also to the support of the Tachkemoni and the Handicrafts School attached to the Talmud-Torah (religious school) at Jaffa, and of the Bezalel at Jerusalem.
The “Free Association for the Defence of the Interests of Orthodox Judaism” at Frankfort supports a number of schools in the colonies, which have also accepted Hebrew as the language of instruction. To this category belong the Talmud-Torah schools at Petach-Tikvah, Rishon Le’Zion, Ekron, Rechoboth and Haifa.
The Jewish Colonization Association maintains almost all the schools in the colonies, but the management of the schools is left to the colonists themselves. As we are confining ourselves mostly to “Lovers of Zion” and Zionist work, we refrain from giving full statistics of these schools, which are important from the standpoint of numbers as well as from that of efficiency. To mention just a few of them, the schools in Upper Galilee (at Rosh Pinah and other colonies) are excellent, both from the pedagogical point of view and in the teaching of living Hebrew, which is the language of instruction.
The Alliance Israélite Universelle of Paris has a long and important record of school work in Palestine, and the Hilfsverein der deutsche Juden has also established a large number of schools, etc. In 1913 the Alliance requested its schools in Palestine to give more attention to Hebrew. The Evelina de Rothschild School for Girls of the Anglo-Jewish Association, under the headship of Miss Landau, is doing very useful work.
Mention should be made also of the numerous religious old-fashioned schools and colleges (Talmud-Torah schools and Yeshiboth) for boys and young scholars at Jerusalem and in the provinces, in which thousands of Jewish children are educated in knowledge of the Bible and the Talmud. In spite of its defects, the old Jewish settlement in Palestine was instrumental in paving the way for the new colonization, and in this respect the old schools, notwithstanding their out-of-date methods, deserve the highest appreciation for having preserved in the children the knowledge of religion and ancient Hebrew literature. Gradually the new spirit is penetrating into some of these schools, as, for instance, into the Cheder Torah (founded in 1906), where the Hebrew language has been adopted as the language of instruction.
In connection with the ever-increasing and extensive work of national education in Palestine the “Union of Teachers” (Merchaz Ha’morim) calls for mention as one of the most important organizations. It was established some years ago for the purpose of fostering educational development in the new Jewish settlement, of providing means for the further training of teachers, and for completing the education of those engaged in school work, by such means as holiday courses, lectures, excursions, research work, discussions and debates dealing with the curriculum and methods of instruction, and so on.
The Merchaz has also established the nucleus of an Education Museum, with sections for history, pedagogy and hygiene.
The “Language Board” (Vaad Ha’lashon) at Jerusalem (including D. Yellin, E. Ben Jehuda, Dr. Maze, Sutta and others) plays an important part in the national awakening. The rebirth of the Jewish nation being impossible without the rebirth of the national language, the work of modernizing and enriching the national language is as essential and as indispensable for the realization of Zionism as the purchase and cultivation of land or the financial arrangements for that purpose. To unearth the treasures of our ancient language, to reveal to our people the wealth of our national intellect, to broaden national thought and to guide it towards clear expression in its own way――this is fundamental Zionist work. Prosperous and happy nations have established academies for this purpose, which are maintained out of public funds; our more unassuming task is still in a preliminary stage, although much useful work has already been done. The “Language Board” is publishing a series of pamphlets containing suggestions for new idioms, etc.
The good work of the two last-named institutions has earned the appreciation of the Zionist Actions Committee, which has decided to provide them with the necessary means.
The Public Hebrew Library “Bait Neeman,” “Midrash ♦Abrabanel” and “Ginze Joseph” at Jerusalem, founded by Dr. Joseph Chazanovitsch of Bialystok, is also worthy of record. It is the only big library in Palestine which is of use to scholars, and it is therefore of immeasurable value for the revival of Palestine. (There are also collections of rare Hebrew books and MSS. in some Sephardi Yeshiboth, and a Hebrew Library, “Shaar Zion,” founded in 1891 by the new Jewish settlers at Jaffa.) It is far from being adequate――it requires extending and systematizing――but this beginning must win the admiration of all those who fully conceive the immensity of the Zionist task.
♦ “Abarbanel” replaced with “Abrabanel” for consistency
The Gymnastic Societies (Maccabee) at Jaffa and Jerusalem, with branch societies in Rishon Le’Zion, Zichron Jacob, and other colonies, are doing useful work for the physical development of the new generation. All these Societies have been founded during recent years by Zionists, and are supported by the Zionist Organization.
Mr. Nathan Straus, the well-known philanthropist of New York, who has identified himself with the Zionist Organization, has established a number of useful institutions in Palestine, partly of a philanthropic and hygienic, partly of a pedagogical character. His “Health Department,” which is assisted by some other Jewish Societies on the Continent, has become a real blessing to Jerusalem, likewise his “Soup Kitchen,” his classes for instructing girls in handicrafts, and his workshop for manufacturing articles of mother-of-pearl.
To the hygienic institutions belongs also the Pasteur Institute at Jerusalem, which is controlled by the well-known Russian Zionist, Dr. Arji Behm, for vaccino-therapeutical work.
The People’s Hall (Bet-Am) at Jerusalem is a sort of Toynbee Hall for popular lectures in Hebrew, and for concerts and amusements. Institutions of this kind exist also in Rishon Le’Zion, and other colonies.
The best known of the Hebrew Publication Societies, and of the periodicals, newspapers and magazines founded by Zionists in Palestine and devoted to the revival are the following:――
Kohelet, founded by the Association of Teachers for the publication of Hebrew text-books;
Le’am, for popular pamphlets and pamphlets on scientific subjects;
Yefet, for the translation of classical works of European literature;
Moledet, a literary periodical for young people;
Ha’chinuch, a periodical for teachers, dealing with pedagogical questions;
Ha’chaklai, a Hebrew monthly devoted to agriculture, gardening, etc.;
Yerushalaim, a year-book containing useful information regarding Palestine, by A. M. Luncz;
Luach Erez Israel, a Palestinian calendar with a literary section, by the same author.
Hebrew journalism was represented during many years by the old weekly Chabazelet (editor: M. Frumkin) and by the modern Hashkafa (editor: Elieser Ben-Jehuda). During recent years Ben-Jehuda has edited a daily paper, Ha’or. Until recently Palestine had two daily papers: Ha’cheruth and Moriah, and two weekly papers: Ha’poêl Ha’zair and Ha’achduth.
D. MISCELLANEOUS INSTITUTIONS
The most important institutions for the conduct, support and control of colonization work and companies for practical undertakings are:――
The Zionist Office. Chief Administrators: Dr. Ruppin, Dr. Thon; Agricultural Engineers: Oettinger, Zagorodzki, Vilkansky, and others.
The Chovevé Zion Office (Dr. Chissin).
The Jewish Colonization Association Office (M. Frank, M. Brill, and others).
The Palestine Wine Company “Carmel,” and The Syndicate of Vine-Growers. (The “Carmel” Company has branches in Warsaw (1896) , in America (1898), the “Carmel Oriental” in Alexandria (1902), with sister companies――The Palestine Wine Company (“Carmel Oriental”) in London (Manager: A. Günzburg)――and branches in several countries. The centre is at Rishon Le’Zion, under the management of M. Gluskin).
The Geoulah, for the purchase of land (founded in Warsaw, 1902, in the names of Goldberg, Gluskin and Oettinger, with a branch in Odessa).
The Pardess, a syndicate of orange-growers; the Ha-shaked for almond growing, and some other companies of the same kind.
The Ahuzat Bait, for house-building at Jaffa (this Company founded Tel-Aviv), and other Companies for the purchase of land for house-building, etc.
The Agudath Netaim (Association for Plantations), established in 1905 in Palestine, is a Company incorporated at Constantinople for promoting Jewish plantation work in the Holy Land. (The principal manager of the Company is Mr. Eisenberg of Rechoboth, who has achieved a reputation as a writer and organizer of great practical experience.)
The Histadrut Ha’moshavot, a union of the landed proprietors in the colonies.
The Lishkat Modiyim, an office for information established by the Odessa Chovevé Zion, managed by M. Schenkin.
The Bureau of Information, managed by the Poalim (the labourers), and
Ha’poêl Ha’zair (the Young Worker)――an organization of nationalist workers and intellectuals who have given an impetus to the enthusiasm and determination of the young Zionists in Palestine, as well as far beyond the boundaries of that country. The programme of the organization is a synthesis of Jewish Nationalism and Socialism, in which the Nationalist idea is more accentuated than in the programme of the Poalei Zion. They started their work during the first years of this century, and their organ was the Hebrew weekly Ha’poêl Ha’zair, of which Mr. Aronovitch was editor.
THE JEWISH AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION AT HAIFA
The Sixth Zionist Congress held at Basle in 1906 accepted a scheme presented by Professor Warburg to found an agricultural experiment station in Palestine, and the Zionist Organization started collecting money for that purpose. M. Aaron Aaronsohn,¹ the son of a pioneer colonist of Zichron Jacob, a distinguished agronomist who had been some years engaged in colonization work, and particularly in connection with the inquiries and preparations undertaken on the initiative of Professor Warburg, who was at that time busy with all the schemes concerning Palestine, was commissioned by the Professor to study the question of the hybridization of wild wheat. In 1906, M. Aaronsohn had found, after painstaking investigation, a few ears of wild wheat growing on the declivities of Mount Hermon. The scientific world was very much interested in this discovery, because of its relation to the possibilities of dry farming in arid regions. M. Aaronsohn travelled on that scientific mission as a delegate of the Zionist Organization, in Northern Africa and Southern Europe, and came to America in 1910. While there, he established relations with the United States Department of Agriculture, which took an interest in his ideas, and published a Bulletin by him entitled Agricultural and Botanical Explorations in Palestine. Through the United States Department of Agriculture, M. Aaronsohn and his work were brought to the notice of a number of prominent American Jews, who at his initiative established, February 18, 1910, the Jewish Agricultural Experiment Station, a New York corporation with Julius Rosenwald, of Chicago, president; Morris Loeb, of New York, vice-president; Paul M. Warburg, of New York, treasurer; and Henrietta Szold, of New York, secretary. The objects of the corporation are “the establishment, maintenance and support of Agricultural Experiment Stations in Palestine and other countries; the development and improvement of cereals, fruit, and vegetables indigenous to Palestine and neighbouring lands, the production of new species therefrom and their distribution elsewhere; the advancement throughout the world, and the giving of instruction in new and improved methods of farming.” Funds were raised by the Corporation for the installation and the running expenses for a period of five years. The demonstration fields are situated at Atlit, at the foot of Mount Carmel, on land belonging to Baron Rothschild. Sub-stations are situated at Chedera, in the neighbourhood of Petach-Tikvah and elsewhere. The Station occupies itself since its establishment with the hybridization of wild cereals and with plantations of fruit frees, vines, mulberry trees, various sorts of fodder and ornamental plants. The Jewish colonists resort to this Station for advice and information.
¹ He was killed in an aeroplane accident while on his way to Paris in May, 1919.
LXXXIII.
DAVID WOLFFSOHN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
“MY biography offers nothing of special interest to the general public. It may be divided into two parts: Zionist and personal. The Zionist portion is closely bound up with the history of our movement during the last ten years, and the facts concerning my modest work can hardly be distinguished from the general history of the movement. The personal portion of my career, on the other hand, contains nothing that transcends the ordinary. It is the simple story of a man of the Jewish people, of the Jewish Ghetto.
“I was born in the year 1856, in the village of Dorbiany, in the Government of Kovno, in the Province of Lithuania in Russia, close to the German frontier. My parents were poor, pious Jews. My late father, Isaac, was a talmudic scholar, and devoted his whole life to study and teaching. He earned a precarious livelihood from his lessons. My late mother, the type of a pious, good, clever Jewess, had to bear the burden of the household and the education of her children. Life in my parents’ house was thoroughly Jewish. Zionism at that time was, of course, not known under that name, but, so far as the ideal of Zionism is concerned, I can say that in our home our lives were thoroughly inspired by the Zionist ideal. Till my fourteenth year I studied, according to the old Jewish custom, in the Cheder and Beth Hamedrash of my native town. In the early seventies I went to Memel, where my oldest brother was then residing. Here I made the acquaintance of Rabbi Dr. I. J. Rülf, who had great influence on my future career and way of thinking. Shortly afterwards I went to West Prussia, where I served several years as apprentice in a pious Jewish business-house. I also spent six months in Lyck, where I frequently met in his own house David Gordon, the editor of Ha’magid, who was one of the earliest Zionist pioneers. In 1877 I returned to Memel, where I set up in business for myself, and married. After some time I removed to East Friesland, and in 1887 to my present home in Cologne.
“I can hardly give any data concerning my Zionist work. Zionism for me is hardly a thing that can be put into chronological, historical order. Zionism has been, rather, my life. Ever since I learned to think and feel I was a Zionist. I took a lively interest in the Chovevé Zion movement and was in active correspondence with all the leaders of this movement in Germany. In 1894 I delivered in Cologne my first address on Zionism and helped to found the local society for the promotion and support of Jewish agriculture in Syria and Palestine, which was established in the same year. The appearance of Herzl’s Judenstaat (in 1896) was epoch-making for me. This pamphlet made such a deep impression on me that I at once went to Vienna to introduce myself to Herzl. I placed myself entirely at his disposal. From that moment till the last days of his fruitful life, unhappily so prematurely ended, I remained in uninterrupted intercourse with our never-to-be-forgotten leader. To devote my strength to the continuance of this work I regarded as the task of my life. When, in the sad time after Herzl’s death, the Presidency was offered to me, I was surprised and embarrassed. It was only out of a sense of duty that I accepted this high dignity.”
LXXXIV.
SOME ENGLISH PRESS COMMENTS ON THE LONDON ZIONIST CONGRESS (1900)
Spectator: “As to the Jews being able to live on the land in Palestine there can be no doubt. Those who have seen a Jewish colony in Syria will testify to the excellent physical and moral and agricultural results achieved. Merely to see the children there is ample warrant of what is done for the Jew by release from the Ghetto.”
Saturday Review: “Restoration to Palestine symbolizes the recovery of self-respect, the reattainment of nationhood.”
Globe: “Zionism answers the aspirations of the majority of persecuted Jews, but it is important to those Jews who have become completely assimilated to their Christian surroundings, and who ought to have an interest in the raising of the economic, moral and intellectual status of the mass of their unhappy brethren, which raising of status will necessarily be the first outcome of their gathering in the land of their fathers.”
Daily News: “Whatever difference of opinion may prevail as to the policy of the Zionist movement, there can be no doubt as to the intense and fervid interest of those who, at no small self-sacrifice, are doing this work of revival.”
Daily Graphic: “Zionism appeals to many sides of human thought, but perhaps the final impression it leaves upon the public mind is something akin to Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones which lived again. Is it possible that the dispersed nation, whose career is one of the standing marvels of history, is about to gather itself again and open a new chapter of its romantic annals? It looks very like it. The movement is in the hands of practical and courageous men; it has behind it a stimulus, not only of subjective enthusiasm, but also of objective strife, and it entirely responds to a practical need.”
Yorkshire Post: “The striking feature of the meetings was the unity of purpose and enthusiasm which seem to characterize all the delegates. Persons who speak quite different tongues nevertheless fraternize and grow enthusiastic over the prospect of returning as a nation to the land of their fathers.”
Leeds Mercury: “This is not wholly a dream.... Several colonies have settled down within their historic territorial limits. A few of them are already self-supporting. The movement is essentially democratic.”
Nottingham Guardian: “The movement the Zionist Congress represents is an important one and it may possibly produce momentous results.”
Newcastle Courier: “This movement in Jewry is one which readily commands the sympathy of the outsider. It is the voicing of that inarticulate feeling which has for ages silently swayed and sustained forlorn and seemingly forsaken Jews. The inextinguishable hope and the unshaken faith of these stricken people as to their future constitutes a striking object-lesson in these days of scepticism.”
Liverpool Echo: “From every point of view, political, social, and religious, Zionism has much to recommend it, and the enthusiasm with which it has been taken up by many of the most prominent thinkers of the Hebrew race affords the best augury for its ultimate accomplishment.”
Glasgow Evening News: “Such a scheme as the re-peopling of Palestine, while demanding careful handling at every stage, must be gradually evolved.... If the Zionist movement creates a Jew with the tastes and aspirations of his forefathers it will not have been started in vain.”
Glasgow Evening Citizen: “It is a matter of considerable importance, looked at from what side we may. Should any effective system be found of dealing with it, then the present Congress will probably have operated to the advantage of this country quite as much as to the Jews in whose interests it is being held.”
North British Daily Mail: “There is no reason why Christians should not wish them well. The movement should provide a refuge for the Jewish race from the Anti-Semitic hate which pursues them in so many countries, and it should help somewhat to restore to its former prosperity the land of Palestine, towards which the Jewish heart ever turns with love and devotion.”
Review of the Week: “Why should not this homogeneous, intelligent and powerful race (the Jews) form a State of their own, and thus free themselves from persecution in other States, and enforce respect for their nationality? Millions of Jews have probably asked themselves this question. Trustworthy leaders having been found, a movement has been set on foot for the establishment of a Jewish centre in Palestine. The idea is glorious enough to take possession even of the minds of such a practical, prudent and commercial race as the Jews.”
LXXXV.
COLONEL CONDER ON THE VALUE OF THE JEWISH NATIONAL MOVEMENT (1903)
“ENTHUSIASM is the power of feeling a strong interest in something that is not of personal material advantage. It is not a very common feeling anywhere, and is perhaps as rare among Jews as among others. It is generally regarded with suspicion: for it often upsets repose, and leads to unexpected and disturbing events. Ignorant enthusiasm has been the cause of many great troubles: but enthusiasm founded on real knowledge of events and of national movements has produced, in our own times, some of the greatest changes in history. It was the enthusiasm of the few which created a United Italy, or again which has made Japan the leading power in the Far East. It is the unexpected that comes to pass, because men’s attention is fixed on large and conspicuous objects, and because they find it so difficult to judge whether the new cause, advocated by the few, is based on reality, or whether it is merely a craze. Thus, while endless diplomacy and observation are directed to the management of affairs on the supposition that the facts are evident, there constantly comes a surprise which renders futile all the schemes of anxious Politicians, due to the silent action of some unsuspected element. The blind desires of the people find at length a definite expression, and the direction given by a few enthusiasts leads to new and startling events.... Enthusiasm for one’s own race and country, when genuine, is regarded with general favour: but when George Eliot raised her protest against the everlasting ‘Hep!’ which hounds the wandering Jew from land to land, people asked what she had to do with Judaism. Like Cain, we ask: ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ and especially when it is the poor brother whom we so much dislike. We can, however, understand that the great mass of poor and persecuted Jews feel for those who devote their time, money and thought to the raising up of their own people an amount of real affection and gratitude which renders them willing to be led to their realization of hopes that are not commonly regarded by the great mass of the prosperous and contented.... Among the higher class of those broad-minded Jews who sincerely believe in their ancient traditions, very noble efforts are made not only to help the poor and stem the tide of persecution, but also to raise the tone of the nation by appeal to its ancient memories and ideals. These men are the natural leaders to whom the destitute and oppressed turn for counsel and guidance, and it is among them that it has now become a fixed belief that the nation can only be raised from its misery by the creation of a national centre――a home to which all those who are scattered over the earth may turn their eyes: which must be one bound up with all that is best in the historic memories of the race, and which therefore must be the old home in Palestine itself. The Jew, they say, is tired of wandering and tired of being an alien. Emigration has not settled the eternal question, and a nation without a country must be content with toleration as all that it can expect.
“As regards ourselves, we should be only too glad to see Palestine increasing in civilization and prosperity as an outpost in the neighbourhood of Egypt.... It is clear that if the question of the Near East should again be raised, the Jews will have to be considered by statesmen in any settlement of the Syrian question: and that the solution of the question ... may be ... a ‘legally assured home for the Jewish People.’”
LXXXVI.
LORD GWYDYR ON ZIONISM AND THE ARABS
ONE of the most important factors the Zionists will have to reckon with in their further activity in Palestine is that of the Arabian population of the country. This population might consider the development of the Zionist movement undesirable: if the immigration of Jews into Palestine were to bring additional poverty into the land――if the Jewish element were restless, adventurous and inclined to disorder――if the country had or might have a homogeneous Arabic culture, and this new element were to disturb its uniformity through the introduction of its own cultural aspirations――or if that same element were threatening to oust the Arabs from their own position. But these and similar suppositions which might have led to the adoption of strong measures, or at least to a sentimental antipathy against immigration, are non-existent. The Jews bring no poverty into the land; nor is the immigrating population adventurous; Arabic culture does not already prevail in the country; and the Jews will not drive the Arab population from an established position.
The Jews who have been or are coming to Palestine have created considerable new economic values which are not only sufficient for their own maintenance but also contribute essentially towards the economic strengthening of the Arab element. Not only has the Government derived profit from the greater taxation returns of the Jewish colonies, but also from the enhanced taxability of the country, in consequence of the better methods of cultivation introduced by the Jews. The Arab population has also been considerably enriched, partly because the same masses which were formerly unemployed in large numbers found occupations and earnings with the Jews; partly through favourable sales of land, and also because they have learnt from the Jews how to obtain a greater yield from the soil.
Of course there can be no lack of competition in isolated cases, especially between Arab and Jewish traders, or Arab and Jewish artisans. But on the whole this competition can only bear upon individual cases. In general the new immigration can only maintain and support itself in the country if it creates new values, for the very simple reason that industrial conditions in Palestine are in a very low state of development, and that consequently the supplanting of those who hold established positions is practically impossible.
Therefore, from a comprehensive economic point of view, it is not only unnecessary to protect the native population against the immigration, but the latter should be encouraged in the interest of the country and its present inhabitants. The immigration brings about an increase of production as well as of consumption, and the greater part of the native population is thereby relieved from economic distress.
It is also possible that the native population, on having risen from its present state of depression to a higher level, may endeavour, in a measure, to better its economic position by settling down in neighbouring provinces. Colonization of the lands to the east of Palestine by Arabs would considerably reduce the Arab population of Palestine. Already, since the centre of gravity of the Arab race is not situated in Palestine, the area of friction arising from national-political motives is considerably reduced. The national-political relations of the Jews and their Arab fellow-citizens must be directed into the right channel from the very beginning. In this respect the Zionist programme is quite clear, simple and natural. The Jews wish to collaborate with the Arabs towards the elevation and strengthening of the country; but, in all they do, they want to appear as the Jewish nation, and always to show openly and freely their Jewish nationality. If it be a question of assimilation, Palestine is the only country in the world where the Jews, instead of being assimilated, are themselves the assimilating factor. It has, however, to be added that there can be no question of compulsory assimilation enforced by the Jews; they themselves have suffered too much from assimilation to wish to enforce it in any direction. But the Jewish culture will have an instructive and ennobling influence over others, through the force of example.
Lord Gwydyr wrote as follows on the question of the Turks and the Arabs in connection with the Jews:――
“The difference between the Turkish and Arabic race is a curious subject of study and reflection. The Arabs, taken individually, are superior to the Turks. But in the struggle between nations the superiority of individuals is nothing: what gives ascendancy is the quality not of the individual but of the man: it is the spirit of ensemble, the aptitude to command or obey, which, after all, is the same thing. In this point of view the Arab is inferior to the Turk. Enthusiastic, witty, delicate, made for poesy and adventure, sober, inured to fatigue, as gay and as variable as the Turk is serious and grave, the Arabic race is still what we see it in history. But when, forgetting for a moment the brightness of their conquest, we closely examine, even in history, the character of the Arab race, what do we see? A race whose religious enthusiasm created an army rather than a nation, and incapable of founding an empire, as the Romans had done, it gave rise to I do not know how many empires and how short lived. What a chaos, and in this chaos what a rapid and tumultuous nation! Unity and duration were ever wanting in the governments created by the Arab race. These governments enjoyed the life of tropical plants, brilliant and brief, whilst the Turkish race has founded an empire, now expiring indeed, but which has lasted five hundred years or more. For an empire like the Turkish one, and in those countries, five hundred years’ duration is eternity. What is Palestine worth to the Arabs? Nothing. They did not appreciate its value, until the Jewish enterprise that forms a striking contrast with the dulness of the natives began to utilize this old garden of the human race, left desert and barren by the misfortunes of time. The Arabs will be useful when guided by an active and intelligent Jewish settlement.
“Racial rivalry is natural in every country, and is not to be disapproved so long as the aims are good, as, e.g. emulation in acquiring of knowledge in its multiple domains, such as agriculture, industry, etc.: but as soon as rivalry exceeds these bounds, it is to be deprecated. The legal power must resist with all its power this nefarious kind of rivalry, as nobody wishes to differentiate between the inhabitants in their liberties. All must be equal before the law, without the least distinction. But misunderstandings may always occur, and people with interested motives will try to make capital out of these misunderstandings. Everything depends on the goodwill and tact on both sides. Even the Bedawi may be won over to friendship more easily than he may be driven into subjection. And he is worth the winning over. Besides being a fighting man in his own style, he is, as history proves, quite capable of making valuable contributions to the welfare of the country, if he is properly treated. Experience shows that he responds more readily to appeal than to command, and is more easily led than driven. They must be given the blessings of a good administration and trained to take a gradually increasing share in the government of the country. Friendliness will replace inveterate mistrust: the inhabitants of the country will be bound together in close harmony by the ties of common interest. From a strictly Christian standpoint such a course is clearly the highest and wisest: while from that of the Moslems the old fears that closer intercourse with Christians might sap the religious earnestness of the followers of the Prophet are now generally seen to be groundless in the light of a longer and more intimate acquaintance. But there are reasons of a more practical nature than these ethical considerations. The position of Islam in the world’s political and religious geography supplies the followers of both faiths with a motive for common action that is yearly becoming better understood.... If it is true that a new spirit is stirring in the East of Asia, that the scientific knowledge by which in the past Europeans have held their own can no longer remain their monopoly and that the increase of the population in the Far East remains steady while that of Europe declines, then it is time for the Near East, when the inevitable struggle must take place, to put her house in order: and the first and most obvious requirement is that the tradition of misunderstandings between Christians and Moslems shall be replaced by a sympathy based upon community of interest.”
LXXXVII.
CONSULAR REPORTS
THE movement of progress and hope which has awakened to consciousness in Palestine was born in the colonies, where the land began to yield a ready harvest in return for the husbandman’s toil, where the vine and the fruit tree began to surround with natural beauty a land that had all too long lain desolate, and the old joys of country life have brought anew to the toilful workers a spirit of independence and dignity which have penetrated from the country into the towns. Again the Jewish race has developed some of the fine physique that generations of the Ghetto life had threatened to destroy for ever.
The British Consular Reports show signs of a steady development of Palestinian trade:――
Year.│ Exports. │ Imports. ─────┼───────────┼───────── 1885 │ £132,579 │ £287,740 1886 │ 119,555 │ 240,880 1887 │ 186,371 │ 232,045 ─────┼───────────┼───────── 1888 │ 204,315 │ 253,065 1889 │ 244,561 │ 275,622 1890 │ 447,010 │ 259,811 ─────┼───────────┼───────── 1891 │ 410,530 │ 288,290 1892 │ 258,466 │ 342,597 1893 │ 332,628 │ 349,540 ─────┼───────────┼───────── 1894 │ 285,604 │ 273,233 1895 │ 282,907 │ 275,990 1896 │ 373,447 │ 256,090 ─────┼───────────┼───────── 1897 │ 309,389 │ 306,630 1898 │ 306,780 │ 322,430
The increase of trade in 1890 and 1891 was due to the good harvest in oranges and sesame. In 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1897, all the wheat and the barley were exported via Gaza, and are therefore not included in the above table. The value of some of the goods exported and the growth of new industries is indicated in the following table, which shows the exports of wheat, maize, soap and oranges from 1885 to 1898:――
│ Wheat. │ Maize. │ Soap. │ Oranges. Year.│ £ │ £ │ £ │ £ ─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────── 1885 │ 3,600 │ 7,875 │ 13,722 │ 26,500 1886 │ 3,325 │ 9,000 │ 8,960 │ 29,400 1887 │ 15,000 │ 21,000 │ 38,000 │ 36,000 ─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────── 1888 │ 7,800 │ 16,960 │ 45,000 │ 55,000 1889 │ 16,950 │ 18,200 │ 33,600 │ 51,200 1890 │ 19,920 │ 11,240 │ 44,700 │ 83,120 ─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────── 1891 │ 3,300 │ 17,300 │ 124,000 │ 108,400 1892 │ ―― │ 420 │ 46,800 │ 62,000 1893 │ ―― │ 2,580 │ 112,000 │ 96,500 ─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────── 1894 │ ―― │ 2,000 │ 114,000 │ 51,000 1895 │ 3,560 │ 3,200 │ 93,240 │ 65,000 1896 │ 1,920 │ 14,178 │ 113,114 │ 72,600 ─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────── 1897 │ ―― │ 8,450 │ 81,900 │ 75,800 1898 │ 14,000 │ 3,000 │ 62,000 │ 82,500
In the earlier reports some reference is made to the export of wine, but it is not worth special mention until 1894, from which date the following figures may be given:――
Wine and Cognac.
1894 │ £3,000 1895 │ 2,600 1896 │ 4,032 ─────┼─────── 1897 │ 4,340 1898 │ 20,500
Comparative tables of imports and exports at Jaffa according to countries during the four years 1909‒1912.
IMPORTS
│ 1909. │ 1910. │ 1911. │ 1912. Country. │ £ │ £ │ £ │ £ ─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼────────── United Kingdom │ 321,348 │ 128,730 │ 146,000 │ 155,000 British Colonies │ 4,629 │ 3,105 │ 49,000 │ 54,000 Turkey │ 107,842 │ 328,965 │ 340,000 │ 305,000 ─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼────────── Austria-Hungary │ 92,244 │ 83,840 │ 114,000 │ 126,000 Russia │ 96,038 │ 97,000 │ 108,000 │ 110,000 Germany │ 87,308 │ 68,615 │ 74,000 │ 80,000 ─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼────────── France │ 64,773 │ 103,000 │ 112,000 │ 84,000 Egypt │ 69,445 │ 58,095 │ 70,000 │ 61,000 Belgium │ 39,635 │ 49,185 │ 60,000 │ 54,000 ─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼────────── Italy │ 25,232 │ 24,940 │ 16,000 │ 5,000 United States │ 13,483 │ 10,400 │ 25,000 │ 12,000 Roumania │ 10,565 │ ―― │ 22,000 │ 17,000 ─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼────────── Netherlands │ 10,555 │ 10,141 │ 8,000 │ 7,000 Bulgaria │ ―― │ 11,950 │ 15,000 │ 8,000 Other Countries │ 9,848 │ 24,485 │ 10,910 │ 12,000 ─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼────────── │ 973,143 │ 1,002,450 │ 1,169,910 │ 1,090,000
EXPORTS
│ 1909. │ 1910. │ 1911. │ 1912. Country. │ £ │ £ │ £ │ £ ─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────── United Kingdom │ 158,090 │ 173,085 │ 185,000 │ 190,000 British Colonies │ 77 │ 698 │ 9,000 │ 10,500 Turkey │ 56,850 │ 83,015 │ 78,000 │ 95,000 ─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────── Austria-Hungary │ 19,630 │ 12,103 │ 21,000 │ 24,500 Russia │ 18,370 │ 29,589 │ 33,000 │ 45,000 Germany │ 7,325 │ 8,384 │ 17,000 │ 21,000 ─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────── France │ 15,080 │ 22,255 │ 46,000 │ 50,000 Egypt │ 255,215 │ 277,328 │ 270,000 │ 290,000 Belgium │ 1,863 │ 1,101 │ 15,000 │ 12,000 ─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────── Italy │ 10,337 │ 15,332 │ 12,000 │ 6,000 United States │ 3,765 │ 4,272 │ 10,000 │ 1,000 Roumania │ 1,375 │ ―― │ 2,000 │ 2,500 ─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────── Netherlands │ 418 │ 1,192 │ 1,000 │ 2,000 Bulgaria │ ―― │ 5,221 │ 6,000 │ 4,500 Other Countries │ 12,630 │ 2,575 │ 5,660 │ 10,162 ─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────── │ 506,935 │ 636,145 │ 710,660 │ 774,162
Hindrances to the Prosperity of Palestine
(From the British Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No. 4850. Annual Series: Turkey. Report for the Year 1911. London, 1912):――
“The principal causes which impede a rapid increase in the prosperity of Palestine are three, viz.:――
“1. The lack of a harbour in Jaffa.――This is greatly needed. Owing to the fact that Jaffa is an open roadstead subject to sudden and dangerous storms――it should be noted that a British steamer was wrecked in February, 1911――much delay is experienced in loading and unloading steamers with consequent loss and inconvenience. Many tourists and pilgrims are also deterred from visiting the country owing to the uncertainty as to whether disembarkation will be possible.
“2. The tithe.――The levying of a tax of 12½ per cent. ad valorem on products of the soil has greatly impeded the extension of the orange plantations. Recently a petition has been submitted to the authorities by agriculturists asking that this tax may be replaced by a fixed tax of 30 pias. (5s.) per dunum (about ¼ acre) on land planted with orange and other fruit trees. If this change were made, there would be an immediate increase in the number of orange plantations, with consequent benefit both to the Government and to the population. There are thousands of acres of light soil in the vicinity of Jaffa, which, although not suited for cereals or sesame, are well fitted for the cultivation of oranges.
“3. The existence of large plots of undivided (musho’a) land belonging to several owners jointly who are, however, unable to determine their respective shares.――The natural result is that, there being no inducements to carry out improvements, the land is neglected. If measures were taken to effect the division of the land, the results would be beneficial both to the Government and to the owners.”
In addition to this statement, Mr. Vice-Consul P. Abela of Haifa reported (1911):――
“There is a possibility of great agricultural enterprise in the fertile and extensive plains near Haifa, and arrangements have been made with some big proprietors to let the property for development. Were it not for the Turkish laws prohibiting foreign companies to hold land in Turkey, great progress might have been made in this direction.”
(From the Jaffa Report for 1912, No. 5107. Annual Series. June, 1913):――
“Public works.――The roads have not been touched, except for a few patchings in the town, and are in the worst state of repair imaginable.
“The harbour concession, owing to the difficulties arising from the confused political state of the capital, has not yet been obtained.... It is now nearly fifteen years that negotiations have been going on with regard to the project, and considering the enormous benefits that would accrue from its realization to every branch of the local trade, its perpetual postponement is deplorable. The present open roadstead is dangerous both for passengers and goods trade, and frequently prevents vessels from communicating at all. The resulting losses to the district are too obvious to be mentioned.
“The lack of public security.――The inhabitants of the Jewish colonies have to pay from £6 10s. annually per family in organising their own means of defence, and even then suffer from insecurity.
“The tithe.――This tax is levied on a system which has the disadvantages both of discouraging cultivation and being wasteful and comparatively unproductive. Its incidence on individuals is also in many cases unfair and crippling. The whole system is in need of radical revision.
“The backward state of public works.――The present roads are fit for nothing but camel traffic, and agriculturists have no satisfactory means of embarking their goods at Jaffa without great expense and loss through deterioration.”
LXXXVIII.
THE following is an example of Moore’s Zionist songs:――
ADVENT OF THE MILLENNIUM
But who shall see the glorious day, When throned on Zion’s brow, The Lord shall rend that veil away Which blinds the nations now? When earth no more beneath the fear Of his rebuke shall lie; When pain shall cease, and every tear Be wiped from every eye?
Then, Judah, thou no more shalt mourn Beneath the heathen’s chain; Thy days of splendour shall return, And all be new again. The fount of life shall then be quaff’d, In peace by all who come; And every wind that blows shall waft Some long-lost exile home. MOORE.
(See Volume I, page 12.)
LXXXIX.
CREMIEUX’S CIRCULAR TO THE JEWS IN WESTERN EUROPE¹
“Aux Juifs de l’Occident.
“... PENDANT mon séjour en Egypte, dans le cours de cette belle mission qui portait vers nos frères de l’Orient les sympathies si ardentes de leurs frères de l’Occident, j’étais vivement ému de l’aspect de la malheureux population qui s’offrait à mes yeux. Foules aux pieds depuis tant de siècles, les débris de la nation juive, autrefois nation puissante dans ces contrées même, ont perdu l’energie qui seule donné à l’homme quelque ressort en lui rappelant qu’il est l’œuvre de Dieu. La source qui vivifie toutes les facultés de notre intelligence, l’instruction n’est pas même connue du nom dans cette Alexandria, si brillante, il y a quelques siècles, par les lumières des juges et des docteurs israelites....
“De l’Orient est sortie la religion qui nous unit tous d’une chaîne à la fois si étroite et si noble.... Du Caire et d’Alexandria le feu sacre se répandra bientôt vers Dames et Jérusalem. L’Orient va se ranimer....”
¹ Archives Israelites de France, vol. ii., 1841, p. 185.
(See Volume I, p. 180.)
XC.
THE BANNER OF THE JEWS
(BY EMMA LAZARUS)
WAKE, Israel, Wake! Recall to-day The Glorious Maccabean rage, The sire heroic, hoary-gray, His five-fold lion-lineage, The wise, the elect, the Help-of-God, The burst of Spring, the Avenging Rod.
From Murpeh’s mountain ridge they saw Jerusalem’s empty streets: her shrine Laid waste where Greeks profaned the law With idol and with pagan sign. Mourners in tattered black were there With ashes sprinkled on their hair.
Then from the stony peak there rang A blast to ope the graves: down poured The Maccabean clan, who sang Their battle anthem to the Lord. Five heroes lead, and following, see Ten thousand rush to victory!
Oh for Jerusalem’s trumpet now, To blow a blast of shattering power, To wake the sleepers high and low, And rouse them to the urgent hour! No hand for vengeance, but to save, A million naked swords should wave.
Oh, deem not dead that martial fire, Say not the mystic flame is spent! With Moses’ law and David’s lyre, Your ancient strength remains unbent. Let such an era rise anew, To lift the “Banner of the Jew!”
(See Volume I, p. 243.)
XCI.
“THE ADVANCED GUARD”
Programme of the Committee appointed to found a colony to be called Rishon Le’Zion (1882).
“A. The acquisition of land.――The Committee will select according to its judgment, a suitable site for the colony, will purchase the same from the owners of the ground and execute a deed of purchase, in the name of the President and two members of the Committee. If some charitable association make a grant of money towards the purchase of the land, in that case the Committee will be in a position to buy it in the name of such association. If it be bestowed as a gift the deed of purchase will be in accordance with its regulation and that of this Committee.
“B. The acquisition of houses.――The Committee have prepared plans respecting houses and stalls for herds and flocks, the purchase of bricks, wood and all the requisites of a dwelling-house. It will appoint inspectors over the work-people and a surveillance will be exercised by the officers of the colony or those of the Committee.
“C. The obtaining of cattle and implements.――The Committee will choose experienced men either from the members of the Committee or from the colony to hand over to them money for the purchase of cattle and proper implements of ploughing adapted to each family. These will be bestowed on them according to priority.
“D. The wants of the congregation.――The Committee will provide money for the erection of a synagogue, a Talmud Torah school, a hospital, bath and washhouses, also for the erection of a small trading mart to be managed in accordance with the regulations laid down by the officers of the colony for the necessary transactions.”
ADDENDA
I. (vol. i., p. xxviii.)
IT is a thorough confusion of ideas to identify Zionists with the Nationalists, Chauvinists and Jingoes of other nations. Judaism in its ethics is more cosmopolitan than any other doctrine in the world. In teaching that all men are brethren it lays the foundation of the equality of men and races, and excludes in principle every impulse of race egotism as immoral. In Judaism is therefore contained from the beginning the suppression of national limitation and animosity. And what is founded upon Judaism must necessarily prevail in Zionism, which represents the quintessence of Judaism, with all the power of logic and tradition. But it is just upon this point that those Jews who combat Zionism make a surprising mistake. They attempt to make use of this truth in order to prove that the Jewish nationality has to disappear from this world. Here lies the fallacy. It is true that Judaism rejects the ill-natured aloofness of one nation towards another, but it is not true that Judaism strives after the suppression of national distinctions, and it even borders on the ridiculous to suppose that Judaism requires the suppression of Jewish nationality. Judaism, which recognizes all natural formations, cannot wish to annihilate or to suppress the manifoldness of the national articulation of humanity.
Apart from this all that is alive and modern has a tendency towards the creation of a national culture. All valuable literature and art bears a national character. Everything international is bare of colour and expression. What the Jews do can generally also be done by others, in a worse or better manner. What is of importance to humanity, are the special values which the Jews as such create. The downfall of a nationality which represents a state of culture would be equivalent to a lessening of the spiritual possession of humanity. Besides, the abrasion of the national leads throughout to a loosening of the self-containing of the personality. It comes from the national instinct of the individuality, and the imprint cannot be effaced without internal injury. That is why Zionism means the return to the natural character of the Jewish personality.
II. (vol. i., p. 5)
Anglo-Israelism, the theory which identifies the ancient Britons with the Israelites, was originated by Richard Brothers (1757‒1829). The chief exponents of this doctrine, which became the teaching of a particular sect in England and America, were: J. Wilson, W. Carpenter, F. R. A. Glover, Edward Hine, S. W. Greenwood, the Rev. W. H. Poole, S. Bernatto and T. R. Howlett. The Anglo-Israelites have their literature and periodical publications, in which they propagate their idea with great zeal, and in the United States and in Britain to-day amount to a very large number of believers. Without entering into a scientific analysis of this doctrine, we must admit that the fact that a certain number of English people are endeavouring to prove their Israelite origin, is possible only in a country so strongly attached to the Bible, including the Old Testament, as England. Other people would shrink from the mere idea of being mixed up, even in the remotest degree, with Israelites. Even Jewish assimilationists are inclined to accept any extravagant hypothesis tending to prove that the present Jews are not of pure Jewish or Semitic origin.
III. (vol. i., p. 100
The anonymous author of A Treatise of the Future Restoration of the Jews and Israelites to their Own Land, etc. Addressed to the Jews. (London, 1746), defended the idea without any allusion to conversion, in a Jewish spirit, though he was evidently a non-Jew. He gave many interesting descriptions of Palestine.
President Edwards, in his History of Redemption, says: “In future glorious times, both Judah and Ephraim, or Judah and the Ten Tribes, shall be brought in together, and shall be united as one people.” Mr. Locke, giving the substance of the eleventh chapter of the Romans, says: “When the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, the whole Jewish nation shall again be restored to be the people of God.” Dr. W. Harris observes that, as this Epistle (the Romans) was written about the year 57 ... and as the prophecies were not accomplished then, they have to be accomplished.”
William Cunningham of Lainshaw, in his Letters and Essays (London, 1822), has a series of letters on “The Literal Restoration of Israel to their Own Land,” which are excellent both in style and learning.
IV. (vol. i., p. 106)
FROM THE ARCHIVES AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE
CARLOW, 2nd March, 1841.
MY LORD,
A Memorial has this day been transmitted to your lordship, praying that Her Majesty’s Government may now exert its commanding influence to secure the protection of the Jews in Palestine, and to afford them facilities for returning to their own land. Though signed by only 320 persons, it contains, I believe, almost the unanimous expression of Protestant feeling in this neighbourhood; almost every one to whom it was presented cheerfully appended his name. It contains the signatures of men of all ranks, of all political parties, and of different religious denominations. The names of many Roman Catholics, both clergy and laity, will be found attached to it.
The deep interest manifested by all classes in the subject of the Memorial, as well as its transcendent importance, will, I sincerely hope, secure for it an attentive consideration.
While the minds of a people, who have for many ages been crushed and trodden under foot by all nations, are fixed with intense anxiety on the measures which Her Majesty’s Government may now adopt for their relief, multitudes of Christians, both at home and abroad, are watching with intense interest the issue of our recent victories in Syria. The tide of popular feeling also throughout the civilized world is now turned in favour of the Jews, and nothing perhaps would tend more strongly to secure our national tranquillity, heal divisions at home, and unite men of all parties, than the adoption of vigorous measures for the benefit of ancient Israel.
I pray your lordship to forgive these remarks, and to bear with me while I add, that perhaps the very existence of our country depends upon the manner in which the people of God are now treated by us. The supreme Governor of Heaven and Earth has, by the prophet Isaiah (chap. xxix. 7 and 8), passed a sweeping and universal sentence which must operate with as unerring certainty as any of the ordinary laws of nature. The total disappearance from the map of the world of many of the most famous nations of antiquity――of Assyria, Babylon, Idumea, etc., form the most impressive commentary on these awful words. It is unnecessary to remind your lordship that England is implicated in this capital offence of plundering, banishing, and massacring the unresisting and often unoffending Jews, as it is indelibly engraven on the page of her history. By what means we are to escape the irreversible decree of Jehovah I know not, if not by manifesting repentance for the cruel deeds of our ancestors, and by employing every means now within our reach to render them kindness in return for the miseries formerly visited upon them.
We hope that God has raised your lordship to your present exalted station for such a time as this, and pray that He may honour you, by making you an instrument of breaking the chains which have long bound the land of His people, and that He may incline the heart of our Sovereign and of Her Government to extend the wings of their protection over that people from whom all our highest blessings and privileges have come.
“Blessed shall those be who bless Israel, and cursed shall those be who curse her.”
I am, My Lord, With much respect, Your lordship’s obedient and humble servant, (Signed) WARRAIN CARLILE, Minister of the Scots’ Church, Carlow.
* * * * *
To LORD PALMERSTON, Her Majesty’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
Foreign Office, March 8th, 1841.
SIR,
I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to request that you will acquaint the Parties resident at Carlow and in its vicinity who signed the Memorial transmitted to His Lordship from Carlow on the 2nd of this month, praying for the intervention of Her Majesty’s Government in favour of the Jews who may be settled in Palestine or who may desire to return there, that His Lordship has duly received their Memorial, and desires to assure them that the interesting subject to which it relates has not escaped the attention of Her Majesty’s Government, who have made and are still making endeavours which they trust will not be altogether without success, to obtain for such Jews as may wish to settle in Palestine, full security for their persons and property.
THE DEAN OF LEIGHTON and the Petitioners from Carlow.
* * * * *
CARLOW, March 2, 1841.
To the Right Honourable LORD PALMERSTON, Her Majesty’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs
The Humble Memorial of the Undersigned Inhabitants of Carlow and its Vicinity.
Your Memorialists take the liberty of presenting the following statement to your Lordship in consequence of the success which the Almighty has lately been pleased to grant to Her Majesty’s Arms in Syria, and the peculiar position in which he has placed the British Government with respect to the Jews: and they feel the more encouraged to do it from the deep interest which your Lordship has already shown in the Welfare of that people.
Your Lordship must be fully aware of the unparalleled sufferings which the Jews have for Ages endured in the Land of their Fathers; and as that Land has recently in the providence of God, been thrown in some degree under British Power, Your Memorialists earnestly entreat that Her Majesty’s Government may employ their present Commanding influence to shield the unresisting Jews from further persecution, and to ensure for them complete protection.
Your Memorialists feel much confidence in pressing upon Your Lordship’s attention the claims of this much neglected people; for from whom could they better expect a prompt and vigorous attention to these claims, than from a Government which has already exerted itself so nobly in the cause of Humanity and has set an example worthy the imitation of the World in abolishing Slavery and in extending protection to the oppressed.
Your Memorialists beg leave further to remind Your Lordship that the Land of Palestine was bestowed by the Sovereign of the Universe upon the descendants of Abraham as a permanent and inalienable possession nearly 4000 Years ago, and that neither conquests nor treaties among men can possibly affect their Title to it. He has also decreed that they shall again return to their Country and that the Gentiles shall be employed as the means of their restoration. “For thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will lift up mine Hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standard to the people, and they shall bring thy sons in their Arms, and thy Daughters shall be carried upon their Shoulders, and Kings shall be thy Nursing Fathers and their Queens thy Nursing Mothers” (Isah. xlix.). Happy shall those be who shall be employed in accomplishing God’s purposes of Mercy to His Ancient People, for “They shall prosper who love Zion.” The honour and Happiness to be thus attained appear now to be within our reach, and indeed to be offered for our acceptance. It is foretold also that the Ships of Tarshish shall be first employed in conducting the dispersed Tribes of Israel to their Home; and who are more likely to be employed in this Service, or could more easily accomplish it, than the Nation whose Fleets have been long engaged in protecting and succouring the Wretched, and which have access to most of the Countries where Jews are to be found!
That the promises of Jehovah shall be accomplished by some Gentile Nation, is absolutely certain; and everything appears to indicate their speedy fulfilment; and it remains now to be seen whether Her Majesty’s Government is to be the chosen instrument in accomplishing this blessed Work (as Cyrus the Great King of Persia was in ancient times) or whether the Honour and Consequent prosperity are to be Conferred on some other Maritime power.
Your Memorialists cannot conclude without reminding Your Lordship that our own fate as a nation depends upon the manner in which we treat the Jews, for the irreversible decree of Heaven is “The Nation or Kingdom that will not serve Israel shall perish, Yea those Nations shall be utterly consumed.”
Your Memorialists therefore pray Your Lordship to adopt such measures as may appear to You best to secure full protection to the Jews in their own Country, also to afford them assistance in gaining possession of their Land, either by purchase or otherwise, and to afford facilities to all who may be disposed to return to their inheritance.
And Your Memorialists will ever pray, etc.
V. (vol. i., p. 119)
“... Sir Moses called on Colonel Campbell, but he had to wait some time before seeing him, as the Colonel was with the Pasha.¹ The Colonel willingly consented to introduce Sir Moses to Boghoz Bey,² and fixed four o’clock for the purpose. Colonel Campbell said he would call for Sir Moses, and bring one of his horses for him.
¹ Mehemet Ali.
² Father of Boghoz Pasha, President of the Armenian National Council in Paris, 1919. See p. 116.
“The Colonel was punctual, and we rode together to the residence of Boghoz Bey. Sir Moses gave him three requests in writing, and he promised to lay them before Mohammad Ali and explain them to him. The Bey appeared well inclined to forward his requests, and offered to present him to the Pasha either the same evening or the next morning....
“Boghoz Bey, the Pasha’s Minister of Commerce, had read over and explained my requests to him on the previous evening, that he might be fully aware of the object of my visit to him. Being anxious to have Mohammad Ali’s answers in writing, which he said Boghoz Bey should give me, as he had been present at our interview, I called on the Bey, but he had not returned from the Palace.
“Between four and five I walked there with Dr. Loewe. Boghoz Bey received me most politely, and said as I had not put my signature to the written requests, he could not give me an answer in writing, but he hoped I was perfectly satisfied with what Mohammad Ali had promised me this morning. He added that as soon as I had made my several requests in writing, and signed them, he would write me the answer, agreeably with the Pasha’s words, as he had accorded me all I required.
“I thanked him, and immediately after the conclusion of Sabbuth I wrote, and sent the several requests to Boghoz Bey, properly signed in the form of letters....”¹
¹ Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore.... Edited by Dr. L. Loewe, ... vol. i. London ... 1890. pp. 198‒200.
VI. (vol. i., p. 138)
In 1849 Colonel George Gawler accepted an invitation from Sir Moses Montefiore to accompany him――together with Lady Montefiore――on a tour through the Holy Land. It was arranged that they should leave England about the 20th of April. They were, however, delayed three weeks by the illness of Lady Montefiore. Gawler himself was not disappointed at the delay, as he was hard at work studying Hebrew and Arabic, preparatory for the tour. Eventually they started on May the 15th, and arrived at Jerusalem on July 28th.¹
¹ George Gawler, K.H., by C. W. N. London, 1900, p. 56.
An enthusiastic Christian Zionist, Gawler was at the same time a strong advocate of Jewish emancipation which was to him a duty of justice, because: “First, it would be part payment of a heavy debt of retribution that England owes to the Hebrew race for bygone centuries of cruelty and oppression. Westminster Abbey itself was rebuilt by money extorted from the Jews (Maddox’s History of the Exchequer, and Hunter’s History of London). And, secondly, it would be taking a part, which is to the honour and interest of the British Nation to perform, in assisting the great movement of deliverance from oppression and bondage that for many years past has been in operation throughout the whole civilized world, in behalf of the Ancient People of God.”¹
¹ The Emancipation of the Jews, by Col. G. Gawler. London, 1847, Preface.
VII. (vol. i., p. 139)
The Rev. Alex. B. C. Dallas (1791‒1869), author of several works, said in a lecture in 1845: ... “The first object is the time when Jerusalem is to be safely inhabited by the people of Judah, as of old. This we learn from Zechariah (XII. 6 and XIV. 11), and from all the prophets. If then the western Jews of Europe were to be placed under some political arrangement, with an independent jurisdiction over the city and suburbs alone, that prophecy would be fulfilled” (Present Times and Future Prospects, Rev. W. R. Fremantle. London, 1845, p. 116).
The Rev. W. R. Fremantle (1781‒1859), the editor of this volume and a priest of great learning, dealing with the same subject, remarked: “It has been thought that if cabinets of Europe only agree upon some terms, and draw up a treaty for the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, the whole matter would be speedily arranged. But if the position which our subject holds in the coming future be correctly stated, then are there many steps in this work of restoration. The first is evidently partial and preparatory” (Ibid., pp. 253‒4).
The Rev. Williams Cadman said in the same series of lectures: “When the storm is passed, Israel shall be found in peaceful and quiet possession. The desolate land shall be tilled; the ruined places shall be built, and the waste cities become fenced, and be inhabited, and filled with flocks of men” (Ibid., pp. 303‒4).
In a Paper¹ read before the British Association of Science at Aberdeen, September 16th, 1859, by Major Scott Philipps, on the Resettlement of the Seed of Abraham in Syria and Arabia, it was shown that the small portion they have hitherto possessed, by no means comprises the whole grant of country given to Abraham, but that the whole of Arabia Felix is included in that grant. Their full inheritance is given in Deuteronomy xi. 24: ‘Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.’
¹ This paper has recently been reprinted.
“Now rule a line from the northern roots of Lebanon to the southern roots of Sinai, and will not a perpendicular thereto point out the uttermost sea to be the East Sea, or Sea of Oman? And the uttermost sea opposite the River Euphrates, is it not the Red Sea?
“Thus the Euphrates, the Mediterranean, the Nile, and the Red Sea are proved to be the boundaries of the Promised Land.”
The Rev. Jacob H. Brooke Mountain wrote in a letter published by Miss Rosa Rame (The Restoration of the Jews, etc., dedicated to the Earl of Shaftesbury. London, 1860):――
“There was a time, when the Duke of Wellington was at the head of affairs, when the Navy of England was absolute on the ocean, and her military glory at its height, and when the Jews would thankfully have paid the whole expense of the expedition, that they might have been put in possession of their own country. And England would have become the first of the nations in Europe――our influence over Turkey, Greece and Egypt rendered paramount――and a devoted ally attached to us. The opportunity was lost; if it is ever vouchsafed to us again, I fervently pray that we may embrace it with zeal and alacrity. The time may yet come, if England has grace to use it.”
VIII. (vol. i., p. 152)
The clause as it is to be found in the General Treaty between Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia and Turkey, signed at Paris, March 30th, 1856, runs as follows:――
“M.T.Maj. the Sultan having in his constant solicitude for the welfare of his subjects, issued a Firman which, while ameliorating their condition without distinction of religion or of race, records his generous intentions towards the Christian population of his Empire,” etc. It is quite clear that the principle was “without distinction of religion or race,” and that the grant of rights to the Christians is only an application of a general principle in a special case.
In the second Protocol of the Conference of the 30th of August, 1860, at Paris, signed by Metternich, Thouvenel, Cowley, Reuss, Kisseleff and Ahmed Vefik, where the autonomy of the Lebanon was decided, reference is made again to this paragraph:――
“Neanmoins ils ne peuvent s’empêcher, en rappelant ici les actes emanes de Sa Majesté la Sultan dont l’article 9 du traité du 30 mars, 1856, a constate la haute valeur,” etc. (Recueil des Traités de la Porte Ottoman, 1884, T. 6, p. 45).
IX. (vol. i., p. 160)
It is noteworthy that Palestinian rabbis recognized the activity of the English Consul. James Finn was, indeed, an English pioneer of the idea of the colonization of Palestine and of England’s protection of Palestinian Jews. He was appointed Consul before the death of Bishop Alexander (who was a converted Jew and the first Bishop appointed by the English Government in Jerusalem), in 1848, and the chief reason for his appointment was his known love of the Jewish cause. He was at the time a member of the London Society’s Committee, had published an interesting and learned work on the History of the Spanish Jews, as well as a book upon the Chinese Jews, had devoted himself with great zeal and rare success to the study of Hebrew, which he spoke and wrote with fluency, and was considered on this account to be particularly well qualified for the post of Consul at Jerusalem (another proof of the great appreciation of the National Jewish character of Palestine on the part of the British Government at that time). Finn went out as a devoted friend to the Jewish cause, and as such he proved himself. Though an ardent Christian, he won the sympathy of the most orthodox Jerusalem rabbis, and their moral support for the colonization of Palestine. He was the son-in-law of Alexander McCaul, a distinguished Christian Hebraist who devoted the greater part of his active life to missionary work among the Jews. When the Bishopric of Jerusalem was established in 1842, under the joint protection of the Queen of England and the King of Prussia, McCaul was the first to be offered the See.
“By desire of the King of Prussia, and with the hearty concurrence of the heads of the Church, the bishopric in Jerusalem was tendered to Dr. McCaul, the worthiest, perhaps, of all the Gentiles for that high honour. He demanded, however, but short time for deliberation and refusal, declaring his firm belief that the Episcopate of St. James was reserved, in the providence of God, for the brethren of the apostle according to the flesh.”¹ Bishop Alexander was thereupon offered and accepted the trust.
¹ Jewish Intelligence, June, 1842, p. 207.
X. (vol. i., p. 194)
Zionism is not merely an economic, but also, and perhaps primarily, a spiritual movement. The Jewish people must be able to live in accordance with the requirements of its soul in Palestine. Economically it could perhaps live equally well elsewhere, but spiritually only in its own historical and actual home. No people on earth have so highly valued the spiritual as the Jews. The ever-recurring motif of the Thora (the Law) is the most striking proof of this conception. The spiritual capacity of a people is not its all, but certainly its highest possession. For this constituent complements all other possessions and ennobles every other interest. Traditions are of high standing, but ignorance and superstition cause otherwise good and great traditions to become forces which, instead of working for good, only interfere as disturbing, thwarting and perplexing elements in the activities of life.
“The ignorant cannot be pious” was a good old saying of the ancients, but of the impious learned ones, on the contrary, the saying was: “May they but cherish the Law, for the light of the Law will turn them towards the good.” Man must not, of course, regard learning as the goal, but without knowledge his life and existence are blind; only in the light of cognition can the traditions of a people assume the best possible form. Historical reminiscences are of the greatest importance for the consciousness of the people, but even they shrink into pitiful narrowness if the breadth of outlook upon life be wanting. In any case the fundamentally good is only sanctified when the pursuit of learning has widened the horizon of everything human, and has taught the art of building up with the best materials out of the past in harmony with the present. This is the universal function of learning, and in comparison with this sphere of action all other superficial functions sink into mere activities which only acquire value through learning.
This fundamental idea, upon which the whole of Judaism is based, may be illustrated from another aspect. When the Seventy Elders had translated the Pentateuch into Greek, which was the most cultured language of Antiquity, the learned ones complained and even went so far as to assert in a paradoxical sentence: “The day on which this happened is like unto the days of woe at the time of the destruction of the Temple.” We have only succeeded by degrees in grasping the deep truth of this sentence. Translation, generalization, localization may be necessary in the Dispersion. But one must not be deceived: only that which is written in the original tongue of the people is genuinely national. The Law of the Jewish nation can only be preserved in all its originality in the language of that nation.
That the Shechinah (the glory of God) should languish in exile, that the Thora should have to share the hard fate of its bearers, condemned to wander from place to place in foreign lands, seemed to many a mystical idea. But, in reality, this idea is but an expression of the conscious need or longing for the old home. There is not the slightest trace of mysticism in this: it is a clear and illuminating thought. Learning must, in order to be disseminated and perpetuated among the successive generations, have some kind of institution available for the purpose of an adequate interchange of ideas. For the purposes of the formation of scientific, professional classes, for the development of an organized system of education, for the vitalization of the language, for the purpose of entering into relation with natural surroundings, it is necessary to presume a whole series of cultural precedents, which would probably be for the greater part of a practical nature. Not until these conditions have been created will national Jewish culture, ancient but ever young, appear in all its glory. In the Dispersion there are, unfortunately, but a few who are able, through the power of intuition, to realize the sublimity and depth of a chapter from the Hebrew prophetic scriptures. They have preserved the Jewish spirit, partly through atavism, and partly through tradition and long study. But no outsider can experience the same feeling towards the Hebrew bible as a Palestinian Jew. No one else either can rightly understand a “Mishna” of the “Seder Z’raïm,” the part which treats of the Palestinian flora, in spite of the most ingenious commentaries. In the Ghetto, they only extract from the Thora that for which the Ghetto possesses understanding――the disputations concerning business (Dine momonoth) or the Dietary Laws, and the laws concerning the sabbath and the festivals. The Thora in its entirety can only be revived in Palestine. The Dispersion only possesses fragments of an ancient national culture, which are, in every country, differently valued, and vague remembrances and surmises of the nature of a national feeling.
It stands to reason that a real national feeling can only develop in Palestine. There this feeling would become what it is among all other sound, healthy and civilized peoples: the joyful consciousness of belonging to a nation that in life, customs and language bears the impress of an ancient and yet new culture. It is in this and not in the superficialities of a state that the centre of gravity of Zionist efforts consists. What Zionists want is to find in the historical fatherland the conditions requisite for the untrammelled development of a Jewish nation. Zionism is in its deepest sense a product of Jewish national consciousness.
What actually is national consciousness? National consciousness, a product of a national common consciousness and of an historically conditioned feeling of unity, is not based upon a single undertaking by a single group of men, or of a single impulse in the history of this group, but upon a certain inborn cultural value of a given people. National consciousness thus expresses this value as a peculiar embodiment of the human soul, which, during the course of special lives enriches humanity so that the right is claimed for the nation in question to safeguard its existence and to develop according to its own individuality within the world of nations. This consciousness is capable of a very varied development in strength, formation and tendency. It manifests itself in the joy felt in the preservation of its own national characteristics, in the promotion of its fitness, in the relation of the efficiency of the individual to the welfare of the whole, and in the willingness to sacrifice for the good of the whole people. This consciousness possesses, besides, certain specific aspects which are peculiar to the one nation more than to any other. It must possess these specific aspects or else it would be nothing more than an imitation or a continuation of its antithesis: assimilation.
Consequently a Jewish national consciousness must likewise lay emphasis upon the specific aspects which are of a spiritual nature. The Jewish people is essentially neither ambitious of domination, nor bent on proselytizing, neither adventurous nor aggressive; it is a people eminently endowed intellectually that wishes to enjoy the blessings of peace. Some of the immoral backwaters of the national consciousness are national pride, presumption, blindness to the qualities and efficiency of foreigners, malicious envy, lust of domination, ill-will. The Jewish people is sufficiently safeguarded against such failings by its spiritual endowment.
XI. (vol. i., p. 205)
Dr. Chas. F. Zimpel published in 1865 an Appel à la société Chrétienne toute entière ainsi qu’aux Israelites, pour la déliverance de Jerusalem (Frankfort-on-the-Main) in which he gave a description of the deplorable conditions in Palestine, and appealed to Christians and Jews to establish a new order of things in that country. He referred to the ideas of Napoleon I., and mentioned a statement that Napoleon III. made some definite promises in this matter: “Que S.M. Napoleon III. en ait le pressentiment ou la conviction, il est certain que, d’après ce qui m’a été communiqué, il a donné, il y a environ trois ans ... sa parole de travailler dans ce but” (p. 12). This statement is evidently related to the propaganda of M. Dunant, which was much stimulated by the beginning of the work on the Suez Canal. Earlier, in 1852, Zimpel had published a pamphlet, Die Israeliten in Jerusalem (Stuttgart, 1852), in which he appealed to his readers for support of the agricultural Jewish settlement established by the Americans in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Zimpel, who declared himself to be a Christian, contributed five hundred florins. He mentioned among the promoters of the idea the American Dr. J. T. Barclay, and a prominent Jerusalemite, John Meshullam. About Meshullam, who was a baptized Jew, born in London, who had had an adventurous career, a part of which was spent in the service of Lord Byron, some interesting particulars are given, under date 20th March, 1852, in The Sabbath Recorder of New York, No. 413, of the 20th of May, 1852. This paper quotes an extract from a journal of Mr. C. S. Minor, an American (Christian) gentleman, who was associated with Meshullam in his agricultural settlement at Bethlehem:
“Through a recent petition of the Turkish Effendis of Jerusalem, the Sultan has lately sent him (Meshullam) an offer of the site of the ancient Cæsarea and its fertile vicinity, if he will undertake and superintend its rebuilding and cultivation. This is greatly surprising and important, as Cæsarea has the most lovely and easily rebuilt ruins in Palestine, and is a point of great commercial importance and entrance to the whole land, and was formerly the chosen port of the Romans. This he declines from his love to Jerusalem and his suffering brethren within its walls.”
Meshullam is again mentioned in Colonel George Gawler’s book, Syria, etc. (London, 1853, p. 78): “Some have supposed that the Hebrew people are at present unfitted for field or garden work. Such as think this cannot have witnessed Hebrew labourers, aye, and Hebrew Rabbis, at work in Mr. Meshullam’s farm at Urtan.”
XII. (vol. i., p. 216)
In the year 1884 the delegates of the Chovevé Zion Unions, mostly from Russia, met in conference at Kattowitz in Silesia, close to the Russo-Polish frontier. A Bne-Brith Union had formerly been founded there which had for its object: “To afford moral and material support for the foundation of colonies, to Jews undergoing religious persecution.” The words “In Palestine” were only introduced later. But in the appeal which this Union had circulated in 1882, Palestine was expressly mentioned as the future home of the Jewish nation, and the national future of the Jewish community was exalted with every conceivable distinctness. In this appeal Palestine was opposed to America, towards which the main stream of emigration was flowing, and was represented as a suitable land of immigration on account of all the reasons which it is usual to adduce: the low cost of the journey, the value of the concentration of Jewish masses upon common territory; the country’s fertility, among others. The president of this Bne-Brith Lodge, M. Moses, was known as a zealous Chovev Zion. This circumstance, and the proximity of the town to the Russo-Polish frontier, were the reasons for its selection for the Conference.
The Conference had elected a central committee, whose seat should originally have been in Berlin, but it turned out differently. Odessa remained the centre of the Friends of Zion. It also determined that henceforward a better administration of the funds was to be carried through. An attempt was to be made to obtain the recognition of the Society by the Russian Government; the position of the colonization was to be tested on the spot, and it was only then to be determined which colonies were to be supported. New foundations were not to be considered in the meantime. Finally, a delegation was to be sent to the Turkish Government to effect the removal of the difficulties standing in the way of Jewish colonization in Palestine. Although, as had been foreseen, it was not yet possible to gather all the threads into one hand, the organizing thought and a Zionistic programme were proclaimed here for the first time. The newly founded institution was given the name “Maskereth Moshe,” or “Montefiore Foundation for Supporting Colonies of the Holy Land,” so named in remembrance of Montefiore, whose hundreth birthday had been celebrated with widespread enthusiasm, especially in Russia. Through the sale of Montefiore pictures, the first common fund, 40,000 roubles, had been raised.
The Conference had no great real success. In spite of the propaganda undertaken by the central committee the movement came to a standstill. Already, in 1887, a Conference was arranged at Drusgenik, Russia, whose practical result differed but little from that of Kattowitz. It was decided to support certain colonies, and an office was set up in Palestine from which the negotiations with the Turkish Government were to be conducted and the land purchases controlled. Though this Conference was followed by a certain increase of the propaganda, the undertaking on the whole was in such a bad way, partly on account of the distressing condition of the Palestine colonies, that Pinsker finally resigned. Not till the Conference at Wilna was a change brought about, and when, in 1890, in consequence of the endeavours of the tenacious and energetic friend of Zion――M. Zederbaum――the authorization of the Russian Government had been obtained, the first general meeting of the Odessa Committee, “The Society for Supporting Jewish Agriculturists in Syria and Palestine” (as it called itself), was held, and Pinsker assumed again the leadership of the movement. At this point begins the really extensive activity of Chovevé Zion, chiefly in Russia, although there were Chovevé Zion Unions in nearly every country, even in America. At the beginning of the last decade of the nineteenth century the organization had reached its culminating point of activity. But the formal foundation of this committee had taken place at Kattowitz.
The Kattowitz Conference was, as Pinsker said, only a small beginning. But still it was a beginning. It created a principle and a method which only prevailed later. The insignificant real importance of the Conference is not inconsistent with its great historic significance. Result did not follow immediately upon this event, but the historian must trace back all the recent development of the Zionist idea to that date, because for the first time in a Jewish assembly the new spirit assumed shape and expression. Thus in the end history must consider the Kattowitz Conference as the seed out of which first of all a tender plant grew, but which, after wearisome development, spread out into a tree beneath whose shade Israel will some day find repose.
XIII. (vol. i., p. 276)
In the year 1840, Luzzatto wrote to Jost: “... and when at last, oh, Jewish scholars of Germany will the Lord open your eyes? How long will you refuse to see how wrongly you act by following the crowd, extinguishing national pride, allowing the language of our forefathers to fall into oblivion and letting Hellenism (Atticism) grow up in our midst? As long as you allow your brethren to persevere in the delusion that the ideal of perfection is nothing else than imitation of neighbours and the consideration gained therefrom; as long as you will not have attained enough self-consciousness to instruct the people out of full zeal for God, truth and Jewish confraternity to uphold that the greatest good is not anything visible but that which is felt deep within the heart, that the happiness of our nation is not dependent on emancipation but on our love to one another, on our holding together in brotherly union, and that this feeling of correlation is gradually dwindling as a result of emancipation; as long as you maintain that emancipation countries are paradisaic countries for the Jews, the saying of the prophet Malachi will necessarily apply to you:
“‘Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.’”
In a letter of the year 1855, Luzzatto writes to one of his disciples: “Your Hebrew letter gave me real pleasure.... Honour be to you for wishing to accustom yourself to write and speak Hebrew. For the language of our ancestors is the bond which links together the sons of the Jewish nation who are scattered all over the world, and it is that which conjoins all generations, and brings us nearer our ancestors as well as the generations which will come after us.”
On another occasion Luzzatto expressed himself on the idea of a Jewish mission in the Diaspora: “These are indeed words which charm the ear flatteringly, but in fact they are just empty phrases. The Bible has already been propagated among peoples for many generations, and gains in diffusion from day to day without Jewish assistance. Now, if the propagation of the Bible within a space of time of eighteen hundred years has not brought humanity perceptibly nearer perfection, what can the Jews contribute thereto, especially those who do not believe in the divinity of the Thora? But apart from the fact that, as I have expounded, it is a delusion to believe that the only purpose of existence of Judaism is to lead humanity towards perfection, as the author (Philipsohn) and his adherents believe, it is also a vain delusion to think that humanity will ever reach the state of perfection which the author describes in his writings.”
When Luzzatto heard, in the year 1854, that Albert Cohn, of Paris, was going to Palestine, he wrote to him:――
“Only unthinking people can suggest that Jewish children should be sent from Asia to large European cities to be brought up there, and thus diffuse our culture among our brethren in Asia; that is heartless egoism and unbelief, fine outer forms and inward corruption.”
“Judaism must be relieved of foreign pressure. The Jews of the Holy Land must be provided with soil to till and means of exploitation. Care must also be taken that their crops are not robbed by the Pashas and Beduins. Then they will cultivate the soil as in the times of the Bible, Mishna and Talmud. This cannot succeed in Jerusalem, since, as a place of pilgrimage, it has become the abode of people who divest themselves of all worldly cares and true social duties. Judaism has never built cloisters for recluses and has never countenanced idleness. But is it to be wondered at that whilst all nations from far and wide went on pilgrimage to the Sepulchre, Jehuda Halevy, Nachmanides and other devout men, after a life of strenuous toil, should have wished to pay honour to the seat of holiness and to end their lives in saintly seclusion? Jerusalem will necessarily remain a sacred city for all peoples. Therefore, for the present, it cannot be regarded as a possible capital of the country. Otherwise all Palestine should be tilled and cultivated by the Jews, that it may flourish from an agricultural and industrial point of view and arise again in its old splendour. The main consideration is that no impediments should be placed by the Government in the way of the free development of Jewish industry. The Jews are known all over the world as particularly industrious and capable. Why, then, should they be loungers in Palestine? That they are so at present has two local reasons; the one, the pressure of neighbouring nations and the negligence of the administration, and the other the Indian as well as Mohammedan, but not at all Jewish, conception of the holiness of inactive life. The local pressure must be removed as far as possible. But we must rouse our brethren to useful activity, urge them onwards in every way, and breathe into them the spirit of a new life.”¹
¹ Prof. D. Kauffmann, Correspondence of Samuel David Luzzatto, Dr. J. Klausner. Haschiloach, April, 1901.
XIV. (vol. i., p. 280)
The eloquent passion with which Bialik expresses the woe of the Jewish people runs like a red thread through all his national poems; but it reaches its climax in The Poems of Wrath――a series of these poems written on the occasion of the Kishineff massacre in 1903. This series above all other poems of his is the most terrible expression of the national grief, despair and rage accumulated during the centuries of persecution, and is a masterpiece of vigour and impetuosity.
XV. (vol. i., p. 280)
Achad Ha’am’s writings offer an abundance of instructive historiosophic thoughts, mostly propounded in fragmentary, aphoristic form, which point in their entirety to a common root and a uniform outlook and system of ideas on the part of this thinker, and show the way thereto to many a reader. The stimulus of his theories lies in the fact that they have nearly always had a background of actuality. Achad Ha’am is no historiosopher within the narrow meaning of the word; his aim is primarily directed towards present-day problems of Judaism, but he often seeks their solution in the past. Thence he traces the primordial causes of what occupies us at present. This trait alone makes him not only national, like nearly all authors of our present Hebraic Renaissance period, but even more, it invests him with the sanction of a learned Hebrew thinker and an inspired intellectual leader. His methodology is philosophic and somewhat attuned to the Hegelian dialectic of thought, and in this connection too, apart from the community of national fundamental conception, it brings him close to Nachman Krochmal. Evolution is the idea which chiefly directs him, and psychology――particularly of human groups, parties and nations――appeals most to his refined mind. In all his endeavours he affirms the fluidity of the national character, and its adaptability under the pressure of historio-cultural factors. But it is just on this account that he is so firmly convinced of the necessity of Jewish individuality and its free development. He perceives the essence of this individuality in Jewish intellectual life, and he longs for a centre for it in Palestine.
Achad Ha’am expounded the essential Zionist idea long before the Zionist Organization was established, but opposed some political methods proposed by the Zionist Organization. He rejected the kind of Zionism which had its adherents mostly in Western Europe, and is inspired merely by anti-Semitism and its outrages, and he advocated Zionism as an expression of Judaism, of Jewish feeling, of a revival of the people by virtue of a great Jewish national idea――with a spiritual centre in Palestine.
XVI. (vol. i., p. 313)
Jews may have native countries, the Jewish nation has none, and this is its misfortune. The Jewish nation must again feel its own stretch of earth under its feet, and draw new material and moral forces from the native soil. But this must not be understood as if it were demanded that all Jews should leave their present homesteads in order to populate their chosen land. This is not what is meant. The Jewish idea of nationality does not aim at uniting the Jews in one country or at giving them a national status in their Dispersion, but at creating a national centre for Judaism. A considerable part of the nation, which will naturally be recruited first of all in the countries where Jewish oppression is heaviest, is to settle upon the soil which is intended to be the home of the Hebrew race. There it will win through agriculture that attachment to the soil which preserves a country to a nation, and it will find that bodily and moral welfare which must be the proper aim of all Jewish aspirations. The advantages of such an eventuality, also for those Jews remaining outside the national area and status, are self-evident. The foremost attainment would be that the Jewish population in the countries of European civilization would be constantly maintained as to numbers, through periodic eliminations, below that point of saturation, above which experience shows that the Jews are no longer welcome. Naturally this would also bring about a considerable relief to anti-Jewish tension, a decrease of the intensity of the struggle for life of the Jewish masses, and also, possibly, render easier the juridical equalization of the Jews in the countries of greatest pressure.
In addition to these will come the effect of the development of the Jewish land upon the Jews of other countries. The consciousness of the existence of a living Jewish people possessing a country of its own, a field of cheerful activity for sons at home, a refuge for sons from afar, will also ennoble and elevate, fortify and temper the Jews of the Diaspora. The curse of exciting ridicule, which makes misfortune doubly hard to bear, will recede from them: their whole status among the nations will become normal and healthy. The relations between Jews and Gentiles which, for all assimilations and emancipations, and notwithstanding all goodwill on both sides――why not admit it?――still retain so much of what is forced and painful, will only then become unconstrained and unaffected. Dislike of the Jews may possibly not cease; but, at any rate, it will lose all justification for existing in its peculiar shape and acuity. Should this dislike nevertheless prevail, the importance of a centre will become all the more apparent. The smallest national autonomous community has a seat and voice in the concert of nations. A nation without national worth is a nation outlawed. However pessimistic one may be with regard to the possibility of a small national centre to exert any material political influence in other countries, its moral authority is certain.
XVII. (vol. ii., p. 47)
The interest of Mr. C. P. Scott, Mr. H. Sidebotham, also of The Manchester Guardian but now of The Times, and other non-Jewish friends in Manchester in the Zionist Movement led to the establishment in that city, in the autumn of 1916, of the British Palestine Committee, formed to further the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth in Palestine, under British protection. In the words placed in the forefront of its programme: “The British Palestine Committee seeks to reset the ancient glories of the Jewish nation in the freedom of a new British dominion in Palestine.” The activities of this Committee have displayed themselves for the most part through its press organ, Palestine, which, appearing weekly, supplies the influential public among which it circulates with valuable information on all matters relating to Palestine, and at the same time discusses all the phases of international politics which touch upon the Palestine question in any of its facets. In addition to Palestine the Committee is responsible for two publications, England and Palestine, by Mr. H. Sidebotham, in which the author puts the case for a British mandateship, and British Projects for the Restoration of the Jews, a pamphlet by Mr. Albert M. Hyamson, wherein he sketches the attitude of British statesmen and publicists towards the projected restoration of the Jews to Palestine during the century and more that preceded the outbreak of the European War of 1914.
XVIII. (vol. ii., p. 54)
In the earlier part of the year 1917, about the date of the opening of the London Bureau of the Zionist Organization, the present writer, being the only member of the Inner Actions Committee in England, felt it desirable to give some definite status to those trusted supporters of the Zionist cause to whose advice Dr. Weizmann and he were continually informally having recourse. The constitution of the Organization did not permit of any definite responsibility being assigned to them. It was therefore possible to form only an Advisory Committee, without any executive authority. The Political Committee that came into existence at that time, and continued its existence until the arrival in England of a number of the members of the Greater Actions Committee enabled that constitutional Organization to resume its functions, was composed originally of Ahad Ha’am, Mr. Leopold Kessler, Mr. Joseph Cowen, Mr. Herbert Bentwich, Mr. Albert M. Hyamson, Mr. Simon Marks (who acted as Honorary Secretary), Mr. Harry Sacher, Mr. Israel Sieff, Mr. Leon Simon, two foreign Zionists――M. J. Ettinger, of the Jewish National Fund, and M. S. Tolkowsky, of Rechoboth, Palestine――who were temporarily resident in London, together with Dr. Weizmann and the present writer as chairman.
♦CORRIGENDA
VOLUME I.
Page xxvii. Six lines from the bottom. For “See the Chapter on Zionism and the War” substitute “See Volume II., pp. 1 ff.”
Page xl. Line 9. Delete “Arthur,” substitute “Albert.”
Line 22. Delete “Moro,” substitute “Morot.”
Line 23. Delete “Andre,” substitute “André.”
Five lines from the bottom. For “Frederick” substitute “Frederic.”
Page 8. The last three lines of the note contain the title of the Yiddish translation of “The Merchant of Venice.”
Page 12. Insert quotation marks (“) before “It” at opening of last paragraph.
Page 23. Line 12. For מרה substitute מרא.
Page 26. Three lines from the end. For “Gebirol” substitute “Gabirol.”
Last line. For “Kalonymus” substitute “Kalonymos.”
Page 27. Line 1. For “Kalonymus” substitute Kalonymos.”
Page 35. Line 2. Insert “shall” at end of line.
Page 59. Line 9. After “Manuel” insert “Noah.”
Page 82. Five lines from the end. Omit “de la Gironde.”
Page 95. Note 2. Transfer date “(1835‒1906)” _to end of first line_.
Page 126. Line 5. For “Reschid” substitute “Reshid.”
Page 144. First note. Delete second sentence. Substitute “He appeared as a pseudo-messiah about the year 1160.”
Line 24, and second note. Delete “1918.” Lord Morley is fortunately still alive.
Page 182. The three lines from the end. For “1826‒1887” substitute “1826‒1882.”
Page 193. Last line but one. For שחטה substitute שחטא.
Page 213. Line 18. After “poet” insert “and novelist.”
Page 222. Line 11. For אמתי substitute אימתי.
Page 235. Line 4. For “hoards” substitute “hordes.”
Page 254. Line 2. For “Frederick” substitute “Frederic.”
Page 257. Line 1. After “Jockey Club” insert “of Paris.”
Page 258. Line 13. For “Petrograd” substitute “St. Petersburg.”
Page 266. Line 3. For “Uganda” substitute “East African.”
Page 269. Line 22. For “Bahar” substitute “Behar.”
Page 275. Line 2 of note. For “Hakalah” substitute “Haskalah.”
Page 278. Line 22. For “Petrograd” substitute “St. Petersburg.”
Page 280. Line 3. For “Noach” substitute “Nachman.”
Line 27. For “Scernichowsky” substitute “Tschernichowsky.”
Page 284. Line 22. For “Shmarya” substitute “Shemaryah.”
Line 24. For “Viktor Jakobsohn” substitute “Victor Jacobsohn.”
Page 292. Line 38. For “Slouchz” substitute “Slousch.”
Page 296. Line 15. For “Jewish Territorial Association” substitute “Jewish Territorial Organization.”
Line 6 from the end. For “Uganda in East Africa” substitute “British East Africa.”
Page 297. Last line. For “Uganda” substitute “British East Africa.”
Page 302. First line of note. For “Araber” substitute “Arab et.”
Page 304. Paragraph 3, line 1. For “the first” substitute “an early.”
Paragraph 3, line 11. For “invasion” substitute “revolt.”
VOLUME II.
Page 44. Line 4. For “Uganda” substitute “a territory in East Africa.”
Page 62. Line 4. After “harmful” insert “but he afterwards withdrew his resignation.”
Mr. Gilbert did not resign from the Conjoint Committee, of which he was not a member. He resigned his membership of the Board of Deputies in order that the prospective president, Sir Stuart Samuel, might be elected in his place.
Line 24. Omit “late.”
Page 80. Line 9. For “judge” substitute “justice.”
Line 24. For “Shmaria” substitute “Shemaryah.”
Page 82. Line 1. For “Levin” substitute “Lewin.”
Page 87. Line 4. After “by any means” insert “a desert. But a little Jewish state in Palestine would serve as.”
Page 134. Line 18. For “Levin” substitute “Lewin.”
Page 140. Line 8 from the end. For “Jewish Territorial Association” substitute “Jewish Territorial Organization.”
Page 152. Line 3 from the end. For “Essalt” substitute “Es-Salt.”
Page 161. Line 4 from the end. For “generations” substitute “centuries.”
Page 215. Note 1. After “Breslau” insert “Jewish Theological.”
By a misunderstanding, words have in many instances in the first volume and in the earlier half of the second volume of this work been printed in italics quite unnecessarily. Chronological dates have also in some instances been supplied where they have not been called for.
♦ All noted corrections have been made in the text. None of the italicized words have been changed because a detailed list was not given and some words may have been italicized correctly.
CATALOGUE OF THE ENGRAVINGS, LITHOGRAPHS, PAINTINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, Etc.
From which the illustrations in this book have been taken. =(Prepared by Mr. ISRAEL SOLOMONS).=
* * * * *
=★ Israel Solomons’ Collection. B.M. British Museum.=
_Sizes are in inches and refer exclusively to the engraved surface._
* * * * *
=★ABOAB, Isaac [da Fonseca] de David.= (1605‒1693.)
=Doctissimo y Clarissimo Señor H. H. Yshack Aboab= =Rabino del K. K. de Amsterdam. Ydade sua 81 Anno 5446.=
חרות בְעט ברזל וְעופרת .צורת תְמונת איש בעודו חי יצחק לְיום אחרון בְכותרת .לפני יְאָל י――עֳמד וחי
Aernout Naghtegael. Deling et fesit (sic). (Mezzotint Engraving 11 × 7.)¹ p. 44.
¹ This portrait, done seven years before his death, frequently forms the frontispiece to “Parafrasis Comentado Sobre el pentateucho por el illustrissimo Sʳ Ishac aboab. H. del K. K. de amsterdam estampado en caza de Iaacob de cordova, 5441.” (Folio. 3 ll. + 634 pp.★)
A posthumous portrait executed in 1697 is to be found in the Seminary Ets Haim of the Portuguese Israelites at Amsterdam (David de Raphael Montezinos Collection). It is apparently unique, and was engraved in mezzotint by Jacob ben Abraham, a convert to Judaism.
=ABRAHAM VITA de Cologna.=
=See Cologna, Abraham Vita de.=
=ADAMS, John.= (1735‒1826.)
=His Excellency John Adams, President of the United States of America.= Respectfully dedicated to the Lovers of their Country and Firm Supporters of its Constitution.
Drawn & Engrav’d by H. Houston. Published by D. Kennedy, 288 Market St., Philadᵃ. (Line Engraving 11⅛ × 8¾. B.M.) p. 92.
=★ADLER, Nathan Marcus [Nathan ben Mordecai Hacohen].= (1803‒1890.) =Dr. Nathan Markus Adler Chief Rabbi.= My flesh and my heart may fail the rock of my heart my portion――God will remain for ever. N. Adler. (Facsimile autograph.)
St. Blatt zum Album Jsraels herausgegeben v. A. B. Perlmann. (Lithograph 7 × 6½.) p. 268.
=ALLENBY, Edmund Henry Hynman.=
[=General Sir Edmund Henry Hynman=, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., =Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem=.]
(_Photograph by H. Walter Barnett and Co., Ltd., 12 Knightsbridge, S. W._) p. 84, ii.
=AVIGDOR, Elim Henry d’ [Adam de Solomon].= (1841‒1895.)
[=Elim Henry d’ Avigdor=, B.A., C.E.]
E. d’ A. [18]90. (Lithograph 7 × 6½.)¹ p. 234.
¹ Published in Palestina, The Chovevi Zion Quarterly, No. 11 ... March, 1895.
=BALFOUR, Arthur James.=
[=The Right Honourable Arthur James Balfour=, M.P., P.C., F.R.S., O.M., M.A., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S.]
(Photograph by Olive Edis, F.R.P.S.) p. 82, ii.
=★BEN-ISRAEL, Manasseh de Joseph.= (1604‒1657.)
=Menasseh Ben Israel, Theologvs Et Philosophvs Hebrævs Peregrinando Qværimvs.=
Doctrina hic voluit, voluitque Modestia pingi. An poterit vultus charta referre duos? Hos oculos, hæc ora vide. Conuenit utrinque: Ilia suos vultus dixit, & ilia suos. D. I.
Ætatis Svæ Anno Anno XXXVIII. Salom Italia. Sculpsit. MDCXLII. (Line Engraving 7⅜ × 5.)¹ p. 44.
¹ Manasseh’s portrait had been etched by his friend Rembrandt ★ in 1636, the copper plate being-subsequently converted into a mezzotint ★; but this engraving by Salom de Mordecai Italia, taken at the age of thirty-eight, was his favourite portrait. It was this likeness he sent to Abraham von Franckenberg, the Silesian mystic, as a token of his friendship. (Bonum Nuncium Israeli [P. FELGENHAWER] ... Amsterodami ... 1655. p. 92.)
At the upper left corner of the engraving is a small vignette of a pilgrim with staff and water wallet, and at the corner opposite is a lighted candle in a metal holder on a shelf, alongside an open volume inscribed ♦נר דברך לרגלי (Psalm cxix., 105). A similar design to the vignette was used as the printer’s mark of several volumes from Manasseh’s press with the motto “Apercebido Como Hv Romeiro.”
In the Hermitage at St. Petersburg a painting of an old Rabbi by Rembrandt (1645) is suggested to be a portrait of Manasseh, but this is extremely doubtful.
Of Salom Italia very little indeed is known. The only other portrait he engraved was that of Haham Jacob Judah Aryeh de Leon, who in 1641 completed a model of Solomon’s Temple. In 1885 J. L. Joachimsthal sold by auction at Amsterdam a מגילה dated 1665, written and embellished with forty pen-and-ink drawings, signed
יצרתיו אף עשיתיו שלום בכמר מרדכי מאיטאליאה זל פה אמשטירדם ט׳ לחדש אדר התך לפק
♦ The actual verse says: נר לרגלי דברך
=★BICHENO, James.= (1751‒1831.)
=Revd. J. Bicheno, Newbury.=
Theological Magazine. Published by C. Taylor, 108, Hatton Garden, Octr. 1, 1809. (Stipple Engraving 3¾ × 3.) p. 92.
=BOSELLI, Paolo.=
[=His Excellency Paolo Boselli=, =Order of Annunziata, President of the Order of S. Maurizio and Lazzaro, Premier 1916‒1917.=]
(Phototype.) p. 128, ii.
=BRIGHTMAN, Thomas.= (1562‒1607.)
=Mr. Brightman Etat: suæ: 45:=
Loe here A Brightman, Or A man of bright Who that from darkeness brought this heauenly light Thus shaddowed here turne ore and you shall see Hee was A man was bright in prophecy.
Printed and are to be sould by Peter Stent at the Crowne in guilt spur street. (Line Engraving 6⅜ × 4¾. B.M.)¹ p. 52.
¹ Frontispiece of “A Revelation of Mr. Brightman’s Revelation, ... 1641.”
=★BUENO (BONUS), Ephraim Hezekiah de Joseph.= (ob. 1665.)
=Dor. Ephraim Bonvs, Medicvs Hebrævs.= Alter Avenzooar grandi sub judice magnus in medicis, magni discipulus que patris.
Ioannes Lyvyus fecit. Iohannis de Ram Excud. (Etching 12 × 10½. Seventh State.)¹ p. 44.
¹ The original from which this portrait is taken is unknown. Dr. M. Kayserling in the Jewish Encyclopedia, 1902, vol. iii., p. 422, erroneously attributes it to Rembrandt. It was etched by a fellow pupil of his, Jan Lievens, who probably was also the delineator. Rembrandt’s portraits of Bueno at about the age of thirty-five are the celebrated etching known as the “Jew Doctor,” 1647, and an oil-painting, somewhat similar in style, head and bust only, but reversed, probably done at the same time and now in the collection of Baron de Six at Amsterdam. It has recently been etched by William Steelink (signed artist’s proof on Japanese paper, with the armorial bearings of the Baron de Six on the margin, 7½ × 6¼ ★ ), and also illustrates Kayserling’s biography of Bueno in the Jewish Encyclopedia, ibid. It has been suggested that a daughter of Bueno was the model for Rembrandt’s etching “The Jewish Bride.” Bueno became a Burgher of Amsterdam in 1651, and died on the 30 Hesvan 5426 = 8 Nov., 1665; and his wife Jeudit Buena i Sivan 5430 = 20 May, 1670.
=CAMBON, Jules-Martin.=
[=M. Jules-Martin Cambon, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Ambassador of France.=]
(Photograph by Henri Manuel, Paris.) p. 128, ii.
=CHAMBERLAIN, Joseph.= (1836‒1913.)
[=The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain=, P.C., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., J.P., M.P.]
(Photograph by the Stereoscopic Company, London, 3 Hanover Square, Regent Street, W.)
=CLEMENCEAU, Georges-Eugène-Benjamin.=
[=M. Georges-Eugène-Benjamin Clemenceau, President of the Council.=]
(Photograph by Henri Manuel, Paris.) p. 128, ii.
=★COHN, Albert [Abraham].= (1814‒1877.)
Albert Cohn. (Facsimile autograph.)
“... Und mir dem Sohne Ahrons ist ein Vorrecht noch geblieben das――zu segnen....”
(Lithograph 6 × 6.)¹ p. 180.
¹ From “Beth-El.” Ehrentempel verdienter ungarischer Israeliten. Von Ignaz Reich, Lehrer des hebr. Faches an der isr. Normalhauptschule zu Pest. Zweites Heft (Mit zwei Portraits), Pesth 1859. Druck von Alois Bucsánszky.
=★COLOGNA, Abraham Vita de= (1755‒1832.)
=Abraham de Cologna, né à Mantoue. Chevalier de l’Ordre Royal de la Couronne de Fer. Membre du Collège Electoral des Dotti du Royaume d’Italie. Grand-Rabbin du Consistoire Central des Israélites et du Consistoire de Turin. Dedie Au Consistoire Central des Israélites.=
Dessiné d’apres nature par Marchand. Mariage Sculpt. Déposé à la Bibliothèque Imperiale. Se vend à Paris, chez l’Auteur, rue des Vieilles-Audriettes, No. 6, au Marais. (Line and Stipple Engraving 7½ × 6¼.) p. 84.
=CONDER, Claude Reignier.= (1848‒1910.)
[=Colonel Claude Reignier Conder=, D.C.L., LL.D., M.R.A.S., R.E.]
(Photograph, copyright.)¹ p. 62.
¹ No portrait of Col. Conder has hitherto been published.
=★CRÉMIEUX, Isaac Moses Adolphe.= (1796‒1880.)
=Ad. Crémieux, Advocat am königlichen Gerichtshofe zu Paris, Vice Präsident des israelitischen Central Consistoriums in Frankreich. Avocat à la Cour royale de Paris, vice president du Consistoire central des Israélitès français.=
Druck u. Verlag den Steindruckerei des H. Engel in Wien. (Lithograph 9¾ × 8¼.) p. 180.
=★DEUTZ, Emmanuel [Menachem].= (1763‒1842.)
=Mr. Emmanuel Deutz, Grand Rabbin du Consistoire Central des Israélites de France.=
(Lithograph 8¼ × 6⅝.) p. 84.
=★DISRAELI, Benjamin de Isaac.= (1804‒1881.)
=Benjamin Disraeli, Esquire=, M.P.
Painted by A. E. Chalon, R.A. Engraved by H. Robinson. London, George Virtue. (Stipple Engraving 8¾ × 6¾. Octagonal.)¹ p. 176.
¹ This engraving is the thirteenth in “Portraits of Eminent Conservatives and Statesmen, with Genealogical and Historical Memoirs. Second Series. London: George Virtue, 26 Ivy Lane.” [1841.] The original water-colour drawing by Alfred Edward Chalon, R.A., was executed in 1840, when Disraeli was thirty-six years of age. It is now at Hughenden Manor, in the possession of his nephew, Major Coningsby Ralph Disraeli.
=DUNANT, Jean Henri.= (1828‒1904.)
=[Johannes Heinrich Dunant.]=¹ p. 234.
¹ Die Welt, 29 Oct., 1897, No. 22, p. 7.
=★ELIASBERG, Mordecai ben Joseph.= (1850‒1898.)
הרב הגאון ה״ג ר׳ מרדכי עליאסבערג זצ״ל אב״ד דבייסק
(Lithograph 4⅛ × 3½.)¹ p. 202.
¹ One of the portraits from:――
גאיני ישראל מזמנינו הידועים והמפורסמים בכל קצוי תבל
Published by A. Lipschitz, 41, Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester, September, 1898. Copyright registered. Nachdruck verboten.
=ELIOT, George [Mary Ann Cross, née Evans].= (1819‒1880.)
=[George Eliot.]=
(Photograph by the Stereoscopic Company, London, 3 Hanover Square, Regent Street, W.) p. 208.
=FINN, James.= (1806‒1872.)
[=James Finn, Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul for Jerusalem and Palestine=, M.R.A.S.]
(Photograph by Macandrew, 44 Regent Circus, W.)¹ p. 208.
¹ No portrait of James Finn has hitherto been published.
=FUENN, Samuel Joseph.= (1819‒1891.)
=Samuel Joseph Fuenn.=¹ p. 217.
¹ Jewish Encyclopedia, 1903, vol. v., p. 526.
=★FURTADO, Abraham.= (1756‒1816.)
=Mr. Furtado de la Gironde, President de l’Assemblée des Députés Français & du Royaume d’Italie, Professant le Culte Mosaique 1806.=
Dessiné d’après nature par Mr. Lheman. Gravé par L. C. Ruotte. A Paris chez l’Auteur Quai de l’Horloge du Paris près le Pont Neuf No. 75. Déposé à la Bibliothèque Imperiale. (Stipple Engraving 7¾ × 6.) p. 84.
=GEORGE, David Lloyd.=
=See Lloyd George, David.=
=GOLDSMID, Albert Edward Williamson [Michael ben Aaron Halevi].= (1846‒1904.)
[=Colonel Albert Edward Williamson Goldsmid=, M.V.O.]¹ p. 234.
¹ Die Welt, 16 Oct., 1903, No. 42, p. 10.
In Arab costume, when one of the members of the commission of enquiry into the adaptability of El Arish in the Sinai peninsula as a territory for Jewish colonization in 1898.
=GORDON, David ben Dob Baer.= (1826‒1886.)
ר׳ דוד גארדאן נולד בשנת תקצ״ב¹ p. 217.
Columns 1111 & 1112. ¹כנסת ישראל שנת תרמ״ו לפ״ק ווארשא
=★GOUGE, William.= (1578‒1653.)
=Dr. William Gouge, Effigies Guil. Gouge S.S. Theologiæ Professor Qui Obiit Ano.= { Dui 1653. { Ministerij in } 46. { Ætatis. 79 { Black-fr. Lon. }
John Dunstall fe. (Etching 5¾ × 4⅜.) p. 52.
=★GOUGUENHEIM, Baruch.= (1752‒1842.)
=Baruch Gouguenheim, Grand Rabbin de Nancy, Membre du Consistoire du Grand Sanhédrin.=
צורת הרב מהו׳ ברוך גוגענהיים אבד דקונסיסטאריום דק״ק נאנסי׃
C. Pannetier fecit. Lith de C. Labouré à Nancy. (Lithograph 4¼ × 4⅛.)¹ p. 84.
¹ Rabbi at Phalsbourg, and a member of the Sanhedrin convoked by Napoleon. On the 14th of April, 1812, he was elected Grand Rabbin de Nancy. His portrait after a lithograph by Drouin appears in “Histoire de Nancy” par Chr. Pfister ... Tome iii. ... Paris ... Nancy 1908, p. 336. He died on the 7th October, 1842, aged 90; and on the 31st his funeral oration was delivered at the Temple in Paris by his pupil Grand Rabbin Marchand d’Ennery (1792‒1852). Another portrait is a “Lith. de Simon fils à Strasbg. (7 × 6). ”★ Grand Rabbin (adjoint) Israel Lévi of Paris is a distant relative.
=★GROTIUS, Hugo [Huig van Groot].= (1583‒1645.)
=Hugo Grotius.=
Engraved by I. Tookey, from a Copy by P. van Gunst. (Line Engraving 4⅝ × 4¾. Oval.) p. 52.
=HERZL, Theodor.= (1860‒1904.)
[=Theodor Herzl.=]¹ (Facsimile autograph.)
Frontispiece, vol. i.
¹ Die Welt, 28 July, 1904, No. 28 Supplement.
=HERZL, Theodor.= (1860‒1904.)
[בנימן זאב בן יעקב]
Leopold Pilichowski. (Oil Painting 100 × 50, copyright.) p. 263.
=HESS, Moses [Moritz].= (1812‒1875.)
=Moses Hess.=¹
Geb. 21, Jan. 1812. gest. 6 April, 1875. p. 268.
¹ Ost und West ... 1904, column 584.
=HILDESHEIMER, Israel [Ezriel ben Löb].= (1820‒1899.)
=The late Dr. Israel Hildesheimer.=¹ p. 202.
¹ Jewish World, 30 June, 1899, p. 210.
=HIRSCH, Maurice (Moritz) de [Moses ben Joseph].= (1831‒1896.)
=The late Baron Hirsch.=
(Photograph by Mayall and Co.)¹ p. 268.
¹ Illustrated London News, 25 April, 1896, p. 518.
=IGNATIUS, Father [Joseph Leycester Lyne].= (1837‒1908.)
[=Father Ignatius, O.S.B.=]
(_Photograph by W. and D. Downey, 61 Ebury Street, London, S. W._) p. 234.
=★JESSEY (JACIE), Henry.= (1601‒1663.)
=The Revd. Henry Jessey.=
I. Caldwall sculp. (Line Engraving 4⅝ × 3½.) p. 52.
=KAHN, Zadok.= (1839‒1905.)
=[Zadok Kahn, Grand Rabbin de France.]=
J. F. Aktuaryus [18]95. (Pastel [copyright] 21 × 16¼.) p. 180.
=KALISCHER, Zebi Hirsch.= (1795‒1874.)
=Zebi Hirsch Kalischer.=¹ p. 202.
¹ Jewish Encyclopedia, 1904, vol. ii., p. 241.
=KITCHENER, Horatio Herbert.= (1850‒1916.)
[=Field Marshal Horatio Herbert, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum=, K.G., K.P., G.C.B., O.M., G.C.S.I., G.C.M. G., G.C.I.E., D.C.L., LL.D.]
(_Photograph by the Stereoscopic Company, London, 3 Hanover Square, Regent Street, W._) p. 62.
=LAZARE, Bernard [Lazare Bernard]= (1865‒1903.)
=Bernard Lazare.=
Drawn from life by Paul Renouard.¹ p. 176.
¹ Graphic, 3 Dec., 1898.
=LAZARUS, Emma.= (1849‒1887.)
=Emma Lazarus.= (Facsimile autograph.)
Engraved by T. Johnson. Photographed by W. Kurtz. (Wood Engraving 6¾ × 4⅞.)¹ p. 241.
¹ Century, October, 1888.
=★LEON (LEÃO) [TEMPLO], Jacob Judah Aryeh de Abraham de.= 1603‒1675 ?)
=Iaacob Ievda Leon Hebreo Ætat Svæ XXXVIIII.=
(Line Engraving 7 × 5⅜.)¹ p. 44.
¹ This portrait is a brilliant specimen of the graver’s art, but as it is a proof before the inscription to the lower part, neither the name of the delineator nor the engraver is known. The lettering round the portrait tells us that “Iaacob Ievda Leon” was then thirty-nine years of age, which would fix 1642 as the year it was done. Albert Wolf (1841‒1907), in his article on “Die Portraits des Jakob Jehuda Leone” (Monatschrift für Geschichte und Wissenchaft des Judenthums ... Januar 1900 ... Berlin ... pp. 41‒43) does not mention it. It is tentatively suggested that it is the work of Salom Italia, whose well-known signed portrait★ (7 × 5³⁄₁₀) has the following legend encompassing it:――
Effigies uiri doctissimi et clarissima Jacobi Yehudæ Leonis Hebræi autoris Structuræ templi Salomonici facti anno 1641.
It is similar to the anonymous engraving, but here the ear is almost entirely hidden by a lock of hair, and the large lace-edged collar is replaced by a plain narrow one. In addition the blank scroll below the portrait contains illustrations inscribed “Templo de Selomoh” and “Tabernaculo de Moseh.” It was re-engraved (6⁹⁄₁₀ × 4⁹⁄₁₀) by Conrad Buno★ for John Saubert’s Latin version of Leon’s “Temple of Solomon,” published at Helmstadt in 1665 and at Altdorf in 1674. A very small engraving (4³⁄₁₀ × 3), attributed to Jacob van Meurs, * was published in 1653: “Effigies viri Clarissimi Doctissimique Iacobi Iehudæ Leonis Hebræi structuræ tabernaculi Mosaici et templi Salomonis auctoris Ætatis Anno 50.” It is rarely met with.
=★LEVI, David ben Mordecai.= (1742‒1801.)
=David Levi.=
Painted by Drummond. Engraved by Bromley. European Magazine. Published by J. Sewell, Cornhill, June 1st, 1799. (Line Engraving 3⅞ × 2⅞.) p. 92.
=LILIENBLUM, Moses Löb.= (1843‒1910.)
.אנו צריכים לִחתִקיים־מפני שאנו קימים .מ. ל. ליליניבלום
(Collotype postcard.) p. 217.
=LLOYD GEORGE, David.=
[=The Right Honourable David Lloyd George=, M.P., P.C., D.C.L.]
(Photograph by Vandyke, London.) p. 132, ii.
=LOEWE, Louis [Eliezer ben Mordecai Halevi].= (1809‒1888.)
=Dr. L. Loewe=,
Mitglied der Königlichen asiatischen Gesellschaft von Grossbritanien und Irland der asiatischen Gesellschaft zu Paris so wie der heiligen Mission nach Damascus und Constantinopel; Orientalist Seiner Königlichen Hoheit des Herzogs von Sussex Verfasser des “The origin of the Egyptian language,” “Briefe aus dem Orient,” and Uebersetzer des Efes Dammim.
אשרי ילדתו
משה הסיר חרפת עמו, אשריהו! נלהם מלחמת אֵל, ואתה משנהו הוא עשה חיל. ולו היית עזר הכי נקרא שמך דמשק אליעזר¹
Nach der Natur gemalt v. d. Gebr. Henschel. Lith. Jnst. v. L. Sachse & Co., Berlin. (Lithograph 8¾ × 8.) p. 268.
¹ Composed by Michael Josephs [Myer Königsberg] (1763‒1849), Adar, 5601.
=LUZZATTO, Samuel David de Hezekiah.= (1800‒1865.)
=Samuel David Luzzatto.=¹ p. 176.
¹ Jewish Encyclopedia, 1904, vol. viii., p. 224.
=MANASSEH BEN-ISRAEL.=
=See Ben-Israel.=
=MANDELSTAMM, Max [Emanuel] ben Ezekiel.= (1838‒1912.)
ד״ר מ. מאַנדעלשטאַם¹
(Collotype postcard.) p. 234.
Verlag “Central¹ פערלאג־געזעל׳ש, צענטראל ווארשא ”.
=★MEYER, Jacob (Jaekel) ben Isaac Seckel [Mutzig].= (1740?‒1830.)
=Jacob Meyer=, Grand Rabbin et President du Consistoire Israélite du dept. du Bas-Rhin.¹
תמונת החכם הכולל כל בינה ומדע הגאון הגדול כבוד שמו מהורר יעקב מאיר נר״ו .א״ב״ד וראשון דקאנסיסטאריום דגליל התחתון רהין
Beyer ft. Litho: de G: Engelmann. (Lithograph 6½ × 5. Oval.) p. 84.
¹ Son of Isaac Seckel Mutzig, a banker (Mutzig in Alsace, Kreis Molsheim), and Guelche, daughter of Rabbi Samuel Zanvil Weyl. He was a pupil of Rabbi Shlomoh Zalman Berlin, and in his early days was Dayan at Rixheim, near Mülhausen. For sixty years he was Grand Rabbin de Strasburg, twenty of which he was President of the Consistory of Israelites for the Department of the Lower Rhine. He was a member of the Sanhedrin convened by Napoleon, and the first Jew to be decorated with the Legion of Honour.
Among the manuscripts mentioned in “Katalog der Hebräischen, .... Handschriften der ... Bibliothek zu Strassburg ... von Dr. S. Landauer ... Strassburg ... 1881,” p. 2, No. 4, is one on the Calendar entitled יודעי העתים signed:――
[RAPPOLTSWEILER] יעקב המכונה יעקל בן הרר יצחק זעקל מוציק מרפשויר לע״ע דירתי פה נידרהאגיטאהל
p. 7, No. 17, in the same catalogue, is an introduction to “Dalâlat al-hâîrin” (מורה נבוכים) of Maimonides, entitled רוח חן ... finished by Jaekel ben Saekel Mutzig, of Rappoltsweiler, in the year 1761.
p. 4, No. 8, is a collection of miscellaneous notes, etc. (1769‒1785) of Joseph Josel Judah Mörchingen, Dayan at Metz. The transcription is signed ?אני הכותב הק׳ יצחק זעקיל עקימרייט the father of Grand Rabbin Jacob Meyer.
On the occasion of the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor he wrote: “Cantique pour célébrer le jour du sacre et du couronnement de S. M. Napoléon, empereur des Français, inséré à la suite de l’hymne de Krageau.”
“Ode pour célébrer le jour immortel de l’élévation de S. M. Napoléon à la dignité impèriale, à Paris, de l’imprimerie impériale, 1804,” in 8º.
Two years later, in celebration of Napoleon’s thirty-seventh birthday, he published:――
“Ode pour célébrer le jour de l’anniversaire de la naissance de Napoléon, Empereur des François et Roi d’Italie; Composée en hébreu par J. Mayer, et Traduite en François par Michel Berr, ... A Paris, ... M.DCCC.VJ.” (8º. 13 pp. [B.M.])
“Odes Hebraïques pour la célébration de l’anniversaire de la naissance de S. M. L’Empereur des François et Roi d’Italie, par J. Mayer et Abraham Cologna; Traduites en François Par Michel Berr, ... A Paris, ... 1806” (8º. 37 pp. [B.M.])
In the Hebrew title page he is referred to as Mayer of Bergheim (Alsace).
The wife of Grand Rabbin Zadok Kahn (mother-in-law of Grand Rabbin [adjoint] Israel Lèvi) was his granddaughter. He died on the 7th October, 1842, at the age of ninety.
=MOHILEWER, Samuel ben Judah Löb.= (1824‒1898.)
=[Rabbi Samuel Mohilewer.]=¹
M.W. ph. p. 202.
¹ Die Welt, 18 June, 1897, No. 3, p. 6.
=★MONTEFIORE, Moses Haim (Vita) de Joseph Eliahu.= (1784‒1885.)
=Sir Moses Montefiore, Bart., F.R.S.=
Painted by G. Richmond, R.A., D.C.L. Engraved by T. L. Atkinson. Proof. London: Published 1st May, 1876, by P. and D. Colnaghi and Co., 13 and 14 Pall Mall East.¹ (Mezzotint Engraving 17 × 13¾.) p. 115. =Armorial bearings on margin, Montefiore impaling Cohen.=
¹ This letterpress is transcribed from an ordinary print, but the illustration at p. 115 of Vol. I. is taken from a proof impression before letters on India paper.
=★MUNK, Salomon.= (1803‒1867.)
=[Salomon Munk.]=
(Lithograph 2½ × 2.) p. 180.
=NETTER, Charles.= (1828‒1882.)
=[Charles Netter.]=
L. Kuppenheim. (Lithograph 8 x 6.) p. 180.
=NOAH, Mordecai Manuel.= (1785‒1851.)
=Mordecai Manuel Noah.=
(_Oil Painting_¹ [in the possession of L. Napoleon Levy].) p. 241.
¹ Jewish Encyclopedia, 1905, vol. ix., p. 324.
=NORDAU, Max Simon [Mayer Simchah ben Gabriel.]=
[=Max Simon Nordau=,
M.D. Paris, Budapesth; LL.D. hon. causa. Athens; Officier d’Académie France; Commander Royal Hellenic Order of St. Saviour; Hon. Mem. of Greek Acad. of the Parnassos and Corresponding Member of the Academy of Medicine at Madrid, 1918.]
(Photograph by Elliott and Fry, Ltd., London, W.) p. 264.
=OLIPHANT, Laurence.= (1829‒1888.)
=[Laurence Oliphant.]=¹
(Photograph, copyright.) p. 208.
¹ This portrait has not been published hitherto.
=PICHON, Stéphen-Jean-Marie.=
[=M. Stéphen-Jean-Marie=, Commander of the Legion of Honour, Minister for Foreign Affairs.]
(Photograph by Henri Manuel, Paris.) p. 128, ii.
=PINSKER, Leon [Löb ben Simchah].= (1821‒1891.)
=Dr. L. Pinsker.=¹
Geb. 24 Dezbr., 1821. Gest. 9 Dezbr., 1891 p. 217.
¹ Ost und West ... 1904, column 583.
=★PRIESTLEY, Joseph.= (1733‒1804.)